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Mark S.
July 2, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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Re:Re:Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra
As Salaamu Aleikum Ibrahim,
I'm not sure how helpful I can be since what you see is all of the Arabic I know. And I'm not sure where to start, since I know nothing about how much English you know or what your interests our in our language. Please tell me more about yourself and about your interest in Learning English, and I will do my best to help.
Here's something useful I can tell you today: The person who gains knowledge is the one who learns. The person who shares knowledge teaches: I will _teach_ you English. You will _learn_ English from me.
M'a Ssalama!
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Language pair: English; Arabic, Moroccan
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Mark S.
July 1, 2005
# Msgs: 2
Latest: July 1, 2005
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Old Turtle and the Broken Truth
Here's a hot tip: Read Old Turtle and the Broken Truth by Douglas Wood. It is illustrated with lovely watercolors by Jon J. Muth. It's a wonderful myth/children's story for the modern age. It's soulful, meaningful, and moving. You'll be glad you spent the time, I promise.
Enjoy!
Mark Springer
Sacramento, CA USA
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Language pair: English; All
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Mark S.
June 27, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
A & C has never really been one of my favorite plays by Shakespeare, though in my experience, I tend to love his plays most when I'm most familiar with them, and this is actually only my second time reading A & C.
Nonetheless, most of the humor has always been right over my head, much of the plot has always been mysterious to me, and I've never really gotten the point of this story. I've never been able to get how it is that a woman so vain and manipulative as Cleo ("if you find him sad, Say I am dancing; if in mirth, report that I am sudden sick" I.iii.3-4) could be capable of loving another person to the depth that Shakespeare seems to want us to believe she loves Mark Antony. "Noblest of Men, woot die? Hast thou no care of me? Shall I abide in this dull world , which in thy absence is No better than a sty?" (IV.xvi.62-65).
Of course, this is Shakespeare's way, keeping things complex, paradoxical, the way things are in real life. Still his choices are interesting, portraying Cleopatra as a sophomoric flirt, when historically, she was profoundly intelligent, a shrewd businesswoman, and ranging between 30 and 40 years old over the course of time covered in Shakespeare's play. I have a hard time matching the flirt up with that sensible, rational historical figure, but, hey, who's to say she couldn't be both?
Well, Antony and Cleopatra still isn't my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, but I did find more jewels to appreciate in it that I'd missed last time through, and as I'll be studying this in class next semester, I expect I'll be shown and I'll myself discover still more before we're through. At any rate, I'd love to hear what the rest of you think, and if there's some interest, I'll keep you posted as I discover/learn more.
Cheers!
Mark Springer
Sacramento, CA USA
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Language pair: English; All
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Mark S.
June 9, 2005
# Msgs: 2
Latest: July 1, 2005
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Literature Shakespeare Beowulf Pope Sidney
I'm reading the following at the moment:
Beowulf
Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra
Sir Phillip Sidney's Defense of Poesie
Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism
Anybody have any comments or reactions to any of these?
Even if you haven't read the first two, most of you probably know something about them.
Sidney, a renaissance poet, wrote his essay in an effort respond to a number of essays published around the same time, arguing that poetry was bad because, 1) There are much more productive things we can do with our time, 2) Being works of fiction, poetry is nothing but lies. 3) When we read poetry, it tempts us to sinful living, and 4) Plato banned all poets from his republic, so why shouldn't we ban them from ours?
Sort of reminds you of Herr Von Trapp, doesn't it? But it's an interesting essay, and kind of fun to see how Sidney deals with those stuffed renaissance jerkins. If you've an interest and can't find it in your library, it's pretty easy to find on line.
Alexander Pope is really interesting, because I really didn't know him from Adam before I started reading his work, and it turns out that he is the single most quoted writer in the English language after William Shakespeare. He lived about a hundred years after The Bard of Avon and was a master of the heroic couplet, a style of iambic pentameter which Shakespeare often used himself. This proves, actually, to be one of the reasons Pope is so wonderfully quotable. When a pithy jibe is structured as a heroic couplet, it becomes dangerously easy to remember. And one of the things I love about reading Pope (and about Shakespeare) is the number of old sayings I "discover"in their works. There's something really thrilling about coming across one of these and thinking, "So THAT's where that came from!" Such as, "fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead, / For fools rush in where angels fear to tread" (l 624-25). How many thousands of references have we seen to that one?
Anyway, let us know what you know, what you'd like to know, what you discover if you take the time to turn to any of these. I'll let you know if I discover anything new and wonderful while I'm at it.
Cheers!
Mark Springer
Sacramento, CA
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Language pair: English; All
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Mark S.
June 3, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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The most popular Russian book according to Russians
If you were to conduct a survey of college educated Russians about their favorite book, I can guarantee you that it's not going to be anything by Dostoevskij or, heaven forbid, Tolstoj that becomes the most frequent pick.
In fact none of those great Russian classics -- Checkhov, Gorkij, Tolstoj, etc -- will make it. They are very much admired by the Russian people, but rarely read outside of school.
I bet that the clear winner in such a survey would be
"Master and Margarita" (Ìàñòåð è Ìàðãàðèòà) by Bulgakov.
So if any of you want read what most Russians consider the greatest book of the 20th century, that's something you'd want to check out.
I'm not going to post any links to the free versions of this book in Russian and English, as it's against the policy of this site.
So if you're interested and can't find it on your own, you can always ask me in e-mail.
-- Alex
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Language pair: Russian; English
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Alex
April 29, 2005
# Msgs: 2
Latest: August 23, 2024
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Re:Good Books and etc.
By the way--have you seen where they're comeing out with a movie of Hitchhiker's guide? It looks like it should be pretty good.
Cheers,
Mark
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Language pair: English; French
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Mark S.
April 23, 2005
# Msgs: 2
Latest: April 23, 2005
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Re:Good Books and etc.
Yahoo! Cheers for Harry Potter and Douglas Adams.
I have to say that I wished I'd stopped after the second or third book of the Hitchhikers Guide books -- it g to be too much of a good thing and wasn't really entertaining me after that. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, too. It was a shame, because Adams really had something special going there. I've rarely had such great fun in my life as I did reading the Hitchhiker's guide books.
As a reader who has gotten through The Sound and the Fury, I would argue that it is well worth the trip. Yes, it is outrageously difficult, but it is because Faulkner is doing a remarkable experiment with language -- in section one, putting us inside the head of an "idiot", in section 2 into the head of a profoundly sensitive and disturbed young man, part 3 into the head of a very angry, bitter man, and in part 4 into a more objective mind which has a little bit of distance from the Compson family.
There are a number of resources available to help: "trots", or books published which explain what is going on as you read through the novel, taking a course with this novel on the syllabus (as I did), or even searching for web sites on the Internet that offer guidance. One that many readers have found invaluable takes the first section and color codes each passage to show the time-relationships of the various events.
Don't give up too easy. You'll be glad you hung in there.
Best,
Mark Springer
Sacramento, CA USA
Reply to message # 50300
Good Books and etc. Morgan Collins
Hey-lo! I'm currently reading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. So far the books have been pretty good. Because there really isn't a conclusion at the end, you have to keep reading to figure out the meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything. One warning: If you ever decide to read any American writers, do not read the Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. The story is good, but his writing style may give you a headache! Much love to Harry Potter!
Language pair: English; French
Category: Books/Literature
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Language pair: English; All
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Mark S.
April 23, 2005
# Msgs: 2
Latest: April 23, 2005
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books
was that advice for me Lithium2 Toxicity ?if so thank you very much
and i will make it a point to go through it
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Language pair: English; English
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barun m.
March 30, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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Laerning Turkish
Please can some one recommend a "TEACH YOURSEL TURKISH". I am a beginner, fluent in English and Urdu.
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Language pair: English; Turkish
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Momtaaz J.
March 25, 2005
# Msgs: 1
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