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by snausages 3077 days ago
What types of books have you read that you've found helped the most with your critical faculties and such?

This year I've finally got around to Infinite Jest. I don't know that I'm enjoying the book itself so much as I enjoy the mental exercise that I get from its reading, if any of that makes sense.
1 comments
EarthIsHome 3077 days ago
> What types of books have you read that you've found helped the most with your critical faculties and such?

In this area, I feel I've learned the most from reading commentary in the New Yorker.

For enjoyment, I've read:

* Stories of Your Life and Others by Chiang

* The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson

* What The F by Bergen

* Blindsight by Watts

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davidmr 3077 days ago
Have you read any of the other Odyssey translations? I'm very curious Wilson's translation. I read the Fagles, Latimore, and Fitzgerald translations in college and did a few weeks of translation myself in our Greek class (I went to one of those hippy-dippy "Great Books" schools).

I think I was in the minority, but I found the Fagles translation to be far and away the best. I definitely subscribe more to the school of poetic translation than literal translation, so I was intrigued by the Wilson translation. What were your thoughts?

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EarthIsHome 3077 days ago
I haven't read Fagles' translation or any others. I wouldn't have picked up the Odyssey if it weren't for reviews from others [0] and reading articles [1][2]. I really enjoy her translation, and I wish I could compare hers with others. As someone who knows very little about Greek mythology, I found her 70-page introduction in the Odyssey to be a great primer on what to expect in the epic. After her introduction, she has a shorter translator's note discussing some decisions she made in her translation. If I remember correctly, she does throw a little shade at other translators in the introduction or translator's note.

[0]: Comments from other HN readers, some who have read Fagles' translation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15624881

[1]: A note from Wilson in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/a-translators-re...

[2]: NYT article: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/magazine/the-first-wom...

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