Book Review: Orlando Furioso

[deckardcanine]

If you haven't heard of this 16th-century epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto, you may be surprised to learn how much acclaim and influence it's had in centuries past. Several points of Shakespeare, Spenser, and even Borges owe their inspiration to it; Voltaire thought it as good as the works of Homer and Cervantes combined. (Ariosto no doubt had read Homer, Dante, and fellow authors on the paladin Orlando.) So why did I know nothing of it until after college? Most likely because it hasn't lent itself to a fun English translation -- until David R. Slavitt's publication last year. Slavitt admits to a lot of liberties for the sake of loose ottava rima, but he thinks Ariosto would approve his way to get us interested.

The other main reason is that few professors would assign the longest popular poem in European history. (The length is not altogether surprising to me, since I skimmed the related Charlemagne war tale in The Song of Roland once.) It's 658 dense pages and said to be about half the length of the original, with prosaic summaries and whole chapter deletions in parts, especially near the end. That may explain a few seeming loose ends, tho they're minor enough that I don't really mind.

These pages contain lots of characters with intertwining, alternating threads over the course of several months, which incidentally is how long I've taken to finish the book. Funnily enough, Orlando himself does not get much stage time, goes missing for hundreds of pages, and does not assume the titular madness until more than 550 pages in. It's easy to forget who's who and especially who comes from which kingdom, since most of the names are rendered Italian (you wouldn't expect "Zerbino" to hail from Scotland). Thankfully, there's a 14-page glossary of names in the back. Alas, they still missed a few minor ones. And some get misspelled in parts, suggesting that the publisher never taught the spellchecker.

And what is there to the plots besides war? Magic. Monsters. Virtues and vices personified. Romantic rescue missions. A trip to the moon with John of Zebedee. Basically, imagine a good Final Fantasy game written before modern technology existed. And yes, it's sometimes funny, particularly with Slavitt's turns of phrase.

Not sure if I have a favorite character. The medieval code of honor observed by most is a little hard to relate. Lots of major characters are impossibly skilled, with battles often ending in a draw. There are some terribly evil villains but no flawless heroes under heaven. Still, I did rather have a thing for the female Saracen warrior, Marfisa, who could match most of the males in badassery. (Bradamante could too, but sometimes she rubbed me the wrong way.)

I'll definitely read something on the short side next, but I don't regret taking my mom's suggestion on this. Immersion in complex poetry may do my soul good. I might even try my hand at an epic someday.

Comments

[nefaria.livejournal.com]

Added the 2008 version to my Amazon wish list, so I'll probably be reading it eventually (the Slavitt hardcover was twice as much and I prefer as little Readers Digest Condensed Book activity as possible).

[sleepyjohn00.livejournal.com]

If you have not read them already, look up 'The Incompleat Enchanter' stories by Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague deCamp. A philosophy student figures out how to transfer himself to 'imaginary' worlds by means of symbolic logic (but not necessarily how to get back again). One of the worlds he visits is that of the 'Orlando Furioso'. He defeats the Blatant Beast with 'one of the most grueling contests in the annals of song'.

And wouldn't 'Orlando Furioso' be a great name for a fursuiter?

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

I do like world-hopping stories, like Otherland (which incidentally has a character named Orlando who's good at VR swordfighting). I'll check it out.

Maybe "Furryasso," depending on the venue.