Book Review | ‘Beowulf’ by Anonymous

Tags

ancient literature, beowulf, book review, epic poem, Grendel, gutenberg project, Medieval, poetry

Beowulf by Unknown

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

“Beloved Beowulf, remember how you boasted,
 Once, that nothing in the world would ever
 Destroy your fame; fight to keep it,
 Now, be strong and brave, my noble
 King, protecting life and fame
                                       Together. My sword will fight at your side!”

Stirring stuff eh? Nothing but distilled epicness! When someone used to say ‘Beowulf’ to me I’d start thinking about epic soundtracks to films, especially ‘Lux Aeterna’. But not anymore…

No, there’s nothing to get excited about here, people. In fact, this might be my shortest review of a book yet. Basically ‘Beowulf’ is the story of a warrior called Beowulf (who comes across as a bit vainglorious, hence the quote above about him boasting!) and his epic battle with Grendel the monster, and said monsters mum. And you get to read the story TWICE. Once by the narrator, and a second time round by Beowulf himself (who was only trying to impress the ladies in court!)

My translated version was the Gutenberg e-book edition, and very unimaginative if I might say so. Ask around for a GOOD translation before you give it a go. If you know a good version, please let me know. I feel like a s*&% not diggin’ this piece of epic lit. And I don’t like that. It makes me feel dumb.

So please, convince me through another version this CAN be better and I’ll be a very grateful girl indeed!

To read my version of the text free, plesase visit ‘Beowulf’ at the Gutenberg Project.

View all my reviews

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I, Android | The Beauty of the eBook App

Tags

1001 book list, android apps, audiobook, ebook, goodreads, gutenberg project, librivox, the art of war

 
For god’s sake. Stop being such a paranoid android,
and learn to love the little green man…

I take it back. Every negative word I have written about the ebook/ audiobook phenomena (or any format that deviates from the traditional way of reading) has as of today, come to an abrupt end. Who or what converted me so completely and painlessly? The world of android apps, of course. Those wonderfully cute and colourful icons of free information that you stream onto your phone, those friendly and extremely useful gadgets that help pass the time, convert your money to any currency you want… or allow you to access thousands of classic novels. All for FREE. Now that is an app to die for.

Among the thousands of these tiny little widgety things I discovered an oasis of reading material. The website I happened to used was Android Market that came pre-installed on my phone. It’s a really useful website that offers information about the different types of apps on offer. Searches can be made separating the best paid and free apps on the market, and it allows direct download into your phone via a USB cable. What’s more, I really liked the reviews of the different products. Very valuable if you are a techno-phobe like me and dread getting into trouble with glitches and viruses.   

I quickly discovered that there was really no need to pay for many of the stuff I wanted to use, because the free ones operate just as well as the paid ones. Among my sojourns in the ‘Books and Reference’ section, I discovered a lot of apps for Bibles, Moon phases and other religious books. Ideal for those who wish to carry their scriptures with them while on the go.

Wondering what I managed to find? Here’s my list of book related apps:

•  Goodreads – A must have. Before I had to log onto the full website and frantically toggle between full and mobile mode (full mode wont let me update my shelves). So this is a real godsend. Works like a dream.

 

•  Free Audiobooks (Travelling Classics) – Excellent for when you are on the go. Thousands of titles are available, and is especially good for those trying their hand at the 1001 BYMRBYD. This is like the ‘Gutenberg Project’, only all texts are from the ‘Librivox’ library and are narrated by ordinary people. I must admit, I didn’t quite like ‘Librivox’ because it kept me close to the computer (limited, rather), but with this app I can cook, clean, do anything and listen to quality unabridged classics from Dickens to Aesops Fables. Once the novel is downloaded, it will continue to works even without internet access. Get this while you still can!

 

•  The Art of War eBook – I have a beautiful hardcover 
  version of this I got from Borders years ago. It’s sitting on my shelf gathering dust! This however is a great condensed version of the military/ tactical classic from Sun Tzu that everybody has heard about, but few have actually read. This will help feed my love for Asian non-fiction.

It has in some respects been a day of revelation to me. I who was a proud reader of the ‘written word’, has finally ‘got’ it. I hope to discover many more bookish apps and through sharing them hope to help other conservative minded readers make the switch over to the digital realm a little more easier. Do you have any bookish apps that you have discovered or can’t do without? Please do share!