pickI wanted to get a leg up on my ancient philosophy class before school this fall. I‘ve owned this copy for years, stopping and starting it in bursts. I wasn‘t able to get through it all before the semester began, but I did finish it afterwards.
One thing I will say about Plato‘s dialogues is that they are often arduous and boring, but after having read some on my own, then in a college setting, their greatness became so much more apparent to me.
pickI started 2025 with Emily Wilson's translation of The Iliad and it just felt right to close it out with her take on The Odyssey. Sparse and precise, I love her considered choice to render the story in iambic pentameter for a modern, English-speaking audience. Her work has its fair share of detractors (rooted primarily in misogyny, let's be so for real), but I love it. New interpretations get an emphatic YES from me, and I really enjoyed this one.
Recent acquisition for our personal library:
📖 Lysistrata and Other Plays by Aristophanes
Souvenir gift from our daughter, who recently visited Athens and Istanbul with her boyfriend.
pickA reread. I think the power of this play lies in its implied questions and its sense of rebellion.
This time reading it, the dramatic elements leapt out. How Antigone is more powerful by not making any practical sense but yet remaining true to her form. How king Creon is undermined by making complete sense, because he wraps himself in pride that gets tighter and more fragile, setting up a kind of self-destruct button. Good stuff
#StorySpins #2026reads
@AllDebooks thanks for setting this up. This is a perfect challenge for me, I got into reading mythology by accident, it all started to see if I could read The Iliad. It was tough but I also enjoyed the challenge of reading it and was amazed by how entertaining a story that was around millennia ago could be entertaining. So, I'm looking forward to this challenge and seeing what everyone else is reading. ⬇️
pickI‘m revisiting some of the 1,001 books that I haven‘t read in a while (this one was last read 9 year ago). These fables are so culturally pervasive that we often quote the moral without even knowing where it originated. These fables aren‘t really about animals; they‘re about us. Some morals contradict others, but I think that‘s a lesson in itself. This is also one of the first books printed in English. Fantastic piece of human history.
pickIt's hard to review a work with an oral tradition like The Iliad - an ancient epic poem that was once the domain of rhapsodes. My modern sensibilities considered it a slog at times, but the rage of Achilles & the ransom of Hektor still rang true after thousands of years. The glossary was very welcome & helpful with more opaque or contradictory passages, in addition to providing a good reference. It is the first epic, and it still feels that way.
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