877 books
—
518 voters
Listopia > Alan's votes on the list Best Books of the 17th Century (16 Books)
| 1 |
|
Twelfth Night
by
"Contains the only American in Shakespeare, Malvolio who wants to marry "the boss's wife"--in fact, the boss herself--for which he is declared insane, placed in a black cell so the spirits that craze him may exit, and "cured" by a psychologist-priest-clown Feste. Published one of my 3 best academic articles on this, about rings and vows, ed by J Schiffer. "
Alan
rated it 5 stars
See Review |
|
| 2 |
|
King Lear
by
"The Bard's Marxist play, "So distribution should undo excess, and each man haver enough"(4.1). Lear himself on homelessness,""Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are, / That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,/ How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides...defend you/ From seasons such as this?" Lear asks, and reflects, "O, I have ta'en too little care of this!" The Russian film version, my favorite, with music by Shostakovich. But I hate it on stage--can't watch the blinding of Gloucester."
Alan
rated it 5 stars
See Review |
|
| 3 |
|
Shakespeare's Sonnets
by See Review |
|
| 4 |
|
The Holy Bible: King James Version
by
"I have lots memorized from this little translation from Hebrew and Greek, some 50+ writers. The first 12 books were translated from Hebrew at a H.S., Westminster School, London (1611). King Jimmy's translators had great ears, though my second favorite trans is Erasmus's Latin (1516), banned by the Catholic Church I think because it's better than the Vulgate."
|
|
| 5 |
|
Le Malade imaginaire
by
"Read this among six Moliere plays in French after a grad school defeat because a prominent professor never read my papers. Can't recall if this is the wone with the hilarious young physician's courtship, wherein he includes his paper on thorax anatomy.
Alan
rated it 5 stars
" See Review |
|
| 6 |
|
Tartuffe
by
"A wonderful corrective to religious hypocrisy, as current today as in 1664: say, Jimmy Swaggart and Newt Gingrich in the 90s, not to mention the legion since than."
Alan
rated it 5 stars
See Review |
|
| 7 |
|
John Donne's Poetry
by |
|
| 8 |
|
The Anatomy of Melancholy
by See Review |
|
| 9 |
|
Maxims
by
""Everyone complains of his memory, no-one of his judgement.""
Alan
rated it 5 stars
See Review |
|
| 10 |
|
Measure for Measure
by
"To sum my three published articles on this play, it's written during England's change of monarch, and it's about a new/ replacement ruler who pretends moral superiority,but immodestly proposes to let Isabella's brother out of jail (for sex before marriage) if she sleeps with him. Contains a "bed trick/substitution" possibly learned from G Bruno's earlier Candelaio, which I translated (performed at Bridewell Theatre, London 4 April 14)."
Alan
rated it 5 stars
See Review |
|
| 11 |
|
Pensées
by
""Le silence éternel de ces espaces infinis m'effraie.""
Alan
rated it 5 stars
See Review |
|
| 12 |
|
Country Wife
by See Review |
|
| 13 |
|
Every Man in His Humour
by |
|
| 14 |
|
Paradise Lost
by See Review |
|
| 15 |
|
Don Quixote
by See Review |
|
| 16 |
|
La vida es sueño
by |
|


















