You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Bought these today:
Some tragedies by Euripides
Indignation
Rising Sun
Foucalt's Pendulum

Gavin wrote: "Bought these today:
Some tragedies by Euripides"

Medea, by any chance? Or some of the others?

I love Greek tragedies, and I have read a few by Euripides. So far Esquilo is still my favorite. (I feel weird saying that... not sure why...)

Rusalka wrote: "Gavin wrote: "Bought these today:
Some tragedies by Euripides"

Medea, by any chance? Or some of the others?"
Yeah, Medea, The Bacchae, and Iphigenia at Aulis.

Gavin wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Gavin wrote: "Bought these today:
Some tragedies by Euripides"

Medea, by any chance? Or some of the others?"
Yeah, Medea, The Bacchae, and Iphigenia at Aulis."

Gavin wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Gavin wrote: "Bought these today:
Some tragedies by Euripides"

Medea, by any chance? Or some of the others?"
Yeah, Medea, The Bacchae, and Iphigenia at Aulis."

I have read all of those. And also saw the movie (teather style) with Irene Papas
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076208/

@Sandra, not weird at all (or else we are all weird)

I don't think I have ever read a Greek tragedy. Where do you start?

Gavin wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Gavin wrote: "Bought these today:
Some tragedies by Euripides"

Medea, by any chance? Or some of the others?"
Yeah, Medea, The Bacchae, and Iphigenia at Aulis."

Enjoy!

Sandra wrote: "I love Greek tragedies, and I have read a few by Euripides. So far Esquilo is still my favorite. (I feel weird saying that... not sure why...)"

Weird fact. We call Esquilo, Aeschylus. I've read his play Agamemnon.

Cherie wrote: "I don't think I have ever read a Greek tragedy. Where do you start?"

If you haven't read any ancient Greek texts before, I would start with The Odyssey. It's a really easy intro, good story, epic poem, really enjoy it. Then if you read The Iliad that introduces you to some characters that come up again and again in Greek tragedies (Agamemnon, Cassandra, Clytemnestra for example) so that can be a good pathway. Also they are written as poems (or prose depending on the translation, but I like the poems), instead of plays.

Or you can start with Sophocles and do the Oedipus Rex route, as most people know the basic story. My personal favourite is the third play of that trilogy, Antigone.

But most of them will be written as plays, written like
Julie: blah blah blah
Ben: blah blah
Chorus: blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
So do be prepared for that.

But just my two cents. Sounds like Sandra and Mariab have read more for fun so may have much better intel that I will be stealing for myself.

Cherie, the first tragedy I read was Edipo Rey in high school for Literature, and I think it's a good place to start since the story is kind of known by everyone, but Greek tragedies are not difficult to understand, so I don't think it would be wrong to start with a different one. The only exception, I would say, it's trying to read Agamemnon before Electra by Sophocles or Electra by Euripides, for chronological reasons (Electra and Orestes are Agamemnon's daughter and son).

Rusalka wrote: "We call Esquilo, Aeschylus."

I wondered about that when writing my post, but since the auto-correct didn't underlined in red, I didn't give it too much thought. Aeschylus looks more Greek actually.

Crossed posts. :)

Hah! Good work :P

Cherie, on that note, if you read the Oedipus trilogy, read them in order too. That's actually important as they directly reference things in the play before it.

Sandra wrote: "I wondered about that when writing my post, but since the auto-correct didn't underlined in red, I didn't give it too much thought. Aeschylus looks more Greek actually. "

I love that their names are translated!

*horns into conversation not involving her*

Start with Antigone. Really. One of the best plays I've ever read, and that comes from someone forced to read it in 11th grade, who doesn't like or read plays. And it isn't an intimidating length.

This week's purchases - (I'm very excited for them to arrive ...)

The Crow Road by Iain Banks
Strange Tide by Christopher Fowler
A Nail Through the Heart by Timothy Hallinan
Everybody's Fool by Richard Russo; and
Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino

heart be still.

Carol wrote: "*horns into conversation not involving her*

Start with Antigone. Really. One of the best plays I've ever read, and that comes from someone forced to read it in 11th grade, who doesn't like or read..."

You're in the group. It totally involves you!

I love Antigone and completely agree, but you don't think it needs a little bit of the first two to explain some of the major issues? (notice me being super vague here). I had some of this explained to me also when I read it, but reading it alone, I would think you would need the background.

Rusalka wrote: "Carol wrote: "*horns into conversation not involving her*

Start with Antigone. Really. One of the best plays I've ever read, and that comes from someone forced to read it in 11th grade, who doesn'..."

I understand where you're coming from, Rusalka. The basis for my recommendation is that, IMO, Antigone is quite accessible and if you get only what you get from it, you'll enjoy it and go back and read the prior 2 works. OTOH, in my experience, if someone gets bogged down in book 1 and puts it aside, and then never makes it to Antigone, it's a loss.

Philosophically, I sometimes think that perhaps more readers would read more classic and antique/foundational literature if they were nudged in the direction of the most accessible works and on-ramps. We (collectively) many times give them the optimal path to full understanding of a work, and - as they begin to feel like Sysiphus - they slip out the restroom window whilst we sit at the table waiting for them to return, metaphorically, and tell us how much they enjoyed the book, rather than come back to our table to say, "well that didn't work out well", lol. YMMV.

Rusalka wrote: "You're in the group. It totally involves you!"

Perfect response. I was trying to think of how to word the same sentiment.

No horning in, just jumping in.

Oh it's incredibly accessible. And thanks for sharing your opinions. Disclosure is I have never read Oedipus the King, but had a lot of it explained to me by tutors and teachers. But didn't realise it could be so boggy. And I am such a stickler for reading things in order. But I honestly was of the opinion that without dedicated explanations, that you would need the second play to make sense of the third. Apparently I am a bit wrong.

I completely agree about the accessibility issue. And I think that most people are daunted in someway by many reads, not just Greek classics, but classics in general, or medieval classics (I have owned a copy of Canterbury Tales for nearly 10 years) or whatever. For me, I like to know what is going on, it helps me understand. So I am a start from square one person, to build up knowledge to understand the better works. Different strokes for different folks. But on that, that's why I was suggesting the pathway through the epics as an alternative.

YMMV. We may need a metric conversion for that one. Your kilometreage may vary just doesn't really add up over here.

Janice wrote: "No horning in, just jumping in."

You can... horn... wherever you want? Just no, Rus. Stop.

ROFL! I had to edit that a couple of times because it sounded so... so... suggestive! Yeah, that's the word. Suggestive.

Rusalka wrote: "I am a start from square one person"

That's me too! I need to start at the beginning and I just can't skip anything. And I'm not proud of it.

I can't say if I read Iliada and La Odisea before of after, since I read all in the same year. I was kind of obsess with Ancient Greece, so I can't really say.
I think that these two books can be intimidating for some readers (probably not Cherie) and put them off reading the whole thing.
I think that you can read tragedies without reading them. A version with some notes to get the background would be enough. Maybe it's just me, since what I love the most about tragedies is the energy/passion in the text, and the musicality of the characters-chorus interaction.

I think I have made a stab at The Iliad and maybe even The Odyssey but it has been many, many years. I may be ready to try them again. I am a lot "better read" than I used to be, but there are still many gaps that could be filled. With the internet at my fingertips as I read, it is much easier to fill in gaps in a story or look for an article, listen to a piece of music, or even watch a video to enhance a story.

Thanks for the comments and discussion!

I've just preordered The Fireman. I can't wait for it's release. Love Joe Hill. It says in the blurb it's for fans of The Passage too. I'm intrigued.

There are a couple of books being released in May that are high up on my radar. The Fireman is one. Did you order it on audiobook, Sarah?

I want to read The Fireman too. I actually haven't read any of his books, though I own a couple. That one looks really good / interesting though.

Kristie wrote: "I want to read The Fireman too. I actually haven't read any of his books, though I own a couple. That one looks really good / interesting though."

I've really enjoyed his books. He's a chip off the old block, that's for sure.

I got it on Kindle.

I'm going to get the audiobook. Kate Mulgrew is the narrator and I love the job she did on NOS4A2.

Wow, what a story synopsis. It sounds fantastic! I guess I will be getting another book - my 1st by Hill.

It does sound pretty amazing!

I needed some retail therapy. So i've preordered End of Watch and bought Clash of Iron for the geocache challenge. I still feel more books are needed though.

I used 2 credits at Audible (my April ration) and got:


Lover Avenged
The Library at Mount Char

I bought the ebook of the second one (the Scott Hawkins book) and read the first 15 pages. Oh, yeah, STRANGE! At least it has chapter numbers.

Rusalka wrote: "Oh it's incredibly accessible. And thanks for sharing your opinions. Disclosure is I have never read Oedipus the King, but had a lot of it explained to me by tutors and teachers. But didn't realise..."

You are absolutely correct that I need a kilometric reference for these conversations, lol.

this conversation has reminded me that I can't read Shakespeare (plays or sonnets) and enjoy them at all without a version that has extensive notes and background. I just get nothing at all out of it. Nor can I watch a theatrical presentation and enjoy it if it's not a play I've read/studied. Others get the jokes, etc. even if they don't understand everything. I' not certain if it's my OCD or denseness that is to blame, but there it is. So I fully understand the desire to read classics the best, most informative way.

On to purchases. Yesterday, I bought:


and

Cherie wrote: "I bought the ebook of the second one (the Scott Hawkins book) and read the first 15 pages. Oh, yeah, STRANGE! At least it has chapter numbers."

That sentiment is expressed by several reviewers and still gets a high rating. I like strange, so I'm intrigued. I'm just hoping it's bookish enough that I can use it for the books about books task in the geocache.

Carol wrote: ""

I haven't started the Inspector Banks novels yet, but I really enjoy the tv series by the BBC. You guys get that over there?

Four of Kindle's monthly deals for May found their way to my library:


Brother
A Certain Slant of Light
Harold and Maude
Shadowshift

I've cancelled my preorder of The Fireman as i scored a early release copy with NetGalley. I've saved £20 what with this book and the latest The Passage book. I'm well chuffed. I now have £20 to spend on other books ;-)

that's great, Sarah!

Excellent! Good for you, Sarah. :)

Yay, Sarah!

Sarah wrote: "I've cancelled my preorder of The Fireman as i scored a early release copy with NetGalley. I've saved £20 what with this book and the latest The Passage book. I'm well chuffed. I no..."

That's an awesome savings, Sarah!

Sarah wrote: "I now have £20 to spend on other books ;-) ..."
Well done!

I just bought and read The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith. I gave it 5 stars and put it on my favorites shelf.

Connie (Ava Catherine) wrote: "I just bought and read The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith. I gave it 5 stars and put it on my favorites shelf."

I went to look see and discovered that it's on my wishlist.

It is in my TBR list, now, Janice and Connie!

I preordered Age of Myth. I don't normally do preorders but I received an email from Michael J. Sullivan explaining how it benefits an author for people to preorder, and since he's one of my fav's, and I intended on buying it anyway, I committed a credit.