Work in Progress (No, really)

Monday, November 19, 2012

New Reading

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New reading material from LA (which is pretty much a part of Iran).

Definitely won't be a quick read.
"Conference of the Birds" is an amazing book. The translation is amazing too (penguin group one).

As for Rumi, it really depends on personal tastes. People read the Coleman Barks versions and love them. All he does is spice up other translations. An apt comparison would be Fitzgerald (rubaiyat), but Barks deserves a little better than that. At he end of the day, translation is always tricky. Do you bring the reader to the culture or bring the culture to the reader. In the case of Fitzgerald, he decided to bring the culture to Europe. Barks has done the same, but hasn't butchered the original work as much.

After Fitzgerald died, seeds from a rose taken from Nishapur were planted near his grave. The original rose came from the gravesite of Khayyam. That pretty much summarizes everything up well. (A Persian rose and English weather don't mix, in case your wondering.)

Anyways, from the little I've read of Rumi thus far has gone over my head. Luckily I bought a dictionary too. The other book is more of an explanation/prose version of the story of ("Conference of the Birds").

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