Brilliant Minds

Pamuk wins Nobel

Orhan Pamuk wins the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature! Aren't you glad now that you've read Snow and My Name Is Red?

Desai's LOSS wins Booker

Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss: A Novel has won the Booker Prize.  Coverage from Publisher's Weekly: Desai Nabs Booker.

Add to your reading list!

Decameron site

In case you missed it in Bill Cofone's comment, here's a great Decameron site: Decameron Web

Thanks, Bill!

Kalevala - Virtual Finland

The Virtual Finland site has an informative and enjoyable series of pages dedicated to the Kalevala:

• Kalevala - The Finnish National Epic
• The Kalevala's contents - poems  (take a look at this for a summary of the story and action)
• Jean Sibelius  and the Kalevala

A diverse collection of Kalevala related links: http://www.helsinki.fi/kasv/nokol/kalevala.html

A pronunciation guide at:  http://www.edj.net/mc2012/pronun.htm
A brief article on the Sampo: http://www.edj.net/mc2012/sampo.htm

[Compare the prominence of the Sampo with variations on the "wish-fulfilling jewel". For example, read the description of the seal of Bhutan's Royal Court of Justice (scroll down to section II): Justice Crest ]

History behind "Persians"

For a view of the encounter, here are links to two maps posted on Wikipedia:
Persian invasion
Thermopylae & movements to Salamis

For an historical account of the Battle of Salamis, consider this highly accessible scholarly book by Barry Strauss: The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter that Saved Greece -- and Western Civilization. Plenty of references to Aeschylus' account included:

Coliseum to Close

Sad to write that PublishersWeekly.com reports that Coliseum Books will be closing, following a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filing. We are losing yet another excellent independent.

Persians reviewed

Here's a link to the NY Times Review of the National Theatre of Greece's recent production of Persians at City Center in NYC.

Kalevala & Decameron selections

The Kalevala
This work can be read non-linearly. That is, start from wherever you please and read only the poems that interest you! However, the narratives do cluster, so here are suggestions for following some of the major story-lines and structural features:

• Poems 1 & 50 (to frame the collection)
• Poems 3 - 5
• Poems 11 - 15; 26 - 30
• Poems 20 - 25; 37 - 38
• Poems 31 - 36

The Decameron
If you're strapped for time, concentrate on the asterisked selections:

• *Prologue
• First Day: stories 1, 2 & 3
• Second Day: stories 5, 7 & 9
• *Third Day: stories 1, 9 & 10
• *Fourth Day: stories 1, 5 & 9
• Fifth Day: stories 8, 9 & 10
• Sixth Day: stories 4, 7, 9 & 10
• Seventh Day: stories 2, 8 & 9
• Eight Day: stories 3, 5 & 7
• Ninth Day: stories 2, 3, 6 & 9
• *Tenth Day 10: story 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 & 10
• Epilogue

Enjoy!