/lit/ - Literature

I know it's pleb and >genre fiction but a fantasy/sci fi book club mite b cool

Let's read either the Iliad or the four great tragedies of Shakespeare.

>>8914025
I'd be down for these too tbqh

>>8914025
this. I wouldnt mind re reading the Iliad, honestly. Then again, the tragedies would be fun.

>>8914007
I'm not crazy about this because I think genre sorts of stuff appeals to the minority of the board

>>8914025
Third for this. Could be informative, if not anything. Be w nice refresher and something for the beginners

>>8914025
I'm down for Shakespeare, I was gonna start reading Hamlet anyway but I'd like to do it with you guys

>>8914030
>>8914035
>>8914038
Ok, I made a poll with these. Let's see what happens. Of course, these are not the only options for a book club here. (I'm not OP btw).

https://strawpoll.de/21df35f

>>8914007
Perhaps you will have better luck proposing that in the sci-fi/fantasy general.

>>8914025
+1 for the Iliad

I'm doing Finnegans Wake in June.

>>8914025
Would we all decide on a specific translation?
Does it matter?
I've got one on my bookshelf that I haven't cracked yet.

>>8914170
it really shouldn't matter. If it's not original greek its all the same message for the most part.

>>8914170
There might be a "preferred" translation chosen by general consensus, perhaps, but that wouldn't restrict you from using other translations. In fact, it would be better that way since it can bring about discussion.

>tfw already read the tragedies and the odyssey + iliad for high school

Why all four tho?

A reading group for The Iliad sounds great, count me in!

>>8914217
As did I but I have been out of school for almost two decades now and would love to reread them.

>>8914217
>not re-reading the canon every 5 years
>being this pleb

>>8914224
Short answer: why not?
Long answer: because they are commonly grouped together by critics since Bradley as the greatest poetic and dramatic achievement of Shakeapeare. Of course, we can discuss the relevance of that claim and its implications, not just take it as a fact. Also, book clubs here seem to be about reading big works. Not even Hamlet could take that slot, so we are reading the four to "compensate".

>>8914224
what are you, pleb? It wouldn't all be at once.

>>8914025
Lets all just do a
>start with the Greeks
Club to integrate the plebs I'm down to reread one of the charts as long as we skip supplemental reading.

>>8914243
down for this too, I guess. We could start with Iliad, then move to Odyssey, then Hesiod... etc.

Keep voting and we'll see if more want to read the FGT or the greeks

>>8914243
>as long as we skip supplemental reading

I have an old copy of the Iliad translated by E. V. Rieu. Is that translation ok or am I fucked?

>>8914252
Sorry but stuff like a brief history of Ancient Greece was interesting but not interesting enough to reread when I have other stuff waiting. Also plebs will have more trouble because that stuff is dry.

>>8914260
All the main translations are available online. Download some and compare if you want.

>>8914267
In any case, the reading club will adapt to its necessities, not to the whims of one of its members.

>>8914260
Rieu is OK, but pretty old. I hate to be an elitist especially if you already have the book but I'd recommend something else, like Fitzgerald, Lattimore or Fagles.

I have a Rieu lying around that I've never really read too.

Why not two reading groups? One for Billy Shakes and one for Homer?
>inb4 "it's spam!"
It's discussion and good discussion at that

>>8914294
That is also an option, and no one said that there couldn't be two at the same time.

>>8914294
I wouldn't mind this at all. It's just two less Sam Hyde or e-celeb threads every day. Guys agree with this?

If we are going to start a "start with the Greeks" book club I think it would be wise to not be too exhaustive lest most people quit the club. So supplemental reading should be left to the individuals discretion. Only touching upon the major works is the best way to retain club members if you guys are serious about this.

Something along the lines of:

The Iliad
The Odyssey
Theogony
A handful of Greek tragedies

then the Romans, then Dante, Milton and Shakespeare, etc

Keep in mind by the time the hypothetical reading group gets through the Homeric epics, half of the reading group will have already dropped out. So if you are serious about this, its best not to be too serious about it, as in, not too exhaustive.

>>8914320
OP here, I'm going to go with this. I'll make a thread.

>>8914320
Ideally we should split it in two
>A "Start With the Greeks" reading group, with all the essentials (Homer, then Tragicians)
>A "Go Hard With the Bard" reading group, start with the Tragedies then the big histories and branch out into the more obscure shit

>>8914320
This

>>8914368
>>8914368

I love the shift from memes to actual reading discussion, and having it in this form rather than "hurr just read X tell me opinion" will actually encourage people to read rather than shitpost. /lit/ is getting /lit/. 2017 will be a good one.

>>8914483
i feel this too. Things are getting better

>>8914497
456 hours remain.

>>8914025
I'm down for a Billy shakes club.

Let's read The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha aka the pinnacle of literature.