The Pirate King
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Gah. To start the book now or later?So I went out to Barnes and Noble yesterday and picked up a paperback of the unabridged MacAfee translation yesterday.
I bought it specifically for a big band/choir trip that my school is going on next week. Driving to Florida from Chicago--driving straight through, about 24 hours.
Depending if I end up on the same bus as my girlfriend or not, I may read either fervently or casually.
Should I start the book now or should I wait until the trip?
This is quite a dilemma.
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Orestes Fasting
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Start it now. I'm a speed-reader and it still always takes me a couple weeks to get through the book. Unless you're doing marathon reading sessions in the week before the trip, there is very little danger of finishing it early.
(Good choice of edition, by the way.)
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The Pirate King
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| Orestes Fasting wrote: |
(Good choice of edition, by the way.) |
Thanks. I heard it was by far the most readable of the translations, and who can say no to a $8 1500 page book?
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Orestes Fasting
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| The Pirate King wrote: | | Orestes Fasting wrote: |
(Good choice of edition, by the way.) |
Thanks. I heard it was by far the most readable of the translations, and who can say no to a $8 1500 page book? |
It is. It's based loosely on Charles Wilbour's version, which is a fine translation but rather archaic. Fahnestock and MacAfee "modernized" it, which isn't to say that Eponine walks around calling Marius her homeboy, just that they replaced a lot of Wilbour's more obviously archaic language and slang with words that now read fairly neutrally.
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LesMisForever
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I am an advocate of reading the book slowly. Even if you are a fast reader, try to pace yourself. The book is full of political, social, and historic comments. So, if you want to absorb it, read it slowly.
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Orestes Fasting
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And if you can't stop yourself from speed-reading, force yourself to stop whenever Hugo makes a reference to something you don't know and look it up.  It'd take you months like that.
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LesMisForever
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| Orestes Fasting wrote: | | And if you can't stop yourself from speed-reading, force yourself to stop whenever Hugo makes a reference to something you don't know and look it up. It'd take you months like that. |
What can i say. You remind me of myself when i was 18/19 *sigh*. I used to read as if my life depended on finishing books.
But, you know OF, there is nothing wrong with taking few months to read it. I always pose, think, and discuss the issue with myself after those mini-essays.
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Orestes Fasting
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Hey! It's not like I deliberately go through books like a weed-whacker, I just pick them up and get sucked in.
Les Mis is definitely one to read slowly, though. I think it took me a few months my first time through, and I've reread it once or twice over a span of a few weeks. Some weekend in the near future I might hole myself up in my room and finish the whole thing in a giant, caffeine-fueled marathon session, but I haven't actually done that yet. (It would be interesting, though. Many parts of the book are interconnected, and having the earlier parts fresh in your memory would definitely help make connections to the later parts. Last time I read Waterloo I noticed that some of the battle descriptions foreshadow the fall of the barricade almost eerily, and it would be fun to pick out more things like that.)
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LesMisForever
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| Orestes Fasting wrote: | | Last time I read Waterloo I noticed that some of the battle descriptions foreshadow the fall of the barricade almost eerily, and it would be fun to pick out more things like that.) |
You got me intrigued. I have to check that.
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broadwaybelle22
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It took me months to finish Les Mis, just because I get easily distracted and there are some boring patches. I would start it now. I really don't think that you'll finish it too early  .
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Sweeney Hyde
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It took me almost a solid year to read it. Now there were three different points that I stoped reading it due to shows and trying to consintrate on O, Pioneers! and Huckleberry Finn, which we were reading in English class at the time and had very hard tests on.
I have the same edition. It is one of my favorite books ever!
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The Pirate King
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Alright, the book will be started at around 5 or 6 tonight, when we embark on our 24 hour bus ride to Florida.
Wish me luck.
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