The 100 Greatest Books of All Time: 50-41!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ย. 2024
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Great video as always!
0:24 Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
A perfect book, you'll read in one hour and wrestle with it for your whole life.
1:38 Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes (Edith Grossman translation)
Needs no introduction. A gentleman so ruined by reading that he becomes his fantasy.
3:07 The Poems of Catallus, by you guessed it
Amazing poems. 2000 years old, but as alive as any poetry today. Make sure you pick a translator that works for you.
4:36 Faust, Goethe
Needs no introduction. A man who makes a pact with the devil. Steve doesn't feel the second part is very necessary.
5:30 The Scholars, Wu Jingzi
One of the top 5 Chinese books, definitely his favorite. Funny and incredibly relatable for 21st century readers. About China's system of civil service. The author rips it to shreads.
7:38 Selected Poems, Tu Fu
His poems are wonderful. So small in terms of their focus, but so big in terms of their heart.
8:40 Antigone, Sofocles
Story of a young man who faces off against the power of the state, that forbids her to bury the corpse of her brother. Raises questions that are pertinent today: what is the individual's relation to the state
9:40 The Tale of the Heike, unknown authorship
A great military epic with awful brutality but beautiful scenery. Initially not very inviting, but it will grip you.
10:40 Krieg, Ludwig Renn
The best novel written about WW1. The most visceral, drawn from the author's own experience. Some scenes will be with you forever.
11:20 Duino Elegies, Rainer Maria Rilke
A collection of amazingly beautiful poems. "Almost pure beauty".
I so love Antigone… It feels like it could have been written in absolutely any generation.
Of course you should read The other plays that lead up to the story of Antigone especially Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus to give context
@@stretmediq Thank you! It has been a very long time since I’ve read Seven Against Thebes. I need to put it on my list to reconsider!
@HannahsBooks I deleted my first reply because I forgot to mention Aeschylus wrote that but a lot the Greek playwrights wrote about the same subjects some are just better in my opinion in explaining certain parts of the overall story
@@stretmediq I would love to hear about any you recommend. Although Antigone has been a favorite of mine since I was 16yo, I am definitely no expert. Whenever you have enough time, I’d love suggestions for further reading.
My knowledge of the Greek playwrights is basically limited to the big three Euripides, Sophocles and Aeschylus which I have in the Great Books of the Western World set so I don't think I'm really qualified to recommend anything but those
Wow, that's truly a fantastic Metamorphosis cover!
I'm so glad Rilke was here!
I feel a 100 book challenge coming on 😮
Poetry gets its fair share. How generous of you!
I was waiting 😭
Thank you so much for a fascinating selection. I had been trying to double guess the list, but was way off.
Yesterday was the centenary of Kafka’s death.
I would like to suggest Hasek's "The Good Soldier Svejk“ as a best WW1-novel candidate. I have heard the theory that the (only?) english translation by sir Cecil Parrott has been an obstacle for this brilliant, unique, book in the english-speaking world. The Icelandic version is hilarious.
Scallops and cocaine 😂
4 out of 10! I read Faust a couple of times, loved part 1, absolutely confused about part 2 🤔.I always thought I was too stupid to understand it. Glad to hear your thoughts on it.
I just got tale of the Heike yesterday based on your review!
Arguments about pronunciations always remind me of Mr Chips refusing to say Kickeroh when referring to Cicero 😆
La segunda parte del Quijote es imprescindible, por alguna razón los anglo parlantes prefieren la primera parte, who knows why!
as to Goethe's Faust : Part one was written when he was young and Part two when he was 25 years older or perhaps even 30 years older, so the first part was during his "Sturm und Drang" time and Part two in his Classic Period, when he was older , wiser (?) and far, far more staid
Part 1 was published when he was near 60!
Well a lowly 2/10 for today's batch. 15/60 total. Ride on Steve, the list to rule all lists!
I got 5/10
@@stretmediq this is a challenging batch save Faust (and forgot of course Don Quixote) You read poetry? A "western" canon would miss a lot too which is why this list is so useful to us simple readers.
@@RyanLisbon I read just about everything
O Steve! Faust p2 is the superior part by far!
Don't get me wrong, p1 is a great play, but p2 is the summation of the German psyche! It has everything! Walpurgisnacht! The Homunculus! The Mothers! It even predicts leaving the gold standard in favour of a credit system and ultimately points to the love of/lust for the infinite that has come to define the West (or Faustian Man as Spengler dubbed it). It's just the best!
As the Mystical Chorus says:
All of the transient,
Is parable, only:
The insufficient
Here grows to reality:
The Indescribable
Here, is done:
Woman, eternal
Beckons us on.
Walpurgisnacht is in part 1!
@@Tolstoy111That's true but there's another more Classical Walpurgisnacht in p2 that's more mythical and metaphysical
I looked on Amazon for Renn's Krieg and didn't see an English translation available.
I saw an English translation on Amazon published in 2009. The title is translated from the German "Krieg" to the English "War".
These lists are going to cost me a fortune!!
Virtually every book on these lists is free at either Project Gutenberg or your local library!
no russian works yet!
Finally 😂
I was doing so well not needing to add these to my TBR, then the final four books were revealed 🫣