A year of reading
A year ago, with a friend, we decided to embark on fun little project. Read at least one book from the greatest writers in the history of humanity. Some time before I had come upon T. Greer’s attempt at building a Great books of the world Canon. We used that list as our guide, and we started reading. So far we’ve finished books by 11 of the writers.
Crime and Punishment, by F. Dostoyevsky (translation by
Dream of the Red Mansion, by Cao Xueqin
Faces of Love, by Hafez
Le Divan, by Hafez
Echiridion, by Epictetus
Le discours décisif, by Ibn Rushd
Du Fu: A Life in Poetry, by Du Fu
The Selected Poems of Tu Fu, by Du Fu
Manifeste du parti communiste, by K. Marx et F. Engels
The Selected Poems of Li Po, by Li Bai
Sur moi-même, by Su Dongpo
Listening All Night to the Rain, by Su Dongpo
Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, by Ibn Tufayl
The Gulistan, by Sa’di
I’m planing on writing an article for each of those books but being a slow writer it might never come to pass. Don’t hold your breath
Current readings
We’re in the process of reading both the Ramayana and In Search of Lost Time. This is what we’ve read so far. It amounts to about half of both books.
The Ramayana: Bala Kanda, by Valmiki
The Ramayana: Ayodhya Kanda, by Valmiki
The Ramayana: Aranya Kanda, by Valmiki
The Ramayana: Kishkindha Kanda, by Valmiki
Du côté de chez Swan, by M. Proust
À l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs, by M. Proust
Le côté de Guermantes, by M. Proust
Quotes from this week’s reading
Ramayana : Kishkindha kanda, Sarga 40 - 66
“Hanuman believed that Valin's son possessed the eight kinds of intelligence, the four strengths, and the fourteen qualities; that he was constantly increasing in power, strength, and prowess, like the moon growing in majesty at the start of the bright fortnight; and that he was like his father in valor, equal to Brhaspati in intelligence, and as attentive to Tara as Indra, smasher of citadels, was to Sukra.” (Sarga 53, translation by R. Lefeber)
If, like me, you were wondering what was Hanuman on about, here’s the answer, adapted from both Lefeber and Debroy translation.
The eight kinds of intelligences : desire to listen to others, hearing what is said, grasping what is said, capacity to remember, reasoning in favor of a proposition, reasoning against a proposition, comprehension of meaning, and knowledge of the truth and morality.
The four strengths : conciliation, bribery, sowing dissension, and punishment.
The fourteen qualities : knowledge of time and place, firmness, bearing all distress, knowledge of all profane matters, skillfulness, energy, keeping one's plans secret, not violating one's promise, heroism, knowing one's own strength, gratitude, protection of those who have sought refuge, impatience (determination), and steadiness
We (Sampati and Jatayu) approached the sun, blazing in its garland of rays. With a terrible speed, we travelled through the sky and covered it, reaching the sun at midday. Jatayu began to suffer. I saw that my brother was suffering because of the rays of the sun and became extremely anxious. Out of affection, I covered him with my wings. O bulls among the apes! When my wings were burnt, I fell down on the Vindhyas. (Sarga 57, translation by Debroy)
Daedalus and Icarus anyone ? Weird that I couldn’t find any scholarly work comparing both myth. If anyone knows of any, i’d love to read them.
À la recherche du temp perdu, Sodome et Gomorrhe II, ch. 2, p. 1346-1363
“mais les personnes, au fur et à mesure qu’on les connait, sont comme un métal plongé dans un mélange alterant, et on les voit peu à peu perdre leurs qualités (comme parfois leurs défauts).” (p. 1354)
The Gulistan, Chapter 8 : The Art of Conversation (translation by Thackston)
No matter how much learning you acquire, if you don’t act, you are ignorant (p. 149)
Three things do not last: wealth without trade, knowledge without debate, and kigdome without punishment (p. 149)
He who took pity on a serpent did not know that it was an act of injustice to a human (p. 151)
Even if intelligence were to become extinct on the face of the earth, no one would think to himself, “I’m stupid.” (p. 155)
A learned person should not pass over on ignorant person’s stupidity in clemency, for it detracts from both sides: the stature of the on is diminished, and the ignorance of the other is reinforced (p. 161)
Ask what you don’t know, for the humiliation of asking will guide you to the dignity of knowledge
Don’t be hasty in asking about something you know you’ll find out about anyway, for it detracts from the dignity of rule. (p. 166)
Read part 2 of https://www.hindufaqs.com/similarities-hinduism-greek-mythology-ep/
You and your friend are extremely courageous! Hope you last out, both reading and the related writing, all the way to the end!