2003 May 21

King James Authorized Version

Confronted with a task requiring the most careful attention to propriety and dignity, they were still at liberty to pursue flights of inspiration, to yield to extravagant impulses. And it didn't hurt that, in their historical situation, they were defining English orthodoxy as much as they were obliged to cater to it.
[Covetous of nothing but books]

The web is full of unexpected treasures, such as this mini-essay from Colby Cosh comparing the translators of the King James edition to "auto designers in the 1950s and 1960s or skyscraper architects in the 1920s and '30s". I normally think of Cosh as a political blogger, and also the guy who's been keeping me up to date on what I ought to think about the NHL, but lately he's rung off quite a string of eccentric lit crit: comment on the Bible follows comment on Lester Bangs on Geraldo Rivera and communing with Elvis, on the anachronism of Lord of the Flies, and on A Mighty Wind's inheritance from SCTV.

Comments
Post a comment
Yes   No   (like the Turing Test, but easier)

TrackBack Links
If you run a blog that supports TrackBack, you can link to this article with this TrackBack key.