I just finished this book a few days ago and I'm trying to formulate my feelings about it. I loved it in places, hated it in others, and for the first time, was glad that I took that Chinese Literature course a few years ago. Yet I can't seem to discern how I feel about how it all came together in the end--or even if it did. Perhaps a little further study of Chinese literature, mythology, folklore, or historic spiritual teaching would help. Perhaps my perspective is too westernized to fully appreciate the tale. I don't know. I feel like I can recommend it, but I don't feel like I can say I actually liked it. Does that make sense?
It might be awhile before I get to reviewing another book. I'm tackling the translations of The Illiad and The Odyssey along with a few other (shorter) works that I'll be using in teaching an English curriculum to a couple of home-schooled students this fall. Is it horrible that I've only read abridged prose editions of Homer's works? This will be my first time reading the poetic version in its entirety, though I have read dozens of pages' worth of excerpts.
1 comment:
It's so cool you're teaching some home-schooled students! I read The Iliad and The Odyssey in college, and I fell in love with the translation of The Odyssey we used. I also highly recommend Ovid's Metamorphoses (if you're going with a Greek theme).
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