Tag Archives: mythology

Stephen Fry’s Heroes

Posted on September 8, 2026 by smellincoffee

What do I know of the Greek heroes? Precious little. I recognize the phrase, Labors of Hercules, but could not tell you more than a couple of them – cleaning out stables and helping Atlas with the sky for some … Continue reading →

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Stephen Fry’s Odyssey

Posted on August 1, 2026 by smellincoffee

A couple of years ago I read Stephen Fry’s Mythos, his attempt to bring together some of the primordial Greek mythological characters into one narrative; he followed it with Heroes, Troy, and finally Odyssey. The recent release of an Odyssey … Continue reading →

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Sean Bean, King Arthur, and Twelve Other Angry Men

Posted on July 7, 2025 by smellincoffee

Over the weekend I listened to two audiobooks: Sean Bean reading King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, an edition collected by Benedict Flynn; and an ensemble cast performing the original teleplay of Twelve Angry Men, the classic … Continue reading →

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A Thousand Ships

Posted on June 24, 2024 by smellincoffee

Sing, muse, of the confusion of Croseus, and of the anguish of Penthesilea! A Thousand Ships collects stories about the women of the Illiad — mostly of Troy, but of Achaea, too, across the wine-dark sea — and framed by … Continue reading →

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Mythos

Posted on June 21, 2024 by smellincoffee

This book will hold a record for the title it took me the longest to complete, as I’ve been listening to it off and on since fall 2021, attracted by both the premise and (chiefly) the narrator, Stephen Fry — … Continue reading →

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The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights

Posted on April 27, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Acts of so-called Arthur King and his Noble Kannnnnigits© 1976 John Steinbeck364 pages It befell in the days of yore, as I rode by a book-stall in a great city, that mine eye was caught by a fair volume … Continue reading →

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Robin Hood and his men most merrie (and Welsh)

Posted on April 24, 2023 by smellincoffee

Enter into the greenwood and consider two tales of Robin the Hood! One, the triumphant finale of Stephen Lawhead’s “Hood” trilogy, setting the Lincoln green-clad figure betwixt the rivers Wye and Severn; the other,  an examination of Robin Hood ballads … Continue reading →

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Talking to the Ground

Posted on November 12, 2018 by smellincoffee

Talking to the Ground: One Family’s Journey on Horseback Across the Sacred Land of the Navajo© 1995 Douglas Preston284 pages “How does the trail look?” Christine asked.“Ask me at the bottom,”  I said, feeling a certain queasiness in my stomach. … Continue reading →

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Short rounds: things that are not Star Trek, like North Koreans and Aeneas

Posted on May 5, 2018 by smellincoffee

Believe it or not, I have been reading books without a Star Trek label appended to them this week. Just recently I finished off Don’t Go There, a short collection of travel pieces that interested me with its mention of visits to … Continue reading →

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Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth

Posted on April 3, 2017 by smellincoffee

Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth:  Understanding Middle-Earth © 2002 Brad Birzer 255 pages How better to kick off Read of England than by visiting the world of Tolkien, who has enraptured readers for decade after decade now?  Tolkien is not merely an … Continue reading →

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