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challenging
informative
medium-paced
I don't know if it was my translation or not, but I couldn't make sense of what Aristotle was saying. Thank goodness for Sparknotes. I would read the Sparknotes section and then go read Aristotle. It helped so that I think I got the gist of what he was trying to say.
This is very very good. I didn't come close to comprehending the fullness of it, but the first time through means the second will be better.
I was surprised by the Aristotle - it wasn't what I expected although my expectations were perhaps a bit amorphous. The nitty gritty of words and syllables themselves to the structure and plot development was more comprehensive than anticipated.
The essays included at the end were helpful. I particularly enjoyed the Sidney and the Sayers (and was somewhat baffled by Shelley) ... but Sidney's discussion of the historian-philosopher-poet is excellent (if a little challenging, again a second read will be helpful). Sayers' application of the pieces of the Aristotle to detective fiction were insightful and helpful in understanding what had passed before (plus, she's a clear 20th Century writer whose subjects - Holmes, Wimsey, Poirot - were familiar). It helps to understand the Aristotle as a framework or paradigm, not necessarily a set of precepts or hard and fast rules / laws.
I read this book in my "Inspired by The Great Tradition" category of the Scholé Sisters 5x5 challenge. On to Augustine On Christian Teaching.
2023: The Audiobook was just to help me remember some of what was in the book, but a vastly inferior way of interacting with the text.
I was surprised by the Aristotle - it wasn't what I expected although my expectations were perhaps a bit amorphous. The nitty gritty of words and syllables themselves to the structure and plot development was more comprehensive than anticipated.
The essays included at the end were helpful. I particularly enjoyed the Sidney and the Sayers (and was somewhat baffled by Shelley) ... but Sidney's discussion of the historian-philosopher-poet is excellent (if a little challenging, again a second read will be helpful). Sayers' application of the pieces of the Aristotle to detective fiction were insightful and helpful in understanding what had passed before (plus, she's a clear 20th Century writer whose subjects - Holmes, Wimsey, Poirot - were familiar). It helps to understand the Aristotle as a framework or paradigm, not necessarily a set of precepts or hard and fast rules / laws.
I read this book in my "Inspired by The Great Tradition" category of the Scholé Sisters 5x5 challenge. On to Augustine On Christian Teaching.
2023: The Audiobook was just to help me remember some of what was in the book, but a vastly inferior way of interacting with the text.
While acknowledging the informative value of Aristotle's "Poetics" for understanding Western literature, the text's readability suffers as it feels more like a student's notes from Aristotle's lecture than a direct work from the philosopher himself, making it less accessible than its potential significance suggests.
Read as part of my Humanities studies based on The Honest Broker's list.
This was actually more enjoyable than I was expecting and a fine way to finish out 2024. I read Save the Cat a few years ago and DNFed Bird by Bird this year - Poetics was more useful than both of those books at explaining how to structure good writing. It's a quick read and I skipped the long introduction purely to have the book be included in my 2024 books (daft, I know). I'll probably come back to it at some point and may even buy a physical copy since I only had the Kindle version.
This was actually more enjoyable than I was expecting and a fine way to finish out 2024. I read Save the Cat a few years ago and DNFed Bird by Bird this year - Poetics was more useful than both of those books at explaining how to structure good writing. It's a quick read and I skipped the long introduction purely to have the book be included in my 2024 books (daft, I know). I'll probably come back to it at some point and may even buy a physical copy since I only had the Kindle version.
I'm not read many (any?) Greek tragedies, so the only references I understand deeply are those of Homer, and some from mythology. But that said, it was a really interesting read. It's striking how many of the principles he talks about can be applied to modern storytelling weaknesses.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
informative
slow-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
This is so dry. Although this particular translation (Preston H. Epps) was miles more readable than the first one I tried, and I only got about four pages into. Aristotle had some good things to say, and I am glad to have read this to see where some ideas started out. I also listened to The Literary Life Podcast episodes on this which definitely helped my understanding.
"The difference between a poet and a historian is this: the historian relates what *has* happened, the power what *could* happen." (Emphasis mine.)
"It makes a great deal of difference whether the incidents happen because of what has preceded or merely after it." (The Witch's Heart, I'm looking at you. The last half of that book is just full of things happening after one another but the actions don't seem to have any cause.)
"The difference between a poet and a historian is this: the historian relates what *has* happened, the power what *could* happen." (Emphasis mine.)
"It makes a great deal of difference whether the incidents happen because of what has preceded or merely after it." (The Witch's Heart, I'm looking at you. The last half of that book is just full of things happening after one another but the actions don't seem to have any cause.)