tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post8811775012698010477..comments2024-03-20T19:40:58.078-05:00Comments on The OF Blog: Sodomy and Other Assorted Book PornLarry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-41226955252119984542012-06-05T03:01:52.768-05:002012-06-05T03:01:52.768-05:00Leaving Wagner and Tolkien aside, the Nibelungenli...Leaving Wagner and Tolkien aside, the <i>Nibelungenlied</i> is a powerful read. The very first fantasy novel I ever read was actually a prose retelling of the matter of the Nibelungs for kids, <i>Die Nibelungen</i> by Austrian writer Auguste Lechner. I doubt I could enjoy that one now, but it sparked my interest in the matter, and the 13th century <i>Lied</i> remains one of my favourite works of literature.Anubishttp://hermanstadt.blogspot.denoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-74057816839325751942012-06-04T23:46:12.174-05:002012-06-04T23:46:12.174-05:00Yeah, my mistake, as I seem to have conflated vagu...Yeah, my mistake, as I seem to have conflated vague memories of reading it in translation in the mid-90s with Wagner. And you're right in that I wouldn't praise Wagner that highly.<br /><br />As for DeLillo, I found the opening part of <i>Underworld</i> to be the most appealing to me, but it's been a while since I last read it, so I only have vague impressions right now.<br /><br />De Sade will be read only out of morbid curiosity, as you put it :PLarry Nolenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-54877600333849365052012-06-03T17:15:01.423-05:002012-06-03T17:15:01.423-05:00Interested in the DeLillo. After being underwhelme...Interested in the DeLillo. After being underwhelmed by certain aspects of Underworld, I'm reading Ratner's Star now, and I'm finding it *wonderful*. I don't think it's particularly difficult, but it is zany and often quasi (at least)-profound.<br /><br />120 Days of Sodom... I took a look a couple years ago, out of morbid curiosity. I don't mind the dark side of life in literature, but my reaction here was quick and final: No thanks. I can see the abstract argument for its value, but I have no need for this in my life, not now, probably not ever.jasonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-20343475132629468452012-06-03T09:42:56.160-05:002012-06-03T09:42:56.160-05:00»...a better tale of an evil Ring than Tolkien...«...»...a better tale of an evil Ring than Tolkien...«<br /><br />Not quite. The book you have there contains the 13th century <i>Nibelungenlied</i> by an unknown author. A ring does appear in the story, but it is neither evil nor magical, but merely a token that it was Siegfried who overwhelmed Brünhild in order to force her to have sex with her husband King Gunther, and not Gunther himself. Siegfried, who owns a magic hood that makes him invisible, assaults Brünhild in the dark of her bedroom, until she gives up an agrees to have sex with who she believes to be her husband Gunther. Siegfried and Gunther then change places, but before he leaves, Siegfried takes a ring and a girdle from among Brünhild's possessions.<br /><br />An evil magic ring has a prominent role in Richard Wagner's much later <i>Ring des Nibelungen</i>, of course. But I'd seriosly doubt your literary taste if you believed Wagner's <i>Ring</i> to be a better tale than Tolkien's.Anubishttp://hermanstadt.blogspot.denoreply@blogger.com