Gonna check all these stories on this list but YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS! Ivanhoe my childhood favourite made the list! Got such a strong sense of victory now!
I really want to down the road write a Ivanhoe styled novel in French! Might have to do that after next year.
But damn, gotta try reading Chaucer again, as I rented it from the library once and I think I've a copy somewhere, but haven't touched the poems in awhile. Loved what I read.
I read the D’Aulaires’ Greek and Norse myths to my children and now to my granddaughter (same hardback copy); the books are much loved. When we gave a copy of the Greek Myths to a pregnant faculty member at a book-centered baby shower a few years ago, the book was met with stares of incredulity. Was it too Euro-centric, too white? We “got away” with it, being old and probably not knowing better.
Years ago we lived in Berkeley and had a village poet. The Bubble Lady dressed in long vestments of jewel toned velvet, carried a soap bubble wand and sold her (atrocious) poetry in cafes…. Berkeley was then an odd but more gentle place than it is today.
I should have emphasized that the d’Aulaires books are wholly free of any appeal to the ‘modern audience’ (Critical Drinker voice). They are thus excellent tools for inspiring in Western children a reverent attitude towards their own history and culture. But honestly, I think kids from anywhere would like their stuff; it’s just great.
I noticed everything European has to be mocked or cut down, and this has been going on for a long time.
I wanted to throw away every Magic Tree House book after I read the authors obnoxious commentary at the end of the knights book how the Middle Ages was acktually bad because it "wasnt fair". Can't let little boys get the wrong idea.
The university my grandson just began to atttend has applied a "trigger-warning" to the Canterbury Tales. And not a moment too soon, I might add. Not for reimagining the role of red-hot pokers, mind, but for the expression of Christian views. Nothing worse than stumbling upon Christian views unawares. Someone has to think of the children. They're our future.
It’s like a Bizzaro-World stamp of approval really. The best literature is hated by the worst people. You could do well for your family if you got the chance to ask a panel of English professors what books they would ban if given the choice; get them to cap your reading list at 200 though.
I remember that pain-in-the-ass Tipper Gore and James Baker's less-publically-annoying wife telling me just which LPs I was going to buy because they wanted to put a warning label on them. I am a more cultured person for it, as is my spawn. They have my gratitude.
Chaucer is the new Clash. Prologue to The Junkie's Tale. I can see it and the T-shirts.
When I was young, my parents gave me the D’Aulaires’ Greek myths book for Christmas. It still sits in my mother’s house, although the cover has long fallen off and the binding barely holds. I found a more recent edition by chance while browsing through a used book store last year; I snatched it up instantly and brought it home. I’ll give it to my son when he’s old enough to read. I hope he’ll have the same love for the stories as I did.
Might I add Patrick O'Brian's Maturin-Martin 20-volume work, beginning with Master and Commander? (Skip the move and read the books.)The greatest novel in the English language.
They’re wonderful books; I wouldn’t hesitate to call them the Lord of the Rings of historical fiction for their immersive universe-construction and attention to detail. I did enjoy the movie very much as well though. I wrote about it and another Peter Weir film here. https://librarianofcelaeno.substack.com/p/a-tribute-to-australia-two-films?r=b1hwi
In similar vein to *Ivanhoe* is *Men of Iron* by Howard Pyle. The scope and stakes are personal, not kingdom altering or world saving, and the tale is the better for it.
I loved The Secret History! I probably read it in the late nineties. I read your essay on the subject- and find our reactions to the book were quite similar. I had just finished a period reading some of the better postmodern writers- Amis, Welsh, Banks, etc- and had come to conclusion that beauty and meaning were entirely missing in their works. The novel also struck a chord because I was familiar with occult dabblers of various sorts, and had come to the same conclusion as Dennis Wheatley.
I found this article from a critic writing for the Michigan Daily. His reaction is quite amusing. I imagine he loathed the book for all the reasons you loved it.
In essence, postmodernism is yet another Counter Enlightenment philosophy. It produced little of worth, other than a few dry, yet accurate, observations, which don't make the world or the human experience any better. If they were brighter sparks, they might draw inspiration from Berlin, Herder, romanticism or go right back to the original rebel, William Blake, with his Urizen and Orc- but they lack the imagination, and the knowledge. In his later years, that fraud and author of human misery on an unprecedented scale, Foucault, had the gall to bitterly complain about the ignorance of his students. He bemoaned the fact that, in order to critique Western knowledge, one first had to possess it- perhaps intuiting his works had attracted the singularly ignorant as students.
Forty years later and the jury is in. Foucault was wrong, and catastrophically so. Most mental illness (distinct from mental health) is caused by physiological brain defect or injury. If you want to know who to blame for a large portion of tide of human misery which crowds Western streets- blame Foucault! He is the author of our misfortune. He was the one who gave our fickle and foolhardy politicians the excuse to dissolve mental institution and institute the cruelly parodic 'care in the community' policy.
The Secret History, postmodernism, Foucault- don't dabble- pursue the Zeno's Paradox of objective truth. Postmodernism was invented so that dumb people could feel smart, by critiquing academic disciplines for which they never had the aptitude. Only Marcuse was worse as an author of human misery, or perhaps Frantz Fanon, with his misguided belief that one could harness Islam to Sartre with the invention of Islamic Terrorism, and then discard the Islam once the Socialist Utopia was achieved.
Regarding that review you linked, you can tell when someone hasn’t read much beyond modern literature. He doesn’t understand that the book in many ways functions as one big Greek tragedy, and much of the latter part of the novel deals with the pollution the characters have introduced into their lives via their participation in the murder playing out.
Maybe you should right something about the role of masks in Greek theatre? I'm sure your readership would find the subject fascinating. Most assume archetypes began with Jung.
Thanks for a good list of books that are mostly off the beaten path. A few that I already had on my list, a few already read, and a few to add to it - I feel decently well rounded!
Special appreciation for the children's books. Both for them, and for me. There is a wonder and a beauty that I'm looking forward to; both in the books, and in their enjoyment of them.
Many years ago, I read parts of Collected Works of Omar Khayyam in English. I believe it was published in Turkey. There is no way I can say anything related to the textual criticism regarding Khayyam, but he seemed more pious in them than in Fitzgerald's version.
Funnily Omar Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat, directly followed by the Jefferson Bible, is what got me religious. It’s a wonderful slightly-drunken meandering of thoughts, like watching a rich wine slowly mix into a glass of water.
Imagine Persian culture now if they were still allowed to drink, my goodness!
Few cultures on Earth are so reverent of their poets as the Persians. They have a magnificent tomb for Khayyam in his native Nishapur. They also love wrestling; it’s a shame they couldn’t get along with the Greeks.
May I ask a question about The Secret History (a book that fascinates me)? This is a conundrum from which I cannot recover. Why is Bunny--Eddie Corcoran, brother of Patrick and Brady--anti-Catholic? Especially considering that DT makes an allusion to Cú Chulainn later in the book, which suggests to me that she'd be more aware than most of native Irish culture.
The only thing I can think of is that she means to portray the Corcoran family as shameless strivers toward the upper middle class, so that they've adopted the token Protestantism associated with that class. But didn't the Kennedys make it OK to be Irish Catholic? From my own experience, I would say there are plenty of us among the managerial class, in New England especially. I'd love to hear Paul Fussell's take on the class clues in the novel, but then I'd listen to his take on anything.
The name ‘Bunny’ is straight out of the Preppy Handbook, and I think Tartt depicts him as Irish Protestant as a way of adding depth to his basic characterization as someone who signals loyalty to the existing system even when its roots aren’t deep.
I gave Ivanhoe a try at 12-13 and found it a bit of a slog, but I'll have to try it again sometime. The film has an incredible score by Miklos Rozsa, the love theme rivals anything from Ben-Hur.
Gonna check all these stories on this list but YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS! Ivanhoe my childhood favourite made the list! Got such a strong sense of victory now!
I really want to down the road write a Ivanhoe styled novel in French! Might have to do that after next year.
But damn, gotta try reading Chaucer again, as I rented it from the library once and I think I've a copy somewhere, but haven't touched the poems in awhile. Loved what I read.
There should be a novel about Bertrand du Guesclin
Agreed
I read the D’Aulaires’ Greek and Norse myths to my children and now to my granddaughter (same hardback copy); the books are much loved. When we gave a copy of the Greek Myths to a pregnant faculty member at a book-centered baby shower a few years ago, the book was met with stares of incredulity. Was it too Euro-centric, too white? We “got away” with it, being old and probably not knowing better.
Years ago we lived in Berkeley and had a village poet. The Bubble Lady dressed in long vestments of jewel toned velvet, carried a soap bubble wand and sold her (atrocious) poetry in cafes…. Berkeley was then an odd but more gentle place than it is today.
I should have emphasized that the d’Aulaires books are wholly free of any appeal to the ‘modern audience’ (Critical Drinker voice). They are thus excellent tools for inspiring in Western children a reverent attitude towards their own history and culture. But honestly, I think kids from anywhere would like their stuff; it’s just great.
I noticed everything European has to be mocked or cut down, and this has been going on for a long time.
I wanted to throw away every Magic Tree House book after I read the authors obnoxious commentary at the end of the knights book how the Middle Ages was acktually bad because it "wasnt fair". Can't let little boys get the wrong idea.
The university my grandson just began to atttend has applied a "trigger-warning" to the Canterbury Tales. And not a moment too soon, I might add. Not for reimagining the role of red-hot pokers, mind, but for the expression of Christian views. Nothing worse than stumbling upon Christian views unawares. Someone has to think of the children. They're our future.
It’s like a Bizzaro-World stamp of approval really. The best literature is hated by the worst people. You could do well for your family if you got the chance to ask a panel of English professors what books they would ban if given the choice; get them to cap your reading list at 200 though.
I remember that pain-in-the-ass Tipper Gore and James Baker's less-publically-annoying wife telling me just which LPs I was going to buy because they wanted to put a warning label on them. I am a more cultured person for it, as is my spawn. They have my gratitude.
Chaucer is the new Clash. Prologue to The Junkie's Tale. I can see it and the T-shirts.
When I was young, my parents gave me the D’Aulaires’ Greek myths book for Christmas. It still sits in my mother’s house, although the cover has long fallen off and the binding barely holds. I found a more recent edition by chance while browsing through a used book store last year; I snatched it up instantly and brought it home. I’ll give it to my son when he’s old enough to read. I hope he’ll have the same love for the stories as I did.
I have a similarly dog-eared copy of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. The d’Aulaires of my youth was in the school library.
This is a great list to take with me as I trall through thrift and used book stores. Like a previous commenter, I look forward to The Decameron.
Any future recommendations on the American civil war would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you; I will consider that.
It’s not fiction but I found A Diary From Dixie very moving.
The 1982 version annotated by C Vann Woodward won the Pulitzer Prize for History, back when that meant something.
To combine the Oresteia with the Civil War, you might like Eugene O'Neill's updated version, "Mourning Becomes Electra."
Thank you. I’ll look into that.
Might I add Patrick O'Brian's Maturin-Martin 20-volume work, beginning with Master and Commander? (Skip the move and read the books.)The greatest novel in the English language.
They’re wonderful books; I wouldn’t hesitate to call them the Lord of the Rings of historical fiction for their immersive universe-construction and attention to detail. I did enjoy the movie very much as well though. I wrote about it and another Peter Weir film here. https://librarianofcelaeno.substack.com/p/a-tribute-to-australia-two-films?r=b1hwi
Wow! That’s some recommendation
In similar vein to *Ivanhoe* is *Men of Iron* by Howard Pyle. The scope and stakes are personal, not kingdom altering or world saving, and the tale is the better for it.
I loved The Secret History! I probably read it in the late nineties. I read your essay on the subject- and find our reactions to the book were quite similar. I had just finished a period reading some of the better postmodern writers- Amis, Welsh, Banks, etc- and had come to conclusion that beauty and meaning were entirely missing in their works. The novel also struck a chord because I was familiar with occult dabblers of various sorts, and had come to the same conclusion as Dennis Wheatley.
I found this article from a critic writing for the Michigan Daily. His reaction is quite amusing. I imagine he loathed the book for all the reasons you loved it.
https://www.michigandaily.com/arts/books/the-secret-of-the-secret-history-is-that-its-not-good/
In essence, postmodernism is yet another Counter Enlightenment philosophy. It produced little of worth, other than a few dry, yet accurate, observations, which don't make the world or the human experience any better. If they were brighter sparks, they might draw inspiration from Berlin, Herder, romanticism or go right back to the original rebel, William Blake, with his Urizen and Orc- but they lack the imagination, and the knowledge. In his later years, that fraud and author of human misery on an unprecedented scale, Foucault, had the gall to bitterly complain about the ignorance of his students. He bemoaned the fact that, in order to critique Western knowledge, one first had to possess it- perhaps intuiting his works had attracted the singularly ignorant as students.
Forty years later and the jury is in. Foucault was wrong, and catastrophically so. Most mental illness (distinct from mental health) is caused by physiological brain defect or injury. If you want to know who to blame for a large portion of tide of human misery which crowds Western streets- blame Foucault! He is the author of our misfortune. He was the one who gave our fickle and foolhardy politicians the excuse to dissolve mental institution and institute the cruelly parodic 'care in the community' policy.
The Secret History, postmodernism, Foucault- don't dabble- pursue the Zeno's Paradox of objective truth. Postmodernism was invented so that dumb people could feel smart, by critiquing academic disciplines for which they never had the aptitude. Only Marcuse was worse as an author of human misery, or perhaps Frantz Fanon, with his misguided belief that one could harness Islam to Sartre with the invention of Islamic Terrorism, and then discard the Islam once the Socialist Utopia was achieved.
Regarding that review you linked, you can tell when someone hasn’t read much beyond modern literature. He doesn’t understand that the book in many ways functions as one big Greek tragedy, and much of the latter part of the novel deals with the pollution the characters have introduced into their lives via their participation in the murder playing out.
Maybe you should right something about the role of masks in Greek theatre? I'm sure your readership would find the subject fascinating. Most assume archetypes began with Jung.
Thanks for a good list of books that are mostly off the beaten path. A few that I already had on my list, a few already read, and a few to add to it - I feel decently well rounded!
Special appreciation for the children's books. Both for them, and for me. There is a wonder and a beauty that I'm looking forward to; both in the books, and in their enjoyment of them.
“a bodice fighting for its life.”
This had me in considerable suspense. No seriously, that’s deathless prose.
PS. They were swinging at the Ren Faire too.
Many years ago, I read parts of Collected Works of Omar Khayyam in English. I believe it was published in Turkey. There is no way I can say anything related to the textual criticism regarding Khayyam, but he seemed more pious in them than in Fitzgerald's version.
He’s either a Sufi writing allegorically or an Epicurean writing earnestly, or he didn’t write what’s attributed to him to begin with. Simple, really!
I'm going for an earnest Sufi!
I have a copy of Rubaiyat!
Funnily Omar Fitzgerald's Rubaiyat, directly followed by the Jefferson Bible, is what got me religious. It’s a wonderful slightly-drunken meandering of thoughts, like watching a rich wine slowly mix into a glass of water.
Imagine Persian culture now if they were still allowed to drink, my goodness!
Few cultures on Earth are so reverent of their poets as the Persians. They have a magnificent tomb for Khayyam in his native Nishapur. They also love wrestling; it’s a shame they couldn’t get along with the Greeks.
May I ask a question about The Secret History (a book that fascinates me)? This is a conundrum from which I cannot recover. Why is Bunny--Eddie Corcoran, brother of Patrick and Brady--anti-Catholic? Especially considering that DT makes an allusion to Cú Chulainn later in the book, which suggests to me that she'd be more aware than most of native Irish culture.
The only thing I can think of is that she means to portray the Corcoran family as shameless strivers toward the upper middle class, so that they've adopted the token Protestantism associated with that class. But didn't the Kennedys make it OK to be Irish Catholic? From my own experience, I would say there are plenty of us among the managerial class, in New England especially. I'd love to hear Paul Fussell's take on the class clues in the novel, but then I'd listen to his take on anything.
The name ‘Bunny’ is straight out of the Preppy Handbook, and I think Tartt depicts him as Irish Protestant as a way of adding depth to his basic characterization as someone who signals loyalty to the existing system even when its roots aren’t deep.
Solid rocking list! :)
I gave Ivanhoe a try at 12-13 and found it a bit of a slog, but I'll have to try it again sometime. The film has an incredible score by Miklos Rozsa, the love theme rivals anything from Ben-Hur.