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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
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.
The Father of History recounts the invasion of Greece by the Xerxes-led Persian Empire. Edited by Robert B. Strassler and translated by Andrea L. Purvis.
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
It's history. That said, this ranks as one of the top books I have ever read.
If you don't like details and multiple characters and different locations, don't even try.
If you don't like details and multiple characters and different locations, don't even try.
I'm not sure why I keep coming back to this book. I read it once in high school and have reread significant portions then and again in the years after. Herodotus is the first inquirer, master storyteller, and skilled deviser of tangents. The Histories is engrossing, a thoughtful synthesis, surprisingly funny a lot of the time, and (above all) a deeply fascinating account of the peoples, cultures, and events of the Near East in the early centuries before the Common Era.
P.S. I don't usually recommend a specific edition or translation of a book, but the Landmark edition of Herodotus—accompanied as it is by Andrea Purvis's brilliant translation—is outstanding. High quality maps, short but instructive appendices, great notes, and wonderful little notes for each section which overview each section for the reader. I can't imagine reading The Histories any other way.
P.S. I don't usually recommend a specific edition or translation of a book, but the Landmark edition of Herodotus—accompanied as it is by Andrea Purvis's brilliant translation—is outstanding. High quality maps, short but instructive appendices, great notes, and wonderful little notes for each section which overview each section for the reader. I can't imagine reading The Histories any other way.
Incredible, sprawling account of the Greco-Persian wars and a kaleidoscopic tour of the Hellenic world circa the fourth century BC. Despite a somewhat intimidating length and heft, Histories is highly entertaining, accessible and the greatest classical work of history preserved to our day. As dakur noted earlier, there are long passages of this book that will bore even amateur classicists. But anyone who considers themselves a thinking person should add this book to their reading list, if only to briefly peer into one of the most fascinating and formative periods of human civilization.
Not really a dnf, just want to return to it at a later date :)