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World Books Podcast: Of Naked Maidens and Sea Serpents

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The Italian Renaissance epic “Orlando Furioso,” was once a hot volume, at least among the literati, such as Shakespeare, and musicians, such as Scarlotti and Haydn. But Ludovico Ariosto’s long tale of knights and monsters duking it out largely dropped off the radar screen in the 20th century, though it was Italo Calvino’s favorite work of literature. Translator David R. Slavitt wants to rectify that with his English translation of the poem, the first in 30 years. World Books Editor Bill Marx talks to Slavitt, a veteran translator of over eighty volumes of poetry and fiction, about how his playful version reflects the giggly, surrealist mischievousness of the original. Download MP3

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4 comments for “World Books Podcast: Of Naked Maidens and Sea Serpents”

  1. The MP3 of this recording is gakked.

    It has the same minute or so of recording over and over again. There is not the complete interview.

    Please fix and re-load. I would appreciate an email telling me when it is fixed for I would like to listen to this interview.

    Thank you.

    Linda McCabe

    Posted by L.C. McCabe | February 2, 2010, 7:26 pm
  2. I listened to this podcast earlier today and found it very enlightening. Despite Slavitt’s smugness and condescension toward the middle class, I will eagerly seek out _Orlando Furioso_. Thank you for this interview.

    Posted by Robert DelBane | March 17, 2010, 5:36 pm

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