All About Books discussion

I've set up this thread, so that between this thread and Kara's thread we are covering the whole timescale.

:)

Are we talking about roman and Greek literature here?

Good idea Gill!

Tweedledum wrote: "Are we talking about roman and Greek literature here?"
Yes, definitely. My intention is for anything at any time pre-1700.

So, I'm trying to think what I've read that was written pre1700. There's:
The Divine Comedy
Don Quixote
The Pilgrim's Progress
Paradise Lost (I'll finish it next week)
Beowulf
Part of The Kalevala
I read Mahabharata a long time ago,will start re-reading it next month.

There may be more, but I can't think of them right now.

Have you really read the whole The Divine Comedy? I've read it only in bits and peaces at school. Now with Jenny we're suppose to have a cantica per year - are we Jenny?
Pre '700 I've read sevearl book, of course a lot less than for the period following. Let's see what I remember.
Some latin and greek plays suche as Oedipus Rex, Miles Gloriosus - Aulularia
The Iliad;
The Aeneid - always for school - not to be recomanded!!! Really boring, if compared with homer's writings. But it wasn't the same ...
Several Shakespeare's plays, plus some other plays by elisabethan writers;
The Pilgrim's Progress
The Romance of the Rose - for university, terribly boring. All the allegory is almost all lost for us!
And then I have to think of others ...

Yes, DC was the Big Read in another goodreads group. I must admit I found it rather a difficult read, quite a slog.

Gill wrote: "So, I'm trying to think what I've read that was written pre1700. There's:
The Divine Comedy
Don Quixote
The Pilgrim's Progress
Paradise Lost (I'll ..."

You must have read some Shakespeare at some point in your reading career!

LauraT wrote: "Have you really read the whole The Divine Comedy? I've read it only in bits and peaces at school. Now with Jenny we're suppose to have a cantica per year - are we Jenny?
Pre '700 I've r..."

Yes we are! (Excuse my ignorance: how many cantos are there? In other words: how many years will this one take and will it beat Zola? LOL!

LauraT wrote: "Have you really read the whole The Divine Comedy? I've read it only in bits and peaces at school. Now with Jenny we're suppose to have a cantica per year - are we Jenny?
Pre '700 I've r..."

Yeah, The Aeneid isn't great. I read both The Odyssey and TA simultaneously. The only part of TA I like is the bit with Dido.

Some of my favourite pre-1700 stuff off the top of my head...

The Republic by Plato, one of my favourite philosophical texts.
Metamorphoses by Ovid, great collection of the myths.

I've also read a lot of cultural texts like The Bible, the Hindu myths, Aboriginal myths, the Epic of Gilgamesh and those have all varying degrees of quality.

Leaving aside works from the ancients, the 1600's in England had quite a few -- Samuel Pepys, lots of plays (I particularly like Congreve & Wycherley, and of course Shakespeare!) and poetry (Milton, Dryden are all I know), Aphra Behn (often considered the first female novelist), John Bunyon... in France, there was Moliere and Racine.

And quite a bit of nonfiction -- Descartes, Locke, Bacon, Hobbs, Kepler...

I am woefully ignorant of "Oriental" literature but I know that there are some classics from China which date before 1700. Does anyone know about this area?

From China I know of two works:
1. Tao Te Ching
2.The Art of War

I have read the ART OF WAR. And that is an interesting book.

Also added to books before 1970 should be included one of my favorite plays, Doctor Faustus.

I've recently finished Paradise Lost and it was really amazing! A completely different experience to what I expected. Some of the parts almost sent me to sleep, I admit. But Milton made Satan such an interesting character!

Doctor Faustus, Metamorphoses and The Pilgrim's Progress are all books I really want to read!

I want to get into The Divine Comedy but I don't know I am more into the post era but I willing to try it. :)

Leslie wrote: "Gill wrote: "So, I'm trying to think what I've read that was written pre1700. There's:
The Divine Comedy
Don Quixote
The Pilgrim's Progress
[book:Paradise Lost|..."

Ooh Yes, Shakespeare. I forgot him!

Jenny wrote: "LauraT wrote: "Have you really read the whole The Divine Comedy? I've read it only in bits and peaces at school. Now with Jenny we're suppose to have a cantica per year - are we Jenny?
..."

If you look on the group Bookish, the big read there of DC has only just come to an end. There's lots of info, background, cantos etc. Enjoy!

hmm pre-1700 books are something that I'm trying to work on, as I've read next to nothing from this period. A couple of Shakespeare, a few ancient plays, but nothing else. I'd like to read some more, but currently the only books I own from this category are Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, Don Quixote and Inferno

Jenny, the Divine Comedy has 33 cantos per section (total 99 cantos).


Pre-1700 literature I've read is about the same as already listed:
- The Odyssey
- The Iliad
- Beowulf: A New Verse Translation
- The Divine Comedy
- Don Quixote
- Troilus and Cressida
- Macbeth
- Twelfth Night

Petra wrote: "Jenny, the Divine Comedy has 33 cantos per section (total 99 cantos).


Pre-1700 literature I've read is about the same as already listed:
- The Odyssey
- [book:Beowulf: A New Verse Tr..."

Thank you Petra. LOL
Laura, I think we have to speed up our reading expedition because we'd be DEAD if we read one a year. Or did you mean sections?

Here are some of my favourites
The Republic
Utopia
The Golden Ass quite an eye opener!
The Pilgrim's Progress
The Odyssey
The Iliad
Piers Plowman
Ecclesiastical History of the English People don't be put off by the title it's a great read.
Revelations of Divine Love

Dhanaraj wrote: "From China I know of two works:
1. Tao Te Ching
2.The Art of War

I have read the ART OF WAR. And that is an interesting book."

That reminds me that I have read The Pillow Book. I liked it loads at the time and meant to re-read it. Needless to say, I didn't! I must see if I can find an accessible copy.

Oh yes I read The Pillow Book a couple of years ago. It was a fascinating read. A unique insight into a curious way of life long gone.

Tweedledum wrote: "Oh yes I read The Pillow Book a couple of years ago. It was a fascinating read. A unique insight into a curious way of life long gone."

I looked this up for my Kindle and got a bit diverted. Instead I bought The Tale of Genji (11th century Japanese and considered the world's first novel). The version I bought is only Part One, but should be enough for now.
I also boughtMonkey: The Journey to the West. This beats the Divine Comedy, because it has 100 chapters! I bought this because I remember seeing part of it on television.

Jenny wrote: "Yes we are! (Excuse my ignorance: how many cantos are there? In other words: how many years will this one take and will it beat Zola? LOL!..

There are three "cantiche" of 33 "canti" each - actually the first book the Inferno has 34 because one is a sort of "proemio", an introduction sort of things. The three books are Hell, Purgatory and Paradise.
Three was a mistical number, in all its multiplication and division outcomes.

Ah I see, sorry I misunderstood ;)

Gill, I have The Tale of Genji sitting on my bookshelf. I picked it up at a book sale years ago and keep meaning to get to it. In book form, it's a heavy monster!

Petra wrote: "Gill, I have The Tale of Genji sitting on my bookshelf. I picked it up at a book sale years ago and keep meaning to get to it. In book form, it's a heavy monster!"

I think the version I have on my kindle is only the first part, but I don't know yet.

Sparked by today's entry in "Today in Literature" and a brief exchange with Petra, I download a few plays by Fletcher & Beaumont (or John Fletcher solo) from Project Gutenburg today. These two authors wrote plays in the Jacobean period, and were second only to Shakespeare in popularity during their lifetime and beyond, into the early Restoration era.

Looking forward now to reading them in 2014 :)

Could be joyinig you Leslie. I didn't read anything by them even in University. It's high time I set things righ!

Good idea, I'm tempted too. Maybe I can work myself backwards gradually before attempting "The Greats"! John Fletcher (or collaborating with Beaumont) sounds intriguing, new to me, and a good place to start. Keep me posted!

Me too!