Robert Harrison's online meetings about The Decameron

Cynthia Haven had posted on Robert Harrison's meetings on Boccacio's The Decameron, the book that seems to all be the rage given the situation now. Her posts can be found here and here. If, like me, you missed the meetings, you can listen to them at his Entitled Opinions website:

• Pandemic, Dread, and Boccaccio’s Decameron
• Boccaccio's Human Comedy

For more from Harrison, check out Haven's post earlier this week that is an excerpt from his interview by Neue Zürcher Zeitung. An excerpt:

So Boccaccio was an incorrigible optimist because he shows how the worst person can make a story that inspires other contemporaries.

On the one hand, Boccaccio shows us how a bad cheater makes other people stronger in their belief–and on the other hand, he lifts the veil and lets us see how we indulge in fictions. But we need these fictions to outgrow ourselves in life. So for Boccaccio there are only stories that help us live better and stories that help us live worse. That is its form of radicalism.

Karl Ove Knausgård on Literary Freedom

I've only read a few things by Karl Ove Knausgård, and it's been hit or miss on what I like and what hasn't connected. One thing I did enjoy is his recent conversation with Tyler Cowen, which I saw linked at Marginal Revolution. The wide-ranging interview

starts with a discussion of mimesis and ends with an explanation of why we live in the world of Munch’s The Scream. Along the way there is much more, including what he learned from reading Ingmar Bergman’s workbooks, the worst thing about living in London, how having children increased his productivity, whether he sees himself in a pietistic tradition, thoughts on Bible stories, angels, Knut Hamsun, Elena Ferrante, the best short story (“Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”), the best poet (Paul Celan), the best movie (Scenes from a Marriage), and what his punctual arrival says about his attachment to bourgeois values.

The podcast and transcript can be found here. I recommend it, even if (like me) you're not sure how much you like Knausgård's work. An excerpt:

COWEN: Arnold Weinstein has a book on Nordic culture, and he argues that the sacrifice of the child is a recurring theme. It’s in Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. It’s in a number of Ibsen plays, Bergman movies. Has that influenced you? Or are you a rejection of that? Are you like Edvard Munch, but with children, and that’s the big difference between you and Munch, the painter?

I told you we ask different questions.

KNAUSGÅRD: Yeah, yeah. You just said different. You didn’t say difficult.

Yeah, because there was a lot of grouping together. Here you had Kierkegaard and the sacrifice of Isaac and the biblical story, which basically is a story about faith, and what it is to believe in God, and what it demands to believe in God — the completely irrational level it takes to believe in God. The leap out in the unknown which you have to take.

It’s an interesting thing going on in that essay, which is a wonderful essay about Abraham sacrificing Isaac. It’s that it also has some small parts about breastfeeding in between, which is incredibly strange, and I’ve been thinking a lot about that. What is that?

But it’s moving away from something. It’s going from a mother into society, and the leap of religion is going from a society into the unknown, into the things we don’t really know about, the things we don’t have language for.

There is another very interesting Norwegian poet — no, not Norwegian, but Nordic poet — called Inger Christensen. She wrote a collection of essays which is really brilliant, and she talks about those kind of border areas. It’s a matter of language — what we can express and what we not can express. In science, those are the string theories. That’s the things we don’t know. That’s the unknown.

And the border is the language. We don’t have language for it. We can’t really. She also said that — like a letter in a book cannot read what’s around it, cannot read the book — we are the same in the world. We cannot read the world. We’re part of it.

But that was Kierkegaard. Yeah, I find it hard to connect Kierkegaard in regard of children, sacrifice of children. And Bergman? Bergman is completely different somehow.

If you're interested in Knausgård's writing, you'll probably enjoy this article at boundary2.org (a site I'm not familiar with) by Martin Hägglund from his forthcoming book This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom. An excerpt:

The appeal of Knausgaard’s writing, then, is not that it forces you to see his life with your eyes. Rather, his writing enables you to see your life with his eyes—with the level of attention he bestows on a life. Thereby, you can come to recognize the myriad ways in which you are indeed alive, even when you seem dead to yourself or lost in the mundane events of everyday existence. As you take care of the tasks at hand, what you see bears the weight of your love and your evasions, the history of who you have been and may turn out to be. Evenings that no one else can remember live in you, when the snow touched your face or the rain caught you unprepared, when you were all alone and yet marked by all the others that have made you who you are. There are things you cannot leave behind or wish you could retrieve. And there is hope you cannot extinguish—whether buried or insistent, broken or confident, the one never excluding the other.

Emily Wilson and translating The Odyssey

I have yet to read Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey, but I fully intend to soon. In the meantime I have been keeping up with her Twitter account @EmilyRCWilson, where she selects passages from the poem and compares various translations and explains why she chose the words/phrases she did for these selections. It's a great look behind the curtain as she

comments on how translators such as George Chapman (1615), Alexander Pope (1725), T.E. Lawrence (1932), Robert Fitzgerald (1961), Richmond Lattimore (1965), Robert Fagles (1996), Stanley Lombardo (2000), and Stephen Mitchell (2013) have interpreted different words, phrases, and concepts from the original Greek into English.

The quote is from the page at her site that gathers the various tweets on each passage and her comments. If you have any interest in The Odyssey, these threads are essential reading. As Dan Chiasson put it in his article at The New Yorker, Wilson is "The Classics Scholar Redefining What Twitter Can Do."

There are many articles mentioned at Wilson's home page, but I want to link to a few I found helpful.

• Ben Shields' article at Book forum, Minds of the Immortals: Emily Wilson on translating "The Odyssey," is a great overview of Wilson and the book.
• Amy Brady's article How Emily Wilson Translated ‘The Odyssey’ in the Chicago Review of Books includes an interview of Wilson, including a section on why she felt another translation was needed.
• Gregory Hays book review at The New York Times
• BBC Radio3 had a program titled Landmark: The Odyssey, where Wilson joins Amit Chaudhuri, Karen McCarthy Woolf, and Daniel Mendelsohn in discussing the poem.
• Wilson's department has listed online recognitions of her translation

Radio show: This'll Take A While

The other day I was changing channels on Sirius XM and landed on BYU Radio, which I had no idea even existed. I was getting ready to change the channel when I realized the conversation was on Moby Dick, and I ended up listening to the remainder of the show. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and when I got home I found a list of shows and listened to another episode. The description of the program on their website is

BYUradio's "This'll Take a While" brings you engaging and often digressive conversations about film, books, geography, culture, art, hockey, and pretty much everything else. Join Professor Dean Duncan of the BYU Film Department for expansive and captivating conversation.

Judging by what I heard, I'll second both the 'engaging' and 'digressive' parts of the conversations. I'll list some of the episodes that pertain to literature, at least generally (through early February 2018) with their description in case others are interested in listening to them. There are several ways to listen and/or download episodes, but I'll limit my links to the show's website. It looks like the show recycles through older episodes in between the newer ones, so check their schedule and listen in if you're a satellite radio subscriber. And if you find other shows as engaging as this one, please let me know!

BYU Radio is currently channel 143 on Sirius XM. "This'll Take A While" comes on at 1pm Pacific time. [Note: air times have changed. Check their page to see when it is currently aired.]

Exploring the Nature of Evil, in Literature (original air date Feb 5, 2018)
The BYU English department's Dennis Cutchins joins Dean to discuss the benefits of reading challenging, difficult material. They also consider those occasions when a reader might just decide to get himself out of there!

Moby Dick (Jan 22, 2018)
BYU English professor Stephen Tuttle joins Dean to enthuse at considerable and joyful length about Herman Melville's inexhaustibly great 1851 novel.

Two Anxious American Authors (Jan 8, 2018)
Carl Sederholm is a professor and administrator at BYU's department of comparative literature. He is also a connoisseur of the weird, which is why we have invited him to illuminate the wild and continuingly resonant work of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.

Stephen King, mostly (Nov 27, 2017)
The University of Vermont's Tony Magistrale and BYU's own Carl Sederholm visit the show to assess, analyze and celebrate this undeniable American literary and cultural phenomenon. Have you ever wondered where to start reading this guy, or if you want to start at all? We've got you covered!

On Swedish Literature, Mostly (Feb 27, 2017)
BYU Comp. Lit's Chip Oscarson discusses some of the chronologies, key motifs and powerful practitioners that have helped overachieving Sweden so repeatedly catch the world's attention and imagination. And as usual, Denmark and Norway keep trying to butt in.

Are Myths True? (Aug 8, 2016)
BYU classicist Seth Jeppesen visits Dean to explore the deep roots and continued relevance of Greek and Roman mythology.

A Short History of Comic Strips, Comic Books, Graphic Novels (Jul 11, 2016)
American Studies scholar Dr Kerry Soper joins the program to draw out some of the surprising and productive family resemblances that exist between these popular and so-very-present art forms.

Classical Foundations (May 30, 2016)
Dean welcomes BYU classicist Roger MacFarlane for a conversation about how present in and important to contemporary life those old Greeks and Romans really are.

Walter Scott and the Evolution of the Novel (May 29, 2016)
Dean welcomes literary scholar Paul Westover to discuss the numerous innovations and vast influence of this great and too often underappreciated Scottish man of letters.

Your Autobiography (Apr 25, 2016)
BYU English department chair Phil Snyder joins Dean to open up some of the whys and ways of examining your own life, and writing your own history.

Don Quixote (Apr 11, 2016)
Spanish scholar Dale Pratt joins Dean for a celebration of Miguel de Cervantes' incalculably important, inexhaustibly enjoyable literary milestone.

Commedia dell'Arte (Aug 9, 2015)
Commedia dell'arte is a type of Italian theater that revolutionized the stage. Dean's conversation today starts with Janine's own theater history in Utah, taking courses in Italian and history at BYU, and her heavy involvement in Dramaturgy as well. Anyone interested in stage productions today can learn more about a branch of theatrical history during this episode.

Brush up Your Shakespeare (Feb 24, 2015)
Elizabethan scholar Rick Duerden joins Dean to discuss some of the surface challenges and endless benefits of studying the world's greatest writer.

The American Short Story, Pt. 2 (Feb 6, 2015)
Dennis Cutchins returns to talk about ten short stories that will change your life. Inhospitably, Dean waxes skeptical about the impulse to make lists.

The American Short Story, Pt. 1 (Jan 28, 2015)
Dean and BYU English’s Dennis Cutchins use Bill Murray’s "The Man Who Knew Too Little" as an entrée into their discussion about American short fiction. Listener beware!

Translated (Feb 27, 2014)
Daryl Hague, a translation professor in BYU’s Department of Spanish and Portugeuse, talks about the letter and the spirit of language and its translation.

Chris Crowe II (Oct 1, 2014)
Chris returns to our program to discuss the need for tough topics and tough talk in teen literature. He and Dean also get grumpy about all those lucrative fantasy franchises for young readers.

Reading (Jan 23, 2014)
Bruce and Margaret Young get beyond books in a discussion about the innumerable texts that moderns need to decode, and the expansion that attends their successfully doing so.

Teens, Reading (Dec 23, 2013)
We’ve got a glut here! Navigational tips from Chris Crowe, a distinguished scholar and writer in the field of adolescent literature.

Writing Books is Hard, Pt. 2 (Nov 20, 2013)
One would think the work would be done upon completion of writing a book. In reality, there's an entirely new battle to fight after you finish. Veteran author Ignacio Garcia discusses the details with Dean.

Writing Books is Hard, Pt. 1 (Nov 13, 2013)
Do you think reading academic books is a long and tedious task? You should try writing one! Fellow-scholars Daryl Lee and Megan Sanborn Jones join Dean to talk about the travails of academic authorship.

Learning to Read (Jul 6, 2012)
Dean talks with Bruce and Margaret Young about reading, how we learn it, how we may have to re-learn it, and some of what we get out of the whole arrangement.

Why I Read Long Books (Jun 1, 2012)
Some people won’t read a book that exceeds a certain number of pages, but BYU Humanities professor Joe Parry is not one of those people. Join Joe as he talks with Dean about the reason he ventures into books that some people would only use to keep their boat trailer from rolling.

Harry Potter (Jul 12, 2011)
Dean delivers a radio essay about JK Rowling’s beloved franchise. He discusses narrative trajectory, filmic adaptation, and the benevolent place that popular culture so often plays in our private lives.

Gil Roth's podcast with Christopher Nelson, President of St. John's College (Annapolis)

I remember running across St. John's College's website in the late 1990s and being inspired by the reading list they provided. THIS was the liberal arts education I wished I had gotten. It inspired me to take my reading more seriously. This blog, for better or worse, was one eventual outcome.

Gil Roth at Virtual Memories has a podcast episode with Christopher Nelson, President of the Annapolis campus of St. John's College. I highly recommend it. The interview ranges far and wide, covering some of the special challenges Nelson faces at an institution like St. John's, both as its President and when he was a student there, and its goal of cultivating the whole human being.

I could identify a little too well with Roth's statement that he doesn't think he would have been ready for such an undergraduate program straight out of high school. Even though I said it was the education I wished I had worked on, I wasn't ready for such a program at 17, either. I'm impressed by the depth of required reading, and at least it is something I can work on my own toward acheiving. I also liked how Nelson talks about "growing into" certain books and how his view on some have changed over the years.

Anyway, please check out Roth's page for the episode and give it a listen!

Note: Roth makes it clear in the introduction that the current political issues within St. John's College are not addressed in the interview, but I wanted to make sure I highlight it here, too.

The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander reading group (bumped)

Update: I have attached the schedule for anyone still thinking about joining the reading group--please do! The first call is on Monday. Follow the link in the original post for more details.

Conference Call Schedule 2011
Monday, April 11 - Intro. call
Monday, May 2 - Book 1
Monday, June 6 - Book 2
Monday, July 11 - Book 3
Monday, Sept 12 - Books 4 & 5
Monday, Oct 3 - Book 6
Monday, Nov 7 - Book 7 & Epilogue

---

I’m not familiar with Reading Odyssey, Inc. but their upcoming event discussing The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander looks exciting. Plus the schedule looks feasible for me. While I’m trying to limit my acquisition of books this year, this is one I had planned on including in my purchases (and have already bought). I’ll definitely post on this as it occurs.

I’m looking forward to reading Arrian’s account, having already read the biographies by Robin Lane Fox (highest recommendation) and Paul Cartledge (a thematic biography—recommended if you are already familiar with Alexander’s life). And there are plenty more out there such as Peter Green’s book and Philip Freeman’s recent release.


On a side note, I just noticed this is the 500th post here. This blog started as a place for personal finance bloggers to comment on particular books (hence the ‘bookcents’ name and the first few books focusing on money or wealth), but that project never really got off the ground. After being dormant for a year, I revived the blog as a way to take notes when reading a few Modernist literature works and it has been evolving ever since. Into what, I’m not sure but maybe I’ll figure it out at some point. Anyway, a huge “thank you” to those that read and comment on my ramblings.

History of Philosophy without any gaps

For those that might be interested--History of Philosophy without any gaps podcasts:

Peter Adamson, Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at King's College London, takes listeners through the history of Western philosophy, "without any gaps." Beginning with the earliest ancient thinkers, the series will look at the ideas and lives of the major philosophers (eventually covering in detail such giants as Plato, Aristotle, Avicenna, Aquinas, Descartes, and Kant) as well as the lesser-known figures of the tradition.

Be sure and check out the links tab for more resources.


Update: This weekend I am going to add a section on the right sidebar for online courses, podcasts, and the like. If there are any links to sources in those categories that you particularly like, please feel free to leave me a message or email me.

Update 2: While pulling together the list for online courses, I see The Leo Strauss Center has added audio recordings for Strauss' courses on Kant and Plato's Apology and Crito.

Take one of Leo Strauss' courses

The Leo Strauss Center at The University of Chicago has begun to make available audio files from some of the courses Strauss taught and will add transcripts starting next year. The first course released is “Plato’s Political Philosophy: Apology and Crito”. From the page noting the release of this course:

The Leo Strauss Center is proud to publish the digitally remastered audio files of the course given by Leo Strauss on “Plato’s Political Philosophy: Apology and Crito” in autumn quarter, 1966 at the University of Chicago.

This is one of 26 courses (and one reading group) for which a partial or complete audio record exists. The Leo Strauss Center’s goal is to publish the 27 sets of audio by the end of April, 2011. We expect to begin publishing edited transcripts in the spring of 2011 and to complete the publication of all 44 of the course transcripts (and the transcript for one reading group) within the next four years, if sufficient funding is obtained. The Center will not distribute any transcript until it has been published.

If you go to the “Audio & Transcripts” link you will see the list of courses planned for release, many from The University of Chicago but several from Claremont Men’s College and St. John’s College Annapolis as well.