Category: Great Books
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3. The Old Testament
Around 600 BC. Original language: Hebrew, with about 1% in Aramaic (5 chapters of Daniel and 3 chapters of Ezra). I read the King James Version and parts of the Tanakh (Jewish Publication Society edition). Talk about a human God. He’s very thin-skinned, quick to anger and quick to punish Man. God is like a…
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2. Homer – The Odyssey
Original language: Greek. I read the Robert Fitzgerald translation. I really enjoyed the Fitzgerald translation. So fluid, and idiomatic English without talking down to the reader. I enjoyed Lattimore’s Iliad but this is a different level. I should look at reading more Fitzgerald translations in the future. I love the story about how Helen went…
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2. Homer – The Iliad
Homer lived around the 9th or 8th century BC. Original language: Greek. I read the Richmond Lattimore translation. It’s beautiful in every way- characters, plot, language, poetry. The plot is driven by toxic masculinity. And the childish petulance of Achilles. He got mad at Agamemnon for taking his sex slave, Briseis. So Achilles begs his…
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1. The I Ching
First published in 1400 BC. Original language: Classical Chinese. It isn’t that great of a book just to read. It is better as a divination tool. It makes somewhat dull reading.