What a quest - enjoy! Love the list. I plan on plowing through many of these at some point, but trying to avoid the temptation to go at it chronologically. Knowing me, I'll get two books in and then lose momentum. Ain't got the discipline. For most people, jumping around according to current interest and inspiration is more sustainable. Or just join your club! Sounds like fun.
This is wonderful! I too have had this experience. Even recently I was reading something about the ideas of Plato, but then realized, why don't I actually read Plato first and come back to this later. This realization got be back on the booklist I started years ago. Needless to say, I haven't much time these days for modern literature. Not because it's "bad" per se, but because the ancient booklist is rather long that comes before it.
The Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata, specifically, chapters 23 to 40 of book VI and certainly deserves to be in any such lists due to its spiritual, philosophical content. It addresses the moral and philosophical questions of life. Interestingly, scholars have written textx based on the Gita for the last two thousand years and each scholar finds it relevant, irrespective of the era.
The Mahabharata, OTOH, is an epic poem (longest in the world, many times the length of Illiad and Odessey combined) and the sheer scope of the work is breathtaking. The fine grained character depiction and the drama rivals that of Greek tragedies. Techniques like flash back that are considered relatively modern have been used effectively. The Mahabharata puts the Bhagavd Gita in the right context.
I would love to hear you go deeper on the “why” section. Are you seeking knowledge, enlightenment? Perhaps you’ve said elsewhere, but beyond wanting to do it before you die, well… why? Haha. 😂
Great list…
Thanks for this. A great reminder that the best books are the old ones since they’ve survived the test of time!
What a quest - enjoy! Love the list. I plan on plowing through many of these at some point, but trying to avoid the temptation to go at it chronologically. Knowing me, I'll get two books in and then lose momentum. Ain't got the discipline. For most people, jumping around according to current interest and inspiration is more sustainable. Or just join your club! Sounds like fun.
This is wonderful! I too have had this experience. Even recently I was reading something about the ideas of Plato, but then realized, why don't I actually read Plato first and come back to this later. This realization got be back on the booklist I started years ago. Needless to say, I haven't much time these days for modern literature. Not because it's "bad" per se, but because the ancient booklist is rather long that comes before it.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Great list. I would add The Mahabharata by Ved Vyasa to the list.
Thanks. I have The Bhagavad-Gita in the Mahabharata on the list. How do these differ?
The Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata, specifically, chapters 23 to 40 of book VI and certainly deserves to be in any such lists due to its spiritual, philosophical content. It addresses the moral and philosophical questions of life. Interestingly, scholars have written textx based on the Gita for the last two thousand years and each scholar finds it relevant, irrespective of the era.
The Mahabharata, OTOH, is an epic poem (longest in the world, many times the length of Illiad and Odessey combined) and the sheer scope of the work is breathtaking. The fine grained character depiction and the drama rivals that of Greek tragedies. Techniques like flash back that are considered relatively modern have been used effectively. The Mahabharata puts the Bhagavd Gita in the right context.
Very good - and what is your preferred version/translation/edition?
This is a tricky question for me because I have not read any of the English translations. This reddit thread has some good suggestions.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskLiteraryStudies/comments/kd8h83/best_english_translation_of_the_mahabharata/?rdt=55927
Thank you - this is very helpful.
I would love to hear you go deeper on the “why” section. Are you seeking knowledge, enlightenment? Perhaps you’ve said elsewhere, but beyond wanting to do it before you die, well… why? Haha. 😂
all my best,
Will
Yeah, I need to go into that more. Here's probably the best place to start - https://www.booksoftitans.com/p/the-great-books-e73