Oh, joy

[gershwyn]

I have just now learned that Ursula K. Le Guin has a new book coming out. The book is a re-telling of the last 6 books of the Aeneid from the point of view of Lavinia, princess-bride-to-be (who, incidentally, does not speak a single word in the original epic

Comments

[briseur]

Do I have to read the Aeneid first to get this?

[gershwyn]

No, I mean, it might reduce the awesome factor (slightly) for you if you're not familiar with the story (though, honestly, I am myself more familiar with the first 6 books then I am with the last 6.) You're more than welcome to borrow mine after I've read it a couple times (give me a day or so.)

It's supposed to come out in April. It's April dammit. Where's my book!?

[vilurum]

There's definitely room for improvement. The last six books of the Aeneid aren't nearly as interesting as the first six in the first place. And I'd definitely like to see Lavinia's POV, because you're right, she never says anything. I mean, what if she was totally nuts over Turnus but thought Aeneas was just some pushy loser that her dad was making her marry?

Incidentally, have you ever read Ovid's Metamorphoses? I'm only just now reading them for the first time for a class and I'm most upset that I hadn't read them earlier. Io-turned-bovine scratches her name in the sand with her hoof to try to identify herself (since she can't talk and all), Hermes fusses with his hair and polishes his sandles to try to seduce a mortal, and other such awesomeness.

[gershwyn]

To be fair, there was that whole dying before he could finish it thing. But I agree, the first 6 books were much more enjoyable.

I have read some of the Metamorphoses in school, but I don't think all of them (I remember Baucis and Philemon the best). Let me check the shelf-of-classics-I-picked-up-on-a-whim...... hey, score! Now I know what to read to tide me over.