Dec 31, 2013Moby Dick Or The WhaleI first read Moby Dick when I was around 12, enjoying the Adventure and Fun Names and Cool Whale Facts, struggling through the passages that I did not understand or were boring - in an attempt to prove to myself or others that I was Smart. Listening to it again 15 years later I am forced to admit that the mere mechanical process of reading, understanding words and plot and making it from the front cover to the back is not necessarily indicative of understanding, appreciation, of Being Cultured. But also, looking back, I did not entirely miss.
May 19, 2023The IliadLots of X begat Y, lots of and Petracliffs, he had 50 black ships too. But I mean surely this was just the Avengers, a few millennia ago? Of a comparable level of cultural cachet! And the parts that were not lists had some quite-frankly surprisingly good writing, probably even better than the Avengers. A good reminder that even way back in the olden days people liked to be entertained and could be entertaining