Tim Child interview for Knightmare.com

[Kieran]

No not at all  Only thing that causes offence is my should  :P

[KaM]

Agg.. ditto on the sleeping 'irregularity'. No shoulder burden; just a wire-close caffeine addiction, at the moment, impossible amounts of latin to get through, and without that, detailed and extensive diarying.

9am lecture for me in the morning. Meh. Doesn't matter whether you've had 5 mins, 5 hrs or 15 hrs sleep; you just don't want to get up for that. Still, last week I tried to rest my poor head on the plane.. and the sound of blizzards woke me up, and then everything went sadly wrong; hoping for better results tomorrow.

[Drassil]

I can sympathise over the Latin, KaM, having studied it for over 10 years myself, up to and beyond degree level. Don't be worried about having an English translation by your side, if it helps you get the gist of the Latin, and makes the task less intimidating.

If you feel I can help at all (even if it's just provision of textbooks - I have shelves full of them), please, don't hesitate to contact me.  :)

[KaM]

Cheers my friend. Help would come in very handy. My English is top notch at the moment; am delighted with that. However, it's little great benefit when the Latin results are pulling your degree down with style. Thankfully, I'm only in the first year, and will possibly drop Latin at the end - as much as it pains me, having come this far - taking a year out, and then being in a class with full classics degrees folk is tough going. Last semester, we went through a selection of Catullus' invective, Cicero's second Philippic and a chunk of Sallust's Bellum Catalinae. That was bad enough ~ now the amount doubles, with having to do an extra unit. There are more essays, which is good for me, it's where I make any marks, but the main text this term is Virgil's 'Georgics' 4, and the latin is inpenetrable. I use Perseus' translation, but some are very tight and useful, some are rather liberated -as is this, which makes it more confusing. In a fortnight, we have Ad Urbe Condita (Livy) to skim through for tests before Easter. Going to be a  :-* Wonderful  :-* time. Speak soon.

[Drassil]

Hi. I'm sorry that the Latin is feeling burdensome. It sounds like they're giving you too much translation work to allow you to enjoy the text and the language properly. It would be a shame if you had to drop Latin, but if it would make life easier, then I think it's the right thing to do. For Latin Language in my first year, I had R. Taylor-Briggs, the author of Via Plana herself; but the style of the textbook didn't suit everyone, and was not consistent in plugging the gaps in people's knowledge.

Catullus: I've read the Lesbia poems and Poem 64 in Latin, which I enjoyed. The style did take some getting used to though.

Sallust: It's difficult to put the 'lust' into 'Sallust'. When I read the Jugurthine War, I thought the Latin was straightforward in places, but not that colourful.

Cicero: I'm not a big fan of Cicero, personally. I find the Latin complex in places, bland in others. When he does get his point across, it's good rhetoric.

Virgil: Much as I like the Aeneid, I can quite imagine that tackling a whole book of the Georgics is harsh. Orpheus and Eurydice is nicely told, but the rest can be perplexing, in its stance and its style. As you say, Perseus translations are hit and miss, sadly. I have a copy of C. Day Lewis' Oxford translation, which is yours if you want it.

Livy: I know of Livy through unseens and translations, and certainly, the more of him you read the more exhausting it can be. All the authors have their selling points - it's just a matter of appreciating them via the right approach, which isn't always possible when work and stress are piling up.

The best of luck with the road ahead - I'm sure you will reap some rewards. I would like to assist, so please keep in touch, over any Latin matters you want to discuss; I'll probably say more in an email soon, so keep your eyes peeled.