Reviews and Comments

So far this is ridiculously entertaining. Possibly going to be just as much of a page-turner as Children of the Abbey.

Two children grow up in a secret 'Recess', originally an underground chamber attached to a monastery, then later expanded by its owners. They're let out and enjoy a privileged life at the nearby manor, at least for a bit, but then they're suddenly rushed back into the Recess. Their guardian, ill with fever and on her deathbed, reveals the secret. Surprise! They're .... .

I finished Warlock and I'm more than halfway through Sorceresses. It's interesting enough to read but it isn't engrossing. I think my favorite so far in this series was Unicorn, but plenty more to find a new favorite among.

The storytelling is very abrupt - it is refreshing in contrast to other books.

I read the intro to this edition (it was great), but going to read a scan of the 1786 2nd edition instead, which they say is the good edition. The font on the modern edition is too tiny, and if I'm gonna read an ebook I'd rather original spelling.

So far this is pretty damn good considering the 1900 pub date - from the title but unknown to the characters there's a bacterial infection that grants extreme beauty. The victim, meaningfully named Helen, is a biology student at a NY university (lots of 'NY agrees with her'). Her beau, who until recently was out West, goes to visit her during class, and the professor discusses physical beauty / biological form / morality with him as they look over a sea anemone, while Helen works with slides and praises the slide-making skills of the older students. Suspect the author disagrees with the professor on the unity of those traits. There's realistic descriptions of paraffin wax embedding and carmine dye.

Finished Hercules on Oeta - speeches were way too long. They seem to think it's one of the ones that isn't by Seneca, just attributed to him. Which doesn't mean it can't be interesting. But it wasn't.

I'm reading a 1861 edition that doesn't have the later additions, not this one.

Finished the last few short stories in this - really getting my currently reading down the last few days.

Finished this, was a bit bored with it by the end but as a whole still worth reading. This is another one where I rejected the Oxford World's Classics edition (Patrick Olivelle) in favor of this Penguin one (Chandra Rajan). Imo Rajan seemed like they had more respect for their readers than Olivelle.

I was considering reading the Code of Manu as an influence to this, but think I'm going to not. The reception of that one has a lot of controversy tied to it - I can't navigate it.

Finished this one too, was also mostly done with it. I was saying it was more enjoyable than some of Ovid's other stuff, but some of the slimier ones were at the end. Ew.

Read this as part of an 'influence' game -> influence on Boccaccio. For my purposes, this context makes Ovid's stuff worth reading, even if it isn't particularly pleasant going.

Some of the Goodreads reviewers see this as surprisingly modern/progressive... I really don't think so. Obviously neither of them are, but these don't feel any more 'modern' to me than Egyptian Letters, many of which are more than a millennia older.

Finished this too just now - been reading it for a while. Had to read it in small portions because it covers a lot of difficult topics.

Finished this. I like this publisher series (Writings from the Ancient World). As far as I know the publisher is nonsectarian and I think they do an acceptable job given what the world is and what recent history was, but I'm always hoping to see new, better editions. This content is unspeakably precious - I want to see it treated well.

This one was focused on readable translations - some of the others in the series I've read were more focused on linguistics / justifying a direct translation. I get the impression there's a better understanding of Ancient Egyptian than some other ancient languages, which would explain the different focus.

~Half way done with this. More enjoyable than other stuff by Ovid I've read because there's no 'Ovid' character.

This translation in rhymed verse is very readable. It doesn't have notes explaining the mythological references - instead it begins with a short summary of the story behind each poem. Prevents it from being bogged down.

Part of an 'influences' reading game I'm playing - influence on Boccaccio.

Finished Book 1 of these stories. The themes make them creepier than just surface level horror because they're unsettling on other levels.

'Pig Blood Blues' was an appropriate antidote to Robinson Crusoe (currently-reading). 'In the Hills, the Cities' was deeply disconcerting. Also liked 'The Yattering and Jack' for being more humorous than the others.

Dropping this edition but finding another. I think I'm done with this publisher series. They're matchy-matchy which makes you want to collect them, but the intro materials keep being bigoted. Can't even repeat here what was in Gordon Campbell's intro to one of their editions of Ben Jonson's plays - I'd be rightfully banned.

I have better luck with the Penguins (or New Mermaids for plays). Not very happy with the Norton Critical Editions, either.

Skipping this for now because I'm unable to find a version of the 1st edition with the sections on rationing - the intro to the revised 2nd edition says they were cut. It's unclear to me why modern reprints of this aren't restoring them - it seems like they'd be the most interesting part.