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Interesting to see earliest literary theory work. But don’t know enough about Greek writings to really appreciate what he was saying.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Ei ehkä paras mahdollinen teos jos vasta tutustuu tarkemmin kreikkalaiseen filosofiaan tai kirjallisuuteen. Argumentaatio ja esitetyt näkymyksen perustellaan suhteellisen johdonmukaisesti, mutta esimerkit jäävät ainakin minulta hiukan varjon taakse. Vertauksia on ajan klassikkoteoksiin, joita en ole lukenut. Ehkä ongelma on tässä tilanteessa lukijassa kuin kirjoittajassa. Pitänee lukea nuo vanhat klassikot ensin, ja sitten palata tähän taas.
informative
fast-paced
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Im not entirely sure what expectations I went into this book with. I had been spending the last few weeks debating with myself and others the value of relying on classical, canonical texts as foundations for our understanding of stories and life. Questions like "is the canon good" or "can we ever move past the canon" are not questions anyone can answer definitively, and that's part of the draw of thinking about them.
So I went into it with a bit of apprehension, unsure if any of it would still apply today, frustrated that we could never seem to rid ourselves of the influence of texts like this one. But I was pleasantly surprised. There is an immense amount of understanding and thoughtful commentary on the nature of stories and their structure here, and much of it can be applied, unchanged, to anything we read today. Aristotle describes phenomena like an audience criticizing perceived plot holes or suspension of disbelief, and much of it still rings true. This is a dense text, about 50 pages in my edition, and should probably be read several times to be properly understood. I got a lot of understanding of the function and structure of tragedies and epics out of this, and its very impressive how timeless a lot of it feels.
I say a lot of it, because about half can be discarded from a modern viewpoint. Aristotle analyzes tragedies, comedies and epics that already existed at the time he wrote this, and structured Poetics half as a descriptive text, half as prescriptive, setting up rules for "good" drama based on what he liked in what already existed. Its important to note that this is just one guys opinion, and he was wrong on a lot of things. He completely misunderstands how metaphors work, and frequently just tells you what the best way to do something is without really elaborating on why he thinks that. This text needs to be read critically, because a lot of it doesnt hold up. But if you care about stories, this is worth reading.
So I went into it with a bit of apprehension, unsure if any of it would still apply today, frustrated that we could never seem to rid ourselves of the influence of texts like this one. But I was pleasantly surprised. There is an immense amount of understanding and thoughtful commentary on the nature of stories and their structure here, and much of it can be applied, unchanged, to anything we read today. Aristotle describes phenomena like an audience criticizing perceived plot holes or suspension of disbelief, and much of it still rings true. This is a dense text, about 50 pages in my edition, and should probably be read several times to be properly understood. I got a lot of understanding of the function and structure of tragedies and epics out of this, and its very impressive how timeless a lot of it feels.
I say a lot of it, because about half can be discarded from a modern viewpoint. Aristotle analyzes tragedies, comedies and epics that already existed at the time he wrote this, and structured Poetics half as a descriptive text, half as prescriptive, setting up rules for "good" drama based on what he liked in what already existed. Its important to note that this is just one guys opinion, and he was wrong on a lot of things. He completely misunderstands how metaphors work, and frequently just tells you what the best way to do something is without really elaborating on why he thinks that. This text needs to be read critically, because a lot of it doesnt hold up. But if you care about stories, this is worth reading.
informative
fast-paced
Very informative, but that's about it.
Glad it's off my tbr now tho!
Glad it's off my tbr now tho!
reflective
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced