mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
ché la diritta via era smarrita.
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
Plans were forged tonight. I used to have a Tuesday 'Salon' (so they called it) in my Ladbroke Grove flat, but I am loathe to return to the past and will not start the Tuesdays again, at least not in the original form. Nevertheless a new idea took shape tonight. Venerable members of the Ladbroke Grove Tuesdays turned up for Mulled Wine. Anthony G came first and we talked of Dante. Then he told me of last year's reading group who had done Milton's Paradise Lost. Then others came and we decided to throw ourselves into La Divina Commedia in the New Year. This will happen chez moi. Details to be communicated to interested parties.What fun to be in London!
A MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM LADBROKE GROVE!
All the sorrier that we weren't there. I have ALWAYS wanted to join a Dante reading group. In Italian AND English, and which translation? Dorothy L Sayers comes highly commended. My other great wish is to have a Finnegans Wake group, inspired by a session I joined in Zurich conducted by the Joyce scholar Fritz Senn, but one would need a VERY knowledgeable guide for that.
ReplyDeleteOh good! Yes indeed always in combination with the Italian. But I would favour a personal approach: our own thoughts and reactions and not too academic?
ReplyDeleteNo, but we'd need a 'group leader' well versed in the subject to guide our thoughts. Senn was brilliant - someone read a couple of pages of FW, we all put in our thoughts about what it meant (as we wished), then he explained what it actually meant - the former even more in the spirit of Joyce. And anyone could drop in, as I did while I was there.
ReplyDeleteGod fortsättning på julen och gott nytt år!
ReplyDeleteTack detsamma Niels!
ReplyDelete