What are you reading in 2024?

Parmandur

Book-Friend, he/him
The different drafts of Tolkien's works are fascinating. His earliest drafts of what would become the Silmarillion feel very Ballantine Adult Fantasy - slightly pastoral, slightly fairytale, slightly weird.
"It’s a dangerous thing, Bingo, going on a journey..."

Hilariously, he didn't need to draft Ild Man Williow > Tom Bombadil > Barrow Wights much at all, those juat snapped into place.

The Book of Lost Tales is amazing. I am a Simarillion e joywr, but I do think it is a shame he did not finish it himself, and with something closer to that original energy.

I particularly wish that Tolkien finished the 5 long-form epid poems that he started, that would have been as towering an addition to 20th century English literature as The Lord of the Rings. The Lay of Lethian, as poetry, is so so very good.
 

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Alzrius

The EN World kitten
The different drafts of Tolkien's works are fascinating. His earliest drafts of what would become the Silmarillion feel very Ballantine Adult Fantasy - slightly pastoral, slightly fairytale, slightly weird.
He was constantly tweaking and revising things even after the books were published. You can see some of this in The Nature of Middle-Earth, which collects virtually every note and piece of scrap paper he ever scribbled on. It's not so much the myriad details that are surprising, but the complexity of some of them (the notes on the passage of time near the beginning of the book, for instance, are sure to make your head spin).
 

"It’s a dangerous thing, Bingo, going on a journey..."

Hilariously, he didn't need to draft Ild Man Williow > Tom Bombadil > Barrow Wights much at all, those juat snapped into place.

The Book of Lost Tales is amazing. I am a Simarillion e joywr, but I do think it is a shame he did not finish it himself, and with something closer to that original energy.

I particularly wish that Tolkien finished the 5 long-form epid poems that he started, that would have been as towering an addition to 20th century English literature as The Lord of the Rings. The Lay of Lethian, as poetry, is so so very good.
It is fascinating, how some of the stuff in Lord of the Rings was the result of many, many iterations, while other elements just showed up out of nowhere, surprising Tolkien himself.


He was constantly tweaking and revising things even after the books were published. You can see some of this in The Nature of Middle-Earth, which collects virtually every note and piece of scrap paper he ever scribbled on. It's not so much the myriad details that are surprising, but the complexity of some of them (the notes on the passage of time near the beginning of the book, for instance, are sure to make your head spin).
The Nature of Middle-Earth shows just how much thought he put into his work. How much effort, even math, he employed in his creation.
 

Parmandur

Book-Friend, he/him
It is fascinating, how some of the stuff in Lord of the Rings was the result of many, many iterations, while other elements just showed up out of nowhere, surprising Tolkien himself.



The Nature of Middle-Earth shows just how much thought he put into his work. How much effort, even math, he employed in his creation.
You can say a lot about Tolkien, but he was always thorough.
 

Alzrius

The EN World kitten
I just finished reading Joaquin De la Sierra's new translation of The Maya Book of Creation: The Sacred Text of the Maya, also known as the Popol Vuh.

A note of acknowledgment is due here, as I picked this book up after reading another poster in this thread (or perhaps last year's thread) mention this title. I'm pretty sure it was @Autumnal, so thanks for that.

On a similar note, it's rather odd that I couldn't find the name of the translator of this book at all within the text. He mentions several personal opinions and some anecdotes, and makes a dedication in the front of the book as well, yet never uses his name. If it wasn't for the Amazon page, I wouldn't know who he was. Is that an oversight, or was he being deliberately humble? I'm not sure.

What I am sure of is that the author did a very good job of translating the text...mostly. There's a long introduction that highlights and overviews several aspects of Mayan culture, particularly the Ki'che' people (called "Quiche" in the text), helping to ground things. I'll confess to particularly enjoying learning about Mayan numerals and how they counted, which was incredibly easy to remember for how simple it was (there are only three numerals), and yet is able to concisely write out very large numbers.

Likewise, the text itself is artificially broken into forty-five sections, with each break having a picture or illustration and a caption that explains some aspect of Mayan culture of mythology, usually in reference to what we're about to read. It made the text very approachable and engaging.

My only complaints about the translation are the seemingly-random decisions to translate some names into their English meaning, while others are transliterations of their Mayan pronunciation. For instance, the evil bird near the beginning of the text is called "Seven-Macaw" rather than Vucub Caquix, but his two sons are called Zipacna and Cabracan, with no listing of what those names mean. It's fairly inconsistent, and I repeatedly found myself wondering why some names had been translated and not others. (My other complaint is that there were a few instances, albeit only a few, where a name was translated differently from one page to the next, e.g. a place called "Chi Ismachi" on one page, and then "Chi Izmachi" on the next.)

I was also somewhat surprised at some of themes in the text itself. This might say more about me than anything, but my perception of the pre-Colombian Mayan people (as opposed to, say, the Aztecs) were those of a spiritual, almost "enlightened" society. However, the text here has death being something menacing and awful (the realm of death Xib'alb'a, more commonly known as Xibalba, translates to "Place of Fear" and is full of awful realms and evil gods/demons); has men being dominant figures while women are either temptresses or wives/mothers; has the Ki'che' demanding that other tribes worship their gods in exchange for aid; it has the Ki'che' going to war in order to procure human sacrifices, etc.

In other words, the moral aspect of the text is more down-to-earth than I was expecting, insofar as the universal truth about humans not being good people goes.
 
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Autumnal

Bruce Baugh, Writer of Fortune
A note of acknowledgment is due here, as I picked this book up after reading another poster in this thread (or perhaps last year's thread) mention this title. I'm pretty sure it was @Autumnal, so thanks for that.

You’re welcome. :)

If it wasn't for the Amazon page, I wouldn't know who he was. Is that an oversight, or was he being deliberately humble? I'm not sure.

Odd. I missed that, and have no idea why it should be so.

. I'll confess to particularly enjoying learning about Mayan numerals and how they counted, which was incredibly easy to remember for how simple it was (there are only three numerals), and yet is able to concisely write out very large numbers.

I thought that was cool, too.

My only complaints about the translation are the seemingly-random decisions to translate some names into their English meaning, while others are transliterations of their Mayan pronunciation.

Agreed there. Ever since I read Soldier Of The Mist and Everway. I’ve favored going for the meaning. But either way, consistently is good.

However, the text here has death being something menacing and awful (the realm of death Xib'alb'a, more commonly known as Xibalba, translates to "Place of Fear" and is full of awful realms and evil gods/demons); has men being dominant figures while women are either temptresses or wives/mothers; has the Ki'che' demanding that other tribes worship their gods in exchange for aid; it has the Ki'che' going to war in order to procure human sacrifices, etc.

The Maya were subject to a lot rhapsodic myth making by people who knew very little about them. The dynamics are exactly as Edward Said discussed in Orientalism.

In other words, the moral aspect of the text is more down-to-earth than I was expecting, insofar as the universal truth about humans not being good people goes.

People are a land of contrasts, basically.
 

jian

Explorer
Currently reading Penric and the Shaman, the second in the Penric and Desdemona series by Lois McMaster Bujold. I’m a big fan of her World of the Five Gods books (why isn’t there a RPG?) and I recently re-read The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls, which are both excellent.

I’d really recommend the world-building and compassion in these books - the cosmology and how gods and demons interact with people (in a version of late medieval Europe) are just fascinating.
 



Eyes of Nine

Everything's Fine
Currently reading Penric and the Shaman, the second in the Penric and Desdemona series by Lois McMaster Bujold. I’m a big fan of her World of the Five Gods books (why isn’t there a RPG?) and I recently re-read The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls, which are both excellent.

I’d really recommend the world-building and compassion in these books - the cosmology and how gods and demons interact with people (in a version of late medieval Europe) are just fascinating.
One of my top 2 or 3 series. Love it so much.
 

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