Monday, April 20, 2020

Classics Club Spin #23. And the winner is...


Which is Plutarch's Lives. For the first time that durned spin machine picked the longest book on my list. I'm both looking forward to it, but also dreading it.


My beat-up edition is the Modern Library Giant, translated by Dryden and revised by Arthur Hugh Clough. I've dipped into it before, and have even read a little bit of Plutarch in Greek, (see those Plutarch Loebs in the background) though not very much. But this one's 1300 pages. One of my professors once said, quoting, I think, one of his professors, "You're not a real classicist until you've read all of Plutarch." I believe he meant, read it in Greek, but at this point I'll settle for what I can get...

And speaking of Arthur Hugh Clough...I once wrote poem about him. (Ahem!)


Just Got A Clough (or Arthur Hugh Who?)


Arthur Hugh Clough, Selected Poems, Fyfield Books.


The book arrived Fedex today;

I read the preface straight away.

I had to know just what to do

to say the name of Arthur Clough.

It didn't say--I still don't know--

how I should say Arthur Clough.

The editors at Fyfield Press

have left me in an awful mess:

enough to make me want to cough

worrying about Arthur Clough!

I know it shouldn't get to me--

so what if it's a mystery?

I'll just keep calm--no need to curse--

I will just simply read the verse:

"Thou shalt not steal; an empty feat

when 'tis so lucrative to cheat..."--

That's from The Latest Decalogue

by you know who--Arthur Clough!


Wikipedia tells me that the proper rhyme is...oh, enough!


How does your spin look? Did you get something fun?

19 comments:

  1. that's classically hilarious!!! what a talent you have, lurking behind that modest appearing blog header!!!

    i've got the lives but not that one thanks a lot; i've dabbled but never so anyone would notice...

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    1. Thanks!

      As for Plutarch,...I am looking forward to this, I am, I am, said the Little Engine That Could...

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  2. Ahahaha, that's great!

    I too got my longest book picked, though not as long as that. Plutarch is also on my list, but I need a readable copy. Last time I tried, it was not a readable copy!

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    1. I hope my giant copy survives reading. You can see that the cloth is giving way a bit, but the boards seem OK, and it's sewn binding, so...and I won't be lugging it around on a subway or anything, which never does them any good.

      It's the season for long books!

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  3. Your not going to read it in Greek? Oh dear.

    Just kidding. You are going to feel so accomplished when you can check that behemoth off your list. And it sounds quite interesting as well.

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    1. I may peek at the Greek once or twice, but my Greek was probably never up to the task and certainly isn't now. But just finishing it in English will feel good!

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  4. Your poem! And, wow, 1200 pages.

    I did not spin. I spent last week with a bad cough. Yesterday I didn't get out of bed. I am trying to get myself back into the world today. Guess I need to get dressed and make my bed.

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    1. Sorry to hear you've been under the weather, but good to know you're recovering. Keep well! And also sorry to hear you won't be doing the spin--I always enjoy seeing what you read.

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  5. Plutarch's Lives. Wow. Good for you for even considering giving that one a spin. :D

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    1. It could be I'm going to regret considering it...

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  6. Your translated Plutarch looks like it's been read with extreme prejudice already. It's on Gutenberg, so you may prefer to read that.
    If you haven't read it, put "Amours de Voyage" on your next Classics list, now you've stopped fretting about how to pronounce Clough's name (I see you haven't read Betjeman's "Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough..." from your list of dilemmas). A great poem and a great novel.

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    1. Read with extreme prejudice by someone but not by me...And it's pleasantly unmarked. But it's good to know I can get the Gutenberg version if my wrist starts feeling the weight.

      I have read Amours de Voyage, and yes! isn't it great? A great story and the best dactylics & elegiacs in the English language for my money. 'Dear Eustation, I write that you may write me an answer,'--what is blogging but that?

      I'd probably read the Betjeman, but if so I'd forgotten it. What a fun poem. And, yes, I clearly need another couplet.

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    2. Eustatio. Can't even blame that one on the spellchecker.

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  7. Oh good grief! REally?? Now I feel that I should pick it up again. I started it but the posting per person (or comparison, I can't remember now which I did) felt overwhelming at the time. I've been working lots this week which has left me no reading time but if it slows down next week .... We'll see ..... Yes, that's me! Just call me Cleo Commitment!! 🤪

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    1. It's definitely going to be more than one post from me on this monster, though I don't know if I'll manage a post for every pair of lives.

      And, of course, I'll be happy just to finish in anything like on time!

      I'll have to hunt up your old posts as I go along. It'll be cool to see what you wrote.

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  8. I enjoyed the poem.

    The Plutarch is full of great stuff.

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  9. Thanks!

    I do definitely have good feelings about Plutarch. It's a bit surprising I didn't get more of him in my days as a classicist. It looks like I read (or was supposed to read) two of the lives for Greek Survey as a grad student. I probably did, but couldn't tell you any more for sure...

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  10. What a chunkster that one is! I have to say I've been avoiding some of the old "classic classics," although graduallyyyy moving towards them via the Stoics.

    Also, I love the poem! I'm constantly perplexed how to pronounce names and have to rely on Forvo. :)

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    1. Since I majored in Latin & Greek, I should...be Ok with the classics, but we'll see. I have been trying to read some of those books I once piled up & have been on the TBR forever.

      Thanks about the poem! I'd never heard of Forvo--it looks pretty handy.

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