| Disclaimer: I shall try very
hard to put aside that Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition paperbacks
spoil readers anew with books that feel as if they are loved
from first detail to last just like the old days. I do this
because I don't want readers to assume I am being influenced
by the gorgeous pottery design used on the fold-over cover,
the heavy cover stock, the care taken to help readers fully
appreciate the contents with an introduction by Paul Cartledge,
an erudite but easy-to read introduction and preface by master
translator Tom Holland, and commentaries, notes, maps and
more for those who really want to dig into this, The Histories
by Herodotus.
I studied literature at several different colleges in my
day and tackled Herodotus a couple of times. Yawn. It was
about as entertaining and interesting as the long list of
the begats in Genesis. I decided to try it once again because
I have traveled more than I once had and have made practically
a fetish of delving into Greek mythology so I figured I am
better prepared for a project like this now. Besides, I came
at it with few illusions that it would be easy reading.
How glad I am that I didn't play chicken when I that little
voice told me to give Herodotus another chance.
Translator Tom Holland brings Herodotus alive again in this
millennium. His translation is certainly smart enough but
he retains Herodotus's colloquial voice, his humanity complete
with an almost childlike observations of his universe (for
the Greek world was getting much larger in his time), and
his quirkiness including his efforts to be unbiased but still
reveal how difficult that is for a historian who must rely
on the observations and third-person retellings of others.
In short: I laughed. I made notes in the margins including
exclamations marks at some of Herodotus's outrageous advice,
conclusions, and homilies. I promised myself I wouldn't, but
I found myself looking up things on the maps and checking
the notes in the back of the book.
This is not a book to be rushed. It is a book to be (slowly!)
devoured. I am an Egyptophile and especially loved Book II
on that part of the world. And I have become a forever-admirer
of the skill of translators like Tom Holland who can make
a book like this live again! |
