Sorento62’s Comments (group member since Jul 22, 2016)

Sorento62’s comments from the Reading Classics, Chronologically Through the Ages group.

Hi, You All-

This thread popped up on my email, and I'm happy to see you are still going on this group and project, Cleo and Kenia. I haven't been active on Goodreads for awhile, not reading as much since roughly the end of 2019. Currently though I am listening to some "prehistorical fiction" People of the Wolf that's been on my list a long time as part of my own Chronologically Through the Ages project. (although it is not itself a classic, for sure)
-Julie

Hi-
I'm still working my way through some older books, but I had started Canterbury Tales a while back, reading aloud the Middle English in a version that has Middle English and Modern English side by side. I haven't got very far (only to the Knight's Tale, I think), but I'll work on it some more and join the discussion in June.
-Julie

Yay, Kendra!! Very impressive.

Cleo wrote: "I thought I heard a chapter per week but I think MD has a number of chapters so I'm not sure.

Yes, more than 100 chapters, many of which are only 1 to 3 pages.

Cleo wrote: "On another note, there is a Moby Dick read-along coming up in February. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll give you the details."

Hi, Cleo-
I'm reading and discussing Moby Dick in 6 monthly installments right now with my in-person classics reading group. It is a great way to do it. I think one has to think of it as reading the Bible or reading a myth, a little at a time, leisurely. If you expect to get caught up in a suspenseful plot or exciting action as with a typical novel, it will disappoint. There is a story, and also small stories within the story. But there is also much musing and philosophizing on the nature of things.
Yes, I'd like the details on the read-along.
Thanks!
Julie

Yay, Kendra! Thank you for being willing to take on the primary moderator work.
-Julie

Thanks, Cleo. I got a kidney transplant almost 13 years ago. My aunt Susie gave me one of hers, bless her. So I am pretty much bought into the world of modern medicine, with all its benefits and side effects. I’m just glad at this point there is an alternative drug that can also work to suppress my system rejecting the transplanted kidney.

Hi Kenia-
What you are saying does make a lot of sense, just in order to get through history in a manageable number of years, rather than being stuck in ancient history for a whole decade. That is probably part of why Bauer divided the chronologies by genre, so that the reader can make multiple sweeps through history, presumably with more insight accumulating each time through.
I think we have established that this group is not going to follow the one genre at a time model as that can also be limiting, especially for the adults of wide intellectual curiosity who most of us are. But you are right that it will take FOREVER to get through all of history if we keep the extra books in and also continue a relatively slow pace.
So it comes down to whether people want to focus on depth and staying in one time period for years at a time — or to focus on cycling through history in an actual feasible amount of time with the TWEM books as the core group curriculum.
Geez... The *idea* of including lots of books and really seeing a diverse mix of literature, philosophy , etc. chronologically through history is so appealing... But doing the math, the number of years to get through it all (with extra books included) is staggering, and frankly probably unrealistic for some of us who are older, or perhaps even for anyone who realizes life expectancy is not a guarantee. Even with just all the TWEM books, as you say, it is a long time. But at least it is a realistic and feasible time, even if long.
So as much as I hate to admit it, I think the answer has to be to focus on the TWEM books. (Ouch, I really do have a hard time with that.) Otherwise, we aren’t gonna read chronologically through history, but only through *ancient* history.
I need to reassess my own long term reading plans and see how I would adjust to that more realistic, if not so ambitious and elegant, method.
Julie
P.S. I have been ill for over a month (from one of my prescriptions, actually). Finally got it diagnosed and changed medications and am starting to feel more alert again. But I have been reading very little so far this year up til now —which doesn’t help either.

Hoorah, Kendra! I love following your progress.

-Julie

Kendra wrote: "As much as I am trying to focus on TWEM books personally (I mean, I'd like to complete the list at some point) I think broadening the scope of this group is going to be good."

I'm very glad it seems like this will work for you too, Kendra!

I'll also nominate Sappho: A New Translation, the poems and fragments of Sappho, who lived on the Greek island of Lesbos, published circa 600 BC.

I am also interested in
The Upanishads: Translations from the Sanskrit,
The Dhammapada,
and from your list:
Zeno's Paradoxes
and
Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings.

While I don't have The Bhagavad Gita on my TBR right now, I do think it would be a good one as well.

I'll nominate The Analects. Confucius died in 479 BC, but Goodreads lists first publication as 429 BC. I'd suggest it for March/April 2018.

From Wikipedia: The Analects of Confucius is a collection of sayings and ideas attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius and his contemporaries, traditionally believed to have been compiled and written by Confucius' followers. It is believed to have been written during the Warring States period (475–221 BC), and it achieved its final form during the mid-Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). By the early Han dynasty the Analects was considered merely a "commentary" on the Five Classics, but the status of the Analects grew to be one of the central texts of Confucianism by the end of that dynasty.

I see you have already read The Analects, Kenia. But perhaps you'd like to discuss it with others here.

Sorento62 wrote: "my idea would be to add some or all of Kenia's literary project list to the group reads here, and also to solicit volunteers to lead discussions so Kenia is not responsible for reading every book on a specified schedule."

I realized even this would not entirely solve the perennial issue Kenia is having of Too Many Books, Too Little Time, because Kenia also has many other non-chronological, non literary project, books on her reading list. So perhaps it would make sense for others to nominate/suggest additional books appropriate to the chronological time period of history we are in during a given year for group reads. Again, so that the discussion leading responsibilities are shared and not everyone has to read every book.

For example, in lieu of the suggested readings for 2018 that Kenia had posted earlier, under the discussion topic "The Book List", we could make 2018 the year of books written around 400 BC or earlier. That would limit the new TWEM books for 2018 to just The Peloponnesian War and The Birds. The schedule would look something like this:

JAN-APR The Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, TWEM HISTORY

MAY/JUNE Optional Book 1, circa 400 BC or earlier

JULY/AUG Optional Book 2, circa 400 BC or earlier

SEPT/OCT The Birds, Aristophanes, TWEM DRAMA

NOV/DEC Optional Book 3, circa 400 BC or earlier

Some nominations for the optional books could be from Kenia's chronological literary project list, such as Zeno's Paradoxes, the Bhagavad Gita, and The Book of Chuang Tzu. Other people could also suggest other books from the appropriate time period, and we could have a discussion at the end of 2017 to select our 2018 books. Polls would also be possible, but it looks like GR polls are set up for just one vote per person, so are not really conducive to selecting multiple books with multiple votes per person. I suppose if we were to select one optional book at a time, say 2 months in advance, then polls would work fine.

This method would slow down the pace, so that Plato and Aristotle would be postponed until 2019. If that is okay with folks, it seems like a reasonably good solution.

-Julie

Cleo wrote: "For me, it would depend if the books are in the classic genre, or not. If they are, I would choose option "c" and simply add a more general description to the group..."

Hi, Cleo-
I'm not sure Kenia was even suggesting that the group reading list expand to include her additional chronological readings between the TWEM books, but I actually think that is a great idea.
Plus, as you said, we don't each have to read every book, if we take turns moderating on various books in the list. And if we do have multiple moderators/discussion leaders, then we could keep things going at a reasonable pace.
Kenia's whole chronological reading through history list is on her Literary Project page at:
http://www.keniasedler.com/theproject/
Take a look and see what you think. I also have a chronological list that includes many non-TWEM books. (It is my "chronological readings" Goodreads shelf.) And many of Kenia's non-TWEM books on her literary project list are of interest to me, especially if other people here were reading them at the same time.
Take a look and see what you think.

So, I guess my idea would be to add some or all of Kenia's literary project list to the group reads here, and also to solicit volunteers to lead discussions so Kenia is not responsible for reading every book on a specified schedule.

-Julie

Thanks for posting the reading schedule, Kenia! It helps with my planning.
-Julie

Hi, Sandy!
Glad to know you are actively pursuing your history/prehistory studies once again. We'll be interested to hear your insights as you continue to learn about human origins and early civilizations. The MOOCs sound great.
- Julie

Welcome, Nicole!
Glad to have your company here. :-)

Bill wrote: "Since I haven't got started yet, I am assuming that I should read the books in the order that you have added them to the bookshelf...."

Hi, Bill-
Kenia had already read several of the TWEM books prior to starting this group, so the rest of us all started out "behind" in a sense. I've been reading the book the group is currently reading (which meant starting with The Histories for me), plus planning to fit in most of the past books with my other reading to "catch up". So you could just jump in with Medea since that's what we're on now. We tend to go at a slow enough pace that you should have time to gradually fit in the past books as well.
I think it works pretty well to comment on past book discussion threads. People who have read that book will often see your comment and chime in with more discussion. I believe that's what I did with Gilgamesh.

Sounds great, Kendra!!
(By the way, I think Medea is only about 50 pages long. Even so, I am more likely to find a performance of it on Youtube to watch than to read it.)

Miranda wrote: "I'd like to start going through the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction's list but that might be a bit ambitious. "

Hi, Miranda-
Welcome to the group. We're starting chronologically, way back in ancient history. But if you'd like to read and discuss some of the TWEM novels you will most likely find people here who would be glad to start a discussion thread for the book and discuss it with you.
If you tackle the Pulitzer winning novels, I'd encourage you to pick and choose the ones that appeal to you most rather than feeling you need to read every single one.

Enjoy the adventure.

-Julie (Sorento62)