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DonQuigleone · 2011-09-28, 08:12

I'll probably go back to RoTK at some point. I just think it would be easier as a foreigner if I had an Ebook form of the book, with easily acessibly anotates Notes, and ready access to a map.

Instead I'm always flipping to the back of the book for the notes, or to the map in front, in order to determine what's going on.

I don't view that as a criticism of RoTK itself, as any Chinese person would have few issues with those things, they wouldn't need notes, and they'd probably know where all the locations are.

That and being able to search the book when a character appears, to determine if he's already appeared, would also make it easier.

I will, however, criticize RoTK for length. 120 Chapters is Looooong. The Iliad, a comparable work, is only 24 books ("Chapters") long. Not only that but the cast of characters is smaller, and more intimate. Obviously it's still going to be hard to keep track of everyone if you're only starting out, but I don't think it would be as hard as RoTK. There's really only 20 or 30 characters in the Iliad (and a whole slew of others who die shortly after being introduced), RoTK has hundreds!

RoTK has a lot of good points, the subject matter is interesting, and it's a good book. But I think the Iliad is better. But I am a tad biased, I grew up on the Iliad. Diomedes the Panic maker for the win.

As for Irenicus's characters: Good kids want to be Hector, bad kids want to be Agamemnon. Boys who think they're big and tough want to be Ajax. Smart kids want to grow up to be Odysseus. The grownups think the kids should act like Achilles. Nobody likes Paris, the sonofabitch.

The girls are...kind of left out. There's Helen and Hekabe and that's...that. Though there are the goddesses.

The Iliad rocks. "Man, supposing you and I, escaping this battle, would be able to live on forever, ageless, immortal, so neither would I myself go on fighting in the foremost, nor would I urge you into the fighting where men win glory. But now, seeing that the spirits of death stand close about us in their thousands, no man can turn aside or escape them, let us go on and win glory for ourselves, or yield it to others. "

2011-09-28, 08:12	Link #14
DonQuigleone Knight Errant Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Dublin, Ireland Age: 35	I'll probably go back to RoTK at some point. I just think it would be easier as a foreigner if I had an Ebook form of the book, with easily acessibly anotates Notes, and ready access to a map. Instead I'm always flipping to the back of the book for the notes, or to the map in front, in order to determine what's going on. I don't view that as a criticism of RoTK itself, as any Chinese person would have few issues with those things, they wouldn't need notes, and they'd probably know where all the locations are. That and being able to search the book when a character appears, to determine if he's already appeared, would also make it easier. I will, however, criticize RoTK for length. 120 Chapters is Looooong. The Iliad, a comparable work, is only 24 books ("Chapters") long. Not only that but the cast of characters is smaller, and more intimate. Obviously it's still going to be hard to keep track of everyone if you're only starting out, but I don't think it would be as hard as RoTK. There's really only 20 or 30 characters in the Iliad (and a whole slew of others who die shortly after being introduced), RoTK has hundreds! RoTK has a lot of good points, the subject matter is interesting, and it's a good book. But I think the Iliad is better. But I am a tad biased, I grew up on the Iliad. Diomedes the Panic maker for the win. As for Irenicus's characters: Good kids want to be Hector, bad kids want to be Agamemnon. Boys who think they're big and tough want to be Ajax. Smart kids want to grow up to be Odysseus. The grownups think the kids should act like Achilles. Nobody likes Paris, the sonofabitch. The girls are...kind of left out. There's Helen and Hekabe and that's...that. Though there are the goddesses. The Iliad rocks. "Man, supposing you and I, escaping this battle, would be able to live on forever, ageless, immortal, so neither would I myself go on fighting in the foremost, nor would I urge you into the fighting where men win glory. But now, seeing that the spirits of death stand close about us in their thousands, no man can turn aside or escape them, let us go on and win glory for ourselves, or yield it to others. "