Austin Hall Library

Gilgamesh: A New English Version

Stephen Mitchell's Gilgamesh: A New English Version isn't actually that "new", but it was new to me. Published in 2006, it is essentially a popular version of perhaps the world's oldest book. It is epic poetry of Mesopotamia and the most complete version existing today is preserved on 12 clay tablets dating from the 7th century B.C.

The story revolves around a friendship between powerful Gilgamesh (likely a real ruler ca. 27th century B.C.) and his close male companion, Enkidu. Enkidu is a wild man created by the gods as Gilgamesh's equal to distract him from oppressing the citizens of Uruk. Together they undertake grand and dangerous adventures that incur the displeasure of the gods. 

Enkidu eventually dies and the latter part of the epic focuses on Gilgamesh's distressed reaction to his death. That reaction takes the form of a quest for immortality. Gilgamesh attempts to learn the secret of eternal life by undertaking a long and perilous journey to meet the immortal flood hero, Utnapishtim. Ultimately the famous and poignant words addressed to Gilgamesh in the midst of his quest foreshadow the end result: "The life that you are seeking you will never find. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping."

Gilgamesh is an important work of ancient literature and Mitchell's version, while not without its critics, is a very entertaining read. For those interested in perhaps a more literal translation with an excellent historical introduction, consider the Penguin Classics version translated by Andrew George.

One final comment: The Epic of Gilgamesh contains a fascinating flood story that has a number of  parallels to the story of Noah and the flood in the Book of Genesis. For example, both stories record divine anger; the heroes are warned by a deity that a great flood is going to happen; the hero is given specific instructions on how the deity wants him to build the boat; the hero takes both his family and animals on the boat with him; the hero releases three birds to find out if the flood is beginning to subside; and when the flood begins to subside, the boats are sitting on top of a mountain.

Great Literature Redux

Some books are so profoundly meaningful and well written, they deserve to be read and re-read. Such books normally create an emotional and intellectual attachment to their characters and themes. My reading of good fiction has picked up over the last year and, perhaps as a result, I have a renewed interest in picking up again some of the great classics. Below is my list of six (because it is all time will allow) of the top books that should be read again and again.

Les Miserables (by Victor Hugo) Victor Hugo's masterpiece is at the top of my list. In fact, I pulled it down from my shelf a few days ago after enjoying a brief conversation last weekend with friends who shared my opinion about the book. Avoid all unabridged versions and make certain you get the Lee Fahnestock/Charles MacAfee translation (the Signet Classics paperback). This marvelous book about redemption and forgiveness is potentially life altering and well worth the effort it takes to read almost 1500 pages.

Where the Red Fern Grows (by Wilson Rawls) I don't remember at what age I first read this beautiful, moving, and ultimately sad story of a boy and his dog. But, I was quite young and thoroughly captivated. It is very difficult to properly form the moral imagination of children in our current culture. This book, and ones like it, will help with that critical task. It is important that a child be touched and moved at his or her inner core of being while young--and then, touched again and again throughout life. This book will help (as will C.S. Lewis' Narnia series).

The Brothers Karamazov (by Fyodor Dostoevsky) A powerful human drama about faith, doubt, and guilt, with rich character development. I recommend the Richard Pevear/Larissa Volokhonsky translation as the best. This book is likely Dostoevsky's finest work.

Crime and Punishment (by Fyodor Dostoevsky) Another great novel by Dostoevsky--for the character development of Raskolnikov. It is a philosophical novel about conscience and suffering for sin and crime. A book that provokes serious and deep reflection long after reading.

To Kill a Mockingbird (by Harper Lee) On my list for reasons similar to Where the Red Fern Grows--for what it contributes to the moral imagination. A Pulitzer Prize winning look at the character of a real lawyer(Atticus Finch).

Quo Vadis (by Henryk Sienkiewicz) The title means "where are you going?", and alludes to the John 13:36 New Testament passage. Set in the first century Roman Empire, this Nobel Prize winning novel is an epic treatment of love, courage, and devotion. Recognized as one of the greatest novels in the history of literature. 

Curmudgeonly Sorts From Whom We Can Learn To Write

It is often said that if one wants to learn to write, one must read the works of great writers. And, it sometimes seems that the writers from whom we can learn the most about writing are among the most eccentric, flawed, or, at least a bit unusual for a variety of reasons.

I have written about G.K. Chesterton in previous posts--not for his writing style--but for the ideas he communicates. He is perhaps one of the finest thinkers and cultural critics of the modern period. I can recommend for consideration, without qualification, all his works for the ideas contained therein. But, Chesterton's writings are also highly valuable for their style. He was a master of wit and English prose and equally at ease whether writing about philosophy, history, theology, or literary and social criticism. Read Chesterton's The Everlasting Man for a compelling philosophy of history, but also for a powerful look at a rare polemical style. Read What's Wrong With the World for insightful social commentary, but also for its wit and paradoxical prose. Carefully reading and reflecting on Chesterton's works will make one a better writer and a better person.

I have also commented in previous posts on the crusty, gifted, and prolific Hilaire Belloc, known for his writings on history, travel, distributivist economics, fiction, and theology. Belloc was skilled in poetic prose, but also excelled in farcical novels and satires. And, his travel writings are known for their gripping descriptions of unforgettable scenes and images. In his famous The Path to Rome Belloc graphically describes his walk from Southeastern France to Rome prior to World War I and includes pen and ink drawings made by him on the trip. It is a delightful and entertaining travelogue and one vividly fixed in my mind to this day--long after reading it. Read The Crusades: The World's Debate for a descriptive and thorough analysis of the First Crusade, and an appreciation for Belloc's gifts as an historian. Then, there is the classic piece of social and economic commentary, The Servile State. Well written and tightly argued, it is perhaps the best critique of capitalism ever penned. 

While I cannot recommend equally the various works of H.L. Mencken, the out-spoken and often intentionally offensive American journalist and essayist was a stylistically talented writer. I can recommend A Mencken Chrestomathy: His Own Selection of His Choicest Writing as an excellent example of the surgical use of language, and the effective use of biting humor. An individualist and libertarian at a time when such designations were not very popular, Mencken relished every opportunity to debunk ideas and people with whom he disagreed--and there were quite a few of both. A Mencken Chrestomathy is filled with highly opinionated insights--some of little value and others quite erudite. But, the writing style--a combination of wit and purpose, highlighted by a skilled command of the English language--is worth emulating if one is interested in written communication.

Three Important Authors For Thinking People Who Can Endure Intensity

I read little to no fiction until about 1991, when I began to venture into that genre on long flights and during trips away from home. I now read a small, but reasonably steady, stream of novels and short stories annually.

I gravitate toward novels and short stories with powerful language, haunting characters (southern or western), intense themes, occasional philosophical monologue or dialogue, and layered moral themes. In short, I want writing that descriptively highlights the human condition and makes me think poignantly about the nature of reality. Such writing is often expressed in scenes and imagery that is stark, brutal, and even terrifying. If one enjoys "chick lit" (which, I am advised, is the genre comprised of books mainly written by women for women), one will likely not appreciate the authors I recommend in this post.

Notably, however, my lead recommendation is the female icon of Southern Gothic literature, Flannery O'Connor. Most of her writing takes place in the South and often includes morally flawed characters (is there any other kind?). O'Connor, who died at age thirty-nine, wrote only two novels, but she published many deeply insightful and captivating short stories laced with a sardonic sense of humor. Steeped in a sacramental view of the world, O'Connor wrote from the perspective of Thomistic realism and layered her stories with deep meaning. She also drew criticism, often from those who failed to understand her work, for the brutality of some of her characters and the dark and disturbing elements in much of her writing. For my part, no writer of fiction, living or dead, makes me think more deeply than the noble soul Flannery O'Connor. A good place to start is with The Complete Stories. If you are captivated by that collection, you will likely enjoy reading a selection of her letters titled, The Habit of Being, for a good glimpse of the life and thought behind her writings. Then, you may want to follow by reading everything she has written.

My second recommendation is also a Southern writer--"philosophical novelist"--Walker Percy. Trained as a medical doctor, he became a novelist and literary critic of rare breadth and depth. He is known for focusing his writing on modern man's quest for faith and love in a chaotic world. His first and best known work, The Moviegoer, is an existential novel that won a National Book Award for fiction. It is a brilliant, slightly difficult to read, work about the tedium and boredom of life that is considered by many to be the best example of American existentialism. It is not, however, my favorite Percy novel. Although a bit challenging at the start, my favorite Percy novel is Love in the Ruins, a very creative post-60s book about America in a virtual state of civil war and anarchy. The hard drinking, lapsed Catholic, protagonist, Dr. Tom More, has invented the Ontological Lapsometer, a machine that can diagnose the condition of a person's soul. It is a humorous look at the psycho-babble of the age and pokes fun at about every conceivable group. Dr. Tom More, by the way, is the namesake of the 16th-century martyr Sir Thomas More, who said, "the times are never so bad that a good man can't live in them." A fascinating and fun parody of the self-help age is Percy's Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book. Don't be taken in by the title. It is definitely not a self-help book. It is a provocative look at human behavior and it is intended to help one think. I'll mention one more. In The Thanatos Syndrome, Percy's final work, he prophetically strikes at the utopian social engineers so evident in the early 21st-century. There are two typical reactions to Walker Percy--one finds his work either creatively provocative or singularly uninspiring. For the former, there may be no better author than Percy for jump starting reflection on things that matter. 

Cormac McCarthyis a Rhode Island born, Southern bred, author who has written a number of novels in the Southern Gothic and Western genres. McCarthy lived for years in Tennessee, moved to El Paso, Texas, and now lives near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Those who are unfamiliar with his writings may nonetheless be familiar with a recent Oscar-winning movie adapted from his book No Country for Old Men. A master of language, description, and detail, McCarthy has been called the modern William Faulkner. I recommend his The Border Trilogy, which is an unabridged collection of three haunting novels of uncommon descriptive beauty. Perhaps the best known of McCarthy's works is Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, which was recently listed by the New York Times Magazine among the greatest novels of the previous quarter-century, and hailed by Harold Bloom as the greatest work of any contemporary American author. A sort of 19th-century western variation of Dante's descent into hell, Blood Meridian is a graphically violent novel written in powerful prose and intended to provoke the reader to moral reflection. This is not a John Wayne western story, but then, John Wayne westerns were never known to provoke thought. If you like beautifully descriptive writing, stunning prose, and philosophical musings--and, you can stand intensity and brutality in a story, you will likely appreciate Cormac McCarthy.

Berry for What Ails You.

I have previously mentioned on this blog my appreciation for the writings of Wendell Berry. The more time I spend on a tractor moving dirt, the more I think of distributivism and Berry's writing. For an interesting introduction to his thought, I recommend Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community: Eight Essays. The paragraph below explaining the book is taken from Kirkus Reviews:

"Eight exhortatory essays (some of which appeared previously in the Atlantic Monthly, The Progressive, and elsewhere) by the Kentuckian fiction writer (Fidelity, 1992, etc.) and moral critic (What are People For?, 1990, etc.). Berry once again carves out a unique position in American social debate: not liberal (he hates big government), not conservative (he hates big corporations), not libertarian (he would balance individual rights with those of the commonweal), but always sharp-tongued and aglow with common sense. His pessimism seems to grow with each volume, as he sees the nation in a tailspin toward moral and economic chaos. His targets proliferate: the military and its Gulf War (he calls for a national peace academy); profiteering industrialists who ravage economies around the world; addiction to drugs, war, TV, and junk products; public schooling, which instills mediocrity in place of moral values; media exploitation of sexuality, which robs it of sacred meaning; "tolerant and multicultural people'' who defend special interest groups but defame "people who haven't been to college, manual workers, country people, peasants, religious people, unmodern people, old people''--in other words, Berry's friends, neighbors, and comrades. If the diagnosis is bitter, so is the cure: "economic secession.'' For Berry, small communities based on the household are our only hope. He calls upon these localities to seize control of their economic and social lives, supporting home-grown agriculture, manufacturing, and education, and establishing moral codes that reflect eternal truths. Power-to-the-people, 90's-style. A powerful emetic, worth a swallow."