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Monday, August 30, 2010

The Really Old Classics Challenge

Now that the end is in sight for my Birth Year Reading Challenge (four more to go!), I just wouldn't feel right if I had less than three challenges going at a time. The Really Old Classics Challenge has caught my eye. It gives me the perfect excuse to read Dante's Divine Comedy which has been on my TBR list forever (and I just got a terrific edition translated by Dorothy L Sayers). The challenge runs from September 1 to December 31, and the only requirement is to read one book originally written before 1600 AD (or CE if you prefer). They do, however, have a "Classicist" category which calls for four books if you want to stretch yourself. I wouldn't mind being able to impress my friends & neighbors with that title, but I don't know that I'll make it. We'll see. At the moment, I'm in for Dante.


Finished (click title for review):

The Divine Comedy 1: Hell (Read 9/19/10)
The Divine Comedy II: Purgatory (Read 9/26/10)
The Divine Comedy II: Paradise (Read 10/13/10)
Gilgamesh translated by Herbert Mason (Read 10/25/10)

For Extra Credit:
The Conference of the Birds by Jean-Claude Carriere and Peter Brooks and based on the original poem by Fard Uddi Attar (Read 10/19/10)

2 comments:

  1. Bev,

    You should totally do some Chaucer. Remember: Betsy's undergraduates from last year coined a term for particularly wonderful moments in Chaucer: "Chausome!" As in, "That Nun's Priest's Tale is Chausome!"

    I would recommend the Merchant's Tale as a starter--but the General Prologue to the CT is pretty good, too. There's always the Pardoner's Tale--a very good story, too.

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  2. Welcome aboard Bev. I'm know we are all really excited to see what you think of Dante, and if you feel like going for more, we've loved that to.

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