From an email on the subject of the 7-book list
One of the things I had in mind when I made lists like that that culminated in that 7-book list (lower down in the right-hand margin of this blog) was this: if a person was just dropped in the desert in some time in the past and only had seven book influences what would be the best seven? (And I had in mind also: influences to give that person enough to make him able to become an Alexander or Caesar of his time.) So I chose influences that are not 'surfacy' regarding knowledge but are more like physical monuments that go to essence. Also influences that are bibles in their own subject matter. Then I made the list balanced. The War [On War - von Clausewitz] and Wealth [Wealth of Nations - Smith] bibles give you the main worldly subjects. The Calvin [Commentaries and Institutes of the Christian Religion] gives you theology and, really, philosophy; not man's wisdom but God's wisdom, as-well-as, in the most real way, the mysteries, and knowledge and understanding of how one is 'built-up' in the only real way that matters: faith. The Thucydides is really the only pure bible of history. It is pretty hard to crack, so to speak, but it contains universal understanding of historical patterns and human nature and the nature of power and all that that history gives. The Plutarch [Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans] speaks for itself. Human architecture. The Homer [Iliad and Odyssey] and the very Word of God itself the Holy Bible [AV1611] speak for themselves.
11 Comments:
Interesting thoughts.
Thank you, dyspraxic fundamentalist.
Yes, Jeff, the list actually can be expanded to 12 (I make 12 a baker's dozen). I usually give annotations for each too, explaining just why, for instance, Wealth of Nations is a universal influence, both as a general subject and also in terms of individual development.
But here's the more expanded list:
Bible
Homer
Shakespeare
Parzival
On War
Wealth of Nations
Calvin
Montesquieu
Plato
Gibbon
Greek Historians (Herodotus/Thucydides)
Plutarch
History of the World (any good one)
Gibbon is preeminent in giving an education in the nature of power and the nature of human nature. The two Greek historians listed together compliment each other like the Iliad and the Odyssey compliment each other. Both have elements of sacred influence in them. You just have to read them to pick up the influence via the structure and language. Herodotus is especially unique in this.
War and Wealth are two great universal metaphors. The tactics and strategy of warfare and the creaction, accumulation, and circulation of wealth. They both apply apply to the process of inner development. Spiritual warfare, for instance, and increase of awakening (or consciousness). Yet they are both also - and von Clausewitz' book and Adam Smith's book specifically - central, foundational worldly subjects and activities. War, economy, law, government, (medicine too). The Montesquieu covers law and government in a basic way.
Homer - the Iliad and the Odyssey - are unique in that they are complete languages - COMPLETE - of conscious, inner development. They are not Holy Writ (they are like planets to the Sun in that sense, they don't generate their own light, yet they reflect more of the light of the Sun than any other works of literature available to man on this planet). To just read them gives you a complete higher visual language to begin to be able to see things in yourself and around you that you couldn't see without the language. The Bible is the ultimate in this, it is Living Language. Yet the lesser influences play their role in sort of conditioning a person internally to being able to use the real Living Language that the Bible is.
Samuel Johnson summed up Shakespeare best when he said with the complete works a hermit is able to discern the transactions of the world. Shakespeare can always seem overrated, but his plays are what are called school works. They came out of schools associated with acting companies which was common in that time. The plays are higher language that depict aspects of individual awakening and development. Plutarch's Lives are similar works (and thus it shouldn't surprise that Shakespeare was able to adopt various lives from Plutarch in whole to carry his own work).
All these works do their work at deep levels. Levels where language isn't 'seen' working. This is why very normally inspired people like a Tolstoy can throw up his hands and pronounce Shakespeare as overrated 'nothing', while another very inspired person can proclaim Shakespeare to be the ultimate influence short of Holy Writ.
I include Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival because it's representative of another unique language that is basically Grail Romance. Malory, de Troye, Wolfram von Eschenbach. Parzival is unique in being a complete poem and kind of contains all of the Grail language in a high form. This is language that enables understanding of actual Biblical practices. None of it is obvious. It's in the category of efforts you make on faith to get above where you are now. You can demonstrate it in numbers: for 1 to get to 2 you have to engage 3 first. 3 is beyond the current realm of 1, so you on faith engage an influence that is beyond you and it raises you to the next level. Higher visual language does this. The Bible is higher visual language, but of course one always has to state that the Bible is in it's own category because it is Living Language and pure and the very Word of God.
The Plato speaks for itself. It's a bible for the subject of philosophy, and also Socrates communicates an ethic that is universal for awakening conscience.
The seven book list is the rock list, though. It has the central element of being seven works that go to essence, and the seven books actually contain the other works in the expanded list.
Boring!
I wish Milton had gone ahead and chosen Arthurian matter for his epic poem.
The problem with Milton and Dante is they're competing directly with Holy Writ. That and the fact that both Milton and Dante are not doctrinally on-the-mark.
For that reason alone it's difficult to take the poems seriously. (I know that sounds funny, but the fact that they are using Holy Writ as their subject matter hamstrings them. One can look for esoteric matter in Dante and the sheer play of language in Milton, but these are different things, side things, than what epic poetry potentially delivers. (they're surfacy literary things, or, in Dante's case, Renaissance esoterica. Homer is preeminent. The original. The inspiration of Dante (via Virgil) and Milton. Homer is like nature.
But of course they are great, inspired works, but for the purposes of my list they aren't in the realm of Homer. Homer contains them too.
Milton was a Puritan, but he actually had eccentric doctrinal beliefs. I don't just refer to that though. There a difference beween literary epic and folk epic, to use that terminology.
For the purposes of the list I made folk epic is deeper, and goes to essence.
Bunyan is not hamstrung in his material the way I meant with Dante and Milton, because Bunyan is not competing with Holy Writ. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is similar to the Odyssey. I call Pilgrim's Progress visual doctrine. It is very on-the-mark doctrine as well.
For Homer translations I usually recommend, aside from any of the good 20th century verse translation such a Fitzgerald and Fagles: for prose: Lang, Leaf, Myers, and Butcher, Lang. For verse: first level: Stanley Lombardo (simple yet sneaky poetic and really very good 'street level' translations); second level: Alexander Pope; third level: George Chapman. Personally I find Pope's translations to be remarkable. The Lombardo translations, though, are remarkable as well for the most simple rendition and for what he was attempting to do.
I first read Homer in the simple, prose (and paraphrase) W.H.D. Rouse translations. Then I read Robert Fitzgerald's verse trans. Then I read the Lang, Leaf, Myers, Butcher prose renditions (and found them to be rather inspired in their own albeit artificial archaic way. Then I acquired the Penguin Classics overpriced Iliad in Pope's translation, and scoured the internet for his Odyssey trans., and found Pope to be, as stated, remarkable. Then out of curiosity I looked at the newer Stanley Lombardo translations and was surprised by them. It sounds like an uninformed recommendation to recommend Lombardo, but you just have to read his renditions to get a sense of his skill and discernment, as long as you realize he is not trying to be Alexander Pope. I've yet to read Chapman complete, but I've read him in passages (as I have fifty other translation; I have been somewhat of a Homer translation addict over the years)...
I really, really recommend reading and getting real understanding of the Iliad and the Odyssey. It not only give you a complete language of inner development, but there is no better accomplishment to prepare a person to read and understanding Holy Writ. Perhaps one could throw in the classical Greek historians as well (Herodotus, Thucydides, Plutarch) and even Plato. But to read Homer complete, and really conquer the two epics (get real understanding of them, get them in memory) is the best way to approach doing the same regarding Holy Writ. Holy Writ isn't as easy to conquer (though Holy Writ wants you to conquer it, like Jacob taking on the Angel).
It may be because it's just not available enough, which surprises me because Homer is always a perennial seller among classic works...
The Pope is aristocratic, in a literary sense, because, among other things, it recognizes and brings out the verticalness in the poems. I think also the nature of heroic couplets makes the poet/translator (poet/translator in Pope's case) create very visualized and detailed and contained images and actions and so forth. Ironically, you wouldn't assume it, Pope describes nature in the poems better than less 'artificial' renderings. The heroic ryhming couplet he uses is really very effective for capturing aspect of the Homeric epics prose and more prose-like verse translations can't get at...
Euclid's Elements are an influence that will go into essence. It is a monument in the sense I describe above. Just taking it for what it is, and not looking for an education or career in cutting-edge higher mathematics.
Music in general is another.
My list of 7 was exclusively a list of the written word though. The thing about lists is you have to set the criteria and boundaries.
Balanced development though includes development in intellect, emotion (creativity), and physical movement.
Mathematics, music, athletics, performing arts, literature, visual arts, etc. If you're naturally bookish, develop yourself physically and creatively. If you're naturally physically-oriented, develop yourself intellectually and creatively. If you're naturally creative, develop yourself physically and intellectually. You'll have a center-of-gravity where you're most developed and comfortable (your type), but real development requires balanced development intellectually, emotionally, and physically. And then engaging influences, that require effort and directed attention. Influences that are above your current level of understanding and outside your current interest...
Pope's Iliad has been called the greatest epic poem in English (kind of tongue-in-cheek, of course, because it's Homer's work, but still the poetry and overall accomplishment it unique).
His Odyssey is often spoken of as if it is a lesser accomplishment than the Iliad trans., but that's overstated. You'll read that his assistants did half the books, but Pope nevertheless vetted and polished each verse and the final product ultimately.
The only thing you have to grant to its critics is: it isn't the original. Of course it isn't. Yet Pope brings out aspects of the original other translators, and transaling styles, can't bring out. So with Homer in translation you always have to get at the epics via several different good translations.
Chapman's translations are treasures for the English language in themselves, in ways very different from Pope. But I havn't made a dedicated reading of Chapman's Homer, so I can't back that up currently in any way or offer any insight... Just impressions from reading passages, and from reading secondary material... And knowing Elizabethan English and Elizabethan poets...
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