My Bookman and I finished listening to The Iliad last night. It was really good. Better than I expected.
While my reading memory is pretty good, my listening memory is not. The page mediates the reading experience. I can stop and think, re-read, turn back a few pages to look for a passage that the one I just read refers to or reminds me of. I am in control. Listening is another matter, especially listening with another person. Sometimes we’d hit pause to say “wow!” over a particularly gruesome scene or turn of phrase or if one of us had gotten lost and didn’t remember who was speaking to whom. But there is no going back to search for passages.
The audio experience is more visceral, I have no control. But I like that hearing the poem read, I can hear and feel the rhythms of it, get pulled in by the repetition of speeches and phrases instead of annoyed like I do when reading them. And then there is the intonation of the reader not to mention the correct pronunciation of all those names that I would never figure out from only reading it.
The audio version we listened to is the Fitzgerald translation, the book I am reading is the Fagles translation. The Fitzgerald is really good, uses a few less modern words and phrasings than the Fagles, but overall it was quite satisfactory to listen to.
I have gotten away from what I wanted to say when I said my listening memory isn’t very good. Because it isn’t good, all I have from the listening is impressions, which is not a bad thing. I definitely will not be forgetting all the gore anytime soon, soldiers holding their entrails and spears passing through skulls, and exiting through mouths, and eyeballs popping out. I could never watch this kind of horror in a movie but I can hear it and read it.
I’ve never read The Iliad before so the thing that surprised me most was how much of the story of the Trojan War is not in the poem. The story of Paris running away with Helen is not in the poem. Achilles’ death, the Trojan Horse, and the fall of Troy is also not in the poem. The poem concludes right after Hector’s funeral. In some ways I felt cheated. But I was also amazed because all of the stories about the war sprang up after Homer wrote the poem. It’s like ancient fan fiction or something.
The plan is that I will finish the Fagles’ Iliad this weekend, we’ll take a little break, and then dive in to the audio of The Odyssey which I also plan on reading. I expect it will be different, but just as much fun.
mmm… good memories… personally, the Odyssey was far better for me. But yeah, I only listen to audio for the convenience of having my hands free. I find I’ve blanked out whole passages “coming round” a few minutes later to realise I’m listening to a book! Give me visual stuff any day.
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Virgil’s Aeneid is where the story is continued.
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Enjoy the Odyssey! Listening to books is very different for me too — I have a more physical reaction where I’m much more likely to cry or laugh. I love the idea of listening to the Iliad on audio; maybe one of these days I’ll have to try it myself.
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I’ve never tried the books on Cd thing. I’ve never been a good listener, give me a handout and let me read it myself was my motto in university. Lately though I have been downloading some classic poem mp3s and have been enjoying that. Maybe I’ll work into it…
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I can relate to the experience of reading vs listening. A visually impaired person has recently joined my book group, so I thought I’d give audio books a go, and decided on a mystery – only to find at the end that I’d missed several key points of the book and was completely lost… Listening is definitely a learned skill!
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“While my reading memory is pretty good, my listening memory is not. The page mediates the reading experience. I can stop and think, re-read, turn back a few pages to look for a passage that the one I just read refers to or reminds me of. I am in control. Listening is another matter, especially listening with another person.”
I am the same. Which is way I’m a little hesitant about audio books. I think that to truly enjoy them I’d need to have the book open in front of me. But with The Iliad in particular, I can see how an audio version would work really well. The poem was originally oral, after all.
I had no idea that so much of the story was not in the poem. I’ve been reading a few retellings of The Odyssey and The Iliad for the Once Upon a Time Challenge, and they’re really making me want to read the real things. Your review increased my interest even more.
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You’re so right about listening versus reading. I suppose in an oral culture, stories and epics would be heard many times, but no doubt the listening parts of our brains have atrophied. Interesting that it takes such high technology to do something so ancient.
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I know just what you mean about listening versus reading. But part of the problem for me is that I tend to fall asleep if I just sit and listen, and I miss bits if I’m doing anything because a sudden noise will blot a part of the dialogue (or whatever) out, or I’ll concentrate on something and stopper my ears. But I do love listening to audio books. I find them enormously comforting and relaxing. Even The Iliad on audio CD!
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Arukiyomi, I am looking forward to the Odyssey, less gore, more adventure.
Rod, thanks for the tip!
Thanks Dorothy. It is easier to get involved in the story on audio, there is more surprise too since you can’t glance ahead. Not that I do that or anything, I’m just sayin’ π
John, give audio books a try sometime. You might be surprised. If you have a commute to work they are great in the car.
Beth, an interesting experiment you tried. I agree with you, listening is definitely a learned skill and it’s interesting how we tend to find it challenging.
Nymeth, I saw that you recently read a book about Troy. If you’ve not read Homer I definitely recommend it, you will be surprised at how easy he is to read and how fantastic the story is.
Sylvia, atropied is right. Our attention spans are shorter too, though I think you proved with your Ring listening marathon that your attention span is quite good π
Litlove, my husband has a tendency to fall asleep too, I am always poking him awake. We keep our listening to an hour or less at a stretch and it works out pretty well. My husband likes to crochet and I like to knit, sometimes we eat, or the dog finds he is suddenly at the center of an abundance of scratches and belly rubs.
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Keep in mind that I was following along in the libretto while listening to the Ring Cycle. But it is also so *loud* and action-packed that only a narcoleptic could fall asleep in the middle of it!
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Since I’ve only ever listened to short snippets of it, I’ll have to take your word for it π
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I finished the Iliad last month and am reading the Odyssey now. I don’t think I could have listened to the Iliad on CD. I had enough trouble getting through it on paper, with Hollywood-like scenes running through my head at each battle sequence. I’m not a fan of war stories at all but I found that I did kind of like it after thinking about it. I am enjoying the Odyssey so much more. Odysseus is a man of courage and honor(mostly).
I have listened to a couple of books on CD lately, and gotten a lot of pleasure from it, but I only hear the story when I listen. I can so easily be brought along by an interesting story but some of my favorite authors I love, not for the story, but for the writing. And it doesn’t help me to follow along with the book while I listen. I’m too busy listening to process the writing. I’m not an audio-learner so it takes a lot of effort. I feel a little cheated if I don’t read it myself.
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Petunia, I know what you mean about the Hollywood-like battles scenes running through your head! I think I will probably start the Odyssey this upcoming weekend. I am very much looking forward to it. Audio learning is hard for me too. When I listen to books on CD I really have to focus my attention.
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I like your description of listening as opposed to reading: I feel the same way when I listen to a book. It’s a good experience, but different.
I’m starting The Illiad soon. I hadn’t realized it was so gory as all that….
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Rebecca, I didn’t know it was so gory either, so be prepared! I’m really glad I read and listened to it.
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