Elizabeth Culmer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
edenfalling) wrote2022-02-25 09:15 pm
edenfalling) wrote2022-02-25 09:15 pm
Entry tags:
wherein Liz finally gets around to a general cultural literacy thing she meant to tackle years ago
My current audiobook is an unabridged version Herodotus's Histories, as narrated by David Timson. The particular version I'm listening to is produced by Naxos Audiobooks, and I have no idea what translation they're using because the product data very carefully says nothing whatsoever about that fairly important issue.
I think it's an older translation, based on some of the word choices and the fact that Naxos Audiobooks claims the text is in the public domain. Older doesn't necessarily mean less accurate, but still, I'd like to be able to trace the provenance of the text!
That annoyance aside, Mr. Timson does the most "cheerfully garrulous British traveler eager to tell you about everything!" shtick I have ever heard, and it's frankly delightful. Very chatty, very plummy.
And the text works AMAZINGLY well in audio form. I think I would be driven up the wall by the non-chronological approach and the constant asides if I were reading this on paper, but when it's a cheerful old guy talking my ears off, the rhythm of the prose is deeply pleasing and makes nice shapes in my brain. :)
I also really appreciate Herodotus's habit of saying flat out that he's heard different versions of some stories and then repeating both along with their provenance -- it's a nice bit of humility and also reveals more about his world than just picking one and not mentioning the others would do. He's pretty careful about sources in general, for a guy who is inventing his genre out of whole cloth.
I am just about to the end of Book 1, which seems poised to end with the death of Cyrus. This is only 4 hours into a nearly 28-hour recording, so I have plenty more enjoyable digressions with my delightfully chatty guide ahead of me. :D
I think it's an older translation, based on some of the word choices and the fact that Naxos Audiobooks claims the text is in the public domain. Older doesn't necessarily mean less accurate, but still, I'd like to be able to trace the provenance of the text!
That annoyance aside, Mr. Timson does the most "cheerfully garrulous British traveler eager to tell you about everything!" shtick I have ever heard, and it's frankly delightful. Very chatty, very plummy.
And the text works AMAZINGLY well in audio form. I think I would be driven up the wall by the non-chronological approach and the constant asides if I were reading this on paper, but when it's a cheerful old guy talking my ears off, the rhythm of the prose is deeply pleasing and makes nice shapes in my brain. :)
I also really appreciate Herodotus's habit of saying flat out that he's heard different versions of some stories and then repeating both along with their provenance -- it's a nice bit of humility and also reveals more about his world than just picking one and not mentioning the others would do. He's pretty careful about sources in general, for a guy who is inventing his genre out of whole cloth.
I am just about to the end of Book 1, which seems poised to end with the death of Cyrus. This is only 4 hours into a nearly 28-hour recording, so I have plenty more enjoyable digressions with my delightfully chatty guide ahead of me. :D