The Odyssey (Homer, 8th century BC) (translated Robert Fagles)

It was a pleasure to go back through this long-ish poem, and I can see why the Fagles' recent translation was named one Time magazine's 10 best books (1996). It was a sequel to Homer's Iliad, and a predecessor to the Aeneid (Fagles' translation discussed here).

Fagles teams up with this guy named Bernard Knox, who provides long, scholarly-sounding introductions. It's a great combination.

The story - Odysseus returning home from Troy to deal with the suitors chasing Penelope (to the chagrin of Laertes and Telemachus) is well known. And it is amazing how many elements of the story are staples: Cyclops; the sirens and their famous song; Calypso; Scylla and Charybdis; the visit to the land of the dead; etc.

One of the reasons I wanted to read it was because the movie "O Brother Where Art Thou" was loosely based on this; also James Joyce's "Ulysses," which I need to read again since it didn't make much sense to me the first time.

Great stuff.

Cousin Bette (Honore de Balzac, 1846)

Balzac is one of those authors that I've never read despite constantly running into references. Supposedly both Proust and Henry James studied his works carefully.

I mostly read this novel on the flights to and from DC.

"Cousin Bette" is one of his later works, and is part of his magnus opus - "La Comédie humaine" - a group of 100 or so works iwth some recurring characters, etc.

He's clearly another great observer of human nature. Seemed to be writing also for a popular audience; snappy dialogue, quicker pace than some of the other things I've been looking at lately.

I read that Balzac's father wanted him to be a lawyer, but that he wasn't very good at handling structure of any kind. He did have some training and I believe practiced a few years. This definitely shows up in his writing. He brought to life the economic concerns of the characters in more detail and with more accuracy than others I've read. Apparently 19th century economic considerations were more similar to current than I would have thought.

One reason I like reading stuff from France in this era is the overlapping political epochs; he was born in the Napoleonic days, this was written during the July monarchy. Apparently Balzac did support a lot of the old structures.

Plot line: Cousin Bette is jealous of her relatives based on not liking how she was treated as a child, and joins up with a top flight courtesan to pursue revenges.

Hortense marries a Pole, and Balzac is funny with what would now be politically incorrect observations about the courage and senselessness of the Poles, how this contributed to their various partitions, etc. (show a Pole a precipice and he will throw himself over . . ."

James Taylor and his Band of Legends

A last-minute event - Patricia, Paul Jr., Nedda and I went to see James Taylor (who was touring with his modestly titled "Band of Legends") at the Dodge Theater in downtown Phoenix on Saturday night (August 2).

Per usual for touring folks, they were promoting a new album. They played a few items from that in the beginning of the concert. In general, the band was quite good. But the crowd (certainly including us) was there only to hear JT work from his catalog of familiar items primarily from the 1970s.

Some observations:

1. The guy's voice has survived remarkably well for being at age 60. Certainly in comparison to some of his contemporaries that really shouldn't be touring anymore (or at least confine themselves to out of the way casinos).

2. He did enough of the old stuff so that everyone left satisfied. There was a portion of the second set where he did "Walking Man," "Sweet Baby James," and "Fire and Rain" in close order. Nice.

3. I had not heard the story behind "Sweet Baby James" before, it was written for a nephew of his that was named "James" (duh) while he was off doing whatever in Europe. So he recounted coming back to the US and trying to write something. Some funny lines about the "the little varmint" and his effort to come up with songs, e.g. "All quiet in the bunkhouse" (a rejected title).

4. His stage presence is wonderful. Connected very well with the audience. Stuck around signing autographs, posing for photos, talking through the entire intermission. He's funny, has a great way of talking. He more or less works his way around stories, often getting there indirectly, permitting audience members to fill in their own ideas. Told some of the traditional jokes (and openly identified them as such), including how the electric guitar was an improvement over the "steam-powered guitar" and the "horse-drawn guitar" etc.

5. They did four encores. Nice.

6. He sang "Oh what a beautiful morning". Unexpected. We all thought of EMG.

7. Normally I don't much care for his blues stuff, but in a live venue it worked really well. They did a slower-tempo version of "Steamroller" plus some other stuff.

8. Had a funny bit about how he and Carole King worked up "You've Got a Friend" in a nightclub that - well, it was probably a bit of a stretch to call it a nightclub; if a building could be a ditch, that's what it was . . . that he didn't know that the song would end up being something he performed every night for the rest of his life . . . but this was better than folks who had hits like "The Monster Mash."

9. The band members really did add a lot. I often find the brass sections annoying in these groups, but they were restrained and very musical. The main drummer was a Phoenix guy that is pretty talented, though I never much care for the whole drummer routine. There was another drummer doing Latin stuff, he was interesting to listen to. Etc.

10. To take a stab at describing why his stuff works - I think the word is bittersweet. Somehow the combination of his unique voice, the lyrics, the chord movements underneath the held notes - it still sounds great after 35+ years, and I think his stuff is aging really well. He can communicate the poignancy of the fleeting happinesses . . . has figured out that the fleeting nature is what creates the intensity . . .