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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
Bir solukta okursunuz, destansı üslubunu seversiniz, başta sayfa sayısı çok gibi gelir, ne zaman bitti anlamazsınız.
Yunan-Pers mücadelesi özellikle Leonidas ve Kserkses arası mücadeleleri anlatıldığı bölüm nefisti!
Kütüphaneden alarak okudum, Calibromda e kitap olarak var ama en kısa zamanda basılı bir versiyonu da kütüphanemizde olsun isterim.
Baş ucu eseri!
Ayrıca Müntekim Ökmen'de harika dip notlar hazmış. Kafanız takılınca hızır gibi yetişiyor. Ölmeden mutlaka okuyun, okutun!
Yunan-Pers mücadelesi özellikle Leonidas ve Kserkses arası mücadeleleri anlatıldığı bölüm nefisti!
Kütüphaneden alarak okudum, Calibromda e kitap olarak var ama en kısa zamanda basılı bir versiyonu da kütüphanemizde olsun isterim.
Baş ucu eseri!
Ayrıca Müntekim Ökmen'de harika dip notlar hazmış. Kafanız takılınca hızır gibi yetişiyor. Ölmeden mutlaka okuyun, okutun!
Accordingly the Psylli took counsel among themselves, and by common consent made war upon the southwind---so at least the Libyans say, I do but repeat their words---they went forth and reached the desert; but there the south-wind rose and buried them under heaps of sand: whereupon, the Psylli being destroyed, their lands passed to the Nasamonians.
I read most of this edition (as opposed to the Landmark) picking up donated food for our residential component. It is a strange time. Therefore, it was perhaps appropriate that I sat in the back of van engrossed in this tome. Vacant streets signifying something amiss. My only contact on many of these sojourns was the sudden appearance of masked figures bringing out cases of produce and other foodstuffs. I believe my foundations for approaching this were typical: largely The English Patient and Persian Fire: Tom Holland's book on Thermopylae. Coincidentally, I became aware that Holland himself had translated the Histories and I admit I find that prospect intriguing.
Despite the attempts at objectivity, it is the personalities which I find fascinating: Xerxes and Leonidas are voices for the ages, however apocryphal.
I read most of this edition (as opposed to the Landmark) picking up donated food for our residential component. It is a strange time. Therefore, it was perhaps appropriate that I sat in the back of van engrossed in this tome. Vacant streets signifying something amiss. My only contact on many of these sojourns was the sudden appearance of masked figures bringing out cases of produce and other foodstuffs. I believe my foundations for approaching this were typical: largely The English Patient and Persian Fire: Tom Holland's book on Thermopylae. Coincidentally, I became aware that Holland himself had translated the Histories and I admit I find that prospect intriguing.
Despite the attempts at objectivity, it is the personalities which I find fascinating: Xerxes and Leonidas are voices for the ages, however apocryphal.
Astyages had a daughter called Mandane, and he dreamed one night that she urinated in such enormous quantities that it filled his city and swamped the whole of Asia.
These Landmark editions are an amazing resource. The Father of history reveals the story of the Persian Wars and by achieving such he contextualizes with anthropological glosses on all the relevant parties. Each succession, each tradition is explored. Is there speculation and conjecture? Well, of course. The approach aspires to an objectivity, affording itself a modernity away from the paen or heroic song. Logistics becomes the order of the day, people grasp that such and not portents or divine favor are what matter. Internecine squabbling appears to be the yoke of civilization. The anecdotes which punctuate are the feats which resound.
Accordingly the Psylli took counsel among themselves, and by common consent made war upon the southwind---so at least the Libyans say, I do but repeat their words---they went forth and reached the desert; but there the south-wind rose and buried them under heaps of sand: whereupon, the Psylli being destroyed, their lands passed to the Nasamonians.
The maps which dominate the Landmark Edition are essential to grasping this sociology of war. The appendixes in the back of the tome were intriguing, particularly exploring the estimation of the sizes of the armies and the consequent impossibility of provisioning for such. I was rather familiar with these arguments, as Delbruck is adamant about the challenges of even feeding mid-sized minatory bands, much less what constitutes nations at war. Incredibly cumbersome, it has been one of the few benefits of the stay at home order: after work, there have few distractions to pull one away from Herodotus.
These Landmark editions are an amazing resource. The Father of history reveals the story of the Persian Wars and by achieving such he contextualizes with anthropological glosses on all the relevant parties. Each succession, each tradition is explored. Is there speculation and conjecture? Well, of course. The approach aspires to an objectivity, affording itself a modernity away from the paen or heroic song. Logistics becomes the order of the day, people grasp that such and not portents or divine favor are what matter. Internecine squabbling appears to be the yoke of civilization. The anecdotes which punctuate are the feats which resound.
Accordingly the Psylli took counsel among themselves, and by common consent made war upon the southwind---so at least the Libyans say, I do but repeat their words---they went forth and reached the desert; but there the south-wind rose and buried them under heaps of sand: whereupon, the Psylli being destroyed, their lands passed to the Nasamonians.
The maps which dominate the Landmark Edition are essential to grasping this sociology of war. The appendixes in the back of the tome were intriguing, particularly exploring the estimation of the sizes of the armies and the consequent impossibility of provisioning for such. I was rather familiar with these arguments, as Delbruck is adamant about the challenges of even feeding mid-sized minatory bands, much less what constitutes nations at war. Incredibly cumbersome, it has been one of the few benefits of the stay at home order: after work, there have few distractions to pull one away from Herodotus.
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Many of Herodotus' claims are, shall we say, suspicious... Nonetheless, he set the tone for future historiography and is, in many parts, an engaging and funny writer who seeks to understand human history in the wider scope... even though he spends a surprising amount of time ranking the most attractive warriors. Still, we'll forgive him.
Although I was enjoying myself I decided that this is one of those books that doesn't show to full advantage on the Kindle. Am going to try again with _The Landmark Herodotus_... and if that doesn't work, will make my own multimedia version on the web.
This review is about the Tom Holland translation and the gorgeous Penguin Deluxe Classics edition with deckled edges.
I am bereft.. I finished Herodotus. THIS book is the book I would take on a desert island. I absolutely love this book and can’t believe I didn’t consider reading it until now. It was incredible and much easier to read than I thought it would be.
It was written to record the war between the Athenians and Persia..BUT only the very end actually does that.. what Herodotus does in most of the book is tell you all about the peoples of the known world.. their customs, stories, politics, gossip, intrigues etc. It honestly feels like you are sitting listening to Herodotus talk to you by a camp fire in a desert with the stars swirling above your head.
Whereas some of the history he records is clearly fantastical (he gathered his information by word of mouth), much has also been verified as accurate too. Either way it is a real insight to the minds of folk 2,500 years ago. Some stories might not be true, but the fact they they entertained people who heard them all that time ago tells you a lot about what they liked to hear about. They were not so different from us because the stories entertain still today.
This translation (by Tom Holland the historian) is excellent and you get a real sense of sitting down with Herodotus and listening to the most wonderful stories. Herodotus has a voice that you hear loud and clear in a way the authors of modern history non fiction seem to lack. It is vibrant and immersive.
I particularly liked the chapter about Egypt and how that information helps Egyptologists to this day.
I loved how he will be telling you about some serious historical matter then suddenly he says, out of the blue ‘Let me now describe the nature of the crocodile’ and talks at length about crocodiles..which he had clearly seen, unlike hippopotamuses which he says have the manes, tails and neigh of a horse!
Every page had something that made me laugh, gasp and read out to anyone near me.. I would love to put some here but if you ever read this, the joy is in coming across these moments.
Anyway, I LOVED THIS BOOK. You need good maps of the ancient world … the ones in the book sometimes were too small…I hear theDK book The History of the World Map by Map is really helpful…and you can’t read this quickly, it isn’t like modern fiction..
Oh and regarding trigger warnings… ALL APPLY, PLUS some you may not have considered in the past. Times were a bit brutal in those days.
I am bereft.. I finished Herodotus. THIS book is the book I would take on a desert island. I absolutely love this book and can’t believe I didn’t consider reading it until now. It was incredible and much easier to read than I thought it would be.
It was written to record the war between the Athenians and Persia..BUT only the very end actually does that.. what Herodotus does in most of the book is tell you all about the peoples of the known world.. their customs, stories, politics, gossip, intrigues etc. It honestly feels like you are sitting listening to Herodotus talk to you by a camp fire in a desert with the stars swirling above your head.
Whereas some of the history he records is clearly fantastical (he gathered his information by word of mouth), much has also been verified as accurate too. Either way it is a real insight to the minds of folk 2,500 years ago. Some stories might not be true, but the fact they they entertained people who heard them all that time ago tells you a lot about what they liked to hear about. They were not so different from us because the stories entertain still today.
This translation (by Tom Holland the historian) is excellent and you get a real sense of sitting down with Herodotus and listening to the most wonderful stories. Herodotus has a voice that you hear loud and clear in a way the authors of modern history non fiction seem to lack. It is vibrant and immersive.
I particularly liked the chapter about Egypt and how that information helps Egyptologists to this day.
I loved how he will be telling you about some serious historical matter then suddenly he says, out of the blue ‘Let me now describe the nature of the crocodile’ and talks at length about crocodiles..which he had clearly seen, unlike hippopotamuses which he says have the manes, tails and neigh of a horse!
Every page had something that made me laugh, gasp and read out to anyone near me.. I would love to put some here but if you ever read this, the joy is in coming across these moments.
Anyway, I LOVED THIS BOOK. You need good maps of the ancient world … the ones in the book sometimes were too small…I hear theDK book The History of the World Map by Map is really helpful…and you can’t read this quickly, it isn’t like modern fiction..
Oh and regarding trigger warnings… ALL APPLY, PLUS some you may not have considered in the past. Times were a bit brutal in those days.
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Okay, I haven't read this translation, but I love Herodotus. He was the first to move beyond record-keeping to true history--an attempt to understand why things happen as well as to record what happened.
Riveting at times, hilarious at others, though often quite dry. I found books I-III most interesting, and got bogged down by all the person- and place-names by book V.
Even when he's boring or tedious (and he is often both), Herodotus spins an interesting yarn. And when he IS interesting
* talking about the oddball Magi
* the insanity and megalomania of rulers like Cambyses or Xerxes
* the absolutely petty nonsense Greek city-states would squabble over (manage to fight back a massive army, and still can't just all sit down and agree to reward their war heroes)
* the cartoonish plot of the Magi twin brothers to take over the Persian Empire because one of them happens to look AND HAVE THE SAME NAME as a dead prince (but ahah! He gives himself away because he's missing ears!)
He really hits a home run.
Sure, its about as historically accurate as asking my friend what they read in last week's newspaper (especially if my friend mentioned what Oracles said as though it mattered), and it can be a rambly mess. But there's a reason Herodotus has survived all these centuries: he was a fine storyteller.
* talking about the oddball Magi
* the insanity and megalomania of rulers like Cambyses or Xerxes
* the absolutely petty nonsense Greek city-states would squabble over (manage to fight back a massive army, and still can't just all sit down and agree to reward their war heroes)
* the cartoonish plot of the Magi twin brothers to take over the Persian Empire because one of them happens to look AND HAVE THE SAME NAME as a dead prince (but ahah! He gives himself away because he's missing ears!)
He really hits a home run.
Sure, its about as historically accurate as asking my friend what they read in last week's newspaper (especially if my friend mentioned what Oracles said as though it mattered), and it can be a rambly mess. But there's a reason Herodotus has survived all these centuries: he was a fine storyteller.