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[ryanitenebrae]

I'm visiting St. John's a week from tomorrow! ^_^

Which means I have a great deal to do in the next week or so, such as purchasing and reading Poetics. Also, my Dad has asked that I finish my schedules and plans for this summer and finish helping him with dialog for his Shadowplay, The Girl Who Stopped The World before I leave, so . . .yeah, a

Comments

[bookelfe]

I have been wanting to read Twelve Kingdoms forever, but the only copy in the library here has been 'on order' and unreservable forever, which is rather frustrating! I will probably just give up and order it online soon.

[ryanitenebrae]

I'd just go ahead and buy it - it's definitely worth it.

You can get it for about $4 on Amazon Marketplace.

[ethelflaed]

Sad but true: the Poetics is the only work of Aristotle that we read all the way through. Because it's short.

By the way, avoid Seth Bernadette's translation if you can (well, it probably won't even be an option at your library but I thought I'd mention it) - I used it for seminar, and it is very good, but only if you know some Greek - it just transliterates some words, frequently includes alternate translations in parentheses, and has footnotes about certain words that take up entire pages.

Useful for study, bad for reading. Sort of neutral for seminar.

The ending of Sea of Shadows is my only big complaint, as I actually thought I had missed something and went flipping back. Knowing that it is not the actual ending makes it better, though. But I want my book four.

Also, the scene that I want to see animated is the bit where Yoko finds out that Rakashun has. . .another side to him, I guess you could say. I died.

[ryanitenebrae]

Thanks for the advice! I'm still deciding right now whether I'm going to buy it(Malcolm Heath translation), or get it from the library(Richard McKeon.)

Well, for me it wasn't where it ended so much as that it jumped to that scene so quickly - I would have liked to see what prefaced it, at least. Also, I think maybe ending it with her going to the mountain would have been more suitable.

That scene was hilarious, and I'd like to see it, too. My favorite Rakushun scene was the conversation in which he is treating her differently that ends in, "You're not even two steps away from me." And he responds, sheepishly, "It's at least three steps to me," and that resolves that.

[ethelflaed]

I'd say. . .don't buy it, unless you think you need to take notes (or are afraid you'll lose it) - you may find you'll want a different translation this time next year, so don't tie yourself down any more than you can help.

Though on the other hand, with Aristotle individual translations can matter a lot less if you read carefully - Aristotle defines everything he does, and if you can track what is what through the book then you can get a good sense of what he means even if your translation's word choices are less than ideal.

The only one springing to mind where individual words are really important is the Nicomachean Ethics, because all of the words for various character traits come with extra baggage in English and if you're not really clear on what they mean, it can trip you up.

But by the time you reach Aristotle you'll have taken enough Greek for you to try to judge translations for yourself, so. . .I wouldn't buy it.

Well, for me it wasn't where it ended so much as that it jumped to that scene so quickly - I would have liked