Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Just read about the 2020 books that will be available in the public domain in the US. I am excited about some of them.

2020 PUBLIC DOMAIN BOOKS
The Land That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Tarzan and The Ant Man by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie
A Gentleman of Courage by James Oliver Curwood
Call of the Canyon by Zane Grey
The Gift of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois
So Big by Edna Ferber
The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
The Constant Nymph by Margaret Kennedy
Gerald Cranston’s Lady by Gilbert Frankau
Diary of a Young Lady of Fashion 1764–65 by Cleone Knox
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
Something Childish and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield
Billy Budd by Herman Melvill
Dr. Doolittle’s Circus by Hugh Lofting (book 4 in the series)
The Dream Coach by Anne Parrish
The Treasures of Typhon by Eden Phillpotts
The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner—this one appears to already be available on Project Gutenberg.
Precious Bane by Mary Webb
The Dream and The Story of a Great Schoolmaster by H.G. Wells
Desire Under The Elms by Eugene O’Neill
My Further Disillusionment in Russia by Emma Goldman
The Old Maid by Edith Wharton
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
The Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain
Golden Wattle Cookery Book by Margaret Wylie

Looks interesting! Thanks for the list :)

For those of you who love near impossible challenges :
The Shakespeare 2020 Project: A plan to read through the complete works in one year

https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.e...

Katy wrote: "For those of you who love near impossible challenges :
The Shakespeare 2020 Project: A plan to read through the complete works in one year

https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.e......"

I mean, eventually my volume of complete works will become my year's long read challenge. Beyond next years Three Kingdoms, I don't really have much else other than Richardson's Pilgrimage and Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, so it could possibly happen for me in the next five years.

I finally got around to watching Blade Runner 2049 last night and boy was i surprised becauses its freaking Oliver Twist!

I'm serious its not a perfect adaptation but its definitely the book version of Oliver Twist.

The main character is acutally palying at different times in the movie Oliver himself, the detective investigating Olivers birth and (view spoiler)[Nancy (hide spoiler)]. Its all sort of amalgamated but the parallels are certainly there.

I guess to follow my logic that makes his boss Fagan and his girlfriend The Artful Dodger ;) , and (view spoiler)[Love, Bill Sykes, they both die from a lack of oxigen (hide spoiler)].

Clearly the filmmakers weren't hiding their influences as at one point we visit an orphanage and the guy running it is literally wearing a dickensian coat. Look at this thing...


Anyway just thought i'd share :) .

I got on the GR desktop website and discovered the group reads are highlighted by a bold gold colored square. I find it abrupt and ugly and although it is clearly designed to help find a group's monthly group reads, I think it's unnecessary. I am wondering what others think about this "improvement".

I hate it!

Just saw it
As you said unnecessary and very sharp and harsh.

I agree, Laurie. It’s not flattering and is pretty offensive to the eye.

agreed - unnecessary and unpleasant.

were any of the Mods on here consulted?

(I'm a Mod for a different (much smaller) group, and I wasn't)

I wouldn't mind a pale yellow. Very pale.

Darren wrote: "..were any of the Mods on here consulted?

(I'm a Mod for a different (much smaller) group, and I wasn't)"

LOL, I don't think GR consults anyone for these. Very unpleasant!

If ain’t broke don’t fix it...

Ugly addition to the forum.

I agree. I doesn't look good... Goodreads has so many issues (and the app so many bugs) that I don't understand why they are wasting time with things like this one. All the late changes they have made were really unnecessary, and didn't improve the experience at all.

It looks awful!! Just not necessary :/

Speaking of ugly and unnecessary... ;) . I saw the new Cats film today... and it is... AMAZING!!!! ...just...Amazing.

If you want to know if its good amazing or bad amazing... YES!! both sometimes at the same time :lol . Oh god i'm so glad i went to see it. Both the good elements and horrific elements had me smiling like crazy.

All cgi issues aside (i think it might be the updated version but not sure.. still all sorts of cgi weird), decisons like focusing on the more disgusting habits of cats like eating garbage or insects are just weird.
And they upped the occultism to 11 for some reason so that at times it feels genuinely satanic :lol :| .

On the other hand Victorias new song is the best one in it and they somehow made Skimbelshanks AND tapdancing kinda cool... that is quite a feat :D .

Can't stop smiling... its so beautifully terrible and terribly beautiful :) .

Haha, that sounds like most of the reviews I’ve read for Cats...it’s not that it’s just bad, but surreal in so many factors?!

Did anyone see this Frank and Ernest comic strip today (01/31/2020)? It cracked me up!

James Joyce play on words

Good one, Shirley.

Lol. I liked it!

That’s funny!!

Great strip, Shirley.

so who do we like in the SuperBowl?

I'm not watching it. Getting into a shell right now...

We like sports?

Darren wrote: "so who do we like in the SuperBowl?"

I have it set to record because I can't take the stress of watching my 49ers play live. It's the same way with my Juventus, only even more so.


Aubrey wrote: "We like sports?"

I can only speak for myself, but what's not to love about sports? 💖💖💖

well you all missed a heck of a game! ;o)

Darren wrote: "well you all missed a heck of a game! ;o)"

I watched it on DVR.

At least I'm used to it by now. That makes it easier.

Darren wrote: "well you all missed a heck of a game! ;o)"

People in the UK watch the Super Bowl? I had no idea!

I'll agree it was a heck of a game, especially since I am happy with the outcome.

The Mantis Shrimp is one of may favourite animals and i spotted this very nice and well drawn set of info on it, check it out its very cute :D .
https://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_...

Well, I had no great affinity for the Mantis Shrimp before, but that was great! Some of the other comic strips were fun too, thanks Wreade :)

Pink wrote: "Well, I had no great affinity for the Mantis Shrimp before, but that was great! Some of the other comic strips were fun too, thanks Wreade :)"

Yeah some of the other drawings are pretty good i replaced my desktop wallpaper of Dogs Playing Poker with Cats Playing Hungry-Hungry-Hippos :D

Ahaaaaa! finally got a new battery for my ipod so i've been watching my backlog of free stuff that i keep throwing on there.

Just finished the free feature film Sita Sings the Blues.
Pure creativity, it uses like 4 different animation styles and its partly a retelling of the The Ramayana, Sita is Rama's wife.

Then there's this overarcing modern day story and where in a Bollywood film you might expect indian songs it instead has Annette Hanshaw songs from the 30's. I mean Hanshaw's no Ruth Etting but still :P .

There's a lot of humour with the animation aswell and its all around just so different, so interesting and so creative, HIGHLY recommend giving it a go :D .

PS: Also been watching short webshow Adult Wednesday Addams which is also pretty good :) .

I just discovered Kerning! Where have you been all my life? Have you ever wanted to get a piece of text to fit in a certain area and all the fonts seem to be too wide? (No? just me, oh well ;) ).

Anyway i only just discovered you can make fonts skinnier or wider by adjusting the Kerning. That would have saved me quite a bit of hassle over the years, i've run into that problem at least... 7 or 8 times :P :lol .

"Kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result."

As a head's up, JSTOR is making its 'Lives of Literature' materials free through till the end of February: https://about.jstor.org/l/free-lives-...

Gaskell, Dante, and others are featured on the front page (I mentioned those due to the ongoing group reads this month).

Thanks Aubrey for sharing. Important.

Seems not everyone--not even Oxford University--appreciates all great classics.
not Homer & not Virgil

I'm back from spending the past couple of weeks in Arizona. And when I returned, I have found some of my tulips blooming. What a nice welcome.

That is a nice surprise, Katy.

Cynda wrote: "Thanks Aubrey for sharing. Important.

Seems not everyone--not even Oxford University--appreciates all great classics.
not Homer & not Virgil"

That's actually sickening. Disgusting. Oxford University is absolutely disgusting.

DaytimeRiot, I feel you. Literature with of such power, drama, and naked truth as Homer and Virgil's must be read or we become so much less. Oh Oxford please make the right decision for us all.

Judging this issue based on the typically hysterical reaction from a webpage seems like a fair example of the state of discourse; if you try to conduct a debate on a subject in the white heat of extreme perspectives you have no debate at all. For instance, it equates gender grade equalization with acuity in classic languages without explaining at all what that means; I can’t fathom the link. I expect it to be made as part of a cogent argument but some would say I’m old fashioned that way.

If The Origin of Species was taught as sacred text without my account of genetic theory or Einstein without an appreciation of Quantum Theory that would be zealous, reductive and antithetical to the purpose of higher education. Is literature any different? Should it be? Yet it seems the idea is being debated, hopefully free from people’s triggered disgust; hopefully that world still exists. The article talks about shutting down debate based on one person’s request; excuse me but who cares, yet they stretch the point to say it shows it’s not only in America where debate is being shut down. If you are an advocate for the freedom of debate this is hardly the tone to match that end. Yes read Homer. No don’t read stupid internet articles. Certainly don’t do it on faith of their verity. Debate away Oxford. Seek out sacred cows and slay them. Cheerily 😜

Yes, because literature is not science.

The point of learning is so that the knowledge of the past is passed on to future generations. The point is not to eliminate "sacred cows" but to add to them. There's no point to a university education if it's going to be nothing but ideological indoctrination.

You cannot have Einstein's theory of relativity without Newtonian physics. Just because Newtonian physics is incomplete and from a different time does not mean that physicists should not know it.

Just because the Homeric epics were recited during a very different time does not mean that they do not possess value that Classicists can simply ignore. If they don't want to study the Classics, then guess what? Don't study for a degree in Classics.

And let me tell you, if the so-called "triggered" reaction were in favor of shutting down debate in favor of certain "oppressed" groups, the same people who favor eliminating the classics would be screaming their precious heads off. So no, if they don't want "triggered" judgements, then they can cease their own "triggered" reactions.

DaytimeRiot wrote: "Yes, because literature is not science.

The point of learning is so that the knowledge of the past is passed on to future generations. The point is not to eliminate "sacred cows" but to add to th..."

I agree. Triggered and offended are rapidly becoming bywords to eliminate whatever's uncomfortable. Homer and Virgil and the wealth of civilisation. A lot of irreparable harm would be done if they are not being taught.

I have been a young woman at a time when the dead white men where still being read, where women and people of color were just showing up. I felt and still feel made less than by Homer and Virgil--this is me telling my truth. Yet this is the only epic mythic adventures of the Greco-Roman world that say so much of our experience. I love Homer and Virgil more when I comtemplate their worlds more than when I am actually reading. Because the Greeks and Romans propagated children and left their culture throughout much of the world, I think we also feel our ancient ancestors stir in our chromosones. I know I do.

https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2020/02... I thought this was a better article that explained the issue

Thanks for sharing Pink. The article you have shared explains better. I learned the basics of the classical world only because I study partnered with and worked with someone who honored Athena. Otherwise I would have had to have dropped the World Lit course.

It seems Oxford is not alone. The University of Arizona is revamping their classics degree too. general classics degree information

PinkieBrown wrote: "Judging this issue based on the typically hysterical reaction from a webpage seems like a fair example of the state of discourse; if you try to conduct a debate on a subject in the white heat of ex..."

I can see this being studied this way in certain classes--it is certainly not studied in evolution classes and wasn't when I studied evolution in university back in the 1980s, either, as so much of what he alleged hadn't stood the test of time and still doesn't. Darwin's Origin of Species was written before a real knowledge of genetics and before many other things had been learned even separate from that. Evolutionary theory--theories really since there are several--has changed quite a bit from that initial book. To study that in a science class would be not much different than studying an ancient Greek book on medicine in medical school.

As for classics, revamping what makes them isn't altogether new, either. I have always thought that it was very limiting to spend so much time on Greek and Roman ones and not as much on many others even when I was a kid, including dead white men who were excluded, but also dead men from many other countries.

As for dead women of any race--very, very few were published through time, so we can expect to be not included much, but it is high time some were! This goes for virually all of Eurasia. BUT, some countries in northern Europe at least valued women for their intelligence and gave them rights--in The Saga of the Icelanders you see women prized for both their beauty and intelligence. Women had the exact same legal rights to divorce as men did and kept ownership of their own property, etc. It's hard to say what women wrote since it was considered wrong to put your own name to your works and authorship is attributed by others. It is still limiting for countries such as Cape Verde and the Philippines where the population has been mixed for centuries.

Also, I would like to add that race designations have changed over time as well--I remember when it was only four and Caucasians included both white and non-white people. One problem with that is it didn't allow for bi-racial and multi-racial people to feel included.

I’m sure the Classics can stand up for themselves; stand in the face of debate, which I’m glad to see has transcended anyone’s disgust here. People in this world are not pleased to kill each other over their interpretations of holy books; fighting for the old version over the new version; not an awful lot of debate there, so I’m not particularly interested in any particular argument, only that debate in the intellectual sense is allowed to go forward unfettered by Twitter length trends or fundamentalist revisions of science or whatever the zealous soup de jour is.

You could apply the argument that there’s no room at the inn to any university course at any time; how can we move Darwin or Einstein aside? Areas of study are finite. What I love about Literature is you can’t take it in any direction you want, but you get three years to study it and that constraint presages a constant updating and debating of value. It demands it.

PinkieBrown wrote: "I’m sure the Classics can stand up for themselves; stand in the face of debate, which I’m glad to see has transcended anyone’s disgust here. People in this world are not pleased to kill each other ..."

Sure, Darwin in literature OR a history of science or a history of the development of ideas or philosophy course makes sense, but in a Biology course it's different because you're not there to study the classics :) and theories are not finite enough nor is philosophy in the sense that new ones are continually cropping up. Science majors are NOT majoring in classics and science as we know it today is quite new. Biology, medicine, astrophysics and many other branches have changed dramatically over the last few centuries and discoveries have blasted many older theories out of practical study and into historical realms even through the 20th century.