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I generally do. Camilla Send a noteboard - 30/09/2010 11:19:05 PM
Ibn Khaldun lived in the... I want to say 14th century in North Africa, and wanted to write a world history. He well may have done, too, but posterity only really cares for the superb introduction to it (muqaddimah is Arabic for "introduction" or "prologue";), which has a number of extremely modern-sounding ideas on economics, sociology and their influence on history. He analyses things like power structures, the differences between rural and urban communities, tribal nomadic cultures transitioning into sedentary ones, economic concepts, and so on. I've read even less of him than of the Greek and Latin authors, as I read even slower in (hard) Arabic than in those languages, but I was very impressed by what I did read.


That sounds interesting.

As for the Dutch ones, I imagine you'd be able to read them if you tried, what with Norwegian being closet Dutch. ;) Hooft is a 16th century history and poet, wrote Petrarca-esque sonnets and iirc some history on rhyme that I've never bothered to read. Vondel is a bit later, poet and playwright, and notable for having written a play, Lucifer, which is a likely influence on Milton's Paradise Lost (we have reason to believe Milton knew enough Dutch to read it).


I will not be reading Dutch poetry in Dutch, thank you very much. Prose I might handle. Not potery.

I agree. On all counts. Except I haven't read Achterberg and this Elroy Flecker person. I did not list Borges, but that was only because I got paranoid about period. I felt that if I was going to list him, I would have to list Calvino, and that would open a can of worms. It is silly. I think it is because Borges is so post-modern in outlook, while writing earlier.

I like both Virgil and Dickens, but I can see how some might not. Or how you might hesitate to approach them. It is a little like the image of Tolstoy's War and Peace that is bandied about. None of them are actually what they are presented as. Dickens is cheery much of the time, and almost always end on a happy ending. Virgil does draw on Greek myth, but it really transforms it, and I think anyone interested in history will find it fascinating.

Makes sense. I think I actually may have read a prose summary of the Aeneid, or some such... but not the real thing. I'm sure I'll read them at some point.


If you want to start easy on Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities or The Mystery of Edwin Drood might be good. Little Dorrit and Bleak House (paradoxically) are both quite happy in the end. For some. Not all.
*MySmiley*
structured procrastinator
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The Classics - general discussion / survey - 30/09/2010 03:52:53 PM 1396 Views
My own answers. - 30/09/2010 04:38:33 PM 988 Views
I'm trying to read a bit of Shakespeare at the moment - 30/09/2010 07:20:02 PM 926 Views
Re: I'm trying to read a bit of Shakespeare at the moment - 30/09/2010 09:14:23 PM 924 Views
Get a copy with annotations! - 30/09/2010 10:56:12 PM 909 Views
Re: My own answers. - 30/09/2010 09:02:08 PM 1007 Views
Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 09:23:51 PM 1033 Views
Re: Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 09:34:06 PM 1274 Views
Re: Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 10:07:20 PM 961 Views
Re: Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 10:10:32 PM 1128 Views
They are much, much worse than powder soup. - 30/09/2010 09:50:07 PM 881 Views
Well, since they're made of paper... - 30/09/2010 10:09:41 PM 950 Views
Re: My own answers. - 30/09/2010 11:35:36 PM 982 Views
Cliff's notes - 05/10/2010 08:05:56 PM 1031 Views
Re: Cliff's notes - 05/10/2010 09:21:06 PM 1253 Views
Re: Cliff's notes - 06/10/2010 01:40:38 AM 1041 Views
It's cool. - 06/10/2010 04:42:13 PM 1089 Views
A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 30/09/2010 05:33:35 PM 963 Views
Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 30/09/2010 06:46:02 PM 986 Views
Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 30/09/2010 10:57:23 PM 922 Views
Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 30/09/2010 11:39:16 PM 809 Views
Camilla, that's just because you're an atheist. - 01/10/2010 09:37:34 PM 874 Views
Yes. - 01/10/2010 09:51:32 PM 857 Views
Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 01/10/2010 12:20:51 AM 1040 Views
totally problematic classics - 30/09/2010 08:07:22 PM 1012 Views
Re: totally problematic classics - 30/09/2010 09:26:46 PM 935 Views
I study them, apparently. - 30/09/2010 08:44:40 PM 1054 Views
I wish I could do that. - 30/09/2010 09:49:57 PM 965 Views
Less fun than you'd think. - 30/09/2010 10:52:10 PM 841 Views
Good survey. - 30/09/2010 10:23:18 PM 1032 Views
Agreed. edited - 30/09/2010 10:37:48 PM 997 Views
But but but Milton is beautiful - 30/09/2010 10:46:06 PM 931 Views
Sometimes. - 30/09/2010 10:47:28 PM 951 Views
Maybe I was unclear. - 30/09/2010 10:55:22 PM 964 Views
Re: Maybe I was unclear. - 30/09/2010 10:57:41 PM 843 Views
I'm glad you approve on the whole. - 30/09/2010 11:12:00 PM 966 Views
I generally do. - 30/09/2010 11:19:05 PM 964 Views
Excellent. Might as well include a Hooft poem anyway, in case anyone's interested... - 30/09/2010 11:40:24 PM 1127 Views
Re: Excellent. Might as well include a Hooft poem anyway, in case anyone's interested... - 30/09/2010 11:43:20 PM 962 Views
Dickens - 01/10/2010 02:42:42 PM 941 Views
Re: I generally do. - 30/09/2010 11:54:11 PM 1018 Views
Oh, and link to the Flecker poem: - 30/09/2010 11:42:30 PM 860 Views
Re: Good survey. - 01/10/2010 02:52:27 AM 1112 Views
My classics - 30/09/2010 10:54:56 PM 924 Views
Re: My classics - 01/10/2010 03:01:24 AM 1012 Views
Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 30/09/2010 11:30:41 PM 1064 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 01/10/2010 03:18:58 AM 908 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 01/10/2010 05:20:10 AM 1003 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 01/10/2010 02:05:35 PM 948 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 02/10/2010 04:07:10 AM 964 Views
Ha, we weren't that far off after all. - 04/10/2010 08:11:39 PM 897 Views
I will not list 300+ books here, I promise - 01/10/2010 12:36:17 AM 1052 Views
O'Connor is wonderful. But I am not sure many can appreciate her. - 01/10/2010 02:50:54 AM 755 Views
I agree, thus the "confound" part in there - 01/10/2010 02:53:26 AM 841 Views
I figured as much. - 01/10/2010 03:08:26 AM 869 Views
I expected you to have quite a few as well. - 01/10/2010 03:25:06 AM 947 Views
Re: I will not list 300+ books here, I promise - 02/10/2010 11:23:37 AM 1009 Views
Criminy, I thought I was done with essay questions years ago. - 01/10/2010 01:39:56 AM 970 Views
Glad to bring back the school days. - 01/10/2010 01:49:48 PM 1010 Views
Re: Glad to bring back the school days. - 02/10/2010 05:32:47 AM 824 Views
not sure but I don't believe in instant classics - 02/10/2010 05:22:07 AM 985 Views
the bf and I are going to do a "Paradise Lost" book club... - 02/10/2010 08:29:38 AM 1096 Views
Mm, Doré's engravings are gorgeous. - 02/10/2010 11:40:48 AM 1008 Views
Re: Mm, Doré's engravings are gorgeous. - 02/10/2010 09:42:37 PM 973 Views

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