Monday, May 30, 2011

Two books in one (Part I)

A new way to experience epics is what I call the 'two-in-one' book. You can read these books and get an enjoyable reading experience, then read them again and get a completely different (but still enjoyable) reading experience. One excellent example would be the book 'Rewriting Caucasian History.' In it, author/translator splits the page between two versions of the same chronicle. The top of each page has a modern English translation of the original Georgian texts of the Christian chronicles of Georgia, which deal with the history of Georgia from its mythical origins. The bottom half of each page is its medieval Armenian counterpart, the thirteenth-century Armenian adaptation of the Chronicles, altered in a pro-Armenian manner. Two books in one!