Okay, first of all, I have read Beowulf twice before. I will not read this copy/translation of Beowulf that I bought at Ollie's for $2.99.
I read the Introduction, all 16 pages, as any good reader does and started the story . That was pages 1-104. Then was Notes-pages 105-237. THEN, there came the glossary of Proper Names, pages 239-249. Sorry, but I am not in the mood. I will get a fully translated copy with the pertinent information in footnotes.
Well, I don't mind looking up an occasional word that is written in Old English. However, the first page must have had ten items to look up in the back of the book. I checked and it was exactly ten!
When I discovered that half the book was definitions, I called it quits. That is just too much flipping back and forth for me right now. Or, maybe ever! If I were assigned this book as a textbook, I would read an easier (better or more translation) version to get the story and then read this one.
I am not looking for the easy way out when I read. But, this is just too much for a fun read. The original text is written in Old English/Anglo Saxon. I need the definition of most all the words. The Canterbury Tales was written in Middle English, and I can/could slog my way through the original without the help of a dictionary, although it does help for perfect understanding.
This translation was written in the 19th century, so the language is very different anyway and really okay. But, throw in Old English into 19th century writing, and I am very tired of the efforts I will have to expend before I even get past the first page.
I got books and I got a light and chose the wrong book!
So, now I feel obligated to get a fully translated version of Beowulf. Have you read Beowulf? What will cause you to give up on a book other than the fact you cannot stand it, or it is boring?
Saturday night, I was going to bed about 2 am, carrying the clothes I forgot to hang to dry. So, I put a nightgown on a hanger and headed from the bedroom into the hall. I heard water trickling like the shower was barely running. I hung up the nightgown and opened the bathroom door that was shut so it was just a crack. As I went to the shower and was passing the commode, I still heard the trickle but it was coming from the side, the commode.
Water was pouring over the top of the porcelain. I bent to the cutoff and could not turn it. It has been there since 1965. So, I frantically took the back off the tank. The flap was stuck in an open/up position. I put the flap back into position. When the water went down, I tried to flush to see if it would drain now. Nope!
Of course, Tommy had to pee and was heading outdoors, but I told him to pee in the commode. Then, I had to pee so many times all day Sunday. Then, I had a solid situation and no place else to go. I accidentally put tp in 3 times. The rest I remembered to not put in.
Tommy headed back to the recliner and I tried to sleep. Then, I decided the soaked towels might ruin the tiles/grout. Soooo, I got back up and put those in the bathtub. Tommy put the soaked run in the shower sometime in the night.
When I got up, Tommy had tried to reach a plumber. Then, I had him call again. Then, I told him to try one more time. He found a different number, a cell phone, and he called that.
Then, he went out to hang the soppy towels on his ramp. He somehow did NOT get the phone in the cradle...so I had him call again. I thought maybe the guy had tried to call and got a busy number. The plumber called right back and cannot come until 9 am. He told us to just do what we had to in the commode.
It has been a long day!
Have you ever faced a reading that you did not want to finish? Have you ever read Beowulf?
I remember reading portions of a translated Beowulf in 9th-grade English. All I remember about it now is Grendel’s arm being torn off. Same teacher in 12th-grade English had us memorize the first 18 lines of the Prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English (this was all back in the 1950s).. In my college sophomore year in World Lit we read a modern English translation of the complete Tales and I was scandaliized by all the 4-letter Angle-Saxon words. It probably helped prepare me for Lady Chatterley’s Lover later. I am still blushing.
ReplyDeleteI did Beowulf in 8th grade, in 50's, Canterbury Tales memorizing in 60s, and more tales in 70's, and 9os. I was an English major. There are scandalous words that you probably never realized in lots of prose.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing worse than plumbing issues and/or water overflow issues from one of several places in the house. It's a good thing you have a commode and hopefully the plumber makes it at the stated time. As for Beowulf, my high school English teacher (who should have been a university professor) read some of Beowulf to the class. He was English. I don't recall whether her also translated for us but I'm pretty sure he would have for our benefit. Decades later I tried to Beowulf on my own. There was no translation or explanation in footnotes or otherwise. So I gave up on it. I may try again one day with a version that will help me understand it. I very seldom give up on books I've started to read though I have given up on a few. It's usually because it's too boring. I never did try to read Canterbury's Tales but I did go to a movie of same many years ago. I walked out. I found it not to my taste at all. I have never, ever walked out of a movie before or since so I doubt I will try reading the book.
ReplyDeleteJoyful,
DeleteAt this point, the commode is filling up with our waste and we do not dare flush it.
If the teacher did not read a translation, he might as well have been reading Swahili to you. Beowulf in Old English is not accessible to us without translation. However, Canterbury is accessible with a bit of help if not translation.
p.s. In university I studied Canadian literature not English literature. I wish I could have done both.
ReplyDeletehmmm, I have only read a bit of Canadian literature.
DeleteEveryone should try to read from other cultures that's why I chose Canadian literature. In other words, it's good to study one's own culture too. But I love all kinds of cultures and would have loved to study English literature and more American literature. My English teacher wanted me to major in literature but I already had my path settled. I currently read a lot of books written by authors from many other countries.
DeleteJoyful,
DeleteAll true. I have read lots from other cultures.
I read Beowulf once and have no compulsion to ever re-read it. It's kind of like Joyce's Ulysses__once was enough.
ReplyDeleteAnne,
DeleteBoth are rather dense. Reading either takes commitment, even the first time.
I tried my best as a teenager to read The Grapes of Wrath. It wasn't an assignment, but I have a love for literature. I could not get into it. I worked on that book for months. I finally trudged through to the end and hated it. I've never taken it up again to give it another chance.
ReplyDeleteI try to read at least one classic per year that I have never read before. I often re-read Jane Eyre as it is my favorite. I'm currently enrolled in graduate school, so I haven't read as much for pleasure as normal.
Alice,
DeleteGrad school practically destroyed my reading for pleasure habit. I read nothing for pleasure! But I have recovered, thankfully. Good for you!
I imagine as an English major, grad school would do just that - destroy reading for pleasure. Thankfully, my course of study is Public Financial Management. I need the reading for pleasure as an escape sometimes.
DeleteOne semester, I took 3 grad level English courses and was in heaven. I did nothing but read. I would have to escape with your course of study.
DeleteGosh you sound like you've been having the same "fun" with water leaks as I have. I hope it's fixed now. And I had to read the Canterbury Tales for O'level too - hated it. I'm happy to look up definitions when I'm reading but not constantly, so I don't blame you for giving up on that book!
ReplyDeleteTreaders,
ReplyDeleteFun fun FUN! Canterbury Tales is a piece of cake compared to Beowulf. I don't mind looking up words either, but 100 pages of text and more Notes and Glossary is just not going to happen with me right now.
At 71 I read only for pleasure and I buy LOTS of books, almost always used if I can get them. I spent years working my way through local libraries and they no longer have anything I want.
ReplyDeleteI do, occasionally, find I have made a mistake in a purchase and I don't make myself finish. There is no reason to do so, and I do not keep the book. I always have a box going in the spare room of things that will be donated to the thrift store. When a book is dull or very upsetting it goes into that box.
There are several books in my history that I have tried to read more than once and simply could not. "Angela's Ashes" comes to mind. Some things are too upsetting for me to wade through.
Anne,
DeleteI don't think I have ever found a book too upsetting. I have always meant to read "Angela's Ashes" but I will put it on my list.
One book that was almost too upsetting for me to continue reading was The Kitchen House. The first 80 - 100 pages were almost more than I could bear. But if you can make it past that point, the rest of the book is quite interesting. It is a plantation era historical fiction that shows the plight of indentured servants.
DeleteAlice,
DeleteI have never heard of that book. I will have to look into that. thanks.
Beowulf highly over rated but read and dissected.
ReplyDeleteKim,
DeleteIt has great merit in my opinion.
Do this -
ReplyDeletegot to Youtube
go to Overly Sarcastic Productions / Beowulf
it has a fun spot-on summary cartoon lecture of the saga.
Jolly good fun !
Urspo,
DeleteThanks. I will.