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    Big book bucket list

    Three books I'm determined to finish before the dude in the hoodie with the big razor shows up. I've started them all but it's early days yet. In order of purchase they are:

    Don Quixote.

    The Tale of Genji

    The Arabian Nights.


    As you can see they're all old, Don Quixote: early-17th century Spain: Genji: early-11th century Japan: Arabian Nights: possibly sometime in the early middle ages(?) They have several other characteristics in common. They're all fat, between 800-1000pp. None were written in English, so translation is very much part of the reading experience. Finally all are episodic, with short(ish) chapters making it easy to put one down for awhile to read something else.

    Don Quixote is the John Rutherford translation which, I think, is the one Imp recommended here a while back. It is extremely contemporary and accessible, also very funny in a Pythonish sense. I completely understand why Terry Gilliam wanted to film it. The relationship between the Knight and Sancho Panza also evokes, to me, Blackadder and Baldrick. Whether this is down to Rutherford's Englishness or a straightforward representation of Cervantes intent I can't yet say.

    Translation is also an issue with the Tale of Genji. Arthur Waley's is by far the most famous, and though readable, it's not immediately engaging and comes across as a bit flat. I can't help but wonder whether a middle-class 19th century English Bloomsberry-ite, who'd never visited East Asia, can really get inside the soul of a lady of the Heian period imperial court. Or whether anyone can at this distance. I will persist, but might take a look at other translations.

    Of the three books The Arabian Nights is the one I find most hard to stop reading. It's got so much going for it. Loads of sex and violence. Fantastic plots. Stories within stories within stories. Gender politics. Jaw dropping Jinn's, and preposterous plot devices. It's one of those books you think you know, because we've heard or seen some of the stories since we were kids. But, honestly they're nothing like Sir Richard Burton's versions. It's uncanny but you can tell immediately that he profoundly understands what he's doing, in a way that I doubt Waley does. The magic is there from the first sentence. Glorious stuff.

    #2
    I am virtually certain that I have noted on here before that I have started Genji at least four times over the last 40 years without making it very far.

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      #3
      Yes fairly recently. After I mentioned I obtained my copy, clearly never opened, from the local book bin.

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        #4
        There was a fascinating exhibition at the Met on its artistic legacy about three years ago that I visited several times (as well as attending lectures).

        I've read most of the catalogue for that.

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          #5
          Were any opinions expressed on the different translations? I might look at Edward Seidensticker's, or Royall Tyler's to see if they resonate more with me.

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            #6
            I found the first penguin volume of the Arabian Nights quite hard going. Maybe just a little slow, but probably a more accurate translation than most.

            I got the first volume of a modern translation of the Journey to the West. I have not yet started it.

            I'd also like to read Dream of the Red Chamber and Romance of the Three Kingdoms (although I read a discussion that there was no good, unabridged English version of the three kingdoms (the penguin abridgement is meant to be pretty good though).

            I have The Tale of the Heiki to read on my shelf as well.

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              #7
              Unfortunately not, the focus was very much on the visual, though the last room was devoted to a recent Manga version, which is highly regarded.

              I had forgotten that Seidensticker had done one. He wrote two valuable histories of Tokyo.

              This Ian Buruma New Yorker piece on various translations may be of interest

              https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...t-books-buruma

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                #8
                My experience with Don Quixote (no idea whose translation, but it was dirt cheap which suggests not a great one) was that I kinda understood that it was amusing, but I never got caught up in it. about 20% of the way in, after several months of battle, I just got worn down and gave up.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by ursus arctos View Post
                  Unfortunately not, the focus was very much on the visual, though the last room was devoted to a recent Manga version, which is highly regarded.

                  I had forgotten that Seidensticker had done one. He wrote two valuable histories of Tokyo.

                  This Ian Buruma New Yorker piece on various translations may be of interest

                  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...t-books-buruma
                  That's helpful. He tends to favour Tyler's translation, but admits that it's impossible to come up with anything definitive these days, even in Japanese.

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                    #10
                    I read a cut down version of Don Quixote at my grandparents' about fifty years ago. Don't remember much about it.

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
                      The Arabian Nights is the one I find most hard to stop reading. It's got so much going for it. Loads of sex and violence. Fantastic plots. Stories within stories within stories. Gender politics. Jaw dropping Jinn's, and preposterous plot devices.
                      The stuff of fever dreams. I'm in the middle of The Porter and the Three Ladies of Baghdad. Once again women control the story and, by inference, life itself.

                      Précis. A porter meets a beautiful affluent women in the market. At her request he collects a large quantity of food and takes it back to a luxurious house, shared with two ladies. To thank the porter they regale him with food and drink. As they party several other men arrive. Including three beggars, all blind in one eye, and a wealthy Wazir. The party continues, until two naked black females* in chains are dragged into the room and brutally beaten by one of the ladies. All the visiting men are outraged, which the three women regard as an insult to their hospitality. They threaten the visitors with execution unless they come up with a satisfactory reason why they should be spared. The porter gets off because he was only asked to deliver produce, the others have to come up with a compensatory story. And so the tale, within a tale, within a tale continues... Incredible stuff to have in your head before you fall asleep.

                      * Being black is to be virtually sub-human in these stories.

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                        #12
                        My wife has read the Tale of Genji and wishes she hasn't, which is enough to put it off my list.

                        Water Margin/Romance of the Three Kingdoms/Journey to the West are all on my list, I've started RotK three or so times and bounced off of it fairly quickly each go-round.

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                          #13
                          I still haven't read War and Peace and Ellroy's recent ones are getting up to the 800+ size

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by scratchmonkey View Post
                            My wife has read the Tale of Genji and wishes she hasn't, which is enough to put it off my list.
                            She finished it?

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
                              She finished it?
                              Yup, as part of her literature degree. She's also extremely stubborn.

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                                #16
                                Originally posted by Felicity, I guess so View Post
                                I still haven't read War and Peace and Ellroy's recent ones are getting up to the 800+ size
                                I’m starting to think his mad dog rep is played up to scare the publishers away from suggesting editing.

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                                  #17
                                  All the big Stephen King books, I'm still reading "IT" a good 6 months after starting it and have read 2 other books in this time. I'd really love to read "The Stand" but my Stephen King fix happens about once every 2 years, never disappoints.

                                  Other then that, there's so much Russian literature I would love to read. I read Anna Karenina at university and loved it (hated most of the stuff I had to read) and have always had War and Peace in my wishlist, but just never got the courage. I also wish I'd tried to read Ulysses at university, I love Dubliners and Portrait of an Artists... I've dipped into a few pages of Ulysses online and it looks bloody hard going, but one day I'll try.

                                  The thing with big books through, is that there are so many great smaller books I have yet to read. The investment needed in a big book is huge, you really need to know it's going to pay off and you are going to experience 2 to 3 months of fun, not torment.

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                                    #18
                                    With Ulysses I just hate Buck Mulligan so much, and fucking Stephen too. I got about 200 pages into it, then flicked through for the set pieces like the delirium in the brothel.

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                                      #19
                                      I started rereading Infinite Jest for maybe the 4th time since first read over 20 years ago, nah. What dazzled me even 10 years ago is really annoying now. The whole Marathe/Steepley bit, fucking dire. The snide superior yet show-offy needy authorial voice just too fucking much.
                                      Last edited by Lang Spoon; 11-11-2021, 16:43.

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                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by steveeeeeeeee View Post
                                        The thing with big books through, is that there are so many great smaller books I have yet to read. The investment needed in a big book is huge, you really need to know it's going to pay off and you are going to experience 2 to 3 months of fun, not torment.
                                        You're quite right. That was a big consideration when I chose the three at the top of the thread. They're all episodic, so easy to put down and read several smaller books between chapters. The Arabian Nights lends itself particularly well to that approach, as there's a repetitiveness in the story structures that would be tedious otherwise.

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                                          #21
                                          The last big book I read was Bolano's 2666, but I'm a massive fan of Bolano and knew it would be worth it. But goodness, the Part About the Killings was one of the most horrific and drawn out pieces of literature I have ever read. Utterly essential aspect of the book when you finish it and I still have frequent moments where something triggers a memory of the book and I consider its messages and meaning, it's definitely a masterpiece and that's what you want from a big book.

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                                            #22
                                            Seconding 2666, an absolute edifice of a book, the section you mention is compelling reading even as it curdles your blood.

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