Despite a recent significant hiatus in my reading, I am about half-way through The Aeneid and enjoying it far more than even the greatest Science Fiction novel. However, I am reading the Fagles edition and definitely feel it is too modern and popularized for my taste. I did study classical literature at university and developed a preference for the more classical translations. Thus I naturally lean towards Richard Lattimore than John Fagles.
Of course this is squishy ground since I do stoop to reading any translation. If I were a purist (or elitist) I suppose I would read The Aeneid in Latin as Virgil intended; however, both my Latin and Greek suck (despite a concentrated one quarter cram course in both languages).
Many years ago I found myself scribbling loose notes whenever I ran across a book title that interested me. New title sources were all around me from literary reviews in periodicals I subscribed to, like NYRB and TLS, down to word on the street from both reliable and unreliable sources. I remember my sister jaw-boning me on the value of books by Glenn Beck. There they were, prominently displayed on her bookshelves (I didn’t have the heart to deny her love of the truth and I wondered how she had time to read them when she and her husband watched Fox News practically every waking minute of the day).
February being shorter might be assumed to be a lesser reading month, but historically it has often been a strong breakout month letting the longer months vie for the title of least books read. I guess it’s not the month but rather my mood.
