To understand contemporary times, you need to read books from this age, right? Tracey Thorn doesn’t think so. In Off the Record: how old books help us deal with new – and frightening – times , Thorn decides that a new reading list with old books may help make more sense of things. So she listens to an audio book of Madame Bovary, reads Bonjour tristesse and the first two books of Anthony Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time, and plans to read many more. And what she found is that the emotions the writers described were true to any age. What old books are you planning to read this year?
If it’s myth, I found an interesting story by Sam Dresser about the reasons behind the plot of Odysseus.
Why would Odysseus dump a hot nymph? Or toyboys lust after his wife Penelope?
Very valid questions indeed. This very interesting tagline leads to an exposition of what it meant to live in the shadow of a warrior like Odysseus. Read this story to find out more.
