Books Messageboard: Well, I wouldn't say he's a good equivalent for a good in-depth book on that. :P by Legolas

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Well, I wouldn't say he's a good equivalent for a good in-depth book on that.

Legolas Send a noteboard - 04/04/2015 09:15:08 AM

I don't know how much you can really learn about the culture, or any culture, from reading an outsider's romanticized poetry about it. You'd do better to read Arabic poetry in translation then.

View original postMy French has gone out the window since I left college. Right now it's only being used intermittently to reference old Louisiana law, and Napoleon's Code Civil and its progeny were purposefully simplistic.

That's a shame, you should try to maintain it - by reading poetry, why not? I'm trying to do the same with my Arabic, though admittedly not generally with poetry.

View original postThe only "historical" women writers I can think of off the top of my head are Christine de Pizan, Sappho, and whatshername who wrote the Tale of Genji. Murasaki. My list gets a lot better once I hit the 20th century, but it's still not very good. In any event, I can't think of any classical women who wrote Latin. I'm sure a bit of research would turn up quite a few nuns who wrote in late antiquity, though.

Yeah, considering Greg and Tom's replies, seems there just aren't many, indeed. Though I'd say the list gets better from the 19th century, not 20th, as some of my favourite writers are 19th century women. And come to think of it, there's de La Fayette, who wrote La Princesse de Clèves in the 17th century - that's actually a pretty good read.

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Poetry recommendations! Ghavrel - 31/03/2015 04:06:34 AM 904 Views

I'm gonna go with my favourite English poet, then, though I probably mentioned him before. Legolas - 31/03/2015 10:14:38 PM 768 Views

Flecker looks interesting. I'm trying to learn a bit more about Islamic culture. Ghavrel - 02/04/2015 07:53:11 AM 698 Views

Being that I focused on late antiquity and still keep up with the secondary works written on it, The Shrike - 02/04/2015 02:06:30 PM 765 Views

Thanks. I'll check it out. You're right that reading about all the lost works is saddening. *NM* Ghavrel - 05/04/2015 12:30:04 AM 263 Views

Well, I wouldn't say he's a good equivalent for a good in-depth book on that.

Legolas - 04/04/2015 09:15:08 AM 526 Views

So essentially you're looking for crap. Tom - 04/04/2015 01:34:14 AM 585 Views

I'm actually pretty ignorant of the corpus of English poetry. Ghavrel - 05/04/2015 12:27:26 AM 585 Views

Then just buy the Norton Anthology and figure out which poets you like. Tom - 06/04/2015 01:20:12 AM 697 Views

Good suggestion. *NM* Ghavrel - 07/04/2015 03:53:27 AM 243 Views

John Donne. Explore him in depth. You can't go wrong with him. *NM* The Shrike - 06/04/2015 02:35:38 PM 342 Views

Yellow River by IP Freely *NM* random thoughts - 04/04/2015 02:38:49 AM 354 Views

Re: Poetry recommendations! Mats Gambling Buddy - 08/04/2015 05:52:18 PM 600 Views

I'll check it out on the condition that you give me a good translation. *NM* Ghavrel - 09/04/2015 05:34:00 AM 235 Views

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<quote id="287265">
I don't know how much you can really learn about the culture, or any culture, from reading an outsider's romanticized poetry about it. You'd do better to read Arabic poetry in translation then.

<quote id="287254">My French has gone out the window since I left college. Right now it's only being used intermittently to reference old Louisiana law, and Napoleon's <i>Code Civil</i> and its progeny were purposefully simplistic.</quote>
That's a shame, you should try to maintain it - by reading poetry, why not? I'm trying to do the same with my Arabic, though admittedly not generally with poetry.

<quote id="287254">The only "historical" women writers I can think of off the top of my head are Christine de Pizan, Sappho, and whatshername who wrote the Tale of Genji. Murasaki. My list gets a lot better once I hit the 20th century, but it's still not very good. In any event, I can't think of any classical women who wrote Latin. I'm sure a bit of research would turn up quite a few nuns who wrote in late antiquity, though.</quote>
Yeah, considering Greg and Tom's replies, seems there just aren't many, indeed. Though I'd say the list gets better from the 19th century, not 20th, as some of my favourite writers are 19th century women. And come to think of it, there's de La Fayette, who wrote La Princesse de Clèves in the 17th century - that's actually a pretty good read. 
</quote>

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