When I was an undergrad, I used Tolkein's edition (borrowed from the
library's shelves) of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight when writing my
undergrad thesis.  I read the 14th c. poem over Christmas break in front of
a smoky wood fire in a mountain cabin; the temperature outside was -20
degrees F, so I spent a lot of time in front of that fire. More than ten
years later, I took the book from the library shelves, opened it, and it
still smelled of wood smoke! And it wasn't my imagination. SGGK is a great
poem--that no one had borrowed the book for over a decade says nothing about
the poem.

So what if they're dusty!
Tim Romano

----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, May 28, 2000 6:22 PM
Subject: Re: Query


> I'm 23 and have read the Cantos for about three years now and am finally
at a
> point where I can read it and really, I mean REALLY enjoy it. I mean I get
> it. I tried working with notes but it's just too slow. It's true: they
teach
> you to read them. With the ABC, Kulch, and Essays/Prose, you pretty much
get
> all the extra detail explained without having to actually go out there and
> dig up dusty Arnaut Daniel, Dante, and Confucious texts. Of course it's
> difficult. But it's probably easier to get into them today. All the extra
> text you'd might need is pretty easy to find today circa 2000. There's the
> internet. There's four million books on Pound (though they tend to be
> useless, they at least can give a foothold or two.
>
> But that's just me. Who knows.
>
>
> -Erik Bader
>
>