In an effort to unite some of my reading interests and writing subjects, I’ve gone back to the book lists. For most of my life, I have been reading through various “great books.” In elementary school, I found a ditto (before we had “copies”) that presented a list of books “to be read before college.” I grabbed ten of these sheets and started taking this reading thing seriously. These brittle sheets were thrown away about two years ago, but the memories of being about eight or nine and getting through unabridged versions of Dracula and Huckleberry Finn will always stay with me, even if very little from the actual books did with those initial perusals.
Now I collect books on the canon and on book lists in general. I’m also attempting some formal research on reading and ideas like the literary canon. And for my venture back into the reading lists, I’ve decided to start with Robert Fitzgerald’s verse translation of Homer’s The Iliad. My last venture to Troy was through a prose translation and it seemed like something was missing, so I’m hoping Fitzgerald’s verse will do the trick.
Stephen McClurg 