tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80688732024-03-14T03:24:02.673-05:00The OF BlogEclectic and striving never to follow paths into ruts, the OF Blog focuses on essays, reviews, interviews, and other odds and ends that might be of interest to fans of both literary and speculative fiction. Now with a cute owl for your enjoyment.Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.comBlogger2949125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-15858367973679695412023-08-25T19:02:00.000-05:002023-08-25T19:02:05.267-05:0019 Years<p> Although this blog probably has seen much better days, it is certainly wild to think that I started the OF Blog when I was 30 years old. Originally intended to be an extension of the now-defunct wotmania’s Other Fantasy section, the scope and sequence of this blog has certainly shifted several times. If you would have told me back in 2004 that a) I would be making a post here today and b) that the majority of my books read in the past couple of years have been bilingual Medieval Latin and Greek works, I wouldn’t have believed you.</p><p>Almost curious to see if for 2042 what I’ll be reading and perhaps blogging about. Maybe dissertations based on the works of Chuck Tingle? 🤷🏼♂️😂</p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-31935378251048859772023-05-06T05:27:00.007-05:002024-01-09T21:38:59.695-06:00Oxford Early Christian Texts<p> One more list of bilingual Latin (or Greek)/English classics, this time writings of the Christian “Fathers” of the 2nd-7th centuries. Lately, I’ve been doing some reading of the Church Fathers in order to become better educated about my beliefs and I stumbled upon Oxford’s annotated bilingual critical editions of the early leaders/defenders/martyrs of the Church. These are not cheap books (often some are listed for $250+ on Amazon), but certainly books I will likely be collecting in the coming years. Below are the current titles, listed by year of publication:</p><p>1. <i>Tatius, Oratio ad Graecos and Fragments</i></p><p>2. <i>Cyril of Alexandria, Select Letters</i></p><p>3. Eunomius, The Extant Works</p><p>4. <i>Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana</i></p><p>5. Severus of Minorca, Letter on the Conversion of the Jews</p><p>6. <i>Augustine, De Bono Coniugali, De Sancta Virginitate</i></p><p>7. <i>Maximus the Confessor, Maximus the Confessor and His Companions</i></p><p>8. Leonitus of Jerusalem, Against the Monophysites: Testimonies of the Saints and Aporiae</p><p>9. Sophronius of Jerusalem, Sophoronius of Jerusalem and Seventh-Century Heresy: The Synodical Letter and Other Documents</p><p>10. <i>Symeon the New Theologian, The Epistles of St. Symeon the New Theologian</i></p><p>11. Justin Martyr, Justin, Philosopher and Martyr: Apologies</p><p>12. Priscillian of Avila, Priscillian of Avila: The Complete Works</p><p>13. <i>John Behr (ed.), The Case Against Diodore and Theodore</i></p><p>14. Jerome, Jerome’s Epitaph on Paula: A Commentary on the Epitaphium Sanctae Paula</p><p>15. Virginia Burrus and Marco Conti (eds.), The Life of Saint Helia</p><p>16. Nonnus of Panoplis, Paraphrasis of the Gospel of John XI</p><p>17. Damascus of Rome, The Epigraphic Poetry</p><p>18. <i>Èric Rebillard (ed.), Greek and Latin Narratives About the Ancient Martyrs</i></p><p>19. <i>Leonitus of Byzantium, Complete Works</i></p><p>20. Wolfram Kinzig (ed.), Faith in Formulae: A Collection of Early Christian Creeds and Creed-Related Texts (4 vol.)</p><p>21. Alden A. Mosshammer (ed.), The Prologues on Easter of Theophilis of Alexandria and Cyril</p><p>22. <i>Origen, On First Principles</i></p><p>23. Adrian, Introduction to the Divine Scriptures</p><p>24. Ronald E. Heine (ed.), The Commentary of Origen on the Gospel of St. Matthew</p><p>25. Apollinarus of Laodicea, Metaphrasis Psalmorum</p><p>26. Marco Conti, Virginia Burrus, and Dennis Trout (eds.), The Lives of St. Constantina </p><p>27. Thomas of Edessa, Explanations of the Nativity and Epiphany</p><p>28. Papias of Hierapolis, Exposition of Dominical Oracles </p><p>29. <i>Abraham Terian (ed.), The Life of Mashtots’ by his Disciple Koriwn</i></p><p>30. <i>Gregory of Nyssa, On the Human Image of God</i></p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-86972038139849617152023-02-21T20:07:00.001-06:002023-02-21T20:07:11.211-06:00 A Brief Update<p> I’ve been a bit quieter than I anticipated for the past few months. It’s likely to continue for much of the next year and a half as I started online classes four weeks ago for a second graduate degree, this time a MS in Educational Psychology from Purdue Global. Taking one class at a time for six weeks each is certainly very different from a full load of 9 semester hours in 1996-1997 for my MA in History from the University of Tennessee, Don’t be surprised if I do an occasional post about my research (which dovetails into my new job responsibilities, as I am an interim principal at the residential treatment facility I’ve worked at since November 2016).</p><p>And I guess that’s about it for now. </p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-89311174441091478382022-08-04T05:31:00.004-05:002022-08-04T05:31:18.957-05:00Books Read in July 2022 and Reads in Progress<p> Last month was a very busy one for a multitude of reasons. I learned back on the 7th that I was going to need a laminoforaminotomy done on my C5-C7 vertebrae due to cervical stenosis that had led to cervical radiculopathy in my left (dominant) arm and a herniated disc. I had outpatient surgery on the 25th and it’ll likely be another 2-3 weeks before I’ll be recovered enough (I can sit and read for periods of time and typing isn’t an issue for short periods of time) to be able to sit for 8 hours and do desk work, with another 2-3 months possible before I’ll be cleared to resume lifting weights heavier than 20 lbs and to do the more physically demanding parts of my job.</p><p>So I managed to complete reading three more books last month. Nothing like the old days a decade ago when I could average nearly three books a day, but when I’m doing a plethora of other activities and not reading for more than an hour or so a day (almost all of it in parallel language editions, which also slows down my reading time to maybe 20-30 pages/hour, since I’m relearning one language (Latin) and teaching myself four others at the moment (Attic/Byzantine Greek for reading, and Arabic, Persian, and Serbs-Croatian on Mondly and Duolingo), this is not bad at all. So here are my most recent reads, preceded with their order of being read:</p><p>5. St. Augustine, City of God, Books I-III (Latin/English; Loeb Classical Library)</p><p>6. Adelard of Bath, Conversations with His Nephew: On the Same and the Different, Questions on Natural Science, and On Birds (Latin/English; Cambridge Medieval Texts)</p><p>7. Dhuoda, Handbook for her Warrior Son: Liber Manualis (Latin/English, Cambridge Medieval Texts)</p><p><br /></p><p>I do have hopes of writing short commentary-style reviews of these books in the next couple of weeks, along with <i>Iliad: Books I-XII</i> that I read in Homeric Greek/English (Loeb Classical Library). Nothing too grand, just thoughts on a few issues that might be easier to address in multiple posts tied to the Loeb volumes.</p><p>These are also the works in progress:</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Digenis Akritas: The Grottaferrata and Escorial Editions</i> (Byzantine Greek/English; Cambridge Medieval Texts). Although I reviewed the Denison Hull translation of the Grottaferrata text a few months ago, this edition, edited and translated by Elizabeth Jeffreys, provides a wealth of new passages and some choice commentaries that may tempt me to do a review of this one as well, since at times this has read like a different work than the one I encountered in just English translation back in the spring.</p><p><br /></p><p>St. Augustine, <i>City of God, Books IV-VII</i> - partway through Book IV.</p><p>Ludovico Ariosto, <i>Latin Poetry</i> (Latin/English; I Tatti Renaissance Library). About a 1/3 complete.</p><p><br /></p><p>I may have time to finish reading the other six volumes in the Cambridge Medieval Texts bilingual series this month or next, and if so, I will review them all, now that managed to track down an “affordable” hardcore edition of Dante Alighieri’s <i>Monarchia</i> (only $50 on Abebooks at one site; $200 everywhere else that I saw online). And I’ll slowly continue to make my way through Books XIII-XXIV of the <i>Iliad</i> before year’s end…</p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-84001738876586977702022-07-23T12:08:00.002-05:002022-08-12T15:17:14.512-05:00Pseudo-Methodius, Apocalypse and Anonymous, An Alexandrian World Chronicle<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcT1UGGCkSjEafXSUHACzdhQVyl4pd5XRyXSj5476Yday6Vn3qORjwtKNlj-8_84imfx8WRqZk2FGvpgaxan-AIdl3DtuOisKi2NYg29UmmO_PRqzhKZVefgtrIQLdtwjZsyHN71_-wGQIwa55oOs1k-GHosssDH0SxQXjRI0dBbDcKgFgg/s500/Apocalypse.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcT1UGGCkSjEafXSUHACzdhQVyl4pd5XRyXSj5476Yday6Vn3qORjwtKNlj-8_84imfx8WRqZk2FGvpgaxan-AIdl3DtuOisKi2NYg29UmmO_PRqzhKZVefgtrIQLdtwjZsyHN71_-wGQIwa55oOs1k-GHosssDH0SxQXjRI0dBbDcKgFgg/s320/Apocalypse.jpeg" width="209" /></a></div><p></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Τῷ δὲ πεντακοσιοστῷ χπὸνῷ τῆς δεθτὲρας χιλιὰδος `έτι μείζὁνος ἐξεκαὐθησαν ὲπὶ τῇ ἀθἐσμῷ πορνεἰὰ πάντες οἰ άνθρωποι έω τῇ παρεμβολή Κάϊν τῆς προτέρας χείρονες γενόμενοι γενεάς, οἵ και δικήν αλόγων ζώων αλλήλοις ἐπἐβαινον, ἐπί μέν τοὺς ἅρρενας τό θῆλυ, ἔπὶ δἐ θῆλυ τὀ ἅρρεν. (p.7)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anno autem D secundi miliarii adhuc etiam mails exarserunt in obscinissimam fornicationem omnes homines in vastris Cain, peius factie priori generationis. Qui et in more animalium in alterutrum convenientes insurgebant, et quidem in virilem muliebrem sexum <...>. Similiter isdem turpissimis et incestis actibus hi, qui grant de cognation Cain, utebantur. (p. 80, 82)</span></p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>For almost as long as Christianity has existed, visions of the end, eschaton, have been proclaimed. These purported "unveilings" (which is what the word Apocalypse approximately means), have taken many forms. For tens of millions today (such as the majority of my family, if not quite myself), the Apocalypse begins with a Rapture, or taking up of the faithful to meet Jesus before the seven years of the Great Tribulation begin (for billions of others who profess the Christian faith, this belief, originating in the 19th century, is a pre-millenist heresy).</p><p>And despite the disparate beliefs of the eschaton, the notion of the End has had a certain lurid appeal. Of the earlier post-Revelations apocalyptic books, the seventh century CE book by Pseudo-Methodius (it was a custom in antiquity and the early centuries that followed the collapse of the western provinces of the Roman Empire for authors to take famous religious names as their own, with the hopes of the saintly names lending gravity to their writings) is perhaps one of the first multilingual eschatological bestsellers. <i>Apocalypse</i> was originally written in Greek sometime around the year 692, based on textual evidence. It was composed in the aftermath of three generations of calamities for the remnant Roman Empire. From 632-697, province after province in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa were lost to the advancing armies emerging out of the Arabian peninsula who proclaimed the new faith of Islam. To many, it was as if the world were on the cusp of collapsing.</p><p>By this time, the eastern Empire was thoroughly Christian, if not quite united in beliefs. The Empire had changed in the previous four centuries from being the cruel persecutor of Christianity to the stalwart defender of the faith. For many, Christianity had become co-terminus with <i>imperium</i>. This belief is very prominent throughout <i>Apocalypse</i>, making for imagery that may be puzzling to those modern believers in the eschaton who see the Roman Empire as the harbinger of a worldy, materialistic anti-Christian entity that would emerge to tattoo people with the Sign of the Beast or other such modern imagery.</p><p>Pseudo-Methodius's <i>Apocalypse </i>begins with a chronologistic approach, beginning with a history of the world and its sins. I have quoted above a passage from the second chapter dealing with the progeny of Cain. I purposely didn't give the translation because it might be more fun for those who do know either Greek or Latin what the author is condemning (and to convince others to use Google Translate to find out what is perversely amusing about that short passage). In these chapters, in which Old Testament figures and populations are interwoven with the then-current age, there are scourges (such as the 7th century Arabs) who emerge to represent God's wrath over the sins of the world. Over the course of 14 short chapters (the whole is perhaps 40 pages in English translation), the author presents the case for why contemporary evils were transpiring, before presenting a vision in which a future saintly Roman Emperor would emerge to reclaim the lost lands before relinquishing his authority (and life) in Jerusalem as Jesus descends from Heaven with the Saints. The <i>imperium</i> of the Romans, transformed into a sort of quasi-dyad with orthodox Christianity, has yielded to its holy successor, the <i>imperium</i> of Christ.</p><p><i>Apocalypse</i> is a fascinating read, as its representations of sinful deeds and the coming triumph of Christ is presented in vivid prose. It is easy to understand how in a world in which the western Empire had collapsed and new scourges (e.g. the nomadic invasions of the 5th-11th centuries) had emerged that this work was quickly translated into Latin and disseminated throughout the former Roman provinces. While its presentation may seem quaint today, it still is a key historical work of apocalyptic literature that is well worth the time for anyone interested in the historiography of eschatology to read.</p><p>In the Dumbarton Oaks edition that I read, there is a companion work, the anonymous <i>An Alexandrian World Chronicle</i>, that was presented in Latin to the Frankish court by eastern Roman diplomats in the mid-6th century CE. It is one of the earliest examples of the Christian chronicles of the world. Divided into two volumes, it presents the world from the entrance of sin until contemporary times. While there is a strong religious element to it, this work contains lists (a veritable plethora of lists) of rulers from the pharaohs to the Roman emperors, with purported times of their reigns and any notable events during their reigns. In isolation, this work can be rather tedious at times to read, but taken piecemeal, it does provide an early look at the general layout used by latter world/national chronicles to cover the history of (and reason for) various political entities.</p><p>Together, these two works, <i>Apocalypse</i> and <i>An Alexandrian World Chronicle</i>, demonstrate how the 5th century nomadic invasions did not quite sever completely the Latin and Greek-speaking Mediterranean cultures. The historical value of these two works is immense, even if the writing quality of the second work might not be as appealing to modern readers.</p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-81886510347481809522022-07-18T09:33:00.007-05:002022-08-10T05:32:46.750-05:00Cambridge Medieval Classics<p> While the majority of the bilingual lists I’ve posted lately are still adding volumes, the Cambridge Medieval Classics list is an example of a purportedly extensive bilingual series of Medieval Latin and Greek works from 350-1350 CE being cut short, in this case after nine volumes. However, 8 out of these 9 volumes are readily available via POD publishing. Below are the volumes before the series was cut short (there were at least three other volumes-in-progress that never were published under the Cambridge Medieval Classics aegis), with italics for the ones owned, bold for books owned and read, and plain for volumes not yet purchased.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>1. Peter Dronke (ed.), Nine Medieval Latin Plays (Latin)</i></p><p><i>2. Fleur Alcock (ed.), Hugh Primas and the Archpoet (Latin)</i></p><p><i>3. Johannes de Hauvilla, Architrenius (Latin)</i></p><p><i>4. Dante Alighieri, Monarchia (Latin)*</i></p><p><i>5. Dante Alighieri, De Vulgari Eloquentia (Latin)</i></p><p><i>6. Gregory of Nazianzus, Autobiographical Poems (Greek)</i></p><p><b>7. Elizabeth Jeffreys (ed.), Digenis Akritas (Greek)</b></p><p><b>8. Dhuoda, Handbook for her Warrior Son: Liber Manualis (Latin</b><i>)</i></p><p><b>9. Adelard of Bath, Conversations with his Nephew: On the Same and the Different, Questions on Natural Science, and On Birds (Latin)</b></p><p><br /></p><p>* Not available in paperback</p><p><br /></p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-8989393093257746292022-07-07T19:06:00.010-05:002023-09-16T12:44:57.532-05:00I Tatti Renaissance Library<p>As is evidenced by the number of these posts over the past couple of months, I’ve lately been involved in collecting (and eventually, reading) volumes of certain classics in bilingual editions. The I Tatti Renaissance Library, published by Harvard University Press since its inception in 2001, is one such list. This series is devoted to publishing in Latin/English editions the Latin language works of many of the preeminent Renaissance thinkers. Much of the literature presented here has never before been made available in English translation. If I’ve read the volume, it’ll be listed in bold; italics for those owned but not yet fully read.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>1. Giovanni Boccaccio, Famous Women</i></p><p><i>2. Marsilio Ficino, Platonic Theology vol. I: Books I-IV</i></p><p>3. <i>Leonardo Bruni, History of the Florentine People, Volume I: Books I-IV</i></p><p><i>4. Marsilio Ficino, Platonic Theology vol. II: Books V-VIII</i></p><p>5. <i>Craig W. Kallendorf (ed.), Humanist Educational Treatises </i></p><p>6. <i>Polydore Vergil, On Discovery</i></p><p><i>7. Marsilio Ficino, Platonic Theology vol. III: Books IX-XI</i></p><p><i>8. Leon Battista Alberti, Momus</i></p><p>9. Giannozzo Manetti, Biographical Writings</p><p>10. Cyriac of Ancona, Later Travels</p><p><i>11. Francesco Petrarca, Invectives</i></p><p>12. <i>Pius II, Commentaries vol. I: Books I-II</i></p><p>13. Marsilio Ficino, Platonic Theology vol. IV: Books XII-XIV</p><p>14. Angelo Poliziano, Silvae</p><p><i>15. Maffeo Vegio, Short Epics</i></p><p>16. Leonardo Bruni, History of the Florentine People, Volume II: Books V-VIII</p><p>17. Marsilio Ficino, Platonic Theology vol. V: Books XV-XVI</p><p>18. Pietro Bembo, Lyric Poetry; Etna</p><p>19. Gary R. Grund (ed.), Humanist Comedies</p><p>20. Biondo Flavio, Italy Illuminated, Volume I: Books I-IV</p><p>21. Angelo Poliziano, Letters, Volume I: Books I-IV</p><p><i>22. Giovanni Gioviano Pontano, Baiae</i></p><p>23. Marsilio Ficino, Platonic Theology vol. VI: Books XVII-XVIII</p><p>24. Lorenzo Valla, On the Donation of Constantine</p><p><i>25. Teofilo Folengo, Baldo, Volume I: Books I-XII</i></p><p>26. JoAnn DellaNeva (ed.), Ciceronian Controversies</p><p>27. Leonardo Bruni, History of the Florentine People, Volume III: Books IX-XII; Memoirs</p><p>28. <i>Pietro Bembo, History of Venice, Volume I: Books I-IV</i></p><p>29. Pius II, Commentaries, Volume II: Books III-IV</p><p>30. Bartolomeo Platina, Lives of the Popes, Volume I: Antiquity</p><p>31. Bartolomeo Scala, Essays and Dialogues</p><p>32. Pietro Bembo, History of Venice, Volume II: Books V-VIII</p><p><i>33. Nicolas of Cusa, Writings on Church and Reform</i></p><p><i>34. Marsilio Ficino, Commentaries on Plato, Volume I: Phaedras and Ion</i></p><p>35. Christoforo Landino, Poems</p><p><i>36. Teofilo Folengo, Baldo, Volume II: Books XIII-XXV</i></p><p>37. Pietro Bembo, History of Venice, Volume III: Books IX-XII</p><p>38. Jacopo Sannazaro, Latin Poetry</p><p><b>39. <a href="https://ofblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/regardless-of-ones-individual-beliefs.html">Marco Girolamo Vida, Christiad</a></b></p><p><i>40. Aurelio Lippo Brandini, Republics and Kingdoms Compared</i></p><p>41. Francesco Filelfo, Odes</p><p>42. Antonio Beccadelli, The Hermaphrodite </p><p>43. Florentius de Faxolis, Book on Music</p><p>44. Federico Borromeo, Sacred Painting; Museum </p><p>45. Gary R. Grund (ed.), Humanist Tragedies</p><p><i>46. Giovanni Boccaccio, Genealogy of the Pagan Gods, Volume I: Books I-V</i></p><p>47. Bartolomeo Fonzio, Letters to Friends</p><p>48. Lilia Gregorio, Modern Poets</p><p>49. Lorenzo Valla, Dialectical Disputations, Volume I: Book I</p><p>50. Lorenzo Valla, Dialectical Disputations, Volume II: Books II-III</p><p>51. Marsilio Ficino, Conmmentaries on Plato, Volume II: Parmenides, Part I</p><p>52. Marsilio Ficino, Commentaries on Plato, Volume II: Parmenides, Part II</p><p>53. Giovanni Gioviano Pontano, Dialogues, Volume I: Charon and Antonius </p><p>54. Michael Marcellus, Poems</p><p>55. Francesco Filelfo, On Exile</p><p>56. Paulo Giovio, Notable Men and Women of Our Time</p><p>57. <i>Girolamo Fracastoro, Latin Poetry</i></p><p>58. Jacob Zabarella, On Methods, Volume I: Books I-II</p><p>59. Jacob Zabarella, On Methods, Volume II: Books III-IV; On Regressions</p><p>60. Lorenzo Valla, Correspondence </p><p><i>61. Elizabeth R. Wright (ed.), The Battle of Lepanto</i></p><p>62. Coluccio Salutati, On the World and Religious Life</p><p>63. Giovanni Gioviano Pontano, On Married Love; Eridanus</p><p>64. Coluccio Salutati, Political Writings</p><p>65. Cyriac of Ancona, Life and Early Travels</p><p>66. Marsilio Ficino, On Dionysius the Aeropagite, Volume I: Mystical Theology and The Divine Names, Part I</p><p>67. Marsilio Ficino, On Dionysius the Aeropagite, Volume II: The Divine Names, Part II</p><p>68. Girolamo Savonarola, Apologetic Writings</p><p><i>69. Ugolino Verino, Fiammetta; Paradise</i></p><p><i>70. Aldius Manutius, The Greek Classics</i></p><p>71. Giannozzo Manetti, A Translator’s Defense</p><p>72. Francesco Petrarca, My Secret Book</p><p>73. Giovanni Marrasio, Angelinetum and Other Poems</p><p>74. Biondo Flavio, Rome in Triumph, Volume I: Books I-II</p><p>75. Biondo Flavio, Italy Illuminated, Volume II: Books V-VIII</p><p>76. Francesco Petrarca, Selected Letters, Volume I</p><p>77. Francesco Petrarca, Selected Letters, Volume II</p><p><i>78. Aldius Manutius, Humanism and the Latin Classics</i></p><p>79. Giannozzo Manetti, Against the Jews and Gentiles: Books I-IV</p><p>80. Marsilio Ficino, Commentary on Plotinus, Volume IV: Ennead III, Part I</p><p><i>81. Giovanni Boccaccio, Genealogy of the Pagan Gods, Volume II: Books VI-X</i></p><p>82. Marsilio Ficino, Commentary on Plotinus, Volume V: Ennead III, Part II and Ennead IV</p><p>83. Pius II, Commentaries, Volume III: Books V-VIII</p><p><i>84. Ludovico Ariosto, Latin Poetry</i></p><p><i>85. Giannozzo Manetti, On Human Worth and Excellence</i></p><p><i>86. Angelo Poliziano, Greek and Latin Poetry</i></p><p><i>87. Giovanni Gioviano Pontano, The Virtues and Vices of Speech</i></p><p>88. Pier Candido, Lives of the Milanese Tyrants</p><p>89. Angelo Poliziano, Miscellanies, Volume I</p><p>90. Angelo Poliziano, Miscellanies, Volume II</p><p>91. Giovanni Gioviano Pontano, Dialogues, Volume II: Actius</p><p>92. Giovanni Gioviano Pontano, Dialogues, Volume III: Aegidius and Asinus</p><p>93. Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola, Life of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola; Oration</p><p>94. <i>Giovanni Gioviano Pontano, Ecologues; Gardens of the Hesperides</i></p><p>95. <i>Paolo Giovio, Portraits of Learned Men</i></p><p>96. <i>Leon Battista Alberti, Biographical and Autobiographical Writings</i></p><p>97. Leon Battista Alberti, Dinner Pieces, Volume I (March 2024)</p><p>98. Leon Battista Alberti, Dinner Pieces, Volume II (March 2024)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-64780038290805526472022-06-24T23:49:00.003-05:002022-06-25T09:03:04.911-05:00Current Reads in Progress<p> Since I no longer have a dedicated team of rabid Serbian Reading Squirrels to read 99% of my books for me (or more like I currently have an administrative/educational job that requires 10+ hours of my time many days of the week, not to mention I’m currently rehabbing a cervical disc injury), my reading time has been slower but mostly steady. I haven’t finished many books since February, but I’m operating more on a dip and taste approach where I might spend 15 minutes one night on a particular book/language and then an hour plus on another, comparing the originals to the translations as I either refresh or learn new classical languages.</p><p>So with that out of the way, here’s what I’ve completed since March and what I’m currently reading:</p><p>3. <a href="https://ofblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/regardless-of-ones-individual-beliefs.html">Marco Girolamo Vida, <i>Christiad</i></a> (I Tatti Renaissance Library, Latin/English)</p><p>4. Homer, <i>The Iliad Books I-XII</i> (Loeb Classical Library, Greek/English)</p><p><br /></p><p><u><b>In progress:</b></u></p><p>Homer, <i>The Iliad Books XIII-XXIV</i> (Loeb Classical Library, Greek/English) - partway through Book XIII</p><p>St. Augustine, <i>City of God Books I-III</i> (Loeb Classical Library, Latin/English) - partway through Book I</p><p>Vishnu-sharman, <i>Five Discourses on Worldly Wisdom</i> (Clay Sanskrit Library, Sanskrit(transliterated)/English - partway through the first section</p><p>Soma-deva, <i>The Ocean of the Rivers of Story</i> (Clay Sanskrit Library, Sanskrit(transliterated)/English) - finished the introduction</p><p>Valmíki, <i>Ramáyana Book One: Boyhood</i> (Clay Sanskrit Library, Sanskrit(transliterated)/English) - partway through section one</p><p>Statius, <i>Thebaid Books I-VII</i> (Loeb Classical Library, Latin/English) - partway through Book III</p><p>Various, <i>One Hundred Latin Hymns: Ambrose to Aquinas</i> (Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, Latin/English) - almost complete with introduction</p><p>Coulter H. George, <i>How Dead Languages Work</i> - currently on Ch. 2, dealing with Attic Greek</p><p>‘Any Al-Qudat, <i>The Essence of Reality</i> (Library of Arabic Literature, Arabic/English) - beginning Ch. 1</p><p>Ferdowsi, <i>Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings</i> (English only graphic novel adaptation) - a few pages in</p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-73399491415218206832022-06-05T11:26:00.011-05:002024-01-09T21:41:42.731-06:00Library of Arabic Literature<p> Continuing my list of various supranational bilingual editions of “classic” literature, below are the volumes in the Arabic-English Library of Arabic Literature, published by New York University Press. Begun in 2012, there are at this time a little over 50 volumes in print. Several of these volumes contain literary works that exist at the interstices of several literary sub-genres and may be of interest to those (such as myself) who enjoy imaginative literature mixed with poetry, philosophical, and religious motifs.</p><p><br /></p><p>1. Geert Jan van Gelder (ed.), Classical Arabic Literature: A Library of Arabic Literature Anthology</p><p>2. Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi’i (trans. Joseph E. Lowry), The Epistle on Legal Theory</p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(70, 70, 70); color: #464646; text-size-adjust: 100%;">3. al-Qāḍī al-Quḍāʿī (trans. Tahera Qutbuddin), A Treasury of Virtues: Sayings, Sermons, and Teachings of ‘Ali, with the One Hundred Proverbs attributed to al-Jahiz</span></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(70, 70, 70); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="color: #464646;">4. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī (trans. Geert Jan van Gelder and Gregor Schoeler), The Epistle of Forgiveness vol. I: A Vision of Heaven and Hell</span></i></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; font-style: italic; text-size-adjust: 100%;">5. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Ibn al-Jawzī (trans. Michael Cooperson), </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Virtues of the Imam Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal Vol. I</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="color: #666666;">6. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq (trans. Humphrey Davies), Leg Over Leg Vol. I</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;">7. Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq (trans. Humphrey Davies), Leg Over Leg Vol. II</span></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(70, 70, 70); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="color: #464646;">8. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī (trans. Geert Jan van Gelder and Gregor Schoeler), The Epistle of Forgiveness vol. II: Hypocrites, Heretics, and Other Sinners</span></i></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">9. ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah (trans. Th. Emil Homerin), The Principles of Sufism</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">10. Maʿmar ibn Rāshid (trans. Sean W. Anthony), The Expeditions: </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">An Early Biography of Muḥammad</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;">11. Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq (trans. Humphrey Davies), Leg Over Leg Vol. III</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;">12. Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq (trans. Humphrey Davies), Leg Over Leg Vol. IV</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">13. Abū Zayd al-Sīrāfī and Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān (trans. Tim Mackintosh-Smith and James E. Montgomery), Two Arabic Travel Books: Accounts of China and India and Mission to the Volga</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">14. <i>Ibn al-Jawzī (trans. Michael Cooperson), </i></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); color: #666666; font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><i>Virtues of the Imam Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal Vol. II</i></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="color: #666666;">15. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān (trans. Devin Stewart), Disagreements of the Jurists: A Manual of Islamic Legal Theory)</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">16. Ibn al-Sāʿī (trans. Shawkat M. Toorawa), Consorts of the Caliph: Women and the Court of Baghdad</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">17. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Muḥammad al-Muwayliḥī (trans. Roger Allen), </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">What ʿĪsā ibn Hishām Told Us: or, A Period of Time, Vol. I</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">18. Muḥammad al-Muwayliḥī (trans. Roger Allen), </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">What ʿĪsā ibn Hishām Told Us: or, A Period of Time, Vol. II</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">19. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī (trans. Beatrice Greundler), </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">The Life and Times of Abū Tammām</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">20. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">ʿUthmān ibn Ibrāhīm al-Nābulusī (trans. Luke Yarbrough), The Sword of Ambition: Bureaucratic Rivalry in Medieval Egypt</span></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">21. Yūsuf al-Shirbīnī (trans. Humphrey Davies), </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Brains Confounded by the Ode of Abū Shādūf Expounded, Vol. I</span></i></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">22. Yūsuf al-Shirbīnī (trans. Humphrey Davies), </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Brains Confounded by the Ode of Abū Shādūf Expounded, Vol. II</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><i>23. Bruce Fudge (ed. & trans.), A Hundred and One Nights</i></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;">24. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Muḥammad ibn Maḥfūẓ al-Sanhūrī (trans. Humphrey Davies), Risible Rhymes</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">25. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">al-Qāḍī al-Quḍāʿī (trans. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(70, 70, 70); color: #464646; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Tahera Qutbuddin), Light in the Heavens: Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(70, 70, 70); color: #464646; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><i>26. Ibn Qutaybah (trans. Sarah Bowen Savant), The Excellence of the Arabs</i></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(70, 70, 70); color: #464646; text-size-adjust: 100%;">27. Charles Perry (ed. & trans.), Scents and Flavors: A Syrian Cookbook</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(70, 70, 70); color: #464646; text-size-adjust: 100%;">28. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ḥmēdān al-Shwēʿir (trans. & ed. Marcel Kurpershoek), Arabian Satire: Poetry from 18th-century Najd</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">29. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Muḥammad al-Tūnisī (trans. Humphrey Davies), In Darfur: An Account of the Sultanate and Its Peoples, Vol. I</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;">30. Muḥammad al-Tūnisī (trans. Humphrey Davies), In Darfur: An Account of the Sultanate and Its Peoples, Vol. II</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;"><i>31. ʿAbdallāh ibn Sbayyil (trans. Marcel Kurpershoek), Arabian Romantic: Poems on Bedouin Life and Love</i></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">32. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād (trans. James E. Montgomery), War Songs</span></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">33. a</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">l-Muḥassin ibn ʿAlī al-Tanūkhī (trans. & ed. Julia Bray), Stories of Piety and Prayer: Deliverance Follows Adversity</span></i></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">34. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī and Abū ʿAlī Miskawayh (trans. Sophia Vasalou & James E. Montgomery), The Philosopher Responds: An Intellectual Correspondence from the 10th Century, vol. I</span></span></i></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">35. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;">Abū Ḥayyān al-Tawḥīdī and Abū ʿAlī Miskawayh (trans. Sophia Vasalou & James E. Montgomery), The Philosopher Responds: An Intellectual Correspondence from the 10th Century, vol. II</span></i></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;">36. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">al-Ḥasan al-Yūsī (trans. & ed. Justin Stearns), The Discourses: Reflections on History, Sufism, Theology, and Literature, vol. I</span></i></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">37. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī (trans. Mario Kozah), The Yoga Statues of Patañjali</span></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">38. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Jamāl al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Jawbarī (trans. Humphrey Davies), The Book of Charlatans</span></i></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">39. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Baghdādī (trans. Tim Mackintosh-Smith), A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt and Journal of the Famine Years</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">40. </span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Ḥannā Diyāb (trans. Elias Muhanna), The Book of Travels, vol. I</span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;">41. Ḥannā Diyāb (trans. Elias Muhanna), The Book of Travels, vol. II</span></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;">42. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Ibn al-Muqaffaʿ (trans. Michael Fishbein and James E. Montgomery), </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">Kalīlah and Dimnah: Fables of Virtue and Vice</span></i></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">43. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">ʿAyn al-Quḍāt (ed. and trans. Mohammed Rustom), The Essence of Reality: A Defense of Philosophical Sufism </span></i></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); font-family: inherit; text-size-adjust: 100%;">44. </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">al-Māyidī ibn Ẓāhir (trans. Marcel Kurpershoek), Love, Death, Fame: Poetry and Lore from the Emirati Oral Tradition</span></span></p><p><i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">45.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ibn Khaldūn (trans. Carolyn Baugh), The Requirements of the Sufi Path: A Defense of the Mystical Tradition </span></span></i></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">46.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ibn Buṭlān (trans. & ed. Philip F. Kennedy and Jeremy Farrell), The Doctors’ Dinner Party </span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">47. James E. Montgomery (trans. &ed.), Fate the Hunter: Early Arabic Hunting Poems</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>48. al-Shābushtī (trans. & ed. Hilary Kilpatrick), The Book of Monasteries</i></span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">49. Ibn al-Mu'tazz (trans. James M. Montgomery), In Deadly Embrace: Arabic Hunting Poems</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">50. <i>ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī (trans. Yousef Casewit), The Divine Names: A Mystical Theology of the Names of God in the Qu'ran</i></span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(0, 40, 91); text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-34933227838152280702022-05-30T13:07:00.002-05:002022-06-25T02:00:21.737-05:00The Clay Sanskrit Library<div><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(45, 45, 45);">The Clay Sanskrit Library was established in 2005 and added new volumes of transliterated Sanskrit with facing parallel English translations from then until 2009. I’m listing this here as I do have a passing interest in learning some Sanskrit just so I can continue to broaden my literary and cultural horizons and to better understand the environments in which these classics were written. I will list the books owned but not yet read in italics and eventually, if I gain some grasp of Sanskrit, read books will be listed in bold.</span></span></div><div><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(45, 45, 45);"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Open Sans, sans-serif"><span style="caret-color: rgb(45, 45, 45);"><br /></span></span></div><ol class="list-pull" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(45, 45, 45); font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 20px -37px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Emperor of the Sorcerers (volume one)</span></span> <span style="color: #2d2d2d;">by Budhasvāmin. trans. Sir James Mallinson</span></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Heavenly Exploits (Buddhist Biographies from the Dívyavadána) trans. Joel Tatelm</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata III: The Forest (volume four of four) trans. William J. Johnson</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Much Ado About Religion by Bhaṭṭa Jayanta. trans. Csaba Dezső</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>The Birth of Kumára by Kālidāsa. trans. David Smith. Foreword by U.R. Ananthamurthy</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>Ramáyana I: Boyhood by Vālmīki. trans. Robert P. Goldman. Foreword by Amartya Sen</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">The Epitome of Queen Lilávati (volume one) by Jinaratna. trans. R.C.C. Fynes</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>Ramáyana II: Ayódhya by Vālmīki. trans. Sheldon I. Pollock</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Love Lyrics by Amaru, Bhartṛhari & Bilhaṇa. trans. Greg Bailey & Richard Gombrich</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">What Ten Young Men Did by Daṇḍin. trans. Isabelle Onians. Foreword by Kiran Nagarkar</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Three Satires by Nīlakaṇṭha, Kṣemendra, and Bhallaṭa. trans. Somadeva Vasudeva. Foreword by Mani Shankar Aiyar</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>Ramáyana IV: Kishkíndha by Vālmīki. trans. Rosalind Lefeber</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">The Emperor of the Sorcerers (volume two) by Budhasvāmin. trans. Sir James Mallinson</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata IX: Shalya (volume one of two) trans. Justin Meiland</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>Rákshasa’s Ring by Viśākhadatta. trans. Michael Coulson. Foreword by Romila Thapar</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Messenger Poems by Kālidāsa, Dhoyī, and Rūpa Gosvāmin. trans. Sir James Mallinson</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>Ramáyana III: The Forest by Vālmīki. trans. Sheldon I. Pollock</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">The Epitome of Queen Lilávati (volume two) by Jinaratna. trans. R.C.C. Fynes</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>Five Discourses on Worldly Wisdom by Viṣṇuśarman. trans. Patrick Olivelle </i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>Ramáyana V: Súndara by Vālmīki. trans. Robert P. Goldman & Sally J. Sutherland Goldman</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata II: The Great Hall trans. Paul Wilmot</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>The Recognition of Shakúntala by Kālidāsa. trans. Somadeva Vasudeva</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata VII: Drona (volume one of four) trans. Vaughan Pilikian</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Rama Beyond Price by Murāri. trans. Judit Törzsök</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata IV: Viráta trans. Kathleen Garbutt</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata VIII: Karna (volume one of two) trans. Adam Bowles</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">“The Lady of the Jewel Necklace” and “The Lady Who Shows Her Love” by Harṣa. trans. Wendy Doniger. Foreword by Anita Desai</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>The Ocean of the Rivers of Story (volume one of seven) by Somadeva. trans. Sir James Mallinson</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Handsome Nanda by Aśvaghoṣa. trans. Linda Covill</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata IX: Shalya (volume two of two) trans. Justin Meiland</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Rama’s Last Act by Bhavabhūti. trans. Sheldon I. Pollock. Foreword by Girish Karnad</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">“Friendly Advice” and “King Víkrama’s Adventures” by Nārāyaṇa. trans. Judith <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: #f4f3ee;">Törzsök</span></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Life of the Buddha by Aśvaghoṣa. trans. Patrick Olivelle</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata V: Preparations for War (volume one of two) trans. Kathleen Garbutt. Foreword by Gurcharan Das</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata VIII: Karna (volume two of two) trans. Adam Bowles</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata V: Preparations for War (volume two of two) trans. Kathleen Garbutt</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata VI: Bhishma (volume one of two) Including the “Bhagavad Gita” in Contex<a href="http://www.claysanskritlibrary.org/volume-v-54.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #8c484a;">t</a> trans. Alex Cherniak. Foreword by Ranajit Guha</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">The Ocean of the Rivers of Story (volume two of seven) by Somadeva. trans. Sir James Mallinson</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">“How the Nagas Were Pleased” and “The Shattered Thighs” by Harṣa and Bhāsa. trans. Andrew Skilton</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>Gita·govínda: Love Songs of Radha and Krishna by Jayadeva. trans. Lee Siegel. Foreword by Sudipta Kaviraj</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">“Bouquet of Rasa” and “River of Rasa” by Bhānudatta. trans. Sheldon I. Pollock</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives (volume one of two) by Āryaśūra. trans. Justin Meiland</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata XII: Peace: “The Book of Liberation” (volume three of five) trans. Alexander Wynne</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">The Little Clay Cart by Śūdraka. trans. Diwakar Acharya. Foreword by Partha Chatterjee</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Bhatti’s Poem: The Death of Rávana by Bhaṭṭi. trans. Oliver Fallon</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">“Self-Surrender,” “Peace,” “Compassion,” and “The Mission of the Goose”: Poems and Prayers from South India by Appayya Dīkṣita, Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita, Vedānta Deśika. trans. Yigal Bronner & David Shulman. Foreword by Gieve Patel</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata VI: Bhishma (volume two of two) trans. Alex Cherniak</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">How Úrvashi Was Won by Kālidāsa. trans. Velcheru Narayana Rao & David Shulman</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">The Quartet of Causeries by Śyāmilaka, Vararuci, Śūdraka & Īśvaradatta. trans. Csaba Dezső & Somadeva Vasudeva</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives (volume two of two) by Āryaśūra. trans. Justin Meiland</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Princess Kadámbari (volume one of three) by Bāṇa. trans. David Smith</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">The Rise of Wisdom Moon by Kṛṣṇamiśra. trans. Matthew Kapstein. Foreword by J.N. Mohanty</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata VII: Drona (volume two of four) trans. Vaughan Pilikian</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Maha·bhárata X-XI: Dead of Night & The Women trans. Kate Crosby</li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;"><i>Seven Hundred Elegant Verses by Govardhana. trans. Friedhelm Hardy</i></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #2d2d2d; left: 1em; line-height: 23px; margin-bottom: 10px; padding-right: 1em; position: relative;">Málavika and Agni·mitra by Kālidāsa. trans. Dániel Balogh & Eszter Somogyi</li></ol>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-32764258243212757222022-05-26T19:57:00.066-05:002023-10-27T18:26:58.461-05:00Loeb Classical Library: Books Owned<p> I’ve been spending quite a bit of time the past two months working on improving on my college Latin (and teaching myself Attic Greek) and the Loeb Classical Library, with its parallel original/English translated text, has been a great use for me. Since there are over 500 volumes in the series (and newer, revised translations are being released under the old series numbers or occasionally renumbered and/or divided), I think I will list the books I currently own, with the series number beside them (most of these are newish, but some are older editions I’ve bought over the years), and just add more as I buy more. As is the norm with me, I’ll bold the books already finished, but the unread books that I own will appear in regular style instead of in italics like I normally do when listing books in a series.</p><p><b>9/14/2023 Update: 80 total volumes (44 Latin, 36 Greek)</b></p><p><br /></p><p>1 Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica (Greek)</p><p>2 Appian I: Roman History, Volume I (Greek)</p><p>3 Appian II: Roman History, Volume II (Greek)</p><p>4 Appian III: Roman History, Volume III (Greek)</p><p>5 Appian IV: Roman History, Volume IV: Civil Wars Books 1-2 (Greek)</p><p>6 Catullus, Tibullus, Pervigilium Veneris (Latin)</p><p>7 Cicero I: Letters to Atticus I (Latin)</p><p>10 Euripides IV: Trojan Women, Iphigenia Among the Taurians, Ion (Greek)</p><p>11 Euripides V: Helen, Phoenician Women, Orestes (Greek)</p><p>15 Petronius, Satyricon; Seneca, Apocolocyntosis (Latin)</p><p>16 Philostratus I: Apollonius of Tyana, Volume I: Books 1-4 (Greek)</p><p>17 Philostratus II: Apollonius of Tyana, Volume II: Books 5-8 (Greek)</p><p>19 Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica (Greek)</p><p>20 Sophocles I: Ajax, Electra, Oedipus Tyrannus (Greek)</p><p>21 Sophocles II: Antigone, The Women of Trachis, Philoctetes, Oedipus at Colonus (Greek)</p><p>23 Terence II: Phormio, The Mother-in-Law, the Brothers (Latin)</p><p><b>24 The Apostolic Fathers, Volume I (Greek)</b></p><p>25 The Apostolic Fathers, Volume II (Greek)</p><p>26 Augustine I: Confessions I: Books 1-8 (Latin)</p><p>27 Augustine II: Confessions II: Books 9-13 (Latin)</p><p>30 Cicero XXI: On Duties (Latin)</p><p>31 Suetonius I: Lives of the Caesars Books 1-4 (Latin)</p><p>32 Dio Cassius I: Roman History, Volume I: Books 1-11 (Greek)</p><p>33 Horace, Odes and Epodes (Latin)</p><p>34 John Damascene, Barlaam and Ioasaph (Greek)</p><p>35 Tacitus I: Agricola; Germania; Dialogus (Latin)</p><p>36 Plato I: Euthphro, Apology, Crido, Phaedo (Greek)</p><p>37 Dio Cassius II: Roman History, Volume II (Greek)</p><p>38 Suetonius II: Lives of the Caesars Books 5-8 (Latin)</p><p>39 Caesar II: Civil War (Latin)</p><p>41 Ovid I: Heroides, Amores (Latin)</p><p>42 Ovid III: Metamorphoses Books 1-8 (Latin)</p><p>43 Ovid IV: Metamorphoses Books 9-15 (Latin)</p><p>44 Apuleius I: Metamorphoses Books 1-6 (Latin)</p><p>46 Plutarch I: Lives, Volume I (Greek)</p><p>48 <b>Procopius I: History of the Wars, Volume I (Greek)</b></p><p>57 Hesiod I: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia (Greek)</p><p>58 Marcus Aurelius (Greek)</p><p><b>63 Virgil I: Ecologues, Georgics, Aeneid Books 1-6 (Latin)</b></p><p><b>64 Virgil II: Aeneid Books 7-12, The Minor Poems (Latin)</b></p><p>72 Caesar I: The Gallic War (Latin)</p><p>73 Aristotle XIX: Nicomachean Ethics (Greek)</p><p>74 Boethius, Theological Tractates, The Consolation of Philosophy (Latin)</p><p>81 Procopius II: History of the Wars, Volume II (Greek)</p><p>90 Xenophon III: Anabasis (Greek)</p><p>91 Juvenal and Perseus (Latin)</p><p>92 Clement of Alexandria (Greek)</p><p>104 Homer I: Odyssey I: Books 1-12 (Greek)</p><p>105 Homer II: Odyssey II: Books 13-24 (Greek)</p><p>107 Procopius III: History of the Wars, Volume III (Greek)</p><p>108 Thucydides I: History of the Peloponnesian War: Books 1-2 (Greek)</p><p>111 Tacitus II: Histories, Volume I: Books 1-3 (Latin)</p><p>114 Livy I: History of Rome, Books 1-2 (Latin)</p><p>116 Sallust I: The War with Cataline; The War with Jugurtha (Latin)</p><p>117 Herodotus I: The Persian Wars: Books 1-2 (Greek)</p><p>124 Quintilian, The Orator’s Education: Books 1-2 (Latin)</p><p>128 Polybius I: The Histories, Volume I (Greek)</p><p>135 Claudian I: Volume I (Latin)</p><p>139 David Rohrbacher (ed.), Historia Augusta, Volume I (Latin)</p><p>145 Aeschylus I: Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Suppliants, Prometheus Bound (Greek)</p><p>146 Aeschylus II; Oresteia, Agamemnon, Libation-Bearers, Eumenides (Greek)</p><p>151 Ovid VI: Tristia; Ex Ponto (Latin)</p><p>153 Eusebius I: The Ecclesiastical History I: Books 1-5 (Greek)</p><p>154 Cicero: On Old Age; On Friendship; On Divination (Latin)</p><p>166 Plato III: Lysis, Symposium, Georgia’s (Greek)</p><p><b>170 Homer III: Iliad I: Books 1-12 (Greek)</b></p><p>171 Homer IV: Iliad II: Books 13-24 (Greek)</p><p>173 Procopius IV: History of the Wars, Volume IV (Greek)</p><p>178 Aristophanes I: Acharnians, Knights (Greek)</p><p>179 Aristophanes III: Birds, Lysistrata, Women at the Thesmophoria (Greek)</p><p>180 Aristophanes IV: Frogs, Assemblywomen, Wealth (Greek)</p><p>181 Lucretius, On the Nature of Things (Latin)</p><p>190 Basil I: Letters, Volume I: Letters 1-58 (Greek)</p><p>203 Josephus I: The Jewish War, Books I-II (Greek)</p><p>207 Statius II: Thebaid: Books 1-7 (Latin)</p><p>214 Seneca, Moral Essays I (Latin)</p><p>217 Procopius V: History of the Wars, Volume V (Greek)</p><p>220 Lucan, The Civil War (Latin)</p><p>226 Philo, Volume I (Greek)</p><p>231 Florus, Epitome of Roman History (Latin)</p><p>232 Ovid II: The Art of Love and Other Poems (Latin)</p><p>234 Plato IX: Timaeus, Critias, Cleitophon, Menexenus, Epistles (Greek)</p><p>239 Augustine, Select Letters (Latin)</p><p>246 Bede I: Ecclesiastical History, Volume I: Books 1-3 (Latin)</p><p>248 Bede II: Ecclesiastical History, Volume II: Books 4-5; Lives of the Abbots; Letter to Egbert (Latin)</p><p>250 Tertullian, Apology,De Spectaculis; Minucius Felix, Octavius (Latin)</p><p>253 Ovid V: Fasti (Latin)</p><p>254 Seneca, Moral Essays, Volume II (Latin)</p><p>262 Jerome, Select Letters (Latin)</p><p>265 Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical History II: Books 6-10 (Greek)</p><p>268 Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods; Academics (Latin)</p><p>290 Procopius VI: Secret History (Greek)</p><p>294 Fragmentary Republican Latin I: Ennius, Testimona, Epic Fragments (Latin)</p><p>300 Ammianus Marcellinus I: History, Volume I: Books 14-19 (Latin)</p><p>333 Varro, On the Latin Language I: Books 5-7 (Latin)</p><p>334 Varro, On the Latin Language II: Books 8-10 and Fragments (Latin)</p><p>344 Nonnos I: Dionysiaca: Books 1-15 (Greek)</p><p>347 Cicero V: Brutus, Orator (Latin)</p><p>387<b> Prudentius I: Volume I (Latin)</b></p><p>398 Prudentius II: Against Symmachus II; Crowns of Martyrdom; Scenes from History; Epilogue (Latin)</p><p>402 Caesar III: Alexandrian War, African War, Spanish War (Latin)</p><p><b>411 Augustine, City of God I: Books 1-3 (Latin)</b></p><p><b>412 Augustine, City of God II: Books 4-7 (Latin)</b></p><p>413 Augustine, City of God III: Books 8-11 (Latin)</p><p>414 Augustine, City of God IV: Books 12-15 (Latin)</p><p>415 Augustine, City of God V: Books 16-18.35 (Latin)</p><p>416 Augustine, City of God VI: Books 18.36-20 (Latin)</p><p>417 Augustine, City of God VII: Books 21-22, Index (Latin)</p><p>450 Seneca, Natural Questions I: Books 1-3 (Latin)</p><p>453 Apuleius II: Metamorphoses Books 7-11 (Latin)</p><p>467 Cornelius Nepos, On Great Generals; On Historians (Latin)</p><p>488 Aristophanes II: Clouds, Wasps, Peace (Greek)</p><p>495 Euripides VI: Bacchae, Iphigenia at Audis, Rhesus (Greek)</p><p>496 Homeric Hymns, Homeric Apocrypha, Lives of Homer (Greek)</p><p>497 Greek Epic Fragments (Greek)</p><p>498 Statius III: Thebaid: Books 8-12, Achilleid (Latin)</p><p>534 Apuleius III: Apologia; Florida; De deo Socratis (Latin)</p><p>552 Cato, Orations; Other Fragments (Latin)</p><p><br /></p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-86153763475162880572022-05-21T11:56:00.028-05:002023-10-10T21:46:43.204-05:00Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library<p> Ever since I decided a few months ago to return to reading for pleasure, I have been in the process of collecting books in a few series that interest me for historical, poetical, and linguistic reasons. Below is the first of a half-dozen series of classics from across time and the world, the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library. This series is published by Harvard University Press (which also publishes the Loeb Classical Library, the I Tatti Renaissance Library, and the Murthy Classical Library of India) and is still adding works from the medieval Roman Empire, medieval Western Europe in Latin, and pre-1066 Old English works.</p><p>The works I own will be marked in italics; those read will be bold. I will update this list as new volumes are added.</p><p><b>Update (9/16/2023):</b> List updated through two forthcoming volumes scheduled for May 2024. #84 will be the first volume to contain a bilingual edition of medieval Old Castilian and Old Aragonese.</p><p><br /></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">1. <b> The Vulgate Bible, Volume I: The Pentateuch (Medieval Latin)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">2. <b>The Arundel Lyrics. The Poems of Hugh Primas (Medieval Latin)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">3. <b>The Beowulf Manuscript (Old English)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">4. <b>The Vulgate Bible, Volume II, Part A: The Historical Books (Medieval Latin)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">5. <b>The Vulgate Bible, Volume II, Part B: The Historical Books (Medieval Latin)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">6. <i> </i><b>The Rule of Saint Benedict (Medieval Latin)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">7.</span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"> <b>Old Testament Narratives (Old English)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">8. <b>The Vulgate Bible, Volume III: The Poetical Books (Medieval Latin)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">9. <i>Satires: Sextus Amarcius. Eupolemius (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">10. <i>Histories, Volume I: Books 1–2, Richer of Saint-Rémi (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">11. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"> <i>Histories, Volume II: Books 3–4, Richer of Saint-Rémi (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">12. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><i>Miracle Tales from Byzantium (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">13. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><b>The Vulgate Bible, Volume IV: The Major Prophetical Books (Medieval Latin)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">14. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><b><a href="https://ofblog.blogspot.com/2022/07/pseudo-methodius-apocalypse-and.html">Apocalypse: Pseudo-Methodius. An Alexandrian World Chronicle (Byzantine Greek/Medieval Latin)</a></b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">15. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><i>Old English Shorter Poems, Volume I: Religious and Didactic (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">16. <i>The History: Michael Attaleiates (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">17. <b>The Vulgate Bible, Volume V: The Minor Prophetical Books and Maccabees (Medieval Latin)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">18. <b>One Hundred Latin Hymns (Medieval Latin)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">19. <i>The Old English Boethius (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">20. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><i>The Life of Saint Symeon the New Theologian: Niketas Stethatos (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">21. <b>The Vulgate Bible, Volume VI: The New Testament (Medieval Latin)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">22. <i>Literary Works: Alan of Lille (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">23. <i>The Old English Poems of Cynewulf (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">24. <i>Accounts of Medieval Constantinople: The Patria (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">25. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><i>The Well-Laden Ship: Egbert of Liège (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">26. <i>Ysengrimus (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">27. <i>Old English Poems of Christ and His Saints (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">28.<i> </i></span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px; font-style: italic;">On Difficulties in the Church Fathers: The Ambigua, Volume I (Byzantine Greek)</span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">29.<i> On Difficulties in the Church Fathers: The Ambigua, Volume II (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">30. <i>Saints’ Lives, Volume I: Henry of Avranches (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">31. <i>Saints’ Lives, Volume II: Henry of Avranches (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">32. <i>Old English Shorter Poems, Volume II: Wisdom and Lyric (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">33. <i>The Histories, Volume I: Books 1–5, Laonikos Chalkokondyles (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">34. <i>The Histories, Volume II: Books 6-10, Laonikos Chalkokondyles (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">35.<i> </i></span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px; font-style: italic;">On the Liturgy, Volume I: Books 1–2, Amalar of Metz (Medieval Latin)</span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">36. <i>On the Liturgy, Volume II: Books 3-4, Amalar of Metz (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">37. <i>Allegories of the Iliad: John Tzetzes (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">38. <i>Poetic Works: Bernardus Silvestris (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">39. <i>Lives and Miracles: Gregory of Tours (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">40. <i>Holy Men of Mount Athos (Byzantine Greek)</i> </span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">41. <i>On Plato's Timaeus: Calcidius (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">42. <b>Old English Psalms (Old English)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">43. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><i>The Rhetorical Exercises of Nikephoros Basilakes (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">44. <i>The Old English History of the World (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">45. <i>Christian Novels from the Menologion of Symeon Metaphrastes (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">46.<i> Poems: Venantius Fortunatus (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">47. <i>The Life of Saint Neilos of Rossano (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">48. <i>Carmina Burana: Volume I (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">49. <i>Carmina Burana: Volume II (Medieval Latin)</i> </span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">50. <i>The Poems of Christopher of Mytilene and John Mauropous (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">51. <i>Medieval Latin Lives of Muhammad (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">52. <i>Two Works on Trebizond: Michael Panaretos, Bessarion (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">53. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><i>Tria sunt: An Art of Poetry and Prose (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">54. <i>Saints of Ninth- and Tenth-Century Greece (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">55. <i>Architrenius: Johannes de Hauvilla (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">56. <i>Allegories of The Odyssey: John Tzetzes (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">57. <i>The History of the Kings of Britain: The First Variant Version (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">58. <i>Old English Lives of Saints, Volume I: Ælfric (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">59. <i>Old English Lives of Saints, Volume II: Ælfric (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">60. <i>Old English Lives of Saints, Volume III: Ælfric (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">61. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><i>On Morals or Concerning Education: Theodore Metochites (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">62. <i>Appendix Ovidiana: Latin Poems Ascribed to Ovid in the Middle Ages (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">63. <i>Anonymous Old English Lives of Saints (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">64. </span><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><b>Homilies: Sophronios of Jerusalem (Byzantine Greek)</b></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">65. <i>Parisiana poetria: John of Garland (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">66. <i>Old English Legal Writings: Wulfstan (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">67. <i>The Byzantine Sinbad: Michael Andreopoulos (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">68. <i>Fortune and Misfortune at Saint Gall: Casus sancti Galli, Ekkehard IV (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">69. <i>The Old English and Anglo-Latin Riddle Tradition (Old English/Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">70. <i>The Life and Death of Theodore of Stoudios (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">71.<i> Writings on Body and Soul: Aelred of Rievaulx (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">72. <i>The Old English Pastoral Care (Old English)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">73. <i>Animal Fables of the Courtly Mediterranean: The Eugenian Recension of Stephanites and Ichnelates (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;">74. <i>Biblical and Pastoral Poetry: Alcimus Avitus (Medieval Latin)</i></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); font-size: 21.6471px;">75. <i>Miracles of the Virgin and Tract on Abuses, Nigel of Canterbury (Medieval Latin)</i></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); font-size: 21.6471px;">76. <i>Augustine's Soliloquies in Old English and in Latin (Old English/Medieval Latin)</i></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); font-size: 21.6471px;">77. <i>Life of the Virgin Mary, John Geometres (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); font-size: 21.6471px;">78. <i>Saints at the Limits: Seven Byzantine Popular Legends (Byzantine Greek)</i></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); font-size: 21.6471px;">79. <i>Jewel of the Soul, Volume I, Honorius Augustodunensis (Medieval Latin)</i></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 21.6471px;">80. <i>Jewel of the Soul, Volume II, Honorius Augustodenensis (Medieval Latin)</i></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 21.6471px;">81. <i>Medical Writings from Early Medieval England, Volume I: The Old English Herbal, Lacnunga, and Other Texts (Old English)</i></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 21.6471px;">82. <i>The Moralized Ovid, Pierre Bersuire (Medieval Latin)</i></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 21.6471px;">83. Romanos the Melodist, Songs about Women (Byzantine Greek) (May 2024)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: 21.6471px;">84. The Iberian Apollonius of Tyre (Old Spanish, Old Aragonese) (May 2024)</span></span></span></p><p><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(32, 33, 34); color: #202122; font-size: 21.6471px;"><br /></span></p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-63208625519817579562022-05-07T16:36:00.003-05:002022-05-07T16:36:28.708-05:00Old School Book Porn: Dante Alighieri’s La Divina Commedia, illustrated by George Cochrane<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrOkmPjjtLXv7yq_9qv1vFOTWh9ZRCnm_P-vFtogBjEKcoUcFKb3zrMI1FOvdLsYC94vgnuyLnM8qbCS2jg6M6ae9zk7KoOK6BWRmPs9xV8pZ97dLcZS6jvjTPy1qLdCucIQkAQ9LGBHgwxEaOnQnnuPUezRw2f5H-qrJd4thMqKujcJOBQ/s4032/9033E4BE-278D-4A54-92FB-A0AC40B50695.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNrOkmPjjtLXv7yq_9qv1vFOTWh9ZRCnm_P-vFtogBjEKcoUcFKb3zrMI1FOvdLsYC94vgnuyLnM8qbCS2jg6M6ae9zk7KoOK6BWRmPs9xV8pZ97dLcZS6jvjTPy1qLdCucIQkAQ9LGBHgwxEaOnQnnuPUezRw2f5H-qrJd4thMqKujcJOBQ/w640-h480/9033E4BE-278D-4A54-92FB-A0AC40B50695.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Last year, I contributed to a Kickstarter for a limited-edition illustrated edition of Dante’s most famous work, <i>La Divina Commedia</i>, that would feature illustrations on virtually every single page by illustrator George Cochrane. I finally received my Anniversary Edition slipcased hardcover earlier this week and while I’m waiting until after I finish reading certain classic epic poems first, I plan on re-reading Dante, this time in the original Italian. Thought there might be a few people who might be interested in seeing an image from this marvelously-constructed illustrated edition.</div></div><p></p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-24703832786518879692022-04-15T21:37:00.003-05:002022-04-16T06:42:24.728-05:00Marco Girolamo Vida, Christiad<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALv4FhFsRU8f4NYmiLJoKs6-a7Dp9LIt8rCQhccwRks85yrgHxFLBCi3PzAiRk03Cmz6DSXN2CNuO9R33cose3OWDY4yy_8Ym6XipQrDzN9X9GvJ65-BW5x_OP7g6qTP39_mqKf3ByUQf2W9VjLGZ04rghtthYA23_H8d4uVqb_f5CpiVAw/s400/16F5ECEC-A86E-47C8-A7FF-6E584358EBE2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="259" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiALv4FhFsRU8f4NYmiLJoKs6-a7Dp9LIt8rCQhccwRks85yrgHxFLBCi3PzAiRk03Cmz6DSXN2CNuO9R33cose3OWDY4yy_8Ym6XipQrDzN9X9GvJ65-BW5x_OP7g6qTP39_mqKf3ByUQf2W9VjLGZ04rghtthYA23_H8d4uVqb_f5CpiVAw/s320/16F5ECEC-A86E-47C8-A7FF-6E584358EBE2.jpeg" width="207" /></a></div>Regardless of one’s individual beliefs regarding one of the central tenets of Christianity, the execution via crucifixion of Jesus, the Christ, is certainly a story worthy of an epic. There were for the much of late antiquity and the medieval period, recastings of the Passion in the form of hymns, tractates, and plays. Yet it was not until the Italian Renaissance of the 14th-16th centuries that greater efforts were made to synthesize Christianity’s greatest story ever told with Greco-Roman dactylic hexameter epic poetry. The exemplar of this new effort to recombine elements of Christology with themes, motifs, and narrative structures of the early Roman Empire poetry was Marco Girolamo Vida’s <i>Christiad</i>, first published in full in 1536 in Latin.<p></p><p>The <i>Christiad</i> borrows much from Vergil, not just the structure of poetic devices used in his <i>Aeneid</i> but also from the more bucolic <i>Eclogues. </i>Comprised of six books, the structure of <i>Christiad</i> depends much less on chronological linearity as it does on the introduction of the eternal theme of struggle between the forces of God and those of Satan. In reading Vida’s descriptions of the legions of hell, I could not help but to be struck by how influential his depictions of the demonic hordes were on Milton’s <i>Paradise Lost</i>, published nearly a century and a half later. In particular, the invasion of these demons into the bodies of the leaders of the Sanhedrin is chilling in how well he uses the vitriol of Hell’s host to create a vivid contrast between the nobility of Heaven and the baseness of raging, defiled human (amplified by demonic possession) desire for dominion of vice.</p><p>This duality easily could have become too didactic to make for an enjoyable read, but Vida adroitly mixes in epic metaphors that, similar to those of Vergil or Homer in their epics, serve to create brief, beautiful asides that do not distract from narrative momentum as much as underscoring what is truly at stake. However, there are times that the metaphors clang rather than ring out. One such occasion was a metaphoric comparison of a mob’s clamor to that of a cannonball bursting through. While to some degree an apt metaphor, this anachronistic description of an event set in the first century did briefly jar me out of the flow of the narrative.</p><p>The characters aren’t as well-defined as one might expect from modern literature. While Vida mostly avoided the repetitious adjectives that Homer in particular would use to establish his warriors, his secondary characters, with the notable exception of Pontus Pilate (who here appears as much more sympathetic to Christ’s plight than he did in the Gospel accounts), are not very memorable. Although in part necessary due to his fate as a tragic hero, Vida’s Jesus is described more through the speech of others than by any dialogue. While this is nothing more than a minor annoyance (because the lines themselves are a pleasure to sound out in Latin), it does justify a brief note.</p><p>The narrative flows forwards and backwards in time, from Heaven to Hell to Jerusalem and back, in smooth, cascading rhythms. Vida does an outstanding job capturing the vibe of Vergil’s works, to the point where his Latin is nearly devoid of linguistic innovations that occurred in Ecclesiastical and Medieval Latin. His hexameters are very polished, with only rare blips like the one I noted above with the metaphor ringing false. Reading it “aloud” in scansions makes Vida’s accomplishment all the more praiseworthy.</p><p>However, there is a latent “but” in this praise. Vida takes traditional Greco-Latin poetic themes as far as they can go. And yet, and this is most notable in the final Book VI, the metaphors and similes just pale in comparison to the story Vida wants to tell. The aftermath of Book V’s crucifixion scene halters, sputters, and just collapses into an overly-extended epilogue that while it does relate the eventual triumph of Christ, it just feels anticlimactic. This reduced narrative power lessened the impact of the whole <i>Christiad</i> for me, moving it from being a near-equal to Milton to something slightly lesser in nature. That being said, <i>Christiad </i>certainly is one of the finer neo-Latin works of the Italian Renaissance and a work that I would recommend to those who have some background in Latin to read. For those who aren’t Latinophones, Harvard Univeristy Press’s <i>I Tatti Renaissance Library</i> edition of <i>Christiad</i> does have modern English translation that does capture much of the power of the Latin original. It certainly is a work that is important even today, even though its influence has waned with the decline of Latin readers.</p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-70138551719274498852022-03-27T14:49:00.002-05:002022-07-23T12:10:02.595-05:00What I am Reading: March 2022<p> If I’m going to be honest to myself and this blog’s past, at least to some limited degree, it might be of interest to the few readers here what exactly it is that I am currently reading in my autumn reading renaissance (pun intended, as you shall soon see). I have finished two books already this year and am alternating between several others, due in part to the nature of the readings I am doing.</p><p>When I began reading again for pleasure after years of barely reading, I began first by sating my years-long curiosity about literary works from the Eastern Roman/Byzantine era as well as the Italian Renaissance period. In doing several Wikipedia searches, I discovered that Harvard University Press not only was continuing the century-long Loeb Classical Library, but had also launched <i>three</i> complementary lines of bilingual collections: Dumbarton Oaks (medieval Roman/Byzantine, Old English, c. 400-1300 Medieval Latin literature); I Tatti Renaissance Library (1300-1550 Renaissance Latin works); and the Murty Classical Library of India (primarily focused on works in several Indo-Aryan works of the past five hundred years or so translated into English, many for the first time). Out of these libraries (and the Loeb Classical Library), I began alternating poems or sections, relearning my college Latin or learning how to read (Medieval) Greek for the first time. I found myself bouncing back and forth, enjoying the literary connections that I had begun to make between these works.</p><p>First, here are the two books I’ve completed, followed by the ones I anticipate finishing by the end of April:</p><p><br /></p><p>1. (Trans. by Denison B. Hull), <i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8068873/3025001287181465756">Digenis Akritas: The Two-Blood Border Lord</a></i> (translation only, already reviewed)</p><p>2. (Dumbarton Oaks, v. 14): <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/8068873/8400173887658697770">Pseudo-Methodius, <i>Apocalypse </i>(medieval Greek/English/Latin; Anonymous, <i>An Alexandrian World Chronicle</i></a> (6th century Latin/English translation). I may write more about this in the coming month, if time permits.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Books I’m Currently Reading</u>:</b> </p><p>Marco Girolamo Vida, <i>Christiad</i>. Renaissance Latin epic poetry of the Crucifixion. Bilingual I Tatti Renaissance Library edition.</p><p>Michael Andreopoulos, <i>The Byzantine Sinbad</i>. 11th century Greek version of a pan-Levantine series of tales similar to and yet distinct from <i>The Thousand and One Nights</i>. Bilingual Dumbarton Oaks edition.</p><p>Various, <i>Carmina Burana</i>. 12th and 13th century secular Latin poetry collected from a single surviving manuscript. Dumbarton Oaks bilingual edition.</p><p>Ludovico Ariosto, <i>Latin Poetry</i>. The 15th/16th century Latin poems that the author of <i>Orlando Furioso</i> had written over the course of his life. Bilingual I Tatti Renaissance Library edition.</p><p>Vergil, <i>Aeneid: Books I-VI.</i> The Loeb Classical Library bilingual Latin/English edition. I’m re-reading Vergil in Latin in preparation for reading an “extension” that was written by Mateo Vegio that’s found in his <i>Short Epics</i> I Tatti Renaissance Library bilingual edition.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am also working my way slowly through textbooks teaching me the basics of Old English, Old French, and Old Occitan. Just in the mood these days for discovering these “other” classics and perhaps being one more generational link in the discussion and preservation of these millennium-old works.</p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-30250012871814657562022-03-26T14:43:00.004-05:002022-03-26T14:43:57.156-05:00Digenis Akritas: The Two-Blood Border Lord (trans. Denison B. Hull)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_84JJID6APwApJscCtPmq28JZCy-PQdIXzqAqupMVnNr81b53Xqz7CYFT1bLBDlMlgW24yoGRFHhnpSQ56CndhIhieYEZtff7-CcG1BqyDddsH26KHWrRoDd2D-g3BJQbjygUALrh1ISMEQjFql3zwmMe5aABEeGqbRFZHa7crb7qX-t-0Q/s1360/040F77CF-5600-4D91-9CAA-41C39B73ADF1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="907" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_84JJID6APwApJscCtPmq28JZCy-PQdIXzqAqupMVnNr81b53Xqz7CYFT1bLBDlMlgW24yoGRFHhnpSQ56CndhIhieYEZtff7-CcG1BqyDddsH26KHWrRoDd2D-g3BJQbjygUALrh1ISMEQjFql3zwmMe5aABEeGqbRFZHa7crb7qX-t-0Q/s320/040F77CF-5600-4D91-9CAA-41C39B73ADF1.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><div></div><blockquote><div>Praises, trophies, and an ode<br />To thrice-blest Basil, the Border Lord,<br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">A man most noble and most brave,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Whose strength was a gift to him from God.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">He overcame all Syria,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Babylon and all Charziané,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Armenia and Cappadocia,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amorium and Iconium,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">And that great famous castle too,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Though mighty and well fortified,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">I mean Ancyra – all of Smyrna,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">And conquered lands beside the sea.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Now I’ll disclose to you the deeds </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Which he accomplished in this life:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">How he filled valiant fighting men</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">As well as all the beasts with awe,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Having as help the grace of God,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">God’s Mother, the indomitable,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">The angels and archangels too,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">And the victorious great martyrs,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Both the all-glorious Theodores,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">The army leader and recruit.</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">And noble George of many labors</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The miracle-working martyrs’ martyr</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sublime Demetrius, the patron</span></div></blockquote><blockquote><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of Basil, and the boast and pride</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Of him who vanquished all his foes,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Hagarenes and Ishmaelites</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">And barbarous Scyths who rage like dogs. (pp. 3-4)</span></div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div>It is almost impossible to begin a discussion of <i>Digenis Akritas</i> without first laying out what it is and what is is not: It is not an “epic” of the style of Homer and Vergil, although the main character of Basil, the titular two-blood border lord, most certainly possesses epic heroic traits; it had a multi-generational gestation period, derived largely from ninth and tenth century events that were interwoven and mutated over generations of folk tales into the forms it reached when the tales of Basil began to be written down in the last centuries of the Roman/Byzantine Empire; it is a simple tale, or perhaps it’s better to argue that it is rooted more deeply in popular motifs than were the simile-ridden epics of the early Empire period. <i>Digenis Akritas</i> is perhaps best viewed as <i>sui generis</i>, combining the profound Orthodox beliefs of the people with tales of heroism on the borders of the Empire as it struggled to maintain a firm border in the Tarsus Mountains of Asia Minor against Arab raids for over two centuries after the capture of Jerusalem from the Romans.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Digenis Akritas</i>, like most of its contemporaries, existed for centuries in various forms before being published in Western European vernaculars in the 18th and 19th centuries. In his Introduction, translator/editor Denison B. Hall discusses in depth the histories of six different Greek texts and one Slavonic text that each captured snippets of Basil’s (and his father, the Emir, before him). Hall chose to use the Grottaferrata version, discovered in a Greek rite monastery of Grottaferrata near Frascati, Italy in 1879, as the core of this English translation, as it contains the clearest tale of Basil and his father before him from beginning to end.</div><div><br /></div><div>At first glance, <i>Digenis Akritas</i> is an odd poem. Unlike the classical epics that begin <i>in media res</i> or like modern stories that begin with the protagonist, this poem devotes the first three of the eight books of the Grottaferrata version to his father, the Emir, and how he came to bring his 12,000 strong soldiers over to the side of the Romans, as well as his conversion to Christianity and further adventures before and just after his son Basil was born. While this might at first glance seem to be grounds for a disjointed and uneven tale, a further examination reveals that the first parts are just as integral to the overall poem as those books devoted to our titular hero. Recall that <i>Digenis Akritas </i>is in origin a collection of folk tales about the borderlands of the 9th and 10th centuries and that with the spread of these tales, more and more elements were grafted onto the core historical events and personages. The end result is a poem in which the first three books foreshadow the events of Basil’s time on the eastern frontier, creating a sort of doubling effect that does not confuse the reader as much as provide a reinforcement of thematic elements throughout the entire poem.</div><div><br /></div><div>The anonymous composer(s) of <i>Digenis Akritas</i> did not employ the dactylic hexameters of classical Greco-Roman epic poetry, but rather utilized a fifteen-syllable “political verse” that depended more on a pattern of unstressed-stressed-unstressed syllables to create a strong, flowing rhythm that did not depend upon rhyme. The English near-equivalent is ten-syllable verse, which Hull uses to create a fast-paced flow to the poem. The result is an energetic poem that swiftly flows from metaphor to action and back in a matter of a score of lines. In addition, the religious elements, namely the complementary nature of heroism and faith, are clear and concise. <i>Digenis Akritas </i>was intended both to entertain and to reinforce Christian morals and for the most part, it succeeds at blending these two seemingly disparate elements into a whole.</div><div><br /></div><div>I alluded to the difficulties in categorizing <i>Digenis Akritas </i>above, but it is worth repeating that the value one may find in this poem lies in understanding what it is and what it isn’t. If you read it expecting motifs and strong similarities to Homer or Vergil, for example, you will be disappointed that it is something else. However, if read as what is possesses in its own right, an entertaining and concise series of tales welded together with few seams exposed, <i>Digenis Akritas </i>certainly is an excellent tale and perhaps is one of the better fictions to emerge from the medieval Roman/Byzantine period.</div><p></p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-14925014327615854232022-03-05T22:23:00.004-06:002022-03-05T22:23:25.654-06:00Praise, Trophies, and an Ode: Rediscovering My Love for the Classics<p> For nearly five years, I have read fewer than 10 books a year. I have ever-expanding job duties now, I completed two ultramarathons (abandoned other at 36.3/50 miles), along with six marathons, before a broken left ankle and grade III ligament tear there shelved me before the pandemic delayed matters still. If anything, the two-year pandemic left me with even less free time, as I work in the educational wing of a mental healthcare facility. At one point, I sold or boxed up nearly 80% of my books. It seemed like reading fiction was in the past.</p><p>And yet my love for it never truly went away. If I had a spare 15 minutes or so, I might scour Wikipedia or Quora or other online forums for information on historical periods/regions I didn't study in depth when I earned my BA and MA in History. Of particular interest was the later Roman Empire, that which managed to survive until the mid-15th century. Posthumously called the Byzantine Empire, I had read a few books on it, including John Julius Norwich's popular history. Yet I found myself every now and then wanting to know more. What was its literature like? I found myself distrustful of Gibbons' view of it being decadent and pale imitator of its past.</p><p>So I finally did some research into medieval Roman literature and I discovered quite an interesting epic, <i>Digenis Akritas</i>. Originally a series of related oral poems, by the 12th century it had been transformed into a written epic poem, albeit one with no single authorship and with surviving manuscripts that diverge quite a bit in certain particulars. I plan on reviewing it in the near future, but for now it will suffice to say that its theme (solitary hero of mixed ethnic background guarding the Euphrates border of the Empire against Arab raids) captured my attention.</p><p>From there, I went on a bit of a spending spree and I started to buy volumes from these Harvard University Press series: Loeb Classical Library (pre-500 AD bilingual Greek and Latin texts); Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library (500-1400 Medieval Latin, Greek, and Anglo-Saxon texts); and the I Tatti Renaissance Library. Although I haven't focused as much on this material during the 2004-2016 period of reviews here, I did take two years of Latin in college and have maintained some fluency in reading the text. My Greek is negligible at the moment, although I know enough from excerpts in Latin texts to compare it to the English translation and work out the meanings of a few hundred words already.</p><p>I chose to return to these languages not because of a sense of cultural superiority, but rather because for a long while I've had this nagging feeling that there is a lot of cultural wealth that is endangered of being lost to irrelevancy. Before this past month, I was ignorant of the fact that was a Neo-Latin epic poem, the <i>Christiad</i> by Marco Girolamo Vida, that retells the Gospels in hexameter verses of high quality. Nor was I aware of the late 7th century Greek text, <i>Apocalypse</i>, attributed to Pseudo-Methodius, that perhaps is one of the most influential apocalyptic texts after the New Testament canon had been established over two centuries before. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.</p><p>I suspect that over the next couple of months, usually for an hour or so before bedtime or maybe a couple of hours on weekends, I will work my way through a dozen or more of these texts and commentaries, filling in gaps in my knowledge and giving myself things to consider when it comes to form and topic. There likely will be some reviews to be written of these works, because I believe it's more important that I write a commentaries on what can be gleaned from these works than marveling over Kickstarter records for authors (not demeaning, just noting that it's not as important in the long run) or commenting on casting choices for TV and movie adaptations of certain novels. While I might address those topics too in the future, I think for now I'm going to focus on what intrigues me more.</p><p>Hopefully, there will be a few of you along for the ride. It's been too long.</p>Lotessehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10374037874001077401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-45559578006866173082022-01-11T21:01:00.002-06:002022-08-12T15:17:46.403-05:00Under (De)Construction…<p> Not making any firm declarations just yet (I have a few work projects to complete this month first), but I am beginning to feel the urge to write commentaries and perhaps reviews after nearly five years of near-total silence. I’m not expecting many (or any, really) to notice if/when I do, but I think it may be something that may act as a positive outlet for me.</p><p><br /></p><p>We’ll see. After all, I’m not exactly a spring chicken and in the era of Instagram and GoodReads, I may just be a proverbial dinosaur…</p>Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-49990913605195172882019-07-05T16:14:00.001-05:002019-07-05T16:14:20.170-05:00The scariest photo I could show a bibliophile<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Yes, it's been over half a year since I last posted a blog entry here. A lot has changed in the interim. I'm still very busy at my teaching job, but I'm more at ease there ever since I began taking medication for depression and generalized anxiety. I feel much more like my younger self, minus the increased exhaustion that comes with these medications. I'm still running, but I had to take a few months off after I suffered a Grade III left ankle sprain/chip fracture while running a trail marathon in February. Took me three months to admit that my ankle was messed up (I did manage to complete a 60K in early March at Land Between the Lakes, followed by a road marathon on March 17 in Atlanta where I aggravated both ankles) and to be diagnosed on May 15th with torn ligaments and a chip fracture in my left ankle. Then in late May at work, I re-injured my left shoulder AC joint during a physical restraint of a student. So yeah, the past 4-5 months have been torturous on my body, to say the least, but at least I'm now finally cleared to run and to train for my first 50 mile race on November 9th at Tunnel Hill, IL.<br />
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I'm also in the midst of a major personal change, in that sometime in September or October, I'll be moving closer to work and living in a larger city again. Already got several furniture pieces paid for and most everything arranged minus a new TV and bed, but it'll be an adjustment. By year's end, however, I do hope to get a dog and by springtime be training him/her to go on at least short trails with me. I really do need a dog in my life again, as it's been too long since the family dog had to be put down on Halloween 2018.<br />
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But with moving comes some sacrifices. I am currently in the process of slowly trading/selling at least 75% of my book collection. In a two bedroom apartment, I just don't need to possess over 2500 books, so for the past six weeks, I've been trading some of my books in at a local McKay's used bookstore. Already received close to $700 for the majority of my leatherbound and Library of America editions (I once owned 211 of those, but by month's end, I'll own none). Probably will be setting up an E-Bay account to sell certain rare, signed editions (Ligotti, PS Publishing editions of Miéville, Erikson, and others) for slightly under going rate, so if there are any in the US reading this who might be interested, feel free to leave a response here).<br />
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With luck, I'll be able to buy the rest of my furniture with the proceeds from my book sells and not have to dip into savings. I would miss these books more if it weren't for the fact that with increasing age (I turn 45 in 12 days) my eyesight is becoming worse and I just can't read as fast or as long because of the blurriness that comes with my eyes becoming far-sighted as well as near-sighted. Those poor, neglected Serbian reading squirrels! Oh well, I have discovered a few new things that will keep me occupied (watching DVDs of hit dramas from the past decade is one, talking about them with a certain someone even better).<br />
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I'll still blog when I have the time and something to say, but for now though, it is a season of transition and for once I'm not as worried about the future as I had been for most of my 30s and early 40s. Do feel free to say hey if we've talked before and share anything you remember from the nearly 14 years this blog has been around (it might spark some discussion, ya know!). Or maybe you have a suggestion for me for a new dog (I'm thinking getting something like a dachshund or Jack Russell that I could take for 2-3 mile hikes in the evenings). Whatever it might be, hope that this won't be the end here, because I really don't know if I could truly say so long and thanks for all the fish...</div>
Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-40900093042897562852018-12-09T14:41:00.002-06:002018-12-09T14:41:51.754-06:00So I just finished my first ultramarathon yesterday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I know I've been rather silent the past couple of years here, but I really haven't had much time for reading anything at all due to balancing a very demanding career with running on weekends. Lately, I've been moving up in running weight class, progressing to running 18 half marathons, my first 3 road marathons and yesterday, my first ultramarathon of 50K (31.1 miles). Running for hours at a time, especially when your body, even after losing over 120 lbs. in the past four years, takes a huge mental and physical toll and it certainly changes you as a person.<br />
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The readings I've done this year have largely been by ultramarathoners. While I hope to talk more about them at length around the end of the year (after all, four are 2018 releases), I have to say that I've learned a lot about perseverance and realizing just how strong I can be in my weaknesses from reading those books and then enduring some of the same obstacles myself.<br />
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Yesterday's ultra, the Bellringer 50K, was not run in what most people would consider ideal conditions: It had begun snowing about an hour or so before race time and while the road temps were just above freezing, it certainly made the trails at Montgomery Bell State Park rather slushy and treacherous at times. I had 9.5 hours to finish and it took 9:25:25 to do so, thanks in large part to the support of several volunteers, including one who came out and ran/walked the final 4 miles with me, even if technically I had missed the time for the last cutoff by a few minutes. I grew up going to the park several times and I knew the backstretch well (I train by running up the course's final descent to begin my 10 mile training sessions), so I was able to just make it.<br />
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However, the weather did take its toll. I found myself suddenly confused the final km and I staggered to the end. When I removed my thermal gloves, I saw that nearly the entirety of each finger was bone white due to the wetness and cold. My speech was slurred and while I was able to ring the personal record bell (after all, it was my first 50K), I barely made it around the corner to my car and get a thermal blanket out of my trunk in order to warm up before driving the 10 miles home (idiot me forgot to bring a change of clothes since I live nearby). Took me nearly 3 hours to get the shaking in my hands under control enough to at least approach normal body temperature (my feet were also numb but not anywhere near in as bad shape since I had more layers on there), so yeah, I probably had mild hypothermia.<br />
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Would I do it all over again, knowing the conditions? Most certainly yes. I'm already planning out at least four ultramarathons and 2-3 marathons to run in 2019 because there is something to be said about all but the most essential being stripped away until you are just left with the urge to fight on or to give up; nothing else really matters (except port-a-potties, electrolyte drinks, and M&Ms at aid stations) and that sense of having your true core exposed is an extremely powerful one.<br />
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So yeah, I plan on running road in Miami in late January, a nearby trail marathon in mid-February, my first 60K in early March, my second 50K in early April, another local road marathon in late April, and my first 50 miler on May 4, 2019. I <i>need</i> to experience this stripping away of anxieties and self-doubts on the trails, as they assist with dealing with those quivering moments away from running.<br />
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And for those who like pictures, here's one of my ringing the titular bell after I crossed (I was 54/54 out of those who finished, but I think 2-3 dozen dropped beforehand or didn't show up, so I'm far from a last-place person):<br />
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Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-51939700618640245592018-08-25T16:09:00.002-05:002018-08-25T16:09:22.053-05:0014 years<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's hard to believe that I started this blog back on August 25, 2004. Back then, I saw it as an extension of the old wotmania Other Fantasy section and little did I know that I would cover a wide range of literary genres until I began to transition away from heavy reading/reviewing when I took my current job in December 2016.<br />
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Although I'm nowhere near as active (I really do need to buckle down and write a review sometime, right?), I'll probably keep this blog active for a long while, even if my postings might be reduced to a handful a year instead of hundreds. For those who do see this and have followed me through all the twists and turns, thank you. It's been a wild ride (especially considering I was in a bad car accident two days ago and was lucky to walk away from it - I got sideswiped at 45-50 mph and if the angle of the other car and been just a few inches over to the right, it could have been deadly) and perhaps there will be a day when I return to reviewing more often (if my eyesight will permit me - I'm becoming both near- and far-sighted, with astigmatism in my left eye compounding matters). We shall see. But until then, I shall continue to enjoy the good things (and people) who've come into my life over the past 20 months. I am fortunate. Hope all is well with you also.</div>
Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-25325382529042515832018-03-23T19:41:00.000-05:002018-03-23T19:41:02.646-05:00I finished a book today!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Actually, I finished two! While that might have sounded blasé back 4 years ago, when I read over 400 or any of the previous decade before that, I really haven't been able to read much the past nine months or so. While I'm extremely busy at work (the two books I read are a re-read and a first time read of Lois Lowery's <i>The Giver</i> and <i>Gathering Blue</i>, the former being used in classroom assignments the past two weeks) still, the main culprit for my lack of reading has been a physical inability to stay focused on anything for long before headaches and dizzy spells would strike. After months of tests ruled out the more obvious possible causes (vertigo, stroke, cancer), it turns out that my body was strangely (I say strangely because I'm outside in the sun more than the average professional in the US would be) deficient of vitamins B12 and D. Ever since I started taking supplements almost a month ago, the symptoms have mostly faded, with maybe 1-2 minor spells the past three weeks.<br />
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But it's high past time that I reintegrate reading into my busy professional and social life. So in addition to the two books I mentioned above (I'll finish Lowery's other two books in the Giver setting, <i>The Messenger</i> and<i> Son</i>, at work over the next week or so), I've begun reading the recently-released Library of America anthology, <i>Reconstruction: Voices from America's First Great Struggle for Racial Equality</i>, and hopefully if I just read a few minutes at a time 3-4 times/week, I may just be able to finish reading more than the 15 or so books that I read all of last year.<br />
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We'll see. But it sure is good to be able to read near my old reading speed without feeling nauseous, dizzy, or mentally confused afterward.</div>
Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-47187946043038521452017-12-31T21:41:00.002-06:002017-12-31T21:41:46.242-06:00An anti-best of year list<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Ever since I began this blog in August 2004, I would conclude the year by listing some sort of "best of 20--" list of books, etc. released in the US that year. This year, however, I only completed 15 books, none of them 2017 releases (I abandoned R. Scott Bakker's <i>The Unholy Consult</i> about 80% in back in July due to lack of energy then and I never resumed reading it; I was saving Jeff VanderMeer's <i>Borne</i> for an uninterrupted weekend after my May vacation and somehow I never got back to it, despite loving the first pages that I've read and generally enjoying greatly VanderMeer's other works). <br />
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What little I read was foreign language books from the previous century or two or individual poems lately that I would use to teach both English and expressive writing in my classroom (believe it or not, I've had several students express hope that we would use another poem or two for these daily morning writing exercises, as they enjoy discussing them without having to worry so much about identifying - yet - meter and verse patterns). But having students take Yeats's "The Second Coming" and turn some of its hallowed lines inside out as they turned "the centre cannot hold/things fall apart" into a meditation on their struggles to make sense of their world (these are 12-15 year-olds I teach, mind you), that has reawakened my long-held love for poetry as being the most intimate of human arts.<br />
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Maybe 2018 will bring a renewed energy to read newer works, or just to complete any book-length works. Maybe it won't; 2017 has taught me that I don't have to finish books in order to learn a lot from those few words that I do happen to read these days. Maybe that's truly what was best about 2017 for me.</div>
Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-3669859225472867682017-12-05T19:46:00.000-06:002017-12-05T19:46:10.964-06:00So I went silent for nearly four months...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. Nor do I plan on shuttering it permanently, even if it seems that I've done so over the past year or two. But the truth is that I really haven't had much at all to say about books or writing or anything of that sort this year because I just haven't had a desire to read novels.<br />
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Yes, I've only finished about 15 books so far this year and 2/3 of them were read while I had to proctor state exams this May. There are a few reasons behind this: teaching job taking up more and more of my concentration energy; trying to train when I can for distance events; personal life developments; and etc. But for much of the past four months, I've dealt with something far more insidious and debilitating: a reoccurrence of clinical depression, which I haven't had in nearly 15 years. <br />
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It's hard to pinpoint what triggers any individual's depressive spells. It could be a change in serotonin levels due to not being able to exercise as much during the hot summer nights. Or two deaths weeks apart. Or maybe it's due to me starting to get progressively worse vertigo-like spells, which are now combining with migraines (which I rarely had before the past year or so). Or possibly just another bout of dealing with self-doubt, something that seems to creep up when I'm doing well in life, oddly enough.<br />
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Regardless of the cause(s), I've been dealing aggressively with it. Discovered that medications are not a cure-all; I got sicker on some and symptoms were alleviated when I was removed from them. Laughter seems to work best, that and getting closer to some awesome people, some that I somewhat lost touch with over the past quarter-century or so. Religious faith is another cornerstone for me. So far, based on the past two weeks, it seems the worst has passed. Much more energy and focus has made me a better worker and human being.<br />
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But the effort required to enter recovery (and I consider mental health, like chemical addictions, to be where an afflicted individual will live in a perpetual state of recovery, perhaps pockmarked with occasional relapses; we are human, after all) still has left me with little time to read novels or prose (although I am finally starting to feel an urge to read some prose work). However, my long-held love for poetry has remained strong and I have occasionally introduced some of my favorite poems as writing prompt/discussion pieces in my classroom. Yeats, Angelou, Henley, and Hughes are recent ones. I have quoted Beckett and the beginning to Ginsberg's "Howl," although even where I work, that would be considered off-limits for middle school students. Hearing boys who suffer from various traumas and behavioral issues discussing how they relate to "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" and "The Second Coming" has been invigorating; their insights, informed by their situations, sometimes have surprising depth.<br />
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Perhaps I should just, for a time at least, write a few reflections on those poems that I've begun to re-read in my nascent recovery and share them here. Perhaps. In the meantime, here's proof at least that I have not yet sailed alone into the seas of madness.</div>
Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8068873.post-5430593000848957962017-08-18T13:09:00.001-05:002017-08-18T13:09:23.915-05:00Next week will have been 13 years since I started this blog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am writing this post in a bit of a daze after suffering through an attack of vertigo this week that left me leaving work early twice and missing today. My thoughts are somewhat in a haze, but as I was just catching up on online stuff, something I really don't do that much these days, I realized it had been around four months since I last posted here, so I thought I would write a brief post to prove that I haven't yet totally abandoned this site.<br />
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2017 has been a different sort of year for me. I'm working full-time during the day for the first time since 2011. My job demands a lot out of me and for the most part, it has been the sort of "good" challenge that keeps me occupied and (mostly) content. I don't read all that much anymore; only 14 finished books so far this year. Frankly, I do not miss reading all that much right now, as I have found new stimuli in running, training for distance running, and developing personal connections with people in my life. As much as I enjoyed reading, I always sensed there were things that I was missing out on because of my odd work schedules and hang-ups about the person I had seemingly become. Thankfully, these negative thoughts seem to be fading away and I get to do more these days.<br />
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That being said, I do not plan on abandoning this blog anytime soon. Yes, I might not really write many (or any) reviews for a while still, but eventually I will write some more. I know online book discussions have evolved over the years and that this platform is a dinosaur of sorts compared to social media. Yet it is still a valuable place where I can record my thoughts on matters, perhaps with a few readers discovering something new. <br />
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There will be some cosmetic changes here, of course. I have already removed a few squirrel-related images because I think it was past time to change the look. I still find the animals amusing and the in-joke as to why they were here in the first place is still a treasured memory, but times do change and with that, probably a few things will, by necessity, need to fade away into fond memory. If I do decide to post more frequently, it might be more as a personal blog than as a review one. Or maybe this will become a list of literary-related thoughts more than anything else. I myself do not know for sure what the future holds. What I do know is that in some ways it is a small comfort that I do have records of my thoughts on books, even if there are a vanishingly few readers still left to read these thoughts. But I am now 43 and I am increasingly convinced that the social media arguments are best left to those younger than me, those who perhaps have more fight left in them than a middle-aged man whose pleasures and interests have been simpler with the years.<br />
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Perhaps I am wrong, though, and what interests me may interest others. We shall see. All I know is that the greatest task left to me now is to simply tend my own garden and hope others shall do the same in peace and comfort. See you around, in some form or fashion.</div>
Larry Nolenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16001420558511460998noreply@blogger.com2