Batgrl (Book Data Kept Elsewhere)’s Reviews > Orlando Furioso: A New Verse Translation > Status Update

Canto XXIX, 52
"He's naked, he's crazy, his eyes are rolling, but he's still Orlando after all...
He does not deign to speak, but with his mouth shut
he gives them an answer as clear as clear can be,
kicking the donkey in the chest to send
it high in the air where it sails end over end.
----
The donkey flies about a mile away and lands on a hill.

Canto XLVI,123
"Had the helmet not been magic, the sword would have cleft
it and the skull and the rider at one blow,
and maybe even the horse, and what would be left
would be two disgusting but matching halves but, no,
the magic worked."
---
Instead of rider I accidentally typed reader, which made the scene much more personal.

XXXIX,84-5
"...while he still has his hand
on the gunwale it gets cut off. (I understand
the phrase "all hands on deck," in the light of this
grisly moment.) The rest of the body falls
into the water..."

XXXIX,58 - Orlando, cured of madness, has no idea what he's been up to:
"...He regrets
that he seems to be, for whatever reason, nude,
which strikes him as both indecorous and rude."

XXXIX,51 - after mad Orlando hits Oliver in the head, suddenly it's a helmet commercial:
"I ought not to interrupt the narrative flow
but one must observe the value of having the best
helmet one can find. There would have been no
chance for Oliver otherwise. Invest
in excellent equipment before you go
off to fight."

After Astolfo hung out with Saint John on the moon he's somehow got this uber prayer power hotline to God. First he prays, rolls rocks down hill - and bam, they turn into horses. Later he does the same thing to turn leaves into boats to transport his army.

XXXVI,37 - Bradamante vs Ruggiero
"...here they are advancing
with dangerous hardware as if they were two foes
instead of a couple who have been romancing."

Canto XXXIV,79
"There are also many ruined cities and ghost
towns in which one can still see much treasure
that someone has hoarded up and somehow lost.
...There are snakes with the faces of ladies of pleasure,
which are representations of counterfeiters and thieves
and of card sharps with aces up their sleeves."

Canto XXXIV,75 - on the moon you can find many things people have lost; money, fame, vows, time, health, etc:
"...And books of ours
that we intended to study rather than taste.
Those can often be heavier losses than
material things in the life of any man."

Canto XXXIV,72
"On the moon there are rivers and lakes and hills and dales
like those we have but different. And also towns
with houses and public buildings, but on such scales
as we are not accustomed to. He frowns
in amazement and concentration, for earth pales
in comparison. There are also woods and downs
where nymphs and fauns are hunting fierce moon beasts
and celebrating afterwards with feasts."