Classics and the Western Canon discussion
Introductions
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Please introduce yourself~
Matt wrote: "Hey folks, Matt here from the Appalachian mountains. I work in a small hospital, have a family, and spend what free time and money I have on books and video games. I had a goodreads account once ..."
Welcome, Matt! I worked for a couple of year as the business manager of a small rural medical center (not a true hospital, but served as one in emergencies and when the weather was too bad to fly people off the island), so I have a bit of an understanding of how busy your life probably is. But delighted that you found us, and hope you'll be able to get some time for intellectual refreshment here.
Hello, all. My name is Colin. I'm a city planner in Wisconsin, and I enjoy reading while sitting in my canoe on a lake (not now, but when it's nicer outside). I'm a little bummed you're reading Ulysses right now. I had it on my shelf for years and last summer, having just moved and being unemployed, I didn't want to let another Bloomsday pass me by without having read Ulysses, so I took advantage of the nice weather and plenty of free time to read it. I may pop into the discussions from time to time, though.My reading list is pretty diverse. I like history and some philosophy. I've enjoyed several classic novels and have many more on my 'to be read' list. I've also become very interested in poetry and drama lately. My favorite author of all time, without a doubt, is Jorge Luis Borges. I can just drop right into the worlds he so quickly and comprehensively creates.
Colin wrote: "Hello, all. My name is Colin. I'm a city planner in Wisconsin, and I enjoy reading while sitting in my canoe on a lake (not now, but when it's nicer outside)."Welcome. Reading in a canoe -- I've spent a lot of time in canoes, mostly in Maine and Canada (I've owned three canoes over the years, and used a lot more than that while leading canoe trips for wilderness camps), but I never viewed it as a reading opportunity.
Sorry we didn't schedule Ulysses better for you, but of course he's always worth re-reading! [g]
Look forward to having you as a participant in our next works. Our next two readings will be Pilgrim's Progress, then Eliot's Four Quartets and The Wasteland. See you there!
Hi Everyone. My name is Luiz. I am from Brazil (forgive me for my english, it´s my second language).I am 18 years old, currently studying Law at my first year at a University(in Brazil).Besides my family i love three things: music(mainly rock and classical, but all kinds of weird stuff too), literature and cinema.I haven´t read much books in my life(at least for now) since no one really has encouraged me to.
I only started to read "school books" or classics for pleasure two years ago.I spend more time reading about authors than actually reading books, that is something i am trying to change this year.I can´t say what my favourites authors are because i han´t read much books from a single author, but here is a list of some of the books that I really liked: The Trial, Crime and Punishment, Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas, Mrs. Dalloway, Hamlet,The Time and the Wind( which i am finishing)...
I basically have no one to talk about books, since none of my close friends read and the ones that aren´t so close don´t read classics. So thats why i am here, although i am not much of a talker, so i will probably just read yours discussions. Specially since there are some really smart people here.I feel there is so much to learn!
It seems that I found the right place here!
Luiz wrote: "Hi Everyone. My name is Luiz. I am from Brazil (forgive me for my english, it´s my second language).I am 18 years old, currently studying Law at my first year at a University(in Brazil).Besides my..."
Welcome, Luiz.
Your English is just fine -- better than some of our native high school graduates, unfortunately.
The books you've read, particularly for a second language, are impressive for an 18 year old. You'll fit in just fine here, though I hope you won't just read the discussions but will participate, too. You'll get much more out of the group if you do.
And welcome to the law -- you'll find a couple of lawyers here, though sometimes you won't realize it because they seem quite human! [g]
Everyman wrote: "Luiz wrote: "Hi Everyone. My name is Luiz. I am from Brazil (forgive me for my english, it´s my second language).I am 18 years old, currently studying Law at my first year at a University(in Brazil..."[g] Thank you, I am really flattered. I will try to participate too. I am intending to read T.S. Eliot books.He´s not very popular here, none of his works have been translated.
Luiz wrote: "I will try to participate too. I am intending to read T.S. Eliot books.He´s not very popular here, none of his works have been translated."
Poetry is hard to translate normally, and Eliot's poetry I think would be very hard to translate.
Hi everyone. Is anyone here? It looks like nobody's introduced him/herself for a while. Is it lonely here? I know, we live in a culture where reading is defined in tweets, but we all love long form, no? I'm a professional non-fiction ghostwriter, formerly a senior editor at Harvard Business Review, and way back when a Ph.D. student/adjunct at UC Berkeley in Comparative Literature. I love asking the question, "what 5 books would you take with you to a desert island?" Mine would be Shakespeare's collected works (if allowed); Nabokov's "Speak, Memory;" Dickens' "Bleak House"; "Joyce's "Ulysses"; and probably the collected poems of Yeats or Keats or someone else whose last name ends in "eats." :> Anyway, I will check in with you. thanks for all your insightful ideas.
Bronwyn wrote: "Hi everyone. Is anyone here? It looks like nobody's introduced him/herself for a while. Is it lonely here? I know, we live in a culture where reading is defined in tweets, but we all love long form..."Hello. Yes, everybody is here! Our current book is Pilgrim's Progress, and the discussion is active and robust -- well over 100 posts already, and we're only five days into a five week discussion. Come on in and join us. If you don't have the book, not problem, it's readily accessible online, both on Gutenberg and in an unannotated version stripped of Bunyan's many Biblical marginal notes which Donald prepared and posted for us.
The link to the Gutenberg version:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/131/13...
The link to Donald's edition:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw_Q...
Sourabh wrote: "Hello everyone. My name is Sourabh and I am from India. ..."Welcome! I'm sorry I was a way for a day or two and didn't get to say hello sooner, but I see Patrice stepped in in my absence.
I hope you'll be able to share some perspectives from Indian thought on the books we read. Our focus is on the Western canon, so we don't get into the rich literature of India and Indian thought, but we're always interested in adding other perspectives to our discussions. (But at the same time, I don't want you to feel any pressure to be a token representative of Indian thought. Just when you have a different perspective you want to share, we would love to hear it.)
Hello Everyone! I'm so glad I found this group, not many of my friends read classics, and it's what I'm most drawn to reading so it will be nice to find some kindred spirits. I'm went to Purdue University and graduated with a degree in English Education with minors in History and Psychology, then graduated and got an office job that is in no way related to any of those fields. But it worked out well, as I'm able to listen to audiobooks for most of the day. I would agree I get more out of books when I actually read them as opposed to listening, but I feel I'd be wasting the time spent at my desk if I didn't, since the option's available to me. I look at it as a somewhat cursory first read, meaning I'll get so much more out of the text if I decide to sit down and read it again. I found librivox a while ago, and it's given me the opportunity to listen to a lot of the classics. If you've never heard of it, it's a wonderful website where people volunteer to read texts that are in the public domain. You have to dig a bit to find the best readers, but I've found some that are incredible and love looking out for their new recordings.
I really haven't had a chance since college to discuss literature in any depth, so I'm sure I'm out of practice. But I look forward to hearing everyone's POVs and getting some new friends on Goodreads. Feel free to add me, I love seeing what other people are reading.
Courtney wrote: "Hello Everyone! I'm so glad I found this group, not many of my friends read classics, and it's what I'm most drawn to reading so it will be nice to find some kindred spirits. I'm went to Purdue..."
Welcome. It's nice that we can help you get back to discussing the classic books you enjoy.
Librivox is in fact well known to most of us here, so you're on good company as an active listener of their books. And since most of the books we read are in the public domain, you should find plenty of them in the librivox library.
Glad to have you with us and look forward to your joining our discussions.
Hello everyone! I'm Robin from southern California. I just joined this group. I'm right in the middle of earning a degree in English, and my spring semester just ended last week. I grew up on books such as Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia--which I still love to this day. Besides the classics, I enjoy fantasy most of all. I tore through the A Song of Ice and Fire series last year, and I can't wait for Martin to finally finish the series with the last two books. GoodReads has been a great way to keep track of my reading so far, and I think this group will be a good way to tackle the classics outside of the classroom. I'm looking forward to reading T. S. Elliot with all of you. I love poetry and hope to write more of my own.
Robin wrote: "Hello everyone! I'm Robin from southern California. I just joined this group. I'm right in the middle of earning a degree in English, and my spring semester just ended last week. I grew up on books..."Welcome, Robin! Glad to have you with us.
Are you looking to major in any particular period of English? Which authors outside of fantasy have you enjoyed most?
Hello, I am Harm. I am 42 years and work as a psychologist in a prison in the Netherlands. I have been reading a lot of contemporary books lately and want to broaden my reading experience by delving into the classics.I look forward to the groupreading of The Wasteland and Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot! I remember reading East Coker when I was about 20 years old. Even though I did not understand most of it, I remember really liking the poem. Something in the rhythm of the poem and some of the metaphores really struck me. Rereading it 20 years after, I hope to be able to appreciate it even more.
Harm wrote: "Hello, I am Harm. I am 42 years and work as a psychologist in a prison in the Netherlands. I have been reading a lot of contemporary books lately and want to broaden my reading experience by delvin..."Welcome to the group! I'm not sure whether we have any other members from the Netherlands. Are you a native Netherlander? Your English is excellent!
I don't you're unusual among 20 year olds in not understanding much of Eliot. I certainly didn't at that age (we'll have to see over the next six weeks how much I understand fifty plus years later!)
Thank you Everyman and Patrice. I am indeed a native Netherlander. The Netherlands are a small country (16 million people). That is the reason that our schools focus on teaching us foreign languages, especially English.
Re-introduction. I joined and participated a while back in a discussion of Magic Mountain. I found it hard to find a fit in the discussion, and dropped out (with sloth also a motive.) I'minterested in the discussion of The Waste Land, and want to join in.
Don wrote: "Re-introduction. I joined and participated a while back in a discussion of Magic Mountain. I found it hard to find a fit in the discussion, and dropped out (with sloth also a motive.) I'minteres..."Delighted to have you back.
Everyman wrote: "Robin wrote: "Hello everyone! I'm Robin from southern California. I just joined this group. I'm right in the middle of earning a degree in English, and my spring semester just ended last week. I gr..."Right now, I'm at a point where every time period is exciting to me, so I couldn't pick just one. I love Shakespeare, but that's kind of an obvious choice. I also enjoy Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson. My favorite book so far is Jane Eyre. I just discovered Kafka as well, and I want to read more of his work.
Welcome to everyone who has introduced themselves after me!
Hi, I'm Junta from Canberra, Australia. Since joining Goodreads I've mostly been into classics, but haven't been able to discuss them outside reviews since I haven't been able to find many who share the same interests. I had a browse of groups concerning this genre and this one seemed to be the most active. I look forward to discussing books I've read and finding others with similar tastes.I'm still a relative beginner in classics but my favourites so far are Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky and If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Calvino.
Junta wrote: "Hi, I'm Junta from Canberra, Australia. Since joining Goodreads I've mostly been into classics, but haven't been able to discuss them outside reviews since I haven't been able to find many who shar..."I'm currently reading Crime and Punishment! It's been great so far. You have good taste.
Junta wrote: "Hi, I'm Junta from Canberra, Australia. Since joining Goodreads I've mostly been into classics, but haven't been able to discuss them outside reviews since I haven't been able to find many who shar..."Welcome! You've certainly found the right place for active and, I think it's fair to say, intelligent discussion of the classics. Certainly you've found a place where all of us share your love of classics.
Please don't hesitate to join in the discussion. Even though you may not have as much experience with classics as some here do, every voice and every view is valuable.
Naomi wrote: "Junta wrote: "Hi, I'm Junta from Canberra, Australia. Since joining Goodreads I've mostly been into classics, but haven't been able to discuss them outside reviews since I haven't been able to find..."Thanks Naomi, hope you'll enjoy the rest of it!
Everyman wrote: "Junta wrote: "Hi, I'm Junta from Canberra, Australia. Since joining Goodreads I've mostly been into classics, but haven't been able to discuss them outside reviews since I haven't been able to find..."Thank you Everyman, I've certainly been impressed by the range of discussions going on, and look forward to participating.
Hello, I'm Elizabeth. Currently, I am a graduate student in English Language and Literature with emphasis in culture. I am in the process of learning classical and ecclesiastical Latin. That takes up a LOT of time!A few of my favorite writers are Flannery O'Connor and William Blake.
Those are striking favorites, Elizabeth. Welcome!
Elizabeth wrote: "Hello, I'm Elizabeth. Currently, I am a graduate student in English Language and Literature with emphasis in culture. I am in the process of learning classical and ecclesiastical Latin. That take..."Welcome, Elizabeth. I have to admire you tackling both classical and ecclesiastical Latin at the same time. I am of the age when were were required to take Latin in high school as part of the college prep track, but I'm afraid it didn't stick. I can still conjugate amo, but that's about it!
Blake is a fascinating writer to have for a favorite. Such a contrast between the songs of innocence and experience -- a very interesting man.
Everyman wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "Hello, I'm Elizabeth. Currently, I am a graduate student in English Language and Literature with emphasis in culture. I am in the process of learning classical and ecclesiastical..."Laurel wrote: "Those are striking favorites, Elizabeth. Welcome!"
Thank you both for the very kind welcome!
I wish my high school would have had any languages! I grew up in a poor rural area of Kansas, so we were lucky to have musical electives! And honestly, amo is a very important word!
Blake has become a fetish for me. His illuminated works are so provocative and alluring.
Hi all! I'm Dani. I love the classics. It's been a while since I've had the time to really sit down and read, but now that my life has slowed down and I have the time, I thought this was the perfect group to join. I just got The Waste Land, so I'm hoping to be able to join the discussion at some point. I'm a fan of Jane Austen, Dickens, Shakespeare, etc. I've also taken a recent interest in Theology and Philosophy, so I'm trying to broaden my horizons and delve into those genres a bit.I'm excited to be here and look forward to joining in on your discussions!
Dani wrote: " I just got The Waste Land, so I'm hoping to be able to join the discussion at some point. I'm a fan of Jane Austen, Dickens, Shakespeare, etc. I've also taken a recent interest in Theology and Philosophy, so I'm trying to broaden my horizons and delve into those genres a bit..."
Welcome. Sounds like you'll fit right in!
Dani wrote: "Hi all! I'm Dani. I love the classics. It's been a while since I've had the time to really sit down and read, but now that my life has slowed down and I have the time, I thought this was the perfec..."Glad you found us. Your reading interests seem perfectly matched to the books we read and discuss here!
Thank y'all so much for the welcome! I'm excited to be here. I was really impressed by the books already read in this group and can't wait to join in future reads.
Hi everyone! I just joined Goodreads a few days ago. I'm looking forward to reading Goethe's Faust with the group. It's been sitting on my bookshelves growing yellow over the years. This is just the motivation I need to finally read it.
Hi everyone,I am a teacher of English and History and I come from and live in Germany. I have been on Goodreads for quite a while now and am one of the moderators on the Pickwick Club. This is how I came to make the fortunate acquaintance of Everyman, who told me that your group is going to read Faust, and as I have found that reading a book in a group is much more interesting than reading on one's own, I thought that it would be nice to join you in your enterprise. To be honest, I have never read the second part of Faust and I have heard that it is pretty heavy stuff and so I might need your support and encouragement.
Delighted to see you here, Tristram. (I was about to send you a PM reminding you in case your vacation knocked it out of your head, but no need!)For those who don't yet know Tristram, in addition to teaching English in Germany he is a moderator and stalwart of the Dickens group (the Pickwick Club) and an extremely insightful poster. Add this to his knowledge of German which will be invaluable in helping us construe some of the potentially more obscure passages and cultural references, and you're going to find him a great addition to our group.
Christopher wrote: "Hi everyone,My name is Chris and I'm an expat living in Seoul working in international sales by day and packing in reading time at night.
I've always had an interest in the classics of Western c..."
Welcome. Delighted to have you with us. No better way to spend an evening in Seoul than reading a German philosopher/poet!!
Hi all, I'm Marian, a programmer from the Pacific Northwest, USA. I love classics, and though Western lit has always been my focus, there are so many more I have yet to read (which is both daunting and exciting). I'm hoping to participate semi-regularly and looking forward to the discussions. :)
Welcome! Where in the Pacific Northwest? There are several of us here; I'm in the San Juan Islands, and we have a member down by SeaTac, plus several others around the area. So you're in good company!We're working on a Holiday read of the Transcendentalists. Just finished two weeks of Emerson's 1936 essay Nature, now reading/discussing his Self Reliance, then on to Thoreau. Check the reading schedule under the Transcendentalists Project forum.
In January we start discussing Lucretius On the Nature of Things, which is available in several places on the Internet if you don't have a copy and can't get one from your library.
Look forward to having you join us. We strongly encourage not only reading but participating in the discussions. So don't be shy (not that you would be, being a fellow Pacific Northwesterner.)
And I hope your power stays on tonight! Some of San Juan County is already out from a big tree on the lines on Lopez, and ours has been blinking a lot, but still on, thank goodness!
Stay warm, dry, and safe!
Hi Marian, welcome to the group! I'm the member that lives in SeaTac that Everyman referenced. :) You've found an excellent bunch of readers here that I have been honored to have as reading company, although I have taken a longer break from the group than I intended. I think our Ulysses read earlier in the year wiped me out for the time being!
Thanks, Everyman and Linda! I live in the greater Seattle area - it's been really blustery the last couple of days, but thankfully we still have power so far. :) I'll check out those posts and gear up to read Lucretius, which sounds interesting (and I love poetry).
Christopher wrote: "Hi everyone,My name is Chris and I'm an expat living in Seoul working in international sales by day and packing in reading time at night.
I've always had an interest in the classics of Western c..."
Hi, Chris! Nice to see another Seoulite in this group!
Everyman wrote: "Christopher wrote: "Hi everyone,My name is Chris and I'm an expat living in Seoul working in international sales by day and packing in reading time at night.
I've always had an interest in the c..."
Hear, hear... :-) I'm spending my evenings with the Greek philosophers, though.
Hi, I haven't read all of the introductions yet, but from some of the pages I skimmed through, I gather that most of the members study or have studied some kind of humanities or have some literary background, or come from or live in an English-speaking country.I regret I have none of those (except for not living in an English-speaking country :-) I am proud of my Korean heritage). As a child, I was a bookworm but never had a chance to be instructed on what the 'good' or 'Great' books were, so I picked whatever books I found in the library bookshelf at random.
I received some brief literary education in high school because I went through an English - first language IGCSE course in Switzerland.
I then went to med school in Seoul and due to the heavy load of cramming for tests, I haven't had much time to get any serious reading done (except of medical textbooks and articles, of course).
I am now working in the Clinical Laboratory department (During my internship, I found out that working with clinical data suits me better than working with patients, being the bookish, introvert person I am.) My work doesn't require that much time as other doctors, and apart from the time I spend with my beautiful kids, I catch a little time to read.
I just found out about the St. John's College reading list 2 years ago from someone who said she wants to study as long as she lives. She didn't actually follow up on that dream yet but she inspired me to start reading these classics. I hope it's never too late to start.
I begun reading from the freshman years and I've read the Iliad and the Odyssey, the three Greek tragedians (Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides), Herodotus, Hesiod, Lucretius, and some dialogues of Plato. I read Plato's Republic with a bookclub in Korea, but am willing to read more of Plato's work in this group.
Currently I'm reading Plato's Laches and Charmides (Hackett Publishing) and also Aristotle's Politics (although I now realize that maybe I should have read Plato's Laws beforehand). I read Plato on Love recently, and I am currently falling in love with Plato (or Socrates). I hope there would be more consolations of philosophy forthcoming!
Hi Borum! It sounds like you've found the right group. Lucretius is coming up soon, if you would like to revisit it with us. We welcome your thoughts and comments.
Thomas wrote: "Hi Borum! It sounds like you've found the right group. Lucretius is coming up soon, if you would like to revisit it with us. We welcome your thoughts and comments."That sounds great! I've been puzzling over some parts of De Rerum Natura (don't we all? ;-)) and my brain is bubbling over with questions.
Welcome, Borum! It's certainly never too late to discover great literature, and I would say you're way ahead of many people (me, for one) on the Greek classics. :)
Borum wrote: "I just found out about the St. John's College reading list 2 years ago from someone who said she wants to study as long as she lives. She didn't actually follow up on that dream but she inspired me to start reading these classics. I hope it's never too late to start.."It is most definitely not too late to start. That's a great list, and the first two years have many (but far from all!) of the books from antiquity that are most worth reading (but at some point you'll want to go back and fill in the rest of Plato, some of the skipped Plato, and some works available only in fragments that didn't make worthwhile seminar readings but are worth reading on their own, like Seneca), but when you get to the later periods I think the seminar readings are a bit light on great fiction. But as you go along, you'll figure it out!
There are a couple of St. Johnnies here, in case you want to know more about the college (though it's changed somewhat in the 50 years since I was there. Thomas is a more recent graduate.)
And the St. John's curriculum, while it appears heavy on philosophy and the humanities, has proved remarkably effective preparation for almost any career, including many Johnnies who have gone into medicine and science.
Marian wrote: "Welcome, Borum! It's certainly never too late to discover great literature, and I would say you're way ahead of many people (me, for one) on the Greek classics. :)"Well, you'll get to vote on (and advocate for) some in future book selection polls!
Classics and the Western Canon
Books mentioned in this topic
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The Portrait of a Lady (other topics)
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Dracula (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Søren Kierkegaard (other topics)Dorothy L. Sayers (other topics)
John Ciardi (other topics)
Alexis de Tocqueville (other topics)
Dani Shapiro (other topics)
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I had a goodreads account once before but dropped it because of time constraints. Glad to be back, to have found this group, and to be crossing my fingers, hoping that Eliot wins the poll.