Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Blowhards --

I recently had a wonderful time going through Charlton Griffin's audiobook of Juvenal's "Satires." Amazing material, of course. Juvenal was a Roman poet given to wild caricature of the life he observed -- he's like the poet version of Hogarth, only for Roman times rather than for 18th century England. The poems are given a superbly-judged production and reading by Charlton, who presents them with a winning combo of dignity, lasciviousness, and merriment. The effect is like spending a sozzled, off-the-record evening with a dirty-minded senator. You can download the audiobook from Audible, or from the iTunes Store.

Charlton -- no stranger to merriment or to witty observation himself -- has forwarded along some tasty links.

* Cliff's Notes for "The Sopranos."

* Enough already with the super-slow-mo shots of bullets. How about a slow-mo shot of a samurai sword in action? That's one sharp blade.

* The immigration crisis, via The Onion.

* Do men really like the hourglass figure best?

* How to resist game-show bloopers?

* When it's over, it's really over.

Charlton is currently reading a history of Rome for XM satellite radio.

Best,

Michael

UPDATE: Thanks to The Man Who Is Thursday, who points out this Roger Kimball essay about Juvenal.

Juvenal is one of my favourite poets. In these days of political correctness, he is a breath of fresh air. But I have to say that the comparison with Hogarth seems a bit off. What often comes through when reading Juvenal is his sheer un-Hogarthian viciousness. As opposed to PC ideology as I am, I can still say that sometimes he goes too far. When reading him, I find that I wince as much as I laugh.

Charlton Griffin reads the Rolfe Humphries translation. (I presume this has to do with copyright.) Its a very good translation, and if you aren't going to read a text version, you can be assured that he is reading one of the best versions out there. Not the best, however. I tend to prefer Peter Green's revised translation (3rd Ed. Penguin). I would urge anyone who enjoyed the Humphries to give it a try. I don't think Humphries quite captures Juvenal's absolute fury.

ALSO:
The New Criterion has this article on Juvenal.

Posted by: Thursday on April 3, 2007 5:52 PM

0.74. Time to get in shape...

Posted by: Tatyana on April 3, 2007 6:48 PM






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