I’m looking for something a little different. I have time on my hands right now (obviously) and have already worked my way through much of the M.A. exam material I’ll be required to know. However, I feel I have a few weaknesses I’d like to work on. One in particular which has been bugging me is my poor knowledge of Greek and Roman myths, philosophy, and literature. A lot of, for example, 18th and 19th lit. casually refers to these “classic” literatures and it’s frustrating for me to stop, rummage through Bulfinch’s or my other “one paragraph synopsis” book, find the reference, and continue. I’d like to read the source material, not a summary of the source.

I realize that this might be better suited to BookFilter, but was disheartened by the number of posts with “0 responses” and the length of time between posts.

I’ve read the Iliad and Odyssey, but it’s been so long I’m starting with them (and other stuff like Antigone, Oedipus Rex, etc.) but would like to extend my reach once I get through some basics

Also, it’s interesting to know what other people are reading…or want to read…or would never recommend…or are embarrassed they read and liked…or would recommend above all others

Lately I’ve developed an insane fondness for George Eliot, and have read Middlemarch too many times. Secret shame: I actually own and still occasionally re-read Judith Krantz.

I hope this isn’t all too book-clubby for a venue that is…erm….often less serious.

(1) Murphy's Law: I will never make a post without mistakes no matter how I try. I don't know why my periods were removed (no PMS jokes please).

(2) I never did get around to my question, which is: Which Greek/Roman classics would you recommend? Any translators to avoid?

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Robert Graves has a great book of Greek myths and another about Greek god and heros. Anything by Robert Graves is guaranteed to be well researched and well written. Some other great books by Graves that help shine a light on antiquity.

The Golden Ass (quick and funny)
I, Claudius and Claudius The God
King Jesus

I can really recommend any and all of the books above. They are among my favorites books.

Thucydides. Herodotus. Xenophon.

All I know about mythology I learned in 5th grade and from metal songs like Iron Maiden's "Flight Of Icarus," so I'm not your go-to guy on that.

As far as what I'd reccommend to read, Mordecai Richler (esp. Barney's, Version, & Joshua Then & Now), Tom Perrotta (esp. The Wishbones & Bad Haircut) and, of course, Richard Price's Ladies Man & The Wanderers.

I'm also currently reading Josh Alan Friedman's When Sex Was Dirty, which is crude and vulgar, but really funny & perceptive.

Suetonius
Thucydides
Euripides
Icelandic Sagas
Italo Calvino Italian Folktales
Beowulf
Boccacio Decameron
Alexander Dumas
Darwin

Right now it's Giovanni Verga's The House by the Medlar Tree (I Malavoglia), among others.

I am reading Thomas Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles". Hardy seems to be one of the first English authors who realized that the flowery language could also tell a story. It's also my go-to book for when I have insomnia.

I am considering reading "Far From The Madding Crowd" next, but from what I have read of the plot, it has 'soap opera' written all over it.

I am also leaning toward reading some mid-20th century American, like James M. Cain, whose work apparently inspired Camus. Whoda Thunkit?

this is always a good place to start. i kind of wish i'd applied to st. john's.

no basketball team, though. so what's the point, really?

Me, too, Sam. In fact, I had to be actively stopped from applying there in favor of an "Ivy League" institution. Who knows what could have been?

Thanks everyone, esp. for your link, sam. I wouldn't have been allowed to go to St. John's either...too far from home...so I went to a (fill in the blank) liberal arts college of the type Ohio seems to specialize in. I still cling to the cherished (and apparently antiquated) notion that one should "learn how to learn" in college; it shouldn't be the BBA/MBA/BSRN machine that UT-San Antonio has become. It showed in the writing I used to see when I worked in the writing lab. Funnily enough, even the resume-writers I used to see were pretty bad, and I know that writing a resume is part of the BBA curriculum, if you can believe it! Anyway, St. John's reading list kicks the ass of my M.A. reading list, so I'm going to start using it for other eras, too.

mischief, while you read Tess, count how many times you read her thoughts or see her POV. Answer: none! For me that made her flat; she didn't come alive on the page. Maybe that was Hardy's intention--to manipulate her even as events manipulated her. As for floweriness, no one can beat Hardy for a good soap-opera plot...(no, Hardy isn't one of my faves).

I'm reading several things right now (I always seem to do that): Measure for Measure and Mrs. Dalloway. Looks like Homer is next...then, after my plunge into the classics I really need to brush up on Shakespeare's histories.

My go-to insomnia book is usually any of Milton's political writings!

There's a book that any serious student should have in their library -- Good Reading. It used to be updated every 4 years or so but has fallen out of print. It's a great subject guide to the best and most comprehensive books on scores of subjects.

A book I'd never recommend to anyone, ever (and yes, this is an obvious choice): "The Bridges of Madison County". I couldn't get through the first few pages and would've thrown it away, but it was a library book (thank God I didn't enrich RJW in any way). I have this "books are sacred, never burn any book, you never waste money if you buy a book" mentality, but I would have happily doused Bridges in gas and thrown matches at it.

For fun reading, and some great satire, esp. for anyone who's lived in the midwest or in a college town, "Moo" by Jane Smiley. She's due for a re-read.

I also seem to be assembling a group of books which are sort of modern diaspora novels, for lack of a better term. Often somehow remind me of things that some 18th-19th c. American authors (who were struggling with the same kind of "who am I, where do I belong" questions) would write--specifically anything to do with India/Pakistan. I've expanded to the Middle East too, primarily because there's a lot of M.E.- related fiction around right now (wonder why, gee...)

i really have to emphasize xenophon. it's batshit insane. it may only seem so completely batshit insane after first reading herodotus and thucydides, though, so that you realize what x. was trying to accomplish.

Hmm... I'm set to take a course on diasporic (specifically African-American) literature next semester. Diasporic writers are certainly good for stories about identity (even when not writing on racial issues; I can tell you that from my own authorship).

Dare I ask if there's any interest in a MeCha book club? I used to run the National Bibliophile Society, and that was sure some fun. I'm not sure my tastes in fiction (and non-fiction, *gasp*) are close enough to anyone else's for it to work. Unless you want to just do the "great books" in which case you're on.

jonmc, sounds like you'd like "Miami Purity", Vicki Hendricks...a noir novel before noir novels became trendy. I've only read it a couple of times but it sticks in your head and will never leave.

Eideteker, yes! Doesn't have to be "great books" either...and I'm always up for new stuff that I might not otherwise gain exposure to.

the first rule about book club...

just finished the Friends of Freeland, and am sorta reading The Double and Ghostwritten but put it aside for Air. (I always need to start and stop Mitchell a few times before i get really into it)

I'd love to do a book club or a swap thing, Eid. : >

Lempriere's Dictionary might work for you, mi (historical and myth stuff)