It is a matter of time before Steve is forced to post a stern warning from the Surgeon General: “Warning! The videos you are watching are fun, impeccably presented, educational and highly addictive!!”
This was such a satisfying discussion. Plutarch is my favorite ancient writer and I spent two years studying him for an art show: a series of parallel paintings, 12 Roman and 12 Greek. And it was a mess sifting through the penguin and Oxford editions to get a sense of Plutarch's original intention. I grew to love the Dryden editions, but like you said, they're not as easily approachable. Thanks again,
Phenomenal video!! It is great that Mr Donoghue is taking the Penguin editors to task for their editorial procedures!! I have heard criticisms of Penguin elsewhere!! Moreover, I am going to check out the Dryden translation! Not intimidated by the language. ty Steve.... One more thing!! A complete modern edition of Plutarch's Moralia is in order. Once in a used bookstore I saw an old (but attractive) multi-volume set of the Moralia (probably complete). Did not purchase!!
Hi Steve! I am really, really enjoying your videos! It's crazy how much I've learned just from watching you so casually talk about books. I wish I possessed your ability to articulate!
One of my favorite writers. And yes, Plutarch is exquisitely readable. If there is one regret I often lament, it has to be the missing Plutarch's life on Scipio. I wish I could read that. I was very pleased to see that you did a review on Plutarch, sir.
In order to read all of Plutarch's Parallel Lives, I had to break down and read the volume from the Great Books of the Western World set. Even though reading out of those volumes is a chore, Plutarch was an absolute joy to read. I'm so glad I read the entire volume last year. He is my favorite of all the Roman authors I've read so far.
Wonderful video! I love Plutarch (as well as Tacitus, Juvenal, Polybius, and Ammianus Marcellinus, amongst others) my favourite Life being that of Sertorius. Surely Penguin will see the light and publish a single volume Plutarch eventually?! Anyway, keep up the great work with your Penguin Classic videos! They are giving me an excuse to get them down to read again 😊
Oh, I love Plutarch. My intro volume was Plutarch on Sparta, which was fascinating and honestly quite funny in places. He certainly is readable! Thanks for this illuminating discussion. I have Parallel Lives but only dipped in and out. I like the structure very much. But...it can seem long. Lord. So much to read; so very little time.
The Great Books of the Western World, both the First Edition from 1952 and the Second Edition from 1990, has the complete Parallel Lives in a single big volume in the Dryden translation.
Oh, god. I think you're planning my TBR for the nearest one hundred years. So far books you were talking about I have in my collection. Have I read them? No. Plutarch I have in one volume. Chances of me ever reading it are slim because I never ever read at my table at home. Maybe I should do a project out of it: one weekend one pair.
THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO! This makes me so frustrated. I have been searching for years to find editions that are complete and not butchered to pieces. Why oh why?
Enjoyed my reading of Livy so much that I looked in my shelves for anything from Plutarch. I was able to find 3 books: Penguin classic- The Age of Alexander(translate by Ian Scott-Kilvert) Dell Laurel classic- Plutarch Lives of the Noble Greeks Classics Club edition- Selected lives and essays(translate by Louise Ropes Loomis) Any one I should read first? Thank you!
Steve, do any of the Penguin or Oxford “Frankenstein” editions include the essays Plutarch put in with the parallel lives? Those are sometimes as fascinating as the actual biographies when he tries to draw a moral lesson from the comparison. The other issue with cherry-picking Plutarch is that some of his not interesting writing is about individuals who are no longer famous and thus absent from the modern abridgments. I believe you’ve mentioned that in one of your older videos, and I wholeheartedly agree. This continues to be a fantastic start to an incredible series. Thank you!
It is a matter of time before Steve is forced to post a stern warning from the Surgeon General:
“Warning! The videos you are watching are fun, impeccably presented, educational and highly addictive!!”
Steve, I come for the books. But I stay for the stories 😁👏👏
This was such a satisfying discussion. Plutarch is my favorite ancient writer and I spent two years studying him for an art show: a series of parallel paintings, 12 Roman and 12 Greek. And it was a mess sifting through the penguin and Oxford editions to get a sense of Plutarch's original intention. I grew to love the Dryden editions, but like you said, they're not as easily approachable. Thanks again,
Plutarch, my main man! I've come to like reading him, even though my only exposure to him has been through Dryden's translation.
I seem to be bingeing.
I’m continuing to enjoy this series. I appreciate you taking the time to go through your Penguins in such detail here.
Phenomenal video!! It is great that Mr Donoghue is taking the Penguin editors to task for their editorial procedures!! I have heard criticisms of Penguin elsewhere!! Moreover, I am going to check out the Dryden translation! Not intimidated by the language. ty Steve.... One more thing!! A complete modern edition of Plutarch's Moralia is in order. Once in a used bookstore I saw an old (but attractive) multi-volume set of the Moralia (probably complete). Did not purchase!!
Hi Steve! I am really, really enjoying your videos! It's crazy how much I've learned just from watching you so casually talk about books. I wish I possessed your ability to articulate!
I would recommend reading the loeb classical library volumes, they are translated in the same form as was written with the men being compared etc.
I read Plutarch last year! Absolutely incredible!
One of my favorite writers. And yes, Plutarch is exquisitely readable. If there is one regret I often lament, it has to be the missing Plutarch's life on Scipio. I wish I could read that. I was very pleased to see that you did a review on Plutarch, sir.
I’m sold! Will pick up some cocked Plutarch!
Off to the library to see what they have on the shelves.... then to Amazon so I can read at my leisure. Thank you so much.
In order to read all of Plutarch's Parallel Lives, I had to break down and read the volume from the Great Books of the Western World set. Even though reading out of those volumes is a chore, Plutarch was an absolute joy to read. I'm so glad I read the entire volume last year. He is my favorite of all the Roman authors I've read so far.
Wonderful video!
I love Plutarch (as well as Tacitus, Juvenal, Polybius, and Ammianus Marcellinus, amongst others) my favourite Life being that of Sertorius.
Surely Penguin will see the light and publish a single volume Plutarch eventually?!
Anyway, keep up the great work with your Penguin Classic videos! They are giving me an excuse to get them down to read again 😊
Oh, I love Plutarch. My intro volume was Plutarch on Sparta, which was fascinating and honestly quite funny in places. He certainly is readable!
Thanks for this illuminating discussion. I have Parallel Lives but only dipped in and out. I like the structure very much. But...it can seem long.
Lord. So much to read; so very little time.
Steve, Have you read the Sir Thomas North 2 volume set by The Heritage Press? If so, How is that translation?
Yes, I was wondering
The Great Books of the Western World, both the First Edition from 1952 and the Second Edition from 1990, has the complete Parallel Lives in a single big volume in the Dryden translation.
Oh, god. I think you're planning my TBR for the nearest one hundred years. So far books you were talking about I have in my collection. Have I read them? No. Plutarch I have in one volume. Chances of me ever reading it are slim because I never ever read at my table at home. Maybe I should do a project out of it: one weekend one pair.
THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO! This makes me so frustrated. I have been searching for years to find editions that are complete and not butchered to pieces. Why oh why?
Enjoyed my reading of Livy so much that I looked in my shelves for anything from Plutarch. I was able to find 3 books:
Penguin classic- The Age of Alexander(translate by Ian Scott-Kilvert)
Dell Laurel classic- Plutarch Lives of the Noble Greeks
Classics Club edition- Selected lives and essays(translate by Louise Ropes Loomis)
Any one I should read first? Thank you!
I managed to find an ebook of a 2013 edition of the complete works of Plutarch published by Delphi classics 8999 pages (gulp).
So, you're saying you would have no objections to the two volumes of the modern library?
Steve, do any of the Penguin or Oxford “Frankenstein” editions include the essays Plutarch put in with the parallel lives? Those are sometimes as fascinating as the actual biographies when he tries to draw a moral lesson from the comparison.
The other issue with cherry-picking Plutarch is that some of his not interesting writing is about individuals who are no longer famous and thus absent from the modern abridgments. I believe you’ve mentioned that in one of your older videos, and I wholeheartedly agree.
This continues to be a fantastic start to an incredible series. Thank you!
But... of the world ended in the year 2000, booktube never wpuld have existed....
Hah! That's true ...