> What types of books have you read that you've found helped the most with your critical faculties and such?

In this area, I feel I've learned the most from reading commentary in the New Yorker.

For enjoyment, I've read:

* Stories of Your Life and Others by Chiang

* The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson

* What The F by Bergen

* Blindsight by Watts

Have you read any of the other Odyssey translations? I'm very curious Wilson's translation. I read the Fagles, Latimore, and Fitzgerald translations in college and did a few weeks of translation myself in our Greek class (I went to one of those hippy-dippy "Great Books" schools).

I think I was in the minority, but I found the Fagles translation to be far and away the best. I definitely subscribe more to the school of poetic translation than literal translation, so I was intrigued by the Wilson translation. What were your thoughts?

I haven't read Fagles' translation or any others. I wouldn't have picked up the Odyssey if it weren't for reviews from others [0] and reading articles [1][2]. I really enjoy her translation, and I wish I could compare hers with others. As someone who knows very little about Greek mythology, I found her 70-page introduction in the Odyssey to be a great primer on what to expect in the epic. After her introduction, she has a shorter translator's note discussing some decisions she made in her translation. If I remember correctly, she does throw a little shade at other translators in the introduction or translator's note.

[0]: Comments from other HN readers, some who have read Fagles' translation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15624881

[1]: A note from Wilson in the New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/a-translators-re...

[2]: NYT article: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/02/magazine/the-first-wom...