When in Rome

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A Book that made you ask "What did I just Read?"

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Not about the entire book, but when I read the ending of The Grapes of Wrath (people who have read it will know what I am talking about) I definitely asked myself WTF I just read before I started thinking about what he was trying to convey, the symbolism and meaning etc. which helped me digest it. That for me came out of nowhere. lol.

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late night before bed instead of watching TV?

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This. I read a little bit every night and during pockets of downtime. I virtually watch zero TV now.

I only read physical copies of books; mainly hardcovers. In case you’re looking for recs, my last several reads (all good!):

The Three Musketeers (current read)
The Master and Margarita
The Count of Monte Cristo
Tender is the Night
Lonesome Dove
The Grapes of Wrath
East of Eden
Cormac McCarthy’s border trilogy
Blood Meridian


And I’ll always recommend Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. War and Peace is my favorite novel of all time. I also love A Confederacy of Dunces.

If you are looking for an entertaining nonfiction I’d recommend the memoirs of Richard Feynman.

I find that classic literature enriches the mind and the soul. Much better bang for your buck than all the viral self help books out there.

I’d probably quote Feynman:



If not that, I’d probably pick something from Meditations. That Marcus Aurelius knew how to concisely impart wisdom.

Have you made your list yet?

I have learned in delving into these classics that for all of the novels originally written in non-English, there are often multiple translations from over the years by different scholars who interpret the words differently. There is not necessarily one "regular version" of a translated novel; rather, there can be multiple translations of the same story that can vary slightly or widely. Some translators tend to stick to what they think the author meant, while others take into account words that might make more sense in today's day and age, for example. So now, when I find a book I want to read, I do some research (mainly Reddit or a chatbot :lol:) to find out which translation people tend to gravitate toward. What I like about Pevear and Volrhonsky is that they typically include excellent footnotes that explain a lot about what the author references throughout a novel. They wrote the English version of War and Peace I read, and then I just kind of stuck with them for Russian/French literature after that. However, I just read the Master and Margarita translated by them and noticed that readers tended to prefer the Ginsburg translation for a better feel for the story combined wtih Pevear's footnotes to go more deeply into the references.

I have seen examples of translators doing really poor translation jobs in trying to make it their own. For example, recently this lady, Emily Wilson, tried translating the Iliad and the Odyssey and was lambasted for her over-simplification of the language, effectively ruining the story for readers. Someone created a great table to show hers side by side with previous translations, and I think this is a good example of why picking a good translation is important for the reading experience:

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Started The Three Musketeers because of this thread. Burning through it. Definitely a similar vibe to The Count of Monte Cristo.

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I just ordered the Pevear translation and will start it when it comes in. I'm excited!

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some of the lengthy narrative descriptions of the farmland just didn't do it for me.

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This is what made it so great!

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Agreed.

I was lucky to enjoy a fantastic dinner with him among other friends during the running of the bulls in Pamplona one year. He had a vast knowledge of the subject and provided some interesting insights. He actually wrote a great book about Pamplona/San Fermin/running of the bulls for those who might be interested: amazon

Oh, maybe it’s this new series coming out that doesn’t have Vampa! I read it in an old TD thread.

Okay I may have to give the movie a try!

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Jeremy Irons is Abbe Faria

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Oooh this is exciting. I will probably watch this series first. I can't stand when movies/shows aren't faithful to the books so I am hesitant to watch the 2002 movie, despite it having good reviews.