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  • Tumnus Truck-Tour
    Banned
    • Nov 2009
    • 132

    been researching these 2 a bit more.

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    • gaitortrout
      Member
      • Sep 2010
      • 69

      I am looking for a readable, reasonably complete historical account of the middle ages, 9th to 14th century. This is far from an area of expertise, which I guess is why I'm curious about it now.

      Would really appreciate any recommendations. No reason or focus in particular, but I am interested in philosophical developments, if that helps to narrow it down. Something concise and enjoyable to read would be great.

      Please help, lest I keep reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages


      At this point, I'd like to very strongly recommend Jaron Lanier's You Are Not A Gadget which I am currently listening to. It's a very well-informed philosophical discussion of the cultural/ethical implications of trends and developments in network technology.
      pm me.

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      • Fade to Black
        Senior Member
        • Sep 2008
        • 5340

        I'm reading Why People Photograph, a laconic collection of essays by Robert Adams. Have been taking my time with this one despite the short length; some of the stuff in here is really speaking my heart out.
        www.matthewhk.net

        let me show you a few thangs

        Comment

        • Mmm2108
          Junior Member
          • Oct 2010
          • 11

          Comment

          • spiral jetty
            Member
            • Oct 2010
            • 79

            [QUOTE=gaitortrout;267236]

            Would really appreciate any recommendations. No reason or focus in particular, but I am interested in philosophical developments, if that helps to narrow it down. Something concise and enjoyable to read would be great.

            Please help, lest I keep reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages

            in case you're able and willing to read german i can recommend johannes fried's "das mittelalter" and wolfdieter haas' "welt im wandel," the former a very well structured survey on the topic of episteme/information society in the middle ages since the so called karolingian renaissance, the latter a more academic take on the (political/economical/psychological) structural shifts around 1200. both books free from narrowing national concepts of history. unfortunately i don't know a proper english equivalent.

            Comment

            • gaitortrout
              Member
              • Sep 2010
              • 69

              Originally posted by spiral jetty View Post
              in case you're able and willing to read german i can recommend johannes fried's "das mittelalter" and wolfdieter haas' "welt im wandel," the former a very well structured survey on the topic of episteme/information society in the middle ages since the so called karolingian renaissance, the latter a more academic take on the (political/economical/psychological) structural shifts around 1200. both books free from narrowing national concepts of history. unfortunately i don't know a proper english equivalent.
              Ich kann nicht deutschelesen... I took a little bit in high school, but that's all i got. Thanks for the recommendation, though. I hope I can find a translation...

              EDIT: Found this: Die Formierung Europas 840–1046. I may give this a try.
              pm me.

              Comment

              • spiral jetty
                Member
                • Oct 2010
                • 79

                Originally posted by gaitortrout View Post
                Ich kann nicht deutschelesen... I took a little bit in high school, but that's all i got. Thanks for the recommendation, though. I hope I can find a translation...

                EDIT: Found this: Die Formierung Europas 840–1046. I may give this a try.
                definitely worth trying. i just recalled the man for medieval (theological) philosophy is kurt flasch, again german i'm afraid. good luck! and ivan gombry has something to say about thomas aquinatus, francesco d'assisi and the likes. but it's a bit hard to take. rather the bourgeois viewpoint.http://www.stylezeitgeist.com/forums...es/suicide.gif

                Comment

                • trentk
                  Senior Member
                  • Oct 2010
                  • 709

                  Currently taking a que from Owens, and steeping myself in fin de seicle france: reading Huysmans' A Rebours, Huysmans' La Bas, as well as Whistler and Montisquiou. While not regarding fin de seicle, Philip Hoare's Serious Pleasures (a biography of Stephen Tennant) is also taken from Owen's selection.

                  Fashion designer Rick Owens creates drapey, esoteric clothing, often asymmetrical and mostly in black. His clothes are not cheap and are favored by the likes of Courtney Love and Michelle Obama. On a recent summer day, I ended up in his unmarked Soho boutique, and, somewhere between his coveted skinny leather jackets and covered wedge …
                  "He described this initial impetus as like discovering that they both were looking at the same intriguing specific tropical fish, with attempts to understand it leading to a huge ferocious formalism he characterizes as a shark that leapt out of the tank."

                  Comment

                  • Fade to Black
                    Senior Member
                    • Sep 2008
                    • 5340

                    Hubert Selby Jr.'s Requiem For a Dream, only 25 pages in and am really digging it. There's a tenderness and compassion permeating the prose that was noticeably missing from the film; some books should be left alone.
                    www.matthewhk.net

                    let me show you a few thangs

                    Comment

                    • deius
                      Member
                      • Jul 2009
                      • 30

                      Originally posted by Fade to Black View Post
                      i only finished Justine, laika, since I had to return the book to the library due to leaving town. The writing style was great, right up my alley in its abstract-articulate style of describing people and things, but for the same reason came to become quite tedious after 200 pages as Durrell really gets carried away with his own technical virtuosity. I wonder how the other 3 books pan out; I'd run out of steam fast if it read the same way in tone, although I admire the consistency...
                      I couldn't help but revive an old topic, since the Quartet has impressed me more than any other work of art this year.

                      I would say that Durrell's poetic tone continues, although it is important to distinguish between the narrator Darley, who is an introverted scholar with "chalk dust on his sleeve", and the the narration of the following novels - Balthazar, Mountolive and Clea. Balthazar is, for the most part, a set of notes on Justine - an "interlinear" - that is, very early in the book Darley receives a complete annotation on his diaries which in effect become long digressions belonging to previously ignored or misunderstood characters. In Mountolive (which I have only half read) the structure becomes more linear and there is less of this "virtuosity" which I take you mean as poetic, abstract description; rather it is a straight narrative, albeit a highly elegant one.

                      There are many more thematic concerns and shifts in tone over the next novels. Especially the character Pursewarden, a more successful writer who is nowhere near as self-absorbed as Darley, and is also quite hilarious. I would hate to give the wrong impression, since if you thought Justine was tedious you probably wouldn't like the rest of the Quartet, on the other hand it is nowhere near representative of Durrell's full concerns. I would agree that Justine gets tedious, perhaps for a different reason to you, but it is partly explained by the failings of the narrator himself. In any case I would urge you to consider restarting the Quartet.

                      Mikevigar, re: Gilliam and Don Quixote, you may be interested in: http://screenrant.com/gilliams-don-q...s-niall-72284/

                      Comment

                      • klangspiel
                        Senior Member
                        • Apr 2007
                        • 577

                        Originally posted by spiral jetty View Post
                        definitely worth trying. i just recalled the man for medieval (theological) philosophy is kurt flasch, again german i'm afraid.
                        flasch is brilliant but you don't get anymore authoritative than etienne gilson. he's an exceptional scholar, if not a giant, of the history of philosophy particularly on the subject of medieval philosophy. i highly recommend the two volume, la philosophie au moyen-âge, and a classic text on the subject, l'esprit de la philosophie médiévale. i forget if an english translation of the former exists but the latter does in the form of the spirit of medieval philosophy. his reason and revelation in the middle ages is brilliant as well. other books i'd recommend: maurice de wulf's history of medieval philosophy and civilization and philosophy in the middle ages; john marebon's medieval philosophy; fred copleston's medieval philosophy: an introduction. the copleston is probably the most accessible of the lot. the others are scholarly in nature and might be hard going for anyone new to that philosophical landscape.

                        Comment

                        • BSR
                          Senior Member
                          • Aug 2008
                          • 1562

                          awesome, you read Gilson in French?!
                          I remember there was another scholar at la Sorbonne, Rémi Brague, who specialized among other things in medieval philosophy. It might be of interest to browse his work if you're not already familiar with it...
                          pix

                          Originally posted by Fuuma
                          Fuck you and your viewpoint, I hate this depoliticized environment where every opinion should be respected, no matter how moronic. My avatar was chosen just for you, die in a ditch fucker.

                          Comment

                          • Atom
                            Senior Member
                            • Sep 2009
                            • 310

                            Originally posted by Fade to Black View Post
                            ...most books should be left alone.
                            Fixed. There are exceptions, but they are rare.

                            Comment

                            • spiral jetty
                              Member
                              • Oct 2010
                              • 79

                              Originally posted by klangspiel View Post
                              other books i'd recommend: maurice de wulf's history of medieval philosophy and civilization and philosophy in the middle ages; john marebon's medieval philosophy; fred copleston's medieval philosophy: an introduction. the copleston is probably the most accessible of the lot. the others are scholarly in nature and might be hard going for anyone new to that philosophical landscape.
                              indeed, wow, seems like you more than just dipped your finger into the (neo)thomist plot. an almost outerworldly subject, though seen from the average 'philosophy/theory' viewpoint. great. another scholarly but readable introduction might be david lascombe's 'medievel thought' released somtimes in the 1990ies. but to come back to the inital question i totally forgot about the annalés circle with especially georges duby and jacques le goff having a lot to say about the middle ages, which might be dated from a recent perspective. but of course it's them who suggest kind of a french equivalent to what in england/the usofa the call social history. there should be pretty many translations around at least of the key texts. quite readable too.

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