Sunday Salon time again. I’m working on a couple of books, but only got reading on one of them today.
I revamped the web site this week. I’ve been categorizing books much as they would appear in the local chain book store. I had categories for Science Fiction, Travel, Political Science, etc. I’ve converted all those categories to tags. Now there are just three, possibly soon to be four, categories at Rat’s Reading. Administrivia, for web site announcements. Afflatus, for opinion pieces. Book Reviews, for reviews of books (duh!). It will continue to be the largest category.
This entry is appearing uncategorized for the moment. But I think I will create a category for quick takes, links, and thoughts on books in progress. I’m just not sure what to call it. I’ve resisted putting up entries that fit into that sort of category. This isn’t a link blog. There are plenty of those around. I also didn’t want Rat’s Reading to be a this is my day in reading
kind of blog. But it’s limiting, in that on occasion I do want to write something that isn’t a book review, and isn’t a thought-out opinion piece (only added last fall anyway). Sunday Salon posts may fall in to this category. Going to keep musing on what I allow myself to put up though. Like to keep a tight focus.
I’m pretty certain I will also add a specific category for reviewing short stories. Fiction only.
Today’s reading comes from the Norton Anthology of English Literature. I grabbed a free copy of the fifth edition a few weeks ago. Volume one alone is 2600+ pages. It’ll be a long time before I finish the book and get a review up. I’m going to make it part of my Sunday routine to read from this, in addition to whatever else I am reading.
The first long piece in the anthology is Beowulf. Frankly, I’ve found it difficult reading. The Old English itself is beyond me, but in translation it’s still quite the slog. My eyes glaze over at the repetitive nature of the text. In reading a couple of the earlier entries though, I really wanted to hear the text in Old English. They were written in alliterative verse. The Norton web site has some audio versions of such things as Cædmon’s Hymn. It gave me an idea for reading Beowulf. I started reading Beowulf aloud. That did the trick. I can’t say the poem is that much more interesting that way, but it slows me down enough to actually absorb what’s happening. No unintentional skimming.
My other reading is The Devil Wears Prada. I know, quite the contrast. But no actual reading today from that, and I can’t see a reason to post on it prior to finishing the book.
Photo Beowulf by Flickr user Dunechaser, used under a Creative Commons By-Nc-Sa 2.0 license.
