dear scaifea~

the Loeb Pliny arrived today, to my great excitement!
i must say, it is in better condition than you led me to believe... i LOVE books with 'character'. :)

thank you again, and i look forward to browsing through it this evening (and possibly improving my horrific Latin skills!).

regards,
Peter

posted by Enodia at 3:12 pm (EST) on Apr 25, 2008

Thanks Amber. I appreciate your checking for me. I'll take a look at your colleague's recommendation.

posted by Garp83 at 9:21 pm (EST) on Apr 15, 2008

no worries Amber.
i have a perpetual list of classical reading to catch up on, so i'm not starving. :)
thank you for the update though, and i hope all is well.

~Peter

posted by Enodia at 1:36 pm (EST) on Apr 12, 2008

I asked because you are in classics, but naturally that covers a really wide range. I am looking for a solid history of the fourth century, but most works(except for a couple of boring texts I've seen) focus on the fifth century. I would love to find something that highlights 404 BCE to 338 BCE and I was hoping you might know of something. The Sealey book is a general, longer history but does have a chunk of the fourth century -- I picked it up at a used record store on my birthday (the 7th) and before I got too deeply into wondered if you had an opinion. What is your focus in the classics btw?

posted by Garp83 at 8:03 pm (EST) on Apr 10, 2008

Hey Amber -- Are you familiar with History of the Greek City States 700-338 by Sealey? What's your opinion? -- rgds, Garp

posted by Garp83 at 7:16 am (EST) on Apr 9, 2008

Thanks Amber -- you're the best!

posted by Garp83 at 6:57 am (EST) on Apr 4, 2008

Amber -- do you have alink to this 100 Banned Books book in LibraryThing? I'm having a hard time locating it ...

posted by Garp83 at 8:16 pm (EST) on Apr 3, 2008

Hi Amber -- got it on my other email. Thanks! Can't help wondering who banned these books and where -- intriguing!

posted by Garp83 at 5:02 pm (EST) on Mar 30, 2008

Hi Amber -- for some reason multiple email accounts of mine were bouncing yesterday -- don't know why. (I have all spam filters turned off) Please try again. Also try my alternate email account: stan@gogeeks.com Thanx again!

posted by Garp83 at 11:27 am (EST) on Mar 30, 2008

well thank you again m'dear, and rest assured it will be well thumbed and live out its' years in happiness on my shelves!

:)

posted by Enodia at 7:01 pm (EST) on Mar 29, 2008

Hi Amber -- yes I would love a copy of your list of the 100 Banned Books. Send to: garp83@verizon.net
Thanks in advance!

posted by Garp83 at 8:25 pm (EST) on Mar 28, 2008

Hi Amber,
Thanks for the encouragement!
I'm in Australia, and I hope to be heading over to the UK to do my MA and PhD, provided that I find adequate funding! Education shouldn't be as expensive as it is :(.

Regards,
Steive

posted by Stevia at 5:58 am (EST) on Mar 28, 2008

I like the "100 Most Banned Books" reading list idea. I googled it and found there are a number of these lists. Which one are you working off? I'd like to get the list for my local "beer & books" reading club.

posted by Garp83 at 10:57 am (EST) on Mar 27, 2008

Hi Amber -- Garp83 from the Ancient History club here. Cool profile! When you are done with "Age of Reason", read Susan Jacoby's "Freethinkers" for a macro view of how Paine and others fit into the tradition of American secularism that has often been at war with (altho sometimes allied with) evangelism. A solid bio of Paine with the most up-to-date scholarship is Craig Nelson's "Thomas Paine." Oh, and if you like horror flicks, don't miss "30 Days of Night" -- awesome!

posted by Garp83 at 6:47 pm (EST) on Mar 26, 2008

Hi Amber,

I'm enjoying the company of classicists on LT! I've only just finished my undergrad and doing a transition year into postgrad study. And so I find your library to be fascinating!

Hope to see you around on LT!

Stevie

posted by Stevia at 5:03 pm (EST) on Mar 26, 2008

Amber - so glad to see another fellow LTer with The Elements of Style in her library. Long live William Strunk. Congrats again on the baby! =)

Happy Reading!
Jill

posted by mrstreme at 7:53 am (EST) on Jan 26, 2008

Thanks!

posted by _Zoe_ at 9:20 pm (EST) on Jan 11, 2008

Wow, it really is a small world! I don't know Erik Gunderson or Victoria Wohl very well since they came to the department so recently, but Victoria Wohl is teaching a course that I'm taking this semester, so that should soon change.

Also, browsing your catalogue, I have to say that I have very fond memories of the Choose Your Own Adventure books!

posted by _Zoe_ at 7:43 pm (EST) on Jan 11, 2008

Hi, Amber,

I actually don't have a problem with calling it PR except that term and "spin" have taken on a definite connotation these days--meaning outright lies. As far as I'm concerned, EVERY general lies; all one has to do is look back over the past few years and especially during the Vietnam War to see that. Caesar just lied less than most and his core achievements were greater.

Enjoy your break!

Joyce

posted by Joycepa at 10:52 pm (EST) on Jan 1, 2008

Hi, Amber! Thanks for joining the Reading Out Loud group! I'm excited to get in touch with other people who read out loud to each other, especially as adults. My sister went to Kenyon, and I went to Oberlin, so it's fun to run into another person from the small-liberal-arts-college-in-Ohio environment. I read to my boyfriend just about every night - sometimes we even go to bed early so we can read longer. It's such a fun way to share books. And I see that you're a knitter too - so far, all three members of the Reading Out Loud group are knitters. Glad you've joined us!!

posted by Gwendydd at 2:26 pm (EST) on Jan 1, 2008

Oh, and silly me. Of course you know where Purdue is! And my brother went to IU, by the way.

posted by lindsacl at 8:38 am (EST) on Dec 27, 2007

Hi there ... funny, I checked out your profile as well and saw you were at Kenyon. I grew up in Cincinnati, OH and went to school at Purdue, in West Lafayette, IN (graduated in 1984, so it's been a while). Small world!

posted by lindsacl at 8:37 am (EST) on Dec 27, 2007

Aye, I was surprised when I stopped by that I hadn't seen your library before.

Thanks for the well-wishes - I'm in my third year, so finished coursework and as of this spring, I guess officially starting work on my dissertation proposal. Very scary!!!

posted by philosojerk at 12:27 pm (EST) on Dec 15, 2007

Hi, Amber!

Good to hear from you!

Yes, indeed, I did enjoy them--actually a lot more than I thought I would. If you're interested, I just posted a review this morning. I have a lot of heavier reading I'm doing now, plus a Steinbeck project I want to start soon, so I don't think I'll be doing any more reading either of Cicero or Pliny and Martial (actually, I'm dying of curiosity about those two) for a little while. It's spring on the farm here; tomorrow, we start installing the last of the fencing around our place (Fred's Fence, to keep our Happy Wanderer chocolate Lab in--he's the stressed-out dog on my profile page!). also, I'm working frantically to get the first raised beds in to accommodate seedlings of tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, eggplants, and cantaloupe; I'm also nursing along two different type of papaya trees I'm growing from seeds. Today we're running down to a place where MIDA (an agricultural ministry of the federal gov't) has its main tree-growing area for this province--I want to buy two mamanchino (no temperate equivalent) fruit trees. December is the month that everyone paints here in Panama, and I want to get at least the living room/dining room area (we have an open plan house) painted for Christmas, so gotta prep that.

so, it's busy times and my reading has definitely slowed down.

Hope to hear good news about your joint project with your husband in classical nomenclature soon! ;-)

Later!

posted by Joycepa at 8:34 am (EST) on Dec 7, 2007

Amber--

Best of luck to you and your husband on your new project! :-)

Joyce

posted by Joycepa at 5:56 pm (EST) on Oct 20, 2007

Amber--

When I wrote, I had not opened the box--was anxious to let you know the books had arrived--fridays are busy for me and today worse thanks to the Week From Hell. But now I've gloated over them all and am delighted with the "treat". I will let you know my progress (assuming, of course, that there IS any progress! :-) ).

Thanks again.

Joyce

posted by Joycepa at 6:02 pm (EST) on Oct 19, 2007

Amber--

Thanks--I'm truly grateful for the books. I'll certainly let you know when they arrive. Mail from Miami is once or twice a week depending on volume. Then it sits in Panama Citty, waiting to go through Customs. After that, it travels nearly 2/3 of the way across the (small) country to David. Sometimes I get a call that there's mail, sometimes not. I always check on Fridays. But figure a minimum of 10 days to two weeks, sometimes longer depending on where in the cycle the books hit Miami. In November, it's much worse--there are at least 5 independence celebrations here, national and provincial, plus one or two others I don't recall. Means the country is shut down--and I mean shut down. But your package shuld get here before that.

Again, thanks and blessings!

Joyce

posted by Joycepa at 3:02 pm (EST) on Oct 4, 2007

YES!!!! I went to an excellent high school and had two years of Latin there under a superb, dedicated, wonderfully sardonic teacher. I'd be relearning and that 'should' be easier, even though it IS 50+ years later! It would allow me to read Caesar in the original. Oh, frabjous day!

posted by Joycepa at 4:26 pm (EST) on Sep 26, 2007

I would be hysterically grateful to you to receive all except the Aeschylus--I have two copies of his works. Let me give you my US courier service mailing address, which is in Florida:

Joyce LaGow
1557 NW 82nd Ave
Suite PMA 30
Miami, FL 33126

From there, they'll air-freight it to Panama City and then to David, which is the town closest to me.

I am more than happy to reimburse you for postage, if you don't mind waiting about 3 weeks for a check! Maybe more--our closeest post office is only open two days a week, and they keep shifting that schedule on me--and of course the days and hours are never posted because we live at the edge of a very small town, and of course everyone in the small town knows the postmistress, who lives close by and so of course everyone knows the hours and so of course there is no need to post the schedule...

I LOVE Panama, I love living here, but you definitely need a sense of humor and a great deal of flexibility--which I must have since I've been here over three years, feel that this is home--the memory of the US has pretty much faded like a bad dream.

As for running on--believe me, I have the same problem myself! Get me started on the Civil War and I'm off .

posted by Joycepa at 12:59 pm (EST) on Sep 26, 2007

Simply because I don't wish to REALLY get off track in the thread, I'm asking you here--you would know , it seems to me--did the ancient Athenians publish their speeches the way the Romans did? Grant you, I'm sure Cicero, Caesar and others edited them, but still there was a written record.

You know, I truly value the discussions. I live in Panama; the nearest English-language library is probably on the Florida Keys--I doubt that Panama City, the capital, has a public one of any type, and I don't live anywhere near there anyway. I buy all my books--I have to. There is one mediocre used book store near me, and while it's a fair source for mysteries, I buy very little there.

I stumbled on LT by accident, and immediately began using it as my primary source for ideas for books. I have found the discussions invaluable. I've bought--already!--close to a hundred books based on what I've picked up on LT and have been disappointed in only 2! I found, for example, the discussion on Chinese foot-binding in women and the animal cruelty in Water for Elephants valuable. I have to say i never woulod have bought Cicero's Letters if there hadn't been that discussion in which you participated. I'd hate to see them stop.

And of course, I love a good discussion and jump right in when it's on one of my passionate interests such as history. It's hard, sometime, to know when to stop. Unfortunately, in all my 70 years, I have never been particularly well-known for verbal restraint (I think I was born talking)! :-)

posted by Joycepa at 9:42 am (EST) on Sep 26, 2007

Was that the 1st invasion? I'm not clear at all about dates until the late Republic--didn't the 1st one occur--say, for the sake of argument--something like 200 BCE? is this the one you're talking about?

I'd decided recently to bolster my classics section of my library with all sorts of goodies, ranging from the Cicero letters to Austen and Dickens, for example. I'll sneak Livy in there somewhere! My TBR shelves--yes, plural these days--are fairly full right now, but only because I've been on an ordering spree. I'll have to stop soon or at least slow down because just as there ain't no such thing as a free lunch, there also ain't no such thing as unlimited bookshelf space! I'm going to have to get another one built pretty soon here.

posted by Joycepa at 12:23 pm (EST) on Sep 24, 2007

I agree, we have very eclectic taste. If you ever have any recommendations be sure to send them my way!

posted by bookworm12 at 7:49 pm (EST) on Sep 23, 2007

Personally, I always kind of liked Frankenstein's creature! :) Gotta love someone whose life is shaped by books, right?

posted by Cariola at 11:15 am (EST) on Sep 8, 2007

Hope you don't mind my adding you to my list of interesting libraries. I cheked yours after some of our exchanges in the groups--we have a lot of books in common!

Deborah (Cariola)

P.S. I see that you're also reading Paradise Lost. That's another of the books that is read by Frankenstein's creature and influences his development.

posted by Cariola at 11:13 pm (EST) on Sep 7, 2007

I've ordered two volumes--Letters to Atticus, 1-89, and Letters to Friends. I'm not very fond of the Loeb Library format, but from what you've said and a tad bit more research, looks like that's the best source. should be here in about 3 weeks or so--looking forward to reading them! Many thanks for the recommendations.

posted by Joycepa at 11:29 am (EST) on Sep 4, 2007

Outside of a few letters I've read--I should say, exerpts--in other contexts, my 'knowledge' of Cicero's letters and Cicero come from Colleen McCullough. and I totally agree with you based on that. I love history, read a great deal in it, and am constantly annoyed with those who make it dull--hard work to do so, if you ask me! I also know that translations make a BIG difference. I haven't read classical Latin since high school, so am dependent on translations. What would you recommend as the best translations? I have several translations of Caesar, and there certainly is a big difference!

And yes, given McCullough, I can believe that Cicero was considered a great wit. And your comments about his marriage.

I have absolutely no problem with someone carrying on about his/her passion. :-) How else to live? Boring otherwise.

posted by Joycepa at 7:36 am (EST) on Sep 4, 2007

Thanks--I will look for it. I've been really intrigued with the possibility that his letters, far from being any objective account of events at the time, were at least in part self-serving. Well, why not? No different from just about every other politician! :-) Thanks again for your informative reply.

posted by Joycepa at 7:09 am (EST) on Sep 4, 2007

And I meant to say--forgot--whatever comments you have to make!

posted by Joycepa at 6:46 am (EST) on Sep 4, 2007

I just read your post about reading a draft article of Cicero's letters. I'm not scholar but have a lively interest in the era. Can you give the gist of the article? I became interested in Cicero's letters through reading Coleen McCullough's series, Masters of Rome.

posted by Joycepa at 6:45 am (EST) on Sep 4, 2007

Oh, quite! Also, isn't Tim Spalding quite the classics buff himself? I have a vague recollection... yes, here it is: http://www.ancientlibrary.com/

(At least he wants to create a major new classics site, which is reason enough to support LibraryThing, I suppose.)

posted by desideo at 7:38 am (EST) on Sep 3, 2007

Well, you're a Classics professor, after all - I simply can't help being interested in your library! (I have an M.A. in Archaeology and an M.A. in Classical History.)

posted by desideo at 7:02 am (EST) on Sep 3, 2007