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sleepy_head's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
likecymbeline's review
3.0
After listening to Eugene Onegin, I decided to take it back and listen to its chief inspiration, explicitly named again and again. I had certainly read excerpts of this in university, but of course found it daunting to tackle in full. Listening (and often reading after in short bursts) makes for a very different experience than poring over the tiny text in your Nortons, and the narrator of this LibriVox recording was very good. Lines rolled out of him with power and presence as you swept across landscapes of war and deep political history. It's an interesting poem to a modern ear as it would've been so prescient and radical at the time, and the journey he was taking so fascinating as something dangerous yet available, and all of that combined with this generational moment, this fatigue that Childe Harold exemplifies.
There are some moments that are particularly good on their own. Just a few weeks ago I had been reading aloud to Emily the section, "There are pleasures in the pathless woods" (because there ARE), and had half-forgotten I would run into it again here. I know that sometimes we roll our eyes at how unbearable Lord Byron would've been to know as a person, but then I we dig into his work and his politics (the Elgin Marbles! he said give them back!!) and I remember there's much more to him
There are some moments that are particularly good on their own. Just a few weeks ago I had been reading aloud to Emily the section, "There are pleasures in the pathless woods" (because there ARE), and had half-forgotten I would run into it again here. I know that sometimes we roll our eyes at how unbearable Lord Byron would've been to know as a person, but then I we dig into his work and his politics (the Elgin Marbles! he said give them back!!) and I remember there's much more to him
battybloomer's review against another edition
4.0
i too wish that my life consisted solely of scandalous sexual liaisons and incessant travels. byron fucks in every sense of the word
bookishchloo's review against another edition
4.0
review for canto three:
really enjoyed this narrative based poem. the imagery made it stand out especially, as well as the dialogue between father and daughter.
really enjoyed this narrative based poem. the imagery made it stand out especially, as well as the dialogue between father and daughter.
nataalia_sanchez's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
blueyorkie's review against another edition
3.0
What is this weird thing? I have to admit that this is not trivial. Without too much certainty, I would categorize it readily as being a sort of travel verse narrative with the issue of political and cultural opinion.
The word pilgrimage could evoke any religion, but it is not, and the word journey could be just as suitable.
Lord George Gordon Byron, the grandson of the great navigator and explorer commodore John Byron, had been the forerunner of James Cook. Overwhelmed by the weight of his ancestry and probably eager to make a name for himself in his early 20s when the death of his mother and a close friend plunges him into a deep melancholy and encourage him to take the sea and embark on a long journey.
His initial plan for Byron was to reach the British Indies through the Mediterranean, Anatolia, and Persia. He will never complete the land part of this journey, contenting himself with coasting in the Mediterranean. In 1809, he embarked, in mourning or little by little, in the direction of Malta by stopping over in Portugal and the south of Spain.
His Childe Harold is, therefore, a work in verse mainly and largely autobiographical to which he wishes to give a medieval air in the vocabulary and the expressions used.
The complete work consists of four songs, but the first two were written well before the other two and had a different tone from the following two.
The editors decided separate songs I and II from following two - a choice that I approve of - but above all wanted to undertake an edition into verse, which is a choice that I do not approve of at all.
The choice of a "verse mode" is not right, and I want as proof the variations of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin (which was inspired by Childe Harold) where no "verse mode" is capable of supporting the comparison with unverified editions from other's.
So I had a lot of trouble hanging on to these first two songs, and luckily there was the original text opposite which allowed me to guess the real poetry contained in this writing.
It is, therefore, a Byron fiercely opposed to Napoleon that we discover in the Iberian Peninsula (because his trip corresponds to the invasion of Spain by the Great Army). His bias in favour of indigenous peoples against all forms of colonialism is obvious.
In this sense (and especially in his notes which are very interesting), he also denounces the policy of interference of his own country or any other. Demands freedom in the broad sense for the enslaved peoples, whether it be Spain under the boot of Napoleon or Greece under the yoke of the Ottoman Empire.
His commitment to the preservation of ancient heritage, especially in Greece is secure, and he clearly expresses the shame that inspires him from the English looters of Greek antiquities.
This writing is a precursor of romanticism in the sense that it represents an aspiration for freedom, spaces, the beauty of nature or human artifices, but always imbued with a feeling of mourning and nostalgia that nothing can appease.
I finish with a little "I have a dream", for this Childe Harold's Pilgrimage which can restore all the beauty and fluidity of the verb, therefore, very different from it. But this is only my opinion, that is to say, not much.
The word pilgrimage could evoke any religion, but it is not, and the word journey could be just as suitable.
Lord George Gordon Byron, the grandson of the great navigator and explorer commodore John Byron, had been the forerunner of James Cook. Overwhelmed by the weight of his ancestry and probably eager to make a name for himself in his early 20s when the death of his mother and a close friend plunges him into a deep melancholy and encourage him to take the sea and embark on a long journey.
His initial plan for Byron was to reach the British Indies through the Mediterranean, Anatolia, and Persia. He will never complete the land part of this journey, contenting himself with coasting in the Mediterranean. In 1809, he embarked, in mourning or little by little, in the direction of Malta by stopping over in Portugal and the south of Spain.
His Childe Harold is, therefore, a work in verse mainly and largely autobiographical to which he wishes to give a medieval air in the vocabulary and the expressions used.
The complete work consists of four songs, but the first two were written well before the other two and had a different tone from the following two.
The editors decided separate songs I and II from following two - a choice that I approve of - but above all wanted to undertake an edition into verse, which is a choice that I do not approve of at all.
The choice of a "verse mode" is not right, and I want as proof the variations of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin (which was inspired by Childe Harold) where no "verse mode" is capable of supporting the comparison with unverified editions from other's.
So I had a lot of trouble hanging on to these first two songs, and luckily there was the original text opposite which allowed me to guess the real poetry contained in this writing.
It is, therefore, a Byron fiercely opposed to Napoleon that we discover in the Iberian Peninsula (because his trip corresponds to the invasion of Spain by the Great Army). His bias in favour of indigenous peoples against all forms of colonialism is obvious.
In this sense (and especially in his notes which are very interesting), he also denounces the policy of interference of his own country or any other. Demands freedom in the broad sense for the enslaved peoples, whether it be Spain under the boot of Napoleon or Greece under the yoke of the Ottoman Empire.
His commitment to the preservation of ancient heritage, especially in Greece is secure, and he clearly expresses the shame that inspires him from the English looters of Greek antiquities.
This writing is a precursor of romanticism in the sense that it represents an aspiration for freedom, spaces, the beauty of nature or human artifices, but always imbued with a feeling of mourning and nostalgia that nothing can appease.
I finish with a little "I have a dream", for this Childe Harold's Pilgrimage which can restore all the beauty and fluidity of the verb, therefore, very different from it. But this is only my opinion, that is to say, not much.
courtneydoss's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
lucepu's review against another edition
2.0
It was very hard to understand and the things I did understand weren't interesting at all.