I now have one serious book going along with the usual escapist one. The Iliad. Reading it was inspired by a long scholarly analysis in The New Yorker, which was in turn inspired by a new translation of The Iliad. It went through the history of the book and debate about it. In a way it's reminiscent of the Bible. It was written 2500 years ago, a century and a half after the events it describes. Both the history and the translations are still actively debated all this time later. The identity of the poet is in question and some think the two classics attributed to Homer were not even written by the same guy. Already I realize I'm only understanding at most half of it, but it's good exercise for the lazy mind.
I'm not sure how much of this will be readable to non-subscribers but here goes:
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2011/11/07/111107crbo_books_mendelsohnIf I manage to muddle my way through it The Odyssey will be next. They are entirely different books. The Iliad is about the battles and the killing, a brutal story. The Odyssey is the much more companionable story of Odysseus's return home.
