--- On Thu, 17/6/10, Andre Manoel <an...@corp.insite.com.br> wrote:
> From: Andre Manoel <an...@corp.insite.com.br>
> Subject: Re: [silk] Ten toughest books to read
> To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
> Date: Thursday, 17 June, 2010, 18:36
> On Wed, Jun 16, 2010 at 9:04 PM,
> Suresh Ramasubramanian
> <sur...@hserus.net>
> wrote:
> > Indrajit Gupta [16/06/10 21:49 +0530]:
> >>
> >> Obviously you like 'the Russians'; acid test: did
> you like the Inspector
> >> General? But this lot, well, War and Peace was as
> good or as bad as one of
> >
> > That gogol social commentary disguised as farce play?
> I love it. Anything
> > at all by Gogol in fact (darker - 'the overcoat' for
> example)
>
> It seems you understood it better than I did.
>
> Andre
Well, you could say just the same about Aristophanes. His Frogs, my own
personal favourite, is mildly social satire; Lysistrata and Knights is so
political that one of the most attractive features of Athens comes out clearly:
Aristophanes could slaughter Cleon in Knights, and bug him to the point where a
law-suit ensued. But that didn't stop Cleon's rise to power, nor could Cleon
stop Aristophanes from getting more and more popular. The Athenians knew where
politics stopped and Art began; they were nowhere near as thin-skinned as us.
So it is worth knowing about a writer's social and historical background. It
adds a lot to the reading. Especially, but certainly not exclusively, War and
Peace; as you might imagine, the same applies to Pride and Prejudice, and it is
interesting to compare this to any of Georgette Heyer's contemporary pieces.
Different lights on sociology and the requirements of polite society emerge,
similar but not identical. And so on.
The most fun is in 'deconstruction' surely.
>
