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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 1774 Views
My own answers. - 30/09/2010 04:38:33 PM 1378 Views
I'm trying to read a bit of Shakespeare at the moment - 30/09/2010 07:20:02 PM 1277 Views
Re: I'm trying to read a bit of Shakespeare at the moment - 30/09/2010 09:14:23 PM 1284 Views
Get a copy with annotations! - 30/09/2010 10:56:12 PM 1214 Views
Re: My own answers. - 30/09/2010 09:02:08 PM 1413 Views
Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 09:23:51 PM 1393 Views
Re: Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 09:34:06 PM 1627 Views
Re: Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 10:07:20 PM 1335 Views
Re: Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 10:10:32 PM 1464 Views
They are much, much worse than powder soup. - 30/09/2010 09:50:07 PM 1206 Views
Well, since they're made of paper... - 30/09/2010 10:09:41 PM 1287 Views
Re: My own answers. - 30/09/2010 11:35:36 PM 1350 Views
Cliff's notes - 05/10/2010 08:05:56 PM 1405 Views
Re: Cliff's notes - 05/10/2010 09:21:06 PM 1572 Views
Re: Cliff's notes - 06/10/2010 01:40:38 AM 1406 Views
It's cool. - 06/10/2010 04:42:13 PM 1462 Views
A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 30/09/2010 05:33:35 PM 1337 Views
Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 30/09/2010 06:46:02 PM 1352 Views
Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 30/09/2010 10:57:23 PM 1429 Views
Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 30/09/2010 11:39:16 PM 1196 Views
Camilla, that's just because you're an atheist. - 01/10/2010 09:37:34 PM 1228 Views
Yes. - 01/10/2010 09:51:32 PM 1219 Views
Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 01/10/2010 12:20:51 AM 1416 Views
I really need to read Kundera. I've heard nothing but praise for Unbearable Lightness. *NM* - 30/09/2010 08:46:18 PM 730 Views
I could post you over a copy to borrow. - 30/09/2010 08:58:08 PM 1155 Views
It is good. *NM* - 30/09/2010 09:34:47 PM 563 Views
totally problematic classics - 30/09/2010 08:07:22 PM 1347 Views
Re: totally problematic classics - 30/09/2010 09:26:46 PM 1233 Views
I study them, apparently. - 30/09/2010 08:44:40 PM 1420 Views
I wish I could do that. - 30/09/2010 09:49:57 PM 1350 Views
Less fun than you'd think. - 30/09/2010 10:52:10 PM 1189 Views
Good survey. - 30/09/2010 10:23:18 PM 1429 Views
Agreed. edited - 30/09/2010 10:37:48 PM 1367 Views
But but but Milton is beautiful - 30/09/2010 10:46:06 PM 1272 Views
Sometimes. - 30/09/2010 10:47:28 PM 1374 Views
Maybe I was unclear. - 30/09/2010 10:55:22 PM 1308 Views
Re: Maybe I was unclear. - 30/09/2010 10:57:41 PM 1178 Views
I'm glad you approve on the whole. - 30/09/2010 11:12:00 PM 1393 Views
I generally do. - 30/09/2010 11:19:05 PM 1309 Views
Excellent. Might as well include a Hooft poem anyway, in case anyone's interested... - 30/09/2010 11:40:24 PM 1469 Views
Re: Excellent. Might as well include a Hooft poem anyway, in case anyone's interested... - 30/09/2010 11:43:20 PM 1366 Views
Dickens - 01/10/2010 02:42:42 PM 1293 Views
Re: I generally do. - 30/09/2010 11:54:11 PM 1366 Views
Oh, and link to the Flecker poem: - 30/09/2010 11:42:30 PM 1198 Views
Re: Good survey. - 01/10/2010 02:52:27 AM 1499 Views
My classics - 30/09/2010 10:54:56 PM 1279 Views
Re: My classics - 01/10/2010 03:01:24 AM 1359 Views
Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 30/09/2010 11:30:41 PM 1444 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 01/10/2010 03:18:58 AM 1294 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 01/10/2010 05:20:10 AM 1359 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 01/10/2010 02:05:35 PM 1339 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 02/10/2010 04:07:10 AM 1316 Views
Ha, we weren't that far off after all. - 04/10/2010 08:11:39 PM 1223 Views
I will not list 300+ books here, I promise - 01/10/2010 12:36:17 AM 1444 Views
O'Connor is wonderful. But I am not sure many can appreciate her. - 01/10/2010 02:50:54 AM 1118 Views
I agree, thus the "confound" part in there - 01/10/2010 02:53:26 AM 1166 Views
I figured as much. - 01/10/2010 03:08:26 AM 1188 Views
I expected you to have quite a few as well. - 01/10/2010 03:25:06 AM 1281 Views
Re: I will not list 300+ books here, I promise - 02/10/2010 11:23:37 AM 1345 Views
Criminy, I thought I was done with essay questions years ago. - 01/10/2010 01:39:56 AM 1324 Views
Glad to bring back the school days. - 01/10/2010 01:49:48 PM 1354 Views
Re: Glad to bring back the school days. - 02/10/2010 05:32:47 AM 1151 Views
not sure but I don't believe in instant classics - 02/10/2010 05:22:07 AM 1354 Views
the bf and I are going to do a "Paradise Lost" book club... - 02/10/2010 08:29:38 AM 1464 Views
Mm, Doré's engravings are gorgeous. - 02/10/2010 11:40:48 AM 1354 Views
Re: Mm, Doré's engravings are gorgeous. - 02/10/2010 09:42:37 PM 1313 Views

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