Ahh, blogger! Ahh, humanity!

So, I decided that it was time to revisit some things: namely, the holes in my knowledge of literature. My English degrees have been scattered, and there are many things I have simply missed (like Dante, for one). So, in an effort to "fill out" my learning, I am going old school for a while (though I still want to get the new Chuck book, Pygmy).

On the old blog, I was posting reactions to the books I read - these weren't very good, and some commenters made some excellent points. I also intended to total the books (and pages) I read for the year. Two years ago, I hit the 100 book mark and read something like 40,000 pages (I'm proud). On the old blog I was intent on cataloging what I'd read, and sometimes it seemed like I was reading for the sake of the list (though I did come across some great reads).

So, with that in mind, I am quasi-resurrecting the book list here. Since I can't figure out if Blogger allows you to make static pages (thoughts, anyone?), I will tag the book posts and go that way, but I don't intend to set records here...it's more of a way to see what I've read and take a periodic review to see if I created more gaps that need to be filled.

(And, as an in-line post script, if such a thing exists, after re-reading what I wrote, it begs the question: "Who cares?" Ahh, blogger! Ahh, humanity!)

So we begin: The Iliad (Homer)

Favorite quote so far? Book 6, line 582-4 (Robert Fagle trans):

"And fate? No man alive has ever escaped it,
neither brave man nor coward, I tell you--
it's born with us the day that we are born."

There's just something so bittersweet about that when Hector tells his wife and young son that before rushing off to defend Troy...I like Hector.