Adam RobertsinAdam’s NotebookHugo, ‘Chanson’ (1853)I said I wouldn’t fill up this notebook with more of these, but I’m going to pause on just one more: Les Châtiments book 1, ‘La société est…2 min read·14 hours ago----
Adam RobertsinAdam’s NotebookPope’s GilgameshThat Alexander Pope never completed, or published, his translation of the Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, not surprising. Despite the…6 min read·3 days ago--1--1
Adam RobertsinAdam’s NotebookWallace Stevens, ‘The Reader’ (1935)The speaker of this poem is reading a book at night. S/he considers the night itself to be a kind of book. It’s a cold, autumnal night…6 min read·5 days ago--1--1
Adam RobertsinAdam’s Notebook‘France! à l’heure où tu te prosternes’ (1853)I don’t propose (with reference to this) to turn this Notebook wholly over to drafts and sketches of Hugoesque translation. But I have…4 min read·Apr 30, 2024----
Adam RobertsinAdam’s NotebookRipley in the FiftiesOver on Lawyers, Guns and Money Abigail Nussbaum has a characteristically insightful essay on Ripley, the current Netflix adaptation of…5 min read·Apr 30, 2024--1--1
Adam RobertsinAdam’s NotebookHugo’s ‘Châtiments’ (1853)Les Châtiments means something more forceful than the English ‘chastisements’, although that is what is going on in this poem: Victor Hugo…8 min read·Apr 26, 2024--2--2
Adam RobertsinAdam’s Notebook“Break, break, break/On thy prosody, O sea!”In yesterday’s instalment of the (excellent: you should subscribe!) Poems Ancient and Modern blog, Joseph Bottum talks about Tennyson’s…8 min read·Apr 20, 2024----
Adam RobertsinAdam’s Notebook‘Lake of Darkness’ (2024)Here’s the cover that goes with the proofs which were mentioned on this very Notebook a few days ago. Publication date: 25 July 2024. Its…2 min read·Apr 19, 2024----
Adam RobertsinAdam’s NotebookTantalus KeyPolice at the Funeral is certainly ingenious. It takes Allingham’s sort-of detective, the private gentleman Albert Campion, up to…8 min read·Apr 16, 2024--1--1
Adam RobertsinAdam’s NotebookProofsI’m not very good at doing proofs. It’s not that I’m intentionally sloppy, or that I shirk the work; it’s important. But I find it hard to…2 min read·Apr 12, 2024----