The Golden Asse Lucius Apuleius 9781519306463 Books
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What and who he was attend a while, and you shall understand that it was even I, the writer of mine own Metamorphosie and strange alteration of figure. Hymettus, Athens, Isthmia, Ephire Tenaros, and Sparta, being fat and fertile soiles (as I pray you give credit to the bookes of more everlasting fame) be places where myne antient progeny and linage did sometime flourish there I say, in Athens, when I was yong, I went first to schoole. Soone after (as a stranger) I arrived at Rome, whereas by great industry, and without instruction of any schoolmaster, I attained to the full perfection of the Latine tongue. Behold, I first crave and beg your pardon, lest I should happen to displease or offend any of you by the rude and rusticke utterance of this strange and forrein language. And verily this new alteration of speech doth correspond to the enterprised matter whereof I purpose to entreat, I will set forth unto you a pleasant Grecian feast. Whereunto gentle Reader if thou wilt give attendant eare, it will minister unto thee such delectable matter as thou shalt be contented withall.
The Golden Asse Lucius Apuleius 9781519306463 Books
This review is of the Kindle edition of the Robert Graves translation.Graves explains his principles of translation:
Why did Apuleius choose to write in this eccentric style? For the same reason that Rabelais did. The parallel is close. Both were priests—pious, lively, exceptionally learned, provincial priests—who found that the popular tale gave them a wider field for their descriptions of contemporary morals and manners, punctuated by philosophical asides, than any more respectable literary form. In my translation I have made no attempt to bring out the oddness of the Latin by writing in a style, say, somewhere between Lyly’s Euphues and Amanda Ros’s Irene Iddesleigh; paradoxically, the effect of oddness is best achieved in convulsed times like the present by writing in as easy and sedate an English as possible.
... Surely more easily said than done, but Graves, the author of I, Claudius, makes good on his promise. Only once was his attempt to find a cultural equivalent jarring- this high priest sounds velly velly Anglican:
... On our arrival the High Priest and the priests who carried the oracular emblems were admitted into the Goddess’s sanctuary with other initiates and restored them to their proper places. Then one of them, known as the Doctor of Divinity, presided at the gate of the sanctuary over a meeting of the Shrine-bearers, as the highest order of the priests of Isis are called. He went up into a high pulpit with a book and read out a Latin blessing upon ‘our liege lord, the Emperor, and upon the Senate, and upon the Order of Knights, and upon the Commons of Rome, and upon all sailors and all ships who owe obedience to the aforesaid powers.’
Lucius, the ass, hears accounts of many other stories in the course of his own adventures, most of which are pretty ribald. I had read it once before and completely forgotten the details, which made re-reading it somewhat exciting. Not all classics are this engaging. Here's one more excerpt with a touch of self-referential post-modernism:
... But don’t run away with the idea that good food, perfect leisure and a long, happy life will be all the reward you get from me; I’ll have a memorial set up at home, a carved plaque picturing our flight, and I’ll get some clever author to write the story out in a book for future generations to read. The title will be, let me see: “Flight on Ass-back: or, How a Young Lady of Royal Blood Escaped from Captivity.” It’s not a very learned subject, of course, but you’ll have your niche in history: you’ll be a modern instance to strengthen people’s belief in mythology.
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The Golden Asse Lucius Apuleius 9781519306463 Books Reviews
The cost was right.
Great Book that I have read many ties in my long life. The introduction is unusually long and tedious and can be skipped. The story is brilliant and probably a fair account of life at that time. Highly Recommended
This was a Free book which I thank for offering. I am trying to read all the pre 1700 books and this was a fairly easy story to follow although I did miss some points those did not detract from my reading. I found it interesting and funny to see how many times the asse was sold to new people and he had more problems to face. Using this free version is a good way to check this off your reading list.
It has the original novel in full and in text only format, which is fine as the original was text only. Worth downloading if you want to read it, but you may want to instead purchase/download one of the "The Complete Works of..." type collections, if one exists for Lucius Apuleius. Perhaps a collection of classic works…? They usually are less than $5.00 in digital format, especially for older novels/stories that are now in the public domain. An annotated version of this book would also be a much better choice for most readers as having been written 1,000's of years ago it can be rather difficult to follow at times.
Had I known that this was written in "Olde Englyshe" I never would've bought it. I thought it was a contemporary English version. The writing style of back then is very convoluted and confusing to a "modern" person. I am a voracious reader, but I can only handle a couple of pages at a time in order to comprehend it. Don't know if I'll try to read the whole thing or just toss it in the "sell back" bag.
Beautiful language at a font size that is easy to read. Story flows better than the over-the-top academic pubs, including the Penguin. Ruden seems to have more of a love for language than others who are more interested in "proper" translation and fastidiousness when, in fact, Apuleius was not so fastidious, just damned intellectually referential. Notes are best for cultural context--and why Apuleius would make the references he does.
At their best, a good translation can transcend time and place, offering a look into a different world. This translation is that good - for long passages, I was transfixed as much by the evocative language as by the story.
In terms of plot, a normal man of high status is transformed by witchery into a donkey. He cannot talk and so is presumed to be a beast of burden, passing between many hands as he searches for freedom. In this state, he has all manner of misadventures, is horribly maltreated, then becomes a kind of town celebrity once his behavior is observed. All the while, he is listening and thinking, eventually praying to the white goddess for redemption.
At first, I found the story somewhat weak, almost like a looney tunes epic, with all manner of nonsensical stories thrown in haphazardly. But towards the end, the broader themes of the book come through the comedy, and it seems that a serious introduction to Isis worship is sketched. In particular, the last chapter is fascinating, particularly the vision that the unhappy donkey has of the goddess. For that moment, I was a pagan and believed the story. This is a unique reading experience that comes with study of the classics.
Rudin's translation offers a glimpse into the beauty of the language that classical scholars can know. It reminded me of the happy time I spent as an undergraduate. Recommended warmly.
This review is of the edition of the Robert Graves translation.
Graves explains his principles of translation
Why did Apuleius choose to write in this eccentric style? For the same reason that Rabelais did. The parallel is close. Both were priests—pious, lively, exceptionally learned, provincial priests—who found that the popular tale gave them a wider field for their descriptions of contemporary morals and manners, punctuated by philosophical asides, than any more respectable literary form. In my translation I have made no attempt to bring out the oddness of the Latin by writing in a style, say, somewhere between Lyly’s Euphues and Amanda Ros’s Irene Iddesleigh; paradoxically, the effect of oddness is best achieved in convulsed times like the present by writing in as easy and sedate an English as possible.
... Surely more easily said than done, but Graves, the author of I, Claudius, makes good on his promise. Only once was his attempt to find a cultural equivalent jarring- this high priest sounds velly velly Anglican
... On our arrival the High Priest and the priests who carried the oracular emblems were admitted into the Goddess’s sanctuary with other initiates and restored them to their proper places. Then one of them, known as the Doctor of Divinity, presided at the gate of the sanctuary over a meeting of the Shrine-bearers, as the highest order of the priests of Isis are called. He went up into a high pulpit with a book and read out a Latin blessing upon ‘our liege lord, the Emperor, and upon the Senate, and upon the Order of Knights, and upon the Commons of Rome, and upon all sailors and all ships who owe obedience to the aforesaid powers.’
Lucius, the ass, hears accounts of many other stories in the course of his own adventures, most of which are pretty ribald. I had read it once before and completely forgotten the details, which made re-reading it somewhat exciting. Not all classics are this engaging. Here's one more excerpt with a touch of self-referential post-modernism
... But don’t run away with the idea that good food, perfect leisure and a long, happy life will be all the reward you get from me; I’ll have a memorial set up at home, a carved plaque picturing our flight, and I’ll get some clever author to write the story out in a book for future generations to read. The title will be, let me see “Flight on Ass-back or, How a Young Lady of Royal Blood Escaped from Captivity.” It’s not a very learned subject, of course, but you’ll have your niche in history you’ll be a modern instance to strengthen people’s belief in mythology.
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