What are you currently reading?

[vers la flamme]

40 years ago I went through a Georges Simenon period - I must have read more than a dozen of the books, and loved them.  He wrote many more.  I have since downloaded a bunch on my Kindle with the plan to read them again. 

My only hope is that I still find them as good as I remember them.  I even read a thick biography of Simenon, which still sits on my shelf.

I hope you enjoy them too!

[Henk]

A classic. Prose translation.

My goal is to read much about Greek mythology and Roman life.

[AnotherSpin]

Finished the first book by Byung-Chul Han, whom I recently learned about from @Henk. While I no longer have a particular interest in philosophy texts as such, I found this book unexpectedly engaging. It resonated more than I anticipated. I might read more of Han's work, his books are quite short, after all.

[hopefullytrusting]

Just recently repurchased this (this is a book I want as used as possible, as part of reading a text like this is reading with the prior readers, as I like to see what trails they were following, so I love when traces and trails are left behind): Heidegger's Being and Time

[AnotherSpin]

Just recently repurchased this (this is a book I want as used as possible, as part of reading a text like this is reading with the prior readers, as I like to see what trails they were following, so I love when traces and trails are left behind): Heidegger's Being and Time

For some reason, an observation by Byung-Chul Han came to mind, in which he notes how, in the Chinese tradition, time is seen as a continuous process rather than a sequence of significant events or ruptures. This suggests that ruins, which symbolize the end of an era or event, do not hold the same cultural significance as they do in the Western tradition. Han also offers insights into why the owners of priceless scrolls leave their marks on them – seal stamps and inscriptions.

[Papy Oli]

In the last week and a bit:

I have completed Edna O'Brien's 2nd volume "The Lonely girl", following on the lives of Kate and Baba, 2 teenagers in post-WWII Ireland. An uneasy but hard to let go of read still. You can't help but feel heartbreak for Kate for all the crap that is thrown at her throughout her young life (violent drunk dad, very creepy neighbours, unhinged "best" friend, spurned by a divorcee "boyfriend", the religious pressures of the priest and the nuns, turning conveniently a blind eye to most of what she is going through). Will follow up with Vol.3 very soon.



As a palate cleanser in a way, I went on with Mark Haddon's "The curious incident of the dog in the night-time", a 2023 prize-winning (young adult but not just...) novel following a 15-year old boy on the autistic spectrum investigating the murder of a neighbour's dog, with all the challenges that his personality and family life involve. All narrated by the boy himself, it is an eye opening, touching, very quirky and at times very funny read on his views and perspectives of our everyday life. I'd strongly recommend that one.



Halfway through now: A Japanese 1946 crime novel, "The Honjin Murders" by Seishi Yokomizo.  Set in the 1930's among a very dodgy rich Japanese family, it follows the investigations on the murder of the rich groom and his "commoner" bride in the night following their wedding on the family estate (locked room mystery type). Picked that one at random in the Kobo recommendations. So far so good.



I usually try to to have one book in English and one book in French on the go. I am aiming to start something "meatier" so I have picked up Zola's first volume of Les Rougon Macquart ("La Fortune des Rougon"), the series that obviously includes Germinal, L'Assomoir, etc... Slow start on this one but i'll see how I get on.

[Christo]

A classic. Prose translation.

My goal is to read much about Greek mythology and Roman life.

Some of the most comprehensive descriptions of the latter -- including detailed descriptions of the life of practically the only person in all of antiquity of whom we really know anything -- can be found in the Classical-Greek collection of 71 manuscripts known as 'the books', biblia. Recommended.

[Henk]

Some of the most comprehensive descriptions of the latter -- including detailed descriptions of the life of practically the only person in all of antiquity of whom we really know anything -- can be found in the Classical-Greek collection of 71 manuscripts known as 'the books', biblia. Recommended.

I think that isn't true, for instance Plutarch wrotes biographies of Roman Emperors.
Couldn't find any information about your recommendation. Do you have a link for me to visit? Thanks in advance. 😀

[AnotherSpin]

I think that isn't true, for instance Plutarch wrotes biographies of Roman Emperors.
Couldn't find any information about your recommendation. Do you have a link for me to visit? Thanks in advance. 😀

It seems to me that @Christo is referring to the life of Jesus Christ — and quite understandably so. That said, I must confess that the mention of a cycle comprising 71 manuscripts leaves me rather puzzled, as well.

Still, I quite agree that the writers of the Roman era — Plutarch, Suetonius, Tacitus, and others left us with some vivid and enduring portraits of historical figures. Also, Xenophon certainly deserves mention, as does Diogenes Laërtius, whose accounts of the philosophers are nothing short of delightful. As for Plato's depiction of Socrates — it remains, I daresay, more than remarkable; a figure who seems to breathe and speak across the centuries.

[SimonNZ]

Some of the most comprehensive descriptions of the latter -- including detailed descriptions of the life of practically the only person in all of antiquity of whom we really know anything -- can be found in the Classical-Greek collection of 71 manuscripts known as 'the books', biblia. Recommended.

You can't possibly mean Jesus.

[vers la flamme]

I read Suetonius's Lives of the Caesars a few months back. Very enjoyable.

[Henk]

I read Suetonius's Lives of the Caesars a few months back. Very enjoyable.

Yes, where I wrote Plutarchus, I meant Suetonius.

[Christo]

71 manuscripts

I was referring to the 71 scrolls & other books -- not "manuscripts" -- better known as "the books", or biblia, as stated. The most complete collection of descriptions of life in antiquity, mostly written & read in Greek, the lingua franca of the Hellenistic & Roman world.

[Henk]

As for Plato's depiction of Socrates — it remains, I daresay, more than remarkable; a figure who seems to breathe and speak across the centuries.

Xenophon wrote also a book about Socrates, which might be more faithful to his character and thought than Plato's account.

[vers la flamme]

Yes, where I wrote Plutarchus, I meant Suetonius.

I really want to read Plutarch, too, but I'm not sure what edition to get. Most of the classic reprint houses break them up into separate Roman and Greek lives, and it seems the only complete translation of all of the lives is the (presumably antiquated) Dryden, which in any case does not seem easy to get.

[AnotherSpin]

I was referring to the 71 scrolls & other books -- not "manuscripts" -- better known as "the books", or biblia, as stated. The most complete collection of descriptions of life in antiquity, mostly written & read in Greek, the lingua franca of the Hellenistic & Roman world.

«Manuscripts» - that's exactly the word you used. I still can't understand which collection of texts you're referring to. Could you provide a link or more detailed information about the source?

Edit: Perhaps you mean the Dead Sea Scrolls? But there are hundreds of them, and the main languages are Aramaic and Ancient Hebrew, not Greek.

Edit 2: If you're talking about New Testament manuscripts in Greek from the 2nd to 4th centuries CE that aren't part of the Qumran corpus, there are hundreds of them, so the number 71 definitely doesn't apply. Well, it seems my memory from university history courses has reached its limits here... :-)

[AnotherSpin]

Xenophon wrote also a book about Socrates, which might be more faithful to his character and thought than Plato's account.

Yes, I have read Xenophon's biography of Socrates too. I am more attracted to the image conveyed by Plato nevertheless

[AnotherSpin]

I really want to read Plutarch, too, but I'm not sure what edition to get. Most of the classic reprint houses break them up into separate Roman and Greek lives, and it seems the only complete translation of all of the lives is the (presumably antiquated) Dryden, which in any case does not seem easy to get.

I've still got a complete edition of Plutarch's Parallel Lives in a rather splendid Russian translation—early 20th century, I'd say. Back in the first decades after the Bolshevik Revolution, the old school of translators was still very much alive. Plutarch, to my mind, makes for some of the most engaging reading when it comes to biographies. And that paired structure—one Greek, one Roman—really does the trick. The contrast sharpens everything beautifully.

[JBS]

«Manuscripts» - that's exactly the word you used. I still can't understand which collection of texts you're referring to. Could you provide a link or more detailed information about the source?

Edit: Perhaps you mean the Dead Sea Scrolls? But there are hundreds of them, and the main languages are Aramaic and Ancient Hebrew, not Greek.

Edit 2: If you're talking about New Testament manuscripts in Greek from the 2nd to 4th centuries CE that aren't part of the Qumran corpus, there are hundreds of them, so the number 71 definitely doesn't apply. Well, it seems my memory from university history courses has reached its limits here... :-)

The Catholic Bible has 73 books, the Eastern Orthodox Bible has 76, the Ethiopian Bible 81, the Protestant Bible 66. None of them have 71 books.

And of course the Hebrew Bible has 24 books*, none of them written in Greek.

So what does Christo mean?

*Samuel, Kings, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles are each considered a single book, as are the Twelve Minor Prophets.

[AnotherSpin]

The Catholic Bible has 73 books, the Eastern Orthodox Bible has 76, the Ethiopian Bible 81, the Protestant Bible 66. None of them have 71 books.

And of course the Hebrew Bible has 24 books*, none of them written in Greek.

So what does Christo mean?

*Samuel, Kings, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles are each considered a single book, as are the Twelve Minor Prophets.

If I've understood @Christo correctly — and I quote, "including detailed descriptions of the life of practically the only person in all of antiquity of whom we really know anything" — and if he does indeed mean just one person, then the identity in question seems rather plain. Unless, of course, we've quite missed the mark in interpreting our colleague's words. That's always a possibility.

Still, it does seem a stretch to call the New Testament the most complete account of life in antiquity. The classical authors of Greece and Rome give us far richer and more detailed portraits. If it's daily life and character we're after, we might do better opening up Menander or Aristophanes, Theophrastus, Athenaeus. Or Horace, Martial, Juvenal, Plautus. Seneca and Cicero, too, have much to offer.

And no doubt, if I give it another moment's thought, a few more names will come drifting back