Did I mention that it's a very long practical guide? And it's very wordy - the advice on reading lyric poetry boils down to read a poem many times, but reading lyric poems still gets an entire chapter.

I only took notes on the parts that interest me so, for instance, there's nothing about reading autobiographies, biographies, or digests.

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Every book should be read no more slowly than it deserves, and no more quickly than you can read it with satisfaction and comprehension.
This nonfiction book attempts to teach the reader "the art of reading"-"the process whereby a mind, with nothing to operate on but the symbols of the readable matter, and with no help from outside, elevates itself ( Read more... )

In book twenty three, Achilles finally performs the funeral rites for Patroclus.
[Spoiler (click to open)]Achilles performs sacrifices and refuses to wash until Patroclus' body has been burned ( Read more... )

[Spoiler (click to open)]All the Trojans, except Hector "shackled fast by his deadly fate," retreat inside the walls of the city. Priam and Hecuba weep and beg their son to retreat, but he's resolved to face Achilles. Hector fears the disgrace of defeat. He considers surrender, but realizes that, after killing Patroclus and donning Achilles' armor, there's no possibility ( Read more... )

In book twenty one, Achilles captures twelve Trojans to sacrifice in Patroclus' honor. Achilles captures a Trojan Lycaon that he had previously ransomed; this time Achilles has no mercy in spite of Lycaon's supplications. Achilles dumps his corpse in the Scamander river. The river god is angry and directs his own son to challenge Achilles. His son ( Read more... )

In book nineteen, Achilles arms for battle. He has hasn't forgotten his previous rage, exactly, but it's been exchanged for a greater, more all-consuming one another ( Read more... )

In book seventeen, Menelaus and his comrades fight over Patroclus' body. As Hector dons Achilles' armor, Zeus sadly notes that Hector will never go home to Andromache again after killing Achille's friend and stealing his armor.

In book eighteen,
[Spoiler (click to open)]Watching from the sidelines, Achilles realizes that the prophecy his mother told him about - that the ( Read more... )

[Spoiler (click to open)]Achilles greets troubled Patroclus as if he were a child. Later in thia book Patroclus is referred to as having great innocence.

Patroclus moved by pity chastizes Achilles for his anger.
You heart of iron! He was not your father ( Read more... )

In book fourteen, scheming Hera and Poseidon help the Argives.
[Spoiler (click to open)]Council of the Argive kings: Even Nestor realizes more offensive fighting isn't the answer. Agamemnon again wants to cut and run. Odysseus argues that they're too stubborn to leave before this is done, retreat isn't an appropriate plan for a king, and also it's a terrible plan that will ( Read more... )

In this Dover Thrift Edition edited by James Daley, the speeches are arranged chronologically from Henry Highland Garnet's 1843 address to the slaves to Barack Obama's Knox College commencement speech in 2005. I read it for the Back to the Classics 2013 challenge; the fact that I finished during Black History month is coincidental. I'm so glad that ( Read more... )