The County Library discussion
Reading Challenges
>
2022 January Reading Challenge
date
newest »
newest »
It may be a bit of a stretch but what is sounding good right now is The Labors of Hercules by Agatha Christie, a Poirot short story collection. When I did a search for retellings of classic epics, it came up. Poirot apparently takes cases that all somehow relate to to the 12 labors of Hercules from Greek Mythology. If I happen to finish it before January (I was looking for my next read anyway), I will choose something else for this challenge.
If you want to listen to a specific epic and the library does not have it in an audio format, check out https://librivox.org/ This site has public domain audio books available for free. Actual people read the books, the audio is not computer generated. I read and enjoyed a lot of books available there when audiobooks were far less available than they are today.
Mod
I think that sounds fun. That's one of the reasons I said you could do modern adaptions. I wanted to see what fun things everyone could find. Have fun!
Mod
Ooh, I'll have to check that one out. Gutenberg.org also has an audiobook section. I spotted The Romance of Tristan and Iseult, and The Iliad an a quick glance through.
Oooh fun. Maybe this gift card is going to buy a pretty new epic...
I am planning on reading The Iliad for this prompt. I am hoping to get the audiobook from the library within the next couple weeks. If not, I will pull out a copy of the public Domain version.
I was planning on starting the year with The Odyssey, so this works out perfectly. I feel like we're on the same wavelength.
Mod
I read part of it, once in college, but I should probably read the whole thing.
I love that that's the story Picard tells to the Tamarian captain in the ST:TNG episode Darmok
"Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra"
AND, I really love Megan Whalen Turner's books, and Thick as Thieves is a little bit based on that tale.
At first I thought "oh boy, not my thing." But then, I started looking and started to get a little excited by it. It looks like the Epic of Gilgamesh is about the oldest fiction ever written (at least that has survived). So, I'll be doing
Gilgamesh: A New English Version
compiled by Stephen Mitchell.
I'm going to take a slightly different take on the concept of epic -- epic poem. I've not decided yet whether it will be The Song of Hiawatha or Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie both by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. But I figure a poem which tells a tale and is a 4 or 5 hour audiobook qualifies. I just hope the reader does not do it too sing-song. And if it doesn't qualify ... I don't care.Thinking on it, though, Odyssey, Illiad, Aenid, and Beowulf are all done as poems. Gilgamesh too, I think. Lit masters correct me if I'm wrong.
Debbie wrote: "I'm going to take a slightly different take on the concept of epic -- epic poem. I've not decided yet whether it will be The Song of Hiawatha or [book:Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie|561..."4 of the 5 I can tell you are poems, off the top of my head. The Aenid I don't know, but I bet it is.
I would like to read
. It is about Helen of Troy and Jason and the Golden Fleece. Will it count?
Linda wrote: "I would like to read . It is about Helen of Troy and Jason and the Golden Fleece. Will it count?"According to the challenge:
"You can read juvenile retellings of these too, or even modern adaptions."
So, yes!
Mod
YAY! I'm so glad you're a little excited. I hope you enjoy it. What did you think of Gilgamesh?
Mod
. It is about Helen of Troy and Jason and the Golden Fleece. Will it count?"Sure! I think that sounds fun.
Linda wrote: "I would like to read . It is about Helen of Troy and Jason and the Golden Fleece. Will it count?"That book is on my books to read list. Let me know how it is.
I made a list of epic poems from this website https://www.google.com/amp/s/qwiklit....1 The Epic of Gilgamesh
2 The Iliad
3 The Odyssey
4 The Mahabharata
5 The Aeneid
6 Metamorphoses
7 The Shahnameh
8 Beowulf
9 The Nibelungenlied
10 The Song of Roland
11 The Icelandic Sagas
12 Orlando Furioso
13 The Divine Comedy
14 The Lusiads
15 The Faerie Queen
16 Paradise Lost
17 The Rape of the Lock
18 Epic of Manas
19 Don Juan
20 The Cantos
Elizabeth wrote: "What did you think of Gilgamesh?"I liked it well enough. Not something I would have normally chased down. Maybe one of those you read so that you can say you've read it ;)
Finished The Labors of Hercules. Conveniently I already had a copy as this collection was of course included in the complete Poirot short stories book. Realized relatively quickly that I probably wasn't going to go through it as fast as some of my other recent reads, so it worked out for this challenge.
I actually have the Kalevala (a Finnish epic) on my "I'd like to try and read this in 2022" but I don't know that January is the right month for that goal.... I have however been listening to Sarah Kirkland Snider's musical album Penelope which revisits the Odyssey, but from Penelope's perspective! I'll have to see what book I can make happen this month. :) I also love Project Gutenberg. One of my favorite reads in high school was found via Project Gutenberg--the Volsunga Saga, which is another perfectly epic read if you're looking for suggestions!
I was looking through lists for retellings and remembered I have this book: Compact Classics volume III. It has 2 page summaries of book. I've read the summary of The Fairie Queene. Since a 2 page summary does not equal an epic poem, I'm also going to read the summaries of The Aeneid, The Iliad, and The Odyssey.
Apologies for being completely off topic, unless saying "a branch in Daybreak is epic" makes it relevant. Any insider info for when that new branch will be ready any more specific than Spring this year? This is classed as a 'never hurts to ask' question.
Mod
Cool, sounds good.
Mod
Hey Debbie, and anyone else who is wondering. I also have no insider information about when it will open. All we know is Spring.
If I find out any more specific info, I'll let you know!
Thanks! I did a "drive-by viewing" the other day and it is quite a lovely space and a most interesting building. I'm anxious to explore it in full detail!
Quite by chance, my first read of 2022 was The Song of Achilles, which is a modern adaptation of the Achilles story from The Iliad. I also just read The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles which feels like a modern day epic (minus the poetry). It even alludes to several of the classic epic tales.
Mod
I also just read The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles which feels..."
Ooh! Song of Achilles is on my TBR list! But I haven't read it yet. Maybe I should get to it!
I finished
It was a good book. It was a retelling of Helen of Troy before her life as Helen of Troy. She goes with Jason and the Argonauts to get the Golden Fleece.
As the author said "...who's to say it couldn't have happened this way? Remember myths aren't history..."
I also read
This book is part of the Gross Gods series. It is definitely written for boys or girls who love bathroom humor. It is a GROSS retelling of Perseus getting the head (in this case a hair) of Medusa.
The last one for this challenge I read was
Hmmmm ... does Les Miserables count as an epic? I mean, it's long enough, right? (The audiobook is FIFTY-EIGHT HOURS. Insane.)
Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "Hmmmm ... does Les Miserables count as an epic? I mean, it's long enough, right? (The audiobook is FIFTY-EIGHT HOURS. Insane.)"That's a good question. If it does, so might War and Peace by Tolstoy? It's 61 hours of audio! Not that I'm thinking of listening to it. But it is a wonderful listen.
I read Beowulf. It was really nice that the library has unlimited copies on Libby!
A week left to the end of the month, it's time to consider what we do for February's challenge, please.
Mod
I read The Poetic Edda translation by Jackson Crawford. It's Norse Mythology.
I also started The Mists of Avalon. I'm about 25% through.
I decided on Gilgamesh but finished the text itself after midnight *shrug* and I'm still working my way through the introductory material which was like half the volume lol.
Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "I decided on Gilgamesh but finished the text itself after midnight *shrug* and I'm still working my way through the introductory material which was like half the volume lol."I prefer thinking the new day does not start until dawn. So, by my reckoning, you still made it. After all, midnight, as the start of a new day, is a modern irrational business time construct that only came into play with idustrialization and factories working 24 hours a day.
Your book ought to count.
I generally count anything before going to bed as the same day, whether it's 9 pm or 2 am...(I really need to go to bed earlier)
Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "I generally count anything before going to bed as the same day, whether it's 9 pm or 2 am...(I really need to go to bed earlier)"Me too! On both counts, when counting the reading and needing to stop this "to bed at 2 am" nonsense! Last "night" it was 3:30 am. I can get away with it because I'm retired and neither hubby nor kitties care!
Britt, Book Habitue wrote: "I generally count anything before going to bed as the same day, whether it's 9 pm or 2 am...(I really need to go to bed earlier)"Me too!
Mod
The County Library
Books mentioned in this topic
The Labors of Hercules (other topics)The Iliad (other topics)
The Hobbit (other topics)
Medusa and Her Oh-So-Stinky Snakes (other topics)
Nobody's Prize (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Agatha Christie (other topics)Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (other topics)
On January 10 at 7 pm, the library is hosting a Virtual Adult Lecture: Beowulf: Understanding the Men and the Monsters. That has put me in the mood to read something epic. This month's challenge is to read a classical epic tale, like Beowulf, The Aneid of Virgil, books i. to vi., The Iliad and The Oddysey: Novel, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, The Epic of Gilgamesh, etc.
You can read juvenile retellings of these too, or even modern adaptions.
For information on the Lecture visit
thecountylibrary.org/LectureSeries
January is also our Winter Reading Challenge. Read, Play, Learn, Create and Connect to earn a free book. For more information visit
thecountylibrary.org/WinterReading