No.68295
Book discussion. Tell us what you're reading.
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>>64932>>60032>>54504 No.68296
I finished reading Writings from Ancient Egypt, a broad-gauged collection of letters, songs, teachings, inscriptions, tales, religious and legal texts from the very early literate days of Egypt during the Second Dynasty in 28th century BC, all the way to the coming of Alexander the Great and the establishment of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the fourth century BC. At just over 300 pages, I feel that might be the only problem with this beautiful book. There's just not enough of it. It's an editorial tragedy we don't have, say, 1000 pages worth of this fascinating period of literature, perhaps in 3 volumes. And the reason we don't have it is at least partially elucidated in the introduction by Toby Wilkinson, the translator and editor of this volume: The apparent impenetrability of the script –the Hieroglyphs– but also the lack of an authorial tradition. While we can think of many famous Roman and Greek writers, most old Egyptian writings are anonymous. But in short, it seems the problem is most people are just not interested. Their loss.
Regardless, once you pick this volume and start reading the thoughts, trials and tribulations of people from all walks of life of a civilization from 4 thousand years ago, you immediately realize you're there. Whenever humanity is, you're not alone among them and you're no stranger to its manifestations. You read to know you're not alone, but it's more than that. When you read this book, you realize what you are now, was already present then, thousands of years ago. Indeed there is nothing new under the sun. Your thoughts, fears, desires, it's all inherited from such a long ago. I don't think it's possible to have a single truly new thought. Indeed if it was requested of me to give a title to humanity it would be "Variations of a Single Tune". Forever dancing on the surface of this planet around the sun until it's all over.
Anyway, I marked about 40 passages from this volume but I'm not going through all of them here. Instead, I'll make some very informal remarks about a more or less random selection of them. As you might guess by now, I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
First one I would like to mention here is a paragraph from the autobiographical inscription of a man called Harkhuf. He was in charge of an expedition deep into the Upper Nile, into the lands of Nubia, for the young king Neferkara Pepi II. During his travels, he came across a dancing dwarf. Back in those days, Egyptians attributed to people with dwarfism a special connection to the divine, and once Pepi II found out Harkhuf was bringing a dwarf from the land of Yam back to his court, he was ecstatic. Keep in mind this king was about 10 years old. Here's a small passage:
Come downstream to the Residence at once! Hurry and bring with you this dwarf that you have brought from the land of the horizon-dwellers, alive, prosperous and healthy, for the god’s dances, to amuse and to delight the heart of the Dual King Neferkara, who lives for ever. When he goes down with you into the boat, have excellent people around him on deck lest he fall in the water. When he lies down at night, have excellent people lie down around him in his hammock. Inspect ten times a night! My Majesty wishes to see this particular dwarf more than the produce of Sinai and Punt!
Harkhuf was successful in bringing the dwarf back to court, as he had the king's letter written verbatim in the inner wall of his tomb. He probably considered receiving a letter from the king himself the most important moment of his life. That dwarf probably danced many evenings in the court of king Neferkara to everybody's amusement.
Here's something a lot more grim. The tally of booty brought back by king Thutmose III from the battle of Megiddo, an ancient city now in northern Israel:
living captives – 340
(severed) hands – 83
horses – 2,041
foals – 191
stallions – 6
chariots from his wretched army – 892
leather mail-shirts from his wretched army – 20
bows – 502
cattle – 1,929
goats – 2,000
sheep – 20,500
male and female slaves and their children – 1,796
the pardoned who deserted that enemy out of hunger – 103 men
Among other things. It's an extensive list.
Next passage is a lamentation of a man to his own heart. I'm sure this could've been written today with no alterations whatsoever.
The mind does not accept the Truth.
There is no patience with the reply to an opinion:
all a man loves is his own words.
Everyone is crooked to the core;
honest speech has been forsaken.
I speak to you, my heart, so that you shall answer me.
And here's one talking about death and us, those who, at the time of the writing, were not born yet:
All our kin rest there (the land of the dead) since the dawn of creation;
Those yet to be born, to millions upon millions,
Shall come to it, without exception –
For none may linger in the Homeland –
And there is none who will fail to reach it.
As for the span of one’s deeds upon earth,
It is a dream.
One says, ‘Welcome, safe and sound!’
To him who reaches the Beyond.
One of the most interesting parts of this book is talks about some of the spells Egyptians inscribed in their tombs in order to help them get around in the Afterlife. Seems like it was a very strange place, and counter-intuitive. For example, you need a spell so you don't walk upside down:
Spell 224: Spell for not walking upside down in the land of the dead. Spoken by N: I will not walk upside down for you. Indeed, I walk on my feet. I will not walk upside down for you. I walk like Horus, striding like Atum. My tomb is like a transfigured spirit’s. I walk like one who is among the transfigured spirits who open up the gods’ mounds.
And here are some maxims that could be easily applied today in your own life:
If you are with other people, gain for yourself supporters by being trustworthy. The trustworthy man who does not give free rein to his baser thoughts will himself become a leader.
If you wish a friendship to last, when you enter a house as master, brother or friend, whatever place you enter, beware of approaching the succubi! It is not a happy place where that is done. Revealing it is (equally) unwelcome. Men are easily diverted13 from what is good for them – a brief moment, like a dream – then the realization is fatal!
if you want your conduct to be good, rescued from all evil, guard against the vice of greed: it is a grave and incurable disease; there are no treatments for it. It afflicts fathers and mothers and uncles. It drives apart the wife and husband. It is a mix of everything evil, a combination of everything hateful.
Do not repeat slander nor listen to it, for it is the outbursts of a hot temper. Report (only) a matter you have seen, not (merely) heard. If it is by the by, do not mention it, for your interlocutor recognizes virtue. If a theft is ordered and carried out, hatred will attach to the thief, according to the law. Mortal slander is a nightmare against which one covers one’s face.
This is just an appetizer of the contents, but it's enough to give you a fair idea of the stuff you'll find in there. This book offered me a deep connection to humanity and reminds me it's impossible to deny I'm part of this world. It offers a familiar picture in a different, ancient light, making mankind look quite pitiful with its same, incessant tragedies, dreams and uncertainties, but fascinating at the same time.
No.68298
>>68296>(severed) hands – 83what for?
No.68299
>>68297If that's what you like, and those books bring you something positive, it's great.
>>68298It doesn't mention why but if I had to guess I would say they brought it back to burn in a pyre as an offering to the gods.
No.68300
I'm making my way sporadically through House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
It's a good read so far
No.68303
I pretend to read all of those books from the list:
https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blogs/news/4000-10-books-every-student-should-readThe first one "imagined communities" is already very fascinating reading, almost finishing reading.
No.68311
>>68300I really enjoyed reading this, the way the text is utilised to tell a visual story was very interesting and unique.
No.68320
Over the years, I must have read Gilgamesh about half a dozen times, through several different translations. Archaeologists are always finding new tablet fragments, and the completion of the text is an ongoing process. The last version I read was from the 1980s, I believe, and this time I picked up Andrew George's 2019 translation for Penguin Classics. Gilgamesh is essentially a story about a king in denial about his mortality, and his saga is one of coming to terms with the human condition. It's a simple, poignant tale, and the first ever committed to the written word. The Epic of Gilgamesh stands as the oldest recorded story we have from history.
If you read it, you'll probably be surprised by how relatable it is. You know the phrase, "Nothing new under the sun," and it's not far from the truth. The Sumerians, Akkadians, and Babylonians were highly advanced civilizations of urban dwellers, so it shouldn't be too surprising that their sensibilities are not so far from our own, even if 5,000 years separate us in time. There's a lot of talk nowadays about must-reads, but in this case, I believe it applies. We're talking about the most ancient of tales here, essentially the text that sets the precedent for literature itself; in fact, it invents it. The main theme, of course, is death. Death, the bane of mankind, that which is fixed when when your navel-cord was cut, the flood-wave that cannot be breasted, the battle that cannot be fled, the combat that cannot be matched, the fight that shows no pity, the Great City; those who enter don't come back, as a passage says.
Gilgamesh, the son of a mortal man and a goddess, probably has more cause to resent death than most. He's a demi-god, a nearly perfect man, a king—unmatched in strength, beauty, courage, and wealth. And yet, in death, he finds his match. The fate he cannot escape, something that will defeat him. His journey is one of tragic realization. He often refuses to listen to reason until he's cornered at the edge of the world, in a garden of gems, where he has no choice but to grow wise or go mad, and you're not sure until the end which way he'll go.
Accompanying him in this momentous saga is Enkidu, a man from the wild, whose own tale reflects the changes of mankind itself, for he too went from being a wild man to a city dweller. He has to learn how to drink ale, eat bread, and cover his body in clothing. His domestication comes at a price, and it's hard for to decide if it was worth it or not. At times, it feels like he regrets it; at other times, it seems he would sacrifice everything to keep his friendship with Gilgamesh, even if his connection with nature is severed forever. His tale is also one of tragic realization.
Gods, ogres, harlots, and wise men, strange entities and demons populate the world of this epic. There are all sorts of intriguing, colorful characters. The cities, forests, rivers, and oceans teem with strange beings: life from time immemorial, places abandoned by the gods, monsters, and roads that deities used long before they tried to destroy humanity. We visit it all, following Gilgamesh in his sad, doomed quest.
Andrew George's edition is by far the most complete I've ever read. Not only does he present the Akkadian "official version," but he also translates a good number of fragments, alternate versions, the Sumerian stories, and other tales involving Gilgamesh that don't belong to the epic itself. There's a lengthy introduction that is quite helpful and filled with interesting insights, not only about history but also about the discovery of the tablets and how everything is pieced together from an archaeological perspective. Definitely a book I appreciate to have and I definitely recommend it.
No.68321
>>68320there's some sayings about we lost 97% of human history
No.68330
>>68320Fascinating, anon, very interesting, I will read Gilgamesh someday.
No.68417
I'm finishing read the OG Thrawn trilogy from Star Wars, very well made and fun adventure, highly recommend for people that like Star Wars books.
No.68426
>>68295Mostly Murakami Novals.
No.68478
>>>/hob/68244have you read the magic mountain, by thomas mann?
No.68545
a good book, the alchemist from paulo cohelo
No.68547
>>68545It certainly paints a vivid mind picture and was filled with meaning.
That said I felt some parts were a little slow, but then again I normally prefer more plot focused stories.
Still, it is indeed a very good book.
No.68548
>>68547spoilers
the part where he left spain for northen africa is slow paced indeed and wonder when will he travel to egypt No.68853
Arthur C. Clarke is my favorite science fiction writer and one of my favorite writers in any genre. I decided somewhat recently that I wanted to read all of his books. Last year, I went through his entire collection of short stories, spanning over 60 years of a long career. I'll eventually go back to it and write my thoughts on it, but for now, I want to talk about The City and the Stars, a novel from 1953.
I decided to start with The City and the Stars because I had read the novella a short time ago, and this novel is an expansion of it. I wanted to approach it while the novella was still fresh in my memory. This is one of his earlier novels, but in it, there are already many of the aspects that make me like this writer so much. His heartfelt enthusiasm for the expansion of the human mind, both through technical and scientific progress as well as the push to make man a truly intelligent entity in this universe, meaning, an ethical being with respect for life, an unending, almost childish curiosity about the cosmos, and the vigor to improve his knowledge of all things. The motto of this novel, "No true intelligence can be hostile," presents a very sunny, optimistic view of life, and it's not a completely ridiculous position if you understand what he means by intelligence. Like always, it depends on the definition, and in his own terms, I agree with him. His faith in humanity is contagious, and I very much enjoy how this novel and his other works make me feel. I mostly come from the other end of the spectrum, being a shy pessimist about things, so reading Clarke is like opening a door to beautiful, reassuring world that I usually don't tap into by myself.
The City and the Stars is basically a coming-of-age tale. You have a boy named Alvin, who is the personification of youthful rebellion against the decadence and stale traditions that hamper humanity from achieving its true potential. Here, as in many of his novels, this potential is expressed mostly as the courage and power to expand the horizon beyond the stars. Space exploration and the necessary knowledge to do so. This is all told almost like a fable. This novel is not at all like the technical, hard science fiction he would write later on. The story is straightforward, and the characters are simple but effective. Each city represents a facet of human behavior or potential, and the characters are very much one-note, being the expression of single aspects of the emotional spectrum, like fear, courage, doubt, etc. It works very well for a fable like this, taking place a billion years from now.
I really enjoy the plot twist towards the end, where we get an info dump through one of the characters. The pacing is not exactly smooth, and a lot of the dialogue feels like straight-out explanations, but I don't mind that at all. I don't particularly care for the characters here, but the enthusiasm that bursts through many scenes and the lighthearted atmosphere of it all create a very utopian, reassuring world.
No.68856
Prelude to Space is very different and closer to his more mature work. It's about the first landing on the moon, conceived before any actual moon landing ever happened. Written almost 20 years before Apollo 11, this book reads like an extremely educated guess on how the first mission to the moon would likely unfold. He got some things right and others not so much, but it really doesn't matter. Again, the strength of this novel lies in his unabashed faith in humanity and its ability to overcome challenges and travel beyond our cradle, Earth. He delineates a clear plan for human excellence in this novel, shaped by space flight and a love for knowledge and exploration.
All the characters are either engineers, scholars, or scientists. The story primarily focuses on a small group of scientists overcoming the various difficulties of spaceflight. It is very clear in this novel what his favorite type of character is. If you go to Goodreads or elsewhere and read the reviews of Clarke's work, you'll see that a lot of criticism and complaints center around Clarke's supposed inability to create compelling characters, that his characters are uninteresting, etc. I disagree with this assessment. It's not that he can't write characterization, it's more like that his heroes are expressions of the type of people he admires the most: cerebral, logical, but not without warmth. They're the best of what humanity can offer, not the worst or even the average. This optimism is at the core of most of his characters, beneath their technical, seemingly cold exterior. In fact, his characters are civilized men and succubi, civilized in the best sense, and this gives them a type of maturity that is pretty much final. By that, I mean there is really no character progression. They're never idiots, bellyachers, or foolish. It's usually a team of characters who are professionals and fit for the task at hand. It's akin to the team on the ISS. You don't have morons up there, it's a team of incredibly competent cosmonauts, the elite of technical people, and that's where Clarke's characters usually stand.
As such, and this is very important, there's no human drama stemming from personality flaws. The drama arises from technical problems and the consequences of failing to identify and fix such issues. The characters themselves function like a well-oiled machine, as a team of engineers and scientists should when facing huge problems that require complete cooperation. There's no space for love affairs, betrayals motivated by petty emotions, or other such things that people often like to read about. In brief, there's not much room for human folly in his novels, no space for monkeys who have yet to achieve civility. He's simply not interested in the type of character you would see in soap operas. There's a high standard among his cast, which, of course, contributes to the power of the story and the optimism expressed within it. Additionally, there's a harsh reality to the technical problems facing the characters; most of the time, had they spent time squabbling like children, they would simply die incinerated by comets, radiation, machine malfunctions, and the like. The message is clear: grow up and join the adults carrying on with human progress, or stay back home.
I enjoy how cerebral this novel is and, at the same time, how poetically he paints space exploration, linking it with a sort of human destiny and appealing to the characteristics he admires most in humanity: curiosity, intelligence, compassion, and courage. He has staunch faith in humanity and sees it as having almost unlimited potential.
No.68865
The Sands of Mars is about the first human colony on the fourth terrestrial planet. There are plenty of interesting assumptions about Mars in this book, which was published in 1951 and written even earlier. For example, it was generally assumed that there was vegetation on Mars and that there were no mountains. Despite the name of the book, we don't get to Mars until halfway through, with the first part dedicated to the complicated business of spaceflight, taking people and supplies into space and to the other planets. The protagonist is a science fiction writer, Martin Gibson, and much of this character is clearly based on the author himself. There is an entire chapter dedicated to the role of science fiction in actual scientific pursuit, something I know was Clarke's concern. I think at times he yearned to have a more active role in the scientific community, doing research as a scientist himself instead of being 'on the sidelines,' as it were, an admirer and writer of fiction about the subject. In his first novel, Prelude to Space, the protagonist is a historian documenting the lunar landing rather than taking an active role in it. It would be some time before he let go of the role of outsider in his novels.
The book depicts a well-organized, fully functional Martian colony. Like in his last book, it's all about a group of highly capable people carrying out research and developing tools to overcome a problem. The problem here is, of course, Mars itself, a planet with virtually no air and no atmosphere. I wish he would elaborate a little more on the production of oxygen and especially water, which is produced in a power plant rather than harvested. However, the main concern of the novel is with the more imaginary Martian flora and how to use it to develop a breathable atmosphere. Terraforming is the main subject in this book and all of the important characters are involved with it in some way or another.
The 'gentleman's world' feel this novel has is amusing. The notion that society is already neatly organized and that the only problems left are of a technical nature, rather than social, is very strong here, and is partially why I enjoyed reading it. We never descend into squabbles, and, as I mentioned in my last post, humanity is held to very high standards, giving a sense of a utopia, or an intelligent man's paradise. Yes, the colony has to go to great lengths for the bare minimum of air and water, but those problems are of a hard nature, with mathematical solutions. The Sands of Mars gets quite pulpy towards the end, and I think it's almost inevitable for writers from the golden age of science fiction to include those elements when discussing Mars—a planet that has captivated writers for a very long time.