I'm pretty sure this is going to be the surprise favorite of 2018. Unless another book also surprises me with it's delightfulness which of course be wonderful. I don't like to think I've hit the high point by March.
Poetry, especially long epic poetry, has not been my strong point. I think I need to stop saying that now because I did really enjoy reading Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves (aka updated version of Spenser's Faerie Tales #1) so now that's two in a row. Now, FW&FL was a stretch for me and I did it alongside a reading group which helped with both motivation and understanding. This time I was going it alone and I didn't think the subject appealed to me as much. I just told myself it was broken down into small segments so even if I didn't enjoy it or understand much, I could just take small bites and keep going and be happy getting whatever I got out of it without much expectations. So to say it qualifies for a classic that scared me would be a bit of an understatement.
But then I loved it! I choose the Burton Raffel version based on the recommendation of Angelina Standford and it did not disappoint. I felt it was very easy to understand but still seemed beautiful to me. The first two thirds of the book was the storyline that I was vaguely familiar with but I didn't really know what happened after that and I still enjoyed it and was able to keep up with it once my (very basic, based sadly on this movie) background failed me.
I'm not even really sure why I enjoyed this so much. I've put off this review because I can't seem to find the right words. It was poetic without being flowery. I get annoyed when I feel like its just wasted words (time?). It was fast paced. It's really like three adventures in one, but it isn't disjointed. Beowulf is a hero but not too perfect that you can allow yourself to like and root for him while still feeling like you can doubt some of his thoughts/actions as you think about the scenarios he put himself in. Unlike some of the other adventurous stories that I've read and thought "okay, I can see this really appealing to a middle school boy (cough cough Henty books cough)", I can also say that I can see it appealing to Lucy in a few years and I won't mind re-reading it with her.
And it gives me confidence for my next poetry choices. Up next in my Mason for Me plan is Paradise Lost which I'm fairly confident I can handle and then I think I'll actual break with the AO selections and try Dante's Divine Comedy as its been on my Great Big* tbr pile for several years but I've been too intimidated to actually try it.
*I've got my regular tbr pile of books I want to read in the next year or two and then my GREAT BIG list of books I want to succeed at before I die. Last year's Anna Karenina was on that as well.
Beowulf was my Classic that Scares me for the Back to the Classics Challenge.
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