tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817835476996956670.post6343167883405490348..comments2024-03-12T09:44:18.874-07:00Comments on Howling Frog Books: Classics Club: February MemeJeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14247515387599954817noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817835476996956670.post-28941159210270090592014-02-15T22:49:23.553-08:002014-02-15T22:49:23.553-08:00I need to read Lem--I haven't ever seen anythi...I need to read Lem--I haven't ever seen anything by him. Thanks for stopping by! Jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14247515387599954817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817835476996956670.post-91596248037984829322014-02-15T14:11:40.801-08:002014-02-15T14:11:40.801-08:00This one is new to me, I am immediately intrigued....This one is new to me, I am immediately intrigued. How many excellent books have been obscured by the canon one wonders. <br />Love the blog design, great minds think alike perhaps, very much enjoy reading back through your posts. Roadside Picnic particularly caught my eye, my knowledge of Russian sci-fi is limited to Stanislaw Lem, so another title to add to the list of books to seek out.Sharonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17824748902803492123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817835476996956670.post-22453200857514881932014-02-14T22:14:15.525-08:002014-02-14T22:14:15.525-08:00JNC, you really will love it when you get to read ...JNC, you really will love it when you get to read it. :)<br /><br />Tom, more reading and writing might have been better than the enormous amounts of theory we had to swallow--I think as comp. lit. majors we actually got more than the English people did, but certainly there was theory in English too. And the canon, with emphasis on its illusory quality, was a constant.<br /><br />I do agree that you need a lot of context to make sense of medieval literature, and probably especially so with Christine. She was writing in protest against societal habits that are so foreign to us now that they have to be carefully explained. Her insistence on women's chastity sounds Puritanical until you realize that women were commonly considered to be so wanton that they would never say no to anybody--and thus rape was perfectly OK.Jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14247515387599954817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817835476996956670.post-23178502565666526152014-02-14T19:02:36.970-08:002014-02-14T19:02:36.970-08:00I got an English degree at a big state school not ...I got an English degree at a big state school not nearly as prestigious, or good, as Berkeley, and the word "canon" was never mentioned. No theory of any kind was mentioned, although I now know that some was employed by the professors. We just read and wrote, read and wrote.<br /><br />I have read this Christine de Pizan book myself, and certainly agree with your assessment, but it sure needs a lot of context to make sense. Perhaps that is true of all medieval literature.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1817835476996956670.post-81372631841140164152014-02-14T17:00:21.652-08:002014-02-14T17:00:21.652-08:00Ah, yes. This one was on my immediate reading list...Ah, yes. This one was on my immediate reading list when life began to fall apart two years ago. I am still determined to read it as soon as I have a chance. And I love your reminiscences about "the Canon." The term does have roughly the same impact as "the One True Cross" or "the Holy Grail" once had on medieval Europeans, doesn't it?Jenniferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18370649604625989367noreply@blogger.com