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Wednesday, reading, meme, baa:
Finished The Wheel, the Horse, and Language by David W. Anthony, which was as crunchy and chewy as hoped to the end. I'm not competent to evaluate either the linguistics or the archeology, but if Anthony's account of both sets of evidence holds, it's a pretty compelling argument for the prehistory of the Indo-European peoples (especially the Indo-Iranian subfamily, where the archeological evidence is strongest).
Puttering on with The Library of the World's Best Literature ed. by Warner et al. From which, another "—the heck?" moment in poetry: for Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered they use a mix of Fairfax's vigorous Elizabethan translation (previously 1, 2) and minor Romantic poet Jeremiah Holmes Wiffen's into Spenserian stanzas. Yes, this is a real thing (link to scan of the 1858 (6th) reprinting). Reviewers at the time were critical of the choice, at least. But, still—the heck? (Wiffen was, btw, a Quaker, and also translated Garcilasso de la Vega.)
And at odd moments, scattered poetry from anthologies and collections by Edward Thomas and William Ernest Henley.
Amusing library find of the week: A Is for Activism by Innosanto Nagara, as a board-book. All the librarians were like, "Why didn't I know about this? It's awesome!" And yes, X is for Malcolm X.
---L.
Subject quote from "Call and Answer," Barenaked Ladies.
Finished The Wheel, the Horse, and Language by David W. Anthony, which was as crunchy and chewy as hoped to the end. I'm not competent to evaluate either the linguistics or the archeology, but if Anthony's account of both sets of evidence holds, it's a pretty compelling argument for the prehistory of the Indo-European peoples (especially the Indo-Iranian subfamily, where the archeological evidence is strongest).
Puttering on with The Library of the World's Best Literature ed. by Warner et al. From which, another "—the heck?" moment in poetry: for Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered they use a mix of Fairfax's vigorous Elizabethan translation (previously 1, 2) and minor Romantic poet Jeremiah Holmes Wiffen's into Spenserian stanzas. Yes, this is a real thing (link to scan of the 1858 (6th) reprinting). Reviewers at the time were critical of the choice, at least. But, still—the heck? (Wiffen was, btw, a Quaker, and also translated Garcilasso de la Vega.)
And at odd moments, scattered poetry from anthologies and collections by Edward Thomas and William Ernest Henley.
Amusing library find of the week: A Is for Activism by Innosanto Nagara, as a board-book. All the librarians were like, "Why didn't I know about this? It's awesome!" And yes, X is for Malcolm X.
---L.
Subject quote from "Call and Answer," Barenaked Ladies.