Book thread

[redbirdjazzz]

I've been reading "The Miller's Tale" with my wife. She had never read it before and has little patience with the Middle English. Fortunately I have an old paperback in Middle English--apparently all the recent printings are "translated".

Isn't that just an excerpt of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales?"

Yes.

One of the dirtiest of the funny ones, if I remember correctly.

We were reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English for a class at Wash U. One day, when discussing "The Miller's Tale," the professor (a tall, wiry gentleman who had to be 80) asked if everyone understood what the following line meant:

As clerkes ben ful subtile and ful queynte,
And prively he caughte hire by the queynte

When nobody responded, he stood up and said, "It means he grabbed her....like.....THIS!" as he reached down just below waist level and thrust his thin, bony hand violently outward, middle two fingers stuck together, as if someone were actually standing right in front of him. He held the pose for several seconds as his hand shook with conviction (or Parkinson's, I'm not quite sure). It was great.

That. Is. Spectacular.

[Smith Corks One]

I've been reading "The Miller's Tale" with my wife. She had never read it before and has little patience with the Middle English. Fortunately I have an old paperback in Middle English--apparently all the recent printings are "translated".

Isn't that just an excerpt of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales?"

Yes.

One of the dirtiest of the funny ones, if I remember correctly.

We were reading The Canterbury Tales in Middle English for a class at Wash U. One day, when discussing "The Miller's Tale," the professor (a tall, wiry gentleman who had to be 80) asked if everyone understood what the following line meant:

As clerkes ben ful subtile and ful queynte,
And prively he caughte hire by the queynte

When nobody responded, he stood up and said, "It means he grabbed her....like.....THIS!" as he reached down just below waist level and thrust his thin, bony hand violently outward, middle two fingers stuck together, as if someone were actually standing right in front of him. He held the pose for several seconds as his hand shook with conviction (or Parkinson's, I'm not quite sure). It was great.

John Morris' hands shook like that. But that might be before your time at Wash. U.

The name actually sounds right, but I'm not positive. This would have been early- to mid-nineties.

[TheoSqua]

I read Dear Mr. Henshaw in second grade. It was a good book.

[Vidor]

Already posted this on the main page. I'm posting it here, because I can.

Sept. 25, 2012

[thrill]

George RR Martin: Master Troll
http://goodqueensansa.tumblr.com/post/3 ... t-worldcon
He's writing a history of Westeros Similarionish thing before the Winds of Winter.

[Maclowery]

Just finished Jim Butcher's newest Dresden File novel, Cold Days. I didn't get anything else done today.

For those of you who are fans, holy crap this was probably the best one yet. For those who don't know, these are urban fantasy novels about a sarcastic and moody wizard in Chicago. The first few are like detective novels and are pretty goofy but fun. As the series has moved along, they have become a ton more epic, and Harry is now in the middle of a whole lot of serious [expletive]. It's super, super entertaining if you enjoy dorky fantasy stuff.

[heyzeus]

[Vidor]

Some time ago, I downloaded the 19th century Richard Burton translation of "The Thousand and One Nights". Since then I've been doggedly reading, taking breaks from time to time, coming back in idle moments. I've read 4612 pages of the file I downloaded, 963 Nights. I have about 200 pages left, I think. One interesting thing I found is that of the three most famous stories--"Aladdin", "Sinbad the Sailor", and "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", only Sinbad is in the main body of the Nights. The other two are in the six-volume apocrypha. (The reason for this is that all three are later additions by translators.)

This is the longest book I've ever read.

[Radbird]

This looks interesting. The kid's going to get it as a Christmas present.

[Freed Roger]

If you like an occassional biography of interesting character with local ties.

Somewhat timely, as a seque to Lincoln and the Civil War 150 year remembrances. Grant was an interesting dude. Civil War still is pretty mind-blowing at any angle. Grant was definitely in his element, running an army.