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meteordustThe Iliad by Homer
Like most people, I was familiar with the story of the Trojan War, but until recently I'd never actually read The Iliad itself. It was an enlightening experience, although I did find the text pretty heavy going, partly because of how dense it was, and partly because of the alien style of the narrative and the idiom used. The translation I read was the one rendered into English prose by Samuel Butler. In hindsight, I probably should have picked a verse translation - The Iliad is meant to be a poem, and I think it would have been easier to get through that way.
The story itself begins nine years into the war, just before Agammemnon and Achilles have their big falling out. What surprised me was how much *wasn't* in The Iliad. The oath sworn by Helen's suitors, the choice of Paris, Cassandra's prophecies - even the bloody wooden horse isn't in it. Yes, you read that right - the Trojan Horse isn't in The Iliad. In fact, the book finishes right after Hector's funeral. I was like, "What? What? What happened to the horse? The death of Achilles? The sack of Troy?" I mean, I knew the tale of Troy was a loose collection of myths, but I'd assumed that The Iliad would contain the main body of it.
Also, the gods are such meddling bastards! It's all their fault. Jove is a big bully, always threatening the rest of the gods. (And I'd forgotten that Jove and Juno are brother and sister as well as husband and wife - which explains a lot about their dysfunctional offspring.) Venus is an interfering, whiny bitch. (I can't believe she snatched Paris out of the duel when he was losing!) Paris is such a coward. (Even Helen tells him that Menelaus is braver than he.) Hector is pretty cool. (Apart from the bit about wanting to feed Patroclus's body to the dogs.) Diomed rocks. (He stabbed Venus in the hand! And he wasn't afraid to go after Mars either!) And Patroclus - what a warrior. He only got taken down because Apollo himself smacked him in the back of the head and knocked his helmet off. (Yeah, the gods play dirty...)
And my personal highlight? When the Patroclus appears to Achilles as a ghost, and says to him:
"Let not my bones be laid apart from yours."
Oh yes. There's a reason that line is immortal. Well, I melted anyway, but then again I'm a romantic at heart.
The recently released movie Troy is 'inspired by' The Iliad.
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Yeah, this is the one about the gay cowboys. Brokeback Mountain is the story of Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, and the summer they spend herding sheep together up on Brokeback Mountain. It's a summer whose consequences echo throughout their lives.
Brokeback Mountain is more of a short story than a novel, and although it has been published as a standalone volume, I read it as part of Annie Proulx's collection Close Range: Wyoming Stories. Like the other stories in that book, it paints a harsh and unforgiving picture of the harsh and unforgiving lives of the men and women who live the rancher's life.
I'm usually not so much into literary fiction, but Proulx's command of language and eye for detail is impressive enough to be absorbing, even though - or perhaps because - the world she portrays is so bleak and real. Ironically, Brokeback Mountain is probably one of the less slit-your-wrists depressing stories in the collection, although the kindest you could call it is bittersweet.
Ang Lee is directing the movie of Brokeback Mountain, which is currently being filmed. It stars Heath Ledger as Ennis and Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack.
The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox
"On a summer evening in 1808," the blurb begins, "Sobran Jodeau stumbles through his family's vineyard in Burgundy, filled with wine and love sorrows. As Sobran sways in a drunken swoon, an angel appears out of nowhere to catch him..."
The angel is Xas, who travels the earth collecting roses for his garden, and this encounter between him and Sobran marks the beginning of a friendship that will last a lifetime. They make a pact to meet on the same night every year. Xas becomes Sobran's confidant and counsellor - and eventually, the two fall in love.
But The Vintner's Luck isn't a love story in the usual sense, even though the relationship between Sobran and Xas is the thread that winds through it all. It's the story of a life - Sobran's life - and all the family, friends, loves, successes, tragedies, and realisations that fill it. It's about the changes, large and small, that Xas triggers in Sobran's life, and the ways Sobran, in his turn, ends up affecting Xas's life. Not exactly the nineteenth century slash version of Beaches, but it comes pretty close.
This is the kind of book that draws you in slowly but inexorably. Each chapter covers a year, and there's a real sense of the passage of time and the depth and breadth of a human life. A complex, subtle, and layered story, and one which I'd recommend.
The movie rights for this book have recently been picked up. It's going to be a hell of a challenge to film - the story spans decades, and you'd have to pick out just one or two threads from the dozen or so that run through the book. The word is that Niki Caro, who did Whale Rider, will be directing the movie.
Like most people, I was familiar with the story of the Trojan War, but until recently I'd never actually read The Iliad itself. It was an enlightening experience, although I did find the text pretty heavy going, partly because of how dense it was, and partly because of the alien style of the narrative and the idiom used. The translation I read was the one rendered into English prose by Samuel Butler. In hindsight, I probably should have picked a verse translation - The Iliad is meant to be a poem, and I think it would have been easier to get through that way.
The story itself begins nine years into the war, just before Agammemnon and Achilles have their big falling out. What surprised me was how much *wasn't* in The Iliad. The oath sworn by Helen's suitors, the choice of Paris, Cassandra's prophecies - even the bloody wooden horse isn't in it. Yes, you read that right - the Trojan Horse isn't in The Iliad. In fact, the book finishes right after Hector's funeral. I was like, "What? What? What happened to the horse? The death of Achilles? The sack of Troy?" I mean, I knew the tale of Troy was a loose collection of myths, but I'd assumed that The Iliad would contain the main body of it.
Also, the gods are such meddling bastards! It's all their fault. Jove is a big bully, always threatening the rest of the gods. (And I'd forgotten that Jove and Juno are brother and sister as well as husband and wife - which explains a lot about their dysfunctional offspring.) Venus is an interfering, whiny bitch. (I can't believe she snatched Paris out of the duel when he was losing!) Paris is such a coward. (Even Helen tells him that Menelaus is braver than he.) Hector is pretty cool. (Apart from the bit about wanting to feed Patroclus's body to the dogs.) Diomed rocks. (He stabbed Venus in the hand! And he wasn't afraid to go after Mars either!) And Patroclus - what a warrior. He only got taken down because Apollo himself smacked him in the back of the head and knocked his helmet off. (Yeah, the gods play dirty...)
And my personal highlight? When the Patroclus appears to Achilles as a ghost, and says to him:
"Let not my bones be laid apart from yours."
Oh yes. There's a reason that line is immortal. Well, I melted anyway, but then again I'm a romantic at heart.
The recently released movie Troy is 'inspired by' The Iliad.
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Yeah, this is the one about the gay cowboys. Brokeback Mountain is the story of Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, and the summer they spend herding sheep together up on Brokeback Mountain. It's a summer whose consequences echo throughout their lives.
Brokeback Mountain is more of a short story than a novel, and although it has been published as a standalone volume, I read it as part of Annie Proulx's collection Close Range: Wyoming Stories. Like the other stories in that book, it paints a harsh and unforgiving picture of the harsh and unforgiving lives of the men and women who live the rancher's life.
I'm usually not so much into literary fiction, but Proulx's command of language and eye for detail is impressive enough to be absorbing, even though - or perhaps because - the world she portrays is so bleak and real. Ironically, Brokeback Mountain is probably one of the less slit-your-wrists depressing stories in the collection, although the kindest you could call it is bittersweet.
Ang Lee is directing the movie of Brokeback Mountain, which is currently being filmed. It stars Heath Ledger as Ennis and Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack.
The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox
"On a summer evening in 1808," the blurb begins, "Sobran Jodeau stumbles through his family's vineyard in Burgundy, filled with wine and love sorrows. As Sobran sways in a drunken swoon, an angel appears out of nowhere to catch him..."
The angel is Xas, who travels the earth collecting roses for his garden, and this encounter between him and Sobran marks the beginning of a friendship that will last a lifetime. They make a pact to meet on the same night every year. Xas becomes Sobran's confidant and counsellor - and eventually, the two fall in love.
But The Vintner's Luck isn't a love story in the usual sense, even though the relationship between Sobran and Xas is the thread that winds through it all. It's the story of a life - Sobran's life - and all the family, friends, loves, successes, tragedies, and realisations that fill it. It's about the changes, large and small, that Xas triggers in Sobran's life, and the ways Sobran, in his turn, ends up affecting Xas's life. Not exactly the nineteenth century slash version of Beaches, but it comes pretty close.
This is the kind of book that draws you in slowly but inexorably. Each chapter covers a year, and there's a real sense of the passage of time and the depth and breadth of a human life. A complex, subtle, and layered story, and one which I'd recommend.
The movie rights for this book have recently been picked up. It's going to be a hell of a challenge to film - the story spans decades, and you'd have to pick out just one or two threads from the dozen or so that run through the book. The word is that Niki Caro, who did Whale Rider, will be directing the movie.
