Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell

Gilgamesh is the original epic poem, the first written piece of human literature. It is the story of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, and his struggle with power and against death. I have never managed to read it before, and I picked up this copy, translated by Stephen Mitchell, because that is what is suggested by Yann Martel, in his letter to Stephen Harper on the subject. Yes, that's right, this book is my second read for the second quarter of the Martel-Harper Challenge. (Here is the full list and Martel's explanation.) Martel sends Harper two different copies of Gilgamesh, but I will only be discussing this translation, for now. (Here is the letter that Martel sent along with a copy of the book.)
The introduction that Mitchell provides is a lengthy description of the entire story, and it provided an excellent background for the reading. Yes, it told the entire plot, but I don't feel that Gilgamesh is something that can be spoiled by knowing the plot ahead of time. And once I got into the reading, I was swept up into the story. It really provides a fascinating look at life in ancient Sumeria. Of course, it cannot necessarily be taken as an accurate picture, because it is a story, after all, but simply the descriptions of the gods, and the temples, and the city of "great-walled Uruk" are revealing. Not having read any other translations of this work, I can't really compare it, but I really enjoyed this one, and would recommend it for anyone looking at reading this ancient tale.
This is also the third of the many, many books I plan on reading for the Really Old Classics Challenge. Soon really old classics are all I'll be reading!

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

I have finished the books that I had set aside for this challenge! Yay! Sure, it's a month late, but I have enjoyed sticking with it. I'll have a challenge wrap-up post up soon.
For the Medieval Challenge, two of the books I read were texts that were written during the medieval period: Le Morte D'Arthur and The Canterbury Tales. I learned my lesson after the first one, and decided to go with a Modern English version for Chaucer. I chose David Wright's Modern English prose translation, written in 1964. I decided on a prose version because I really just wanted to know the stories, and if I'm reading a translation anyway, I might as well read it in prose form. As Wright points out in his introduction, it can be difficult to translate poetry while trying to maintain the poem, creating difficulties for the reader. One thing I found interesting was that for two of the tales, Wright simply gives the reader the gist of it, and does not bother including them in the book. He seems to feel that, even translated, these pieces are unnecessarily long-winded and unwieldy, and we would be better off without them. These are "The Tale of Melibeus" and "The Parson's Tale".
I was so surprised by the vulgarity, sex, and humor that were present in these tales. It was fascinating how the tales swung back and forth between morality stories about the saints and stories about wayward wives and their sexual exploits. I found some of the stories very very funny, which was another surprise. It's fantastic that even though this was written over 600 years ago, we still can find so many points of commonality. Of course, our views of women have changed (for the most part), and the overall culture's views towards God and the Church are different, but these details only make the tales more intriguing. I think it is truly incredible that we have this opportunity to read stories that give us a glimpse of what life was like centuries ago. And it is so much fun to read. Really, this is a very highly recommended translation for anyone who is considering reading The Canterbury Tales.
Reading classics is so much fun, I'm doing it for multiple challenges! This book fits right in with the Really Old Classics Challenge and the Centuries Challenge. It is also my "C" book for the A-Z Reading Challenge.

Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory

According to goodreads.com I have been reading this book for over a month. I would just like to point out how ridiculous that is, seeing as how almost no book ever takes me that long. Le Morte D'Arthur is definitely not a book that can be taken on lightly.
I read this book as part of the Medieval Challenge, which ended a few days ago. I wanted to read a couple of books that were actually written during Medieval times, but that may have been my downfall with this particular challenge. Spending a month on one book for the challenge is not the best way to finish when your goal is six books. So, anyways, I will continue posting as I read the last two books I planned on for the challenge, but only here on my blog.
Le Morte D'Arthur is the classic written compilation of the stories of King Arthur. It was written by Sir Thomas Malory in the early 1400's and printed by William Caxton in 1485, after Malory's death. Malory himself wrote the stories that were already known in various other French and English translations. He brought them all together in written form. It is titled Le Morte D'Arthur because Caxton made a mistake in thinking that the title for the last part of the book was meant to be for the whole. The story is divided into twenty-one books, each one further divided into chapters which are then summarized by Caxton.
This book was almost impossible for me to finish, for a variety of reasons. First, it is over 900 pages long. Secondly, it is written in Old/Middle English, which is not easy to read quickly. I would have given up on it, except for the fact that I really did want to read the book in its entirety - I really wanted to know the original stories that are the basis for so much modern (and past) fantasy, in books and movies. I was unprepared for the repetativeness of the story. There are endless listings of knights, jousts, tourneys, and a flock of nameless damosels, maidens, and gentlewomen. (The only women that need names, it seems, are those who stick around for more than a chapter or two, or those who are exceptionally good or evil; knights on the other hand get to have multiple names no matter how unimportant.) It is interesting to see how the stories are used as moral examples for their times - especially in the Holy Grail chapters, only the knights that are the most pure and holy have a chance of finding what they seek, and then they get the honor of dying and going straight to heaven when their quest is done.
All in all, I am honestly glad to say that I have read this book, but I would not necessarily recommend it to anyone. If there is a good modern version out there, one that doesn't alter the story in any way, but just makes it easier to read, that may be the way to go.
I also read this book for the Really Old Classics Challenge and the Centuries Challenge. This is the first book read for both of those, although I do have a stack sitting by of really old classics to read. For the Centuries Challenge, this book obviously qualifies for the 15th century.

Challenges for the new year

I am well aware of the fact that I have severely over-extended myself in terms of the challenges that I signed up for for 2009. You may have noticed that my list just keeps getting longer and longer, and I'm sure you are wondering if I've lost my mind. The answer: probably. I will be discussing next year's challenges in more depth at the end of this month, or the beginning of the next. For now, I wanted to bring up two that I have signed up for that are going on now, but that will finish before the end of next year. (I have already mentioned the From the Stacks Challenge, which will be wrapping up at the end of January.)
The first of the two that I have not yet read anything for (shame on me!) is the Medieval Challenge. This one goes until the 8th of February, 2009. This means that I better get a move on, since I signed up to read six titles. So far on my list are one non-fiction about the time period, one book written during the time period, and a modern book about the time period. (I plan on doing two each.) The titles are: Medieval Britain: the age of chivalry by Lloyd and Jennifer Laing; The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer; and Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks.
For the second challenge, the Really Old Classics Challenge, I somehow went just a little bit insane and decided that I would read 29 books on this topic. I think I wasn't thinking very clearly that day, but now I feel like I can't go back on that number. Silly, right? Anyways, the challenge runs until the end of July 2009, so I have more time. The idea for this challenge is to read the classics written before the 1600's. I have already read a few in past years, so my goal is to read titles that are new to me. If I run out, rereading these classics is never a bad thing.

Oh, and on a completely separate note - I will be out of town for the next week or so. I may manage to get a review up, if I finish a book and have the time (not likely), but don't hold your breath.
Happy Holidays everyone!!