What'cha Reading??

Kopio · Post by **Kopio** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:28 pm

Ok...now that I'm done with school for the semester I can start reading for fun again.

I'm currently really into the Thomas Covenant series by Donaldson. It's pretty good, mildly sick, and very well written, even though I think he (along with almost every other fantasy writer) is horribly ripping off Tolkien.

I am also trying to get ahead on next semesters required reading, so I am reading "How To Read the Bible for All It's Worth" by Fee, and "Five Views on Law and the Gospel" Edited by Gundy.

I'm almost done with the second book of the Covenant series, after that I think I might pick up another LeGuin book, I really like her stuff.

So.....what are you reading??

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:54 pm

Thrace and the Thracians by Fol & Marazov
The Other God by Stoyanov
The Gnostic Religion by Hans Jonas

-pb

Bert · Post by **Bert** » Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:56 pm

Exegetical Fallacies by D.A. Carson.

Goals · Post by **Goals** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 12:17 am

Hi, this is my first post here. I am currently a first year college student in the US, but my college is small and does not have a classics department. I'm trying to transfer to a more competitive school, and hope to study Classics there (either as a minor or part of a double major).

I studied latin in high school for three years but did not take it my senior year. I'm currently working through Wheelock's at about a chapter a day, completing the workbook as I go along. My goal is to read The Aenead (in latin) and The Odyssey (in greek) before I turn 20. I have a little over 11 months to complete this goal.

As for the the topic in this thread, I'm trying to find an english translation of Henrik Ibsen's play Catalina, but currently am reading nothing. I just finished Jude the Obscure.

GlottalGreekGeek · Post by **GlottalGreekGeek** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 1:48 am

Hello Goals.

I am currently reading Phormio (by Terence), An Actor Prepares (by Stanislavski - it's high time that I read it, so I'm doing it now), and I also have some shoujo manga for when I feel like dropping into a lower IQ bracket (not that all shoujo is that silly ... but the ones I checked out from the library a few days ago are).

My California history textbook came in the mail today, so I plan on reading a little of that before the quarter starts, just to prep myself a bit.

Democritus · Post by **Democritus** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 2:09 am

Three Greek Romances, by Moses Hadas
The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins
Company: A Novel, by Max Barry (very funny)
A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr.
The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus, by Owen Gingerich

I want to read more books by Max Barry.

easternugget · Post by **easternugget** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 4:56 am

Kopio, The Thomas Covenant series is amazing. I read that a while ago and enjoyed it. Stephen Donaldson has another series out that is quite a bit more sick and not as good but still interesting.

I am currently reading "Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World" by Nicholas Ostler. I have been enjoying it. Beyond that, I need to read Augustine's Confessions sometime....

Post by **IreneY** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:06 am

Let's see..
George R.R. Martin for work (though I would anyway)
The pile next to my bed consist right now of
Small Gods my T. Prachett for a few laughs
a collection of poems from Cavafis (just because I love his poems)
The Da Vinci Legacy by Lewis Perdue (I have to finish that one today; one of my long standing obligations is to read books of the kind and if I deem them worthy pass them on to my mom who just loves them for some reason; this one passes muster)
A book on the latest Greek civil war (just because I am a masochist and trying to make sense and find the "truth")

Kopio · Post by **Kopio** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:43 am

easternugget wrote:Kopio, The Thomas Covenant series is amazing. I read that a while ago and enjoyed it. Stephen Donaldson has another series out that is quite a bit more sick and not as good but still interesting.

Are you talking about the second Thomas Covenant series? This is the first of his works that I've read...so far I'm enjoying it.

easternugget wrote:I am currently reading "Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World" by Nicholas Ostler. I have been enjoying it. Beyond that, I need to read Augustine's Confessions sometime....

Confessions is a must read book for anyone remotely Christian (IMHO). I read it early in my Christian walk, and it moved me deeply. I read this translation, and I highly recommend it. I have another, but it isn't nearly as poetic and graceful.

easternugget · Post by **easternugget** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:33 pm

Are you talking about the second Thomas Covenant series? This is the first of his works that I've read...so far I'm enjoying it.

Sadly, I haven't read the second Thomas Covenant series. The series I am talking about I believe is called The Gap series. It is set in space with space pirates, aliens, corrupt corporations, and the like. Once you get through the first two books, it becomes a joy to read.

I read this translation

Haha, actually that is the one that I have.

PS How do you show who said the quote?

perispomenon · Post by **perispomenon** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:47 pm

I am reading Stefano Benni's 'Achille piè veloce' right now.

Four reasons:

1. It's in Italian
2. It's about contemporary Italian society
3. Its title refers to Homer (literally 'πόδας ὠκὺς Ἀχιλλεὺς', hmmm, yes, I'm a snob

)
4. It uses modern Italian language as opposed to the Italian I am used to read (say Pirandello)

Enjoying it quite a bit.

perispomenon · Post by **perispomenon** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 9:12 pm

Paul wrote:The Other God by Stoyanov

Can you recommend it?

cantator · Post by **cantator** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 9:30 pm

The holidays limit my reading time pretty severely, but I'm managing a few things:

The Aeneid (Pharr edition) - I'm into Book IV now, just getting underway.

Neuromancer, by William Gibson - Actually I'm re-reading it, I'll go through the Sprawl trilogy for the umpteenth time.

Propertius - random poems from Harrington's Roman Elegiac Poets

Too little time here. I just received the OCT of De Rerum Natura, more goodies on the way, but too little freakin' time... grumble...

Kopio · Post by **Kopio** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 9:59 pm

easternugget wrote:.PS How do you show who said the quote?

After [quote you write ="posters name"] so to quote you I write

easternnugget wrote:

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 12:13 am

perispomenon wrote:
Paul wrote:The Other God by Stoyanov
Can you recommend it?

Yes; without reservation. But for the work by Jonas, it's the best thing I've read on dualism/gnosticism.

Cordially,

Paul

PeterD · Post by **PeterD** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 2:00 am

IreneY wrote:Let's see...
A book on the latest Greek civil war (just because I am a masochist and trying to make sense and find the "truth")

If you have the time, read Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, as well. The machinations behind the Spanish and Greek civil wars were quite similar.

I'm currently reading Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World, by Colin Wells.

I love to read. Do you know, Kopio, "one of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures."

Merry Christmas!

~PeterD

Señor Boethius · Post by **Señor Boethius** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 4:44 am

I just finished Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield, which I enjoyed. Presently, I'm reading: The Americans: The Colonial Experience by Daniel J. Boorstein. Next on the list is How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker and the History of Rome by Michael Grant. (Though I may just spend vacation watching the Gilmore Girls Season 1 again.)

Bardo de Saldo · Post by **Bardo de Saldo** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 1:38 pm

Goodnight Moon.
I Am a Little Rabitt.
Who Goes Moo?

Rindu · Post by **Rindu** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 5:01 am

I decided to try to learn Old Norse over the break. Thus my reading is An Introduction to Old Norse by E.V.Gordon, who was a friend and collaborator of Tolkien, it turns out. On page ix, we find written, "For help in preparing the apparatus of the book I am indebted especially to Professor J.R.R.Tolkien, who read the proofs of the Grammar and made valuable suggestions and corrections."

This is apparently the standard text for learning ON, but it's very hardcore and assumes you know something about linguistics. Not for the faint of heart. Imagine trying to learn Latin only by reading Gildersleeve's grammar. That sort of approach. Nevertheless, ON is much, much easier than Latin or Greek (in spite of the fact that there appear to be 15 verb conjugations).

I'm really looking forward to acquiring the power to read the Sagas in the original. They are heroic, beautiful and tragic, and represent some of the greatest literature ever produced in the west.

Gordon writes, in the section of his introduction devoted to the nature of heroism: "The only difference in principle between the tragedy of the sagas and the tragedy of Shakespeare is that Shakespeare usually makes the disaster result from some flaw in the hero's character; while in the sagas the disaster is inevitable simply because the hero is heroically uncompromising."

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 12:22 am

Kopio wrote:So.....what are you reading??

Not as much as I'd like.

Practical Common Lisp is available online, but I have it in hardcopy, too, for easier reading on the bus. I actually know Common Lisp already but this book covers a few matters I've not previously paid much attention to. Now that I understand the condition system it gives me tinglies. Note to non-computer types â€” that I'm reading a book on Common Lisp is a sign that my interest in unusual, obscure and somewhat academic languages extends to programming languages, as well.

My bedside reading has been The Oxford Illustrated History of Ancient Egypt. I've just arrived at the Amarna section.

I have a few smaller books I really want to read before the semester starts, in particular West's Textual Criticism and Editorial Technique, which I'll be fetching from the library very soon.

Bert · Post by **Bert** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 1:19 am

annis wrote:Not as much as I'd like.

OH... I hear ye.

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 1:43 am

IreneY wrote:a collection of poems from Cavafis (just because I love his poems)

Where does he fit on the Atticist - Katharevousa - Dhimotiki spectrum? Peter Green seems fond of Cavafy, and quotes him often in Alexander to Actium, suggesting at one point that Callimachus and Cavafy had the same taste in men (unavailable and maybe a bit dangerous).

Post by **IreneY** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:22 am

Hmmm, I would say that Kavafis (or Cavafis) is in a category all of its own. He is more interested in what suits him than whether it is Katharevousa or Demotike he is using.

He loved Alexandria and was fascinated by Hellenistic times (especially Egypt during roughly that period) so maybe that is why Green refers to him.

This (translation )is written making heavy use of Katharevousa for example.

This one (translation) uses types of both in a sort of equal manner

Lastly in this one (translation) which by the way is one of his most famous poems he is using demotike more than Katharevousa.

As for his tastes, yes, many of his poems (not published or even acknowledged by him) make allusions to his "forbidden" passion.

Here's wikipedia's article on him (I checked it

).

Mind you, we're talking about MG pronunciation in all cases (here's a decent recitation of the second one)

I should stop before I link to every single one of his poems

Agrippa · Post by **Agrippa** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:44 pm

Mountain of Truth: The Counterculture Begins Ascona 1900-1920
Great book

CanadianGirl · Post by **CanadianGirl** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 4:44 pm

I'm reading Amanda Elyot's "Memoirs of Helen of Troy" and it's surprisingly good. She isn't a classics person, & sometimes it shows, but she does O. K. I would recommend it-she does get the female perspective right without distorting things. The writing is good & the sex scenes are pretty good. Paige.

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