And finally, For a New Liberty. The history sections in the beginning are as far as I’ve gone. I like and dislike reading Rothbard. A lot of his conclusions re: historical trends would sit better with me if they were better supported in the text. Of course, it reads like a manifesto. That WAS the objective. It just comes across as a pretty narrow view.
He should have learned a thing or two from wicca.
You’re not wrong, but I’m not a revisionist and neither is my tradition. The point is well taken, though.
I’ve been reading a bit on methodology,
The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker
I am currently reading*, What Religions Don’t Want You to Know…An Expose’ of Belief Systems* by RK Sidley. It is available from Amazon and smashwords.com (free).
From the introduction:
This book will critically examine mainstream religions and alternative belief systems. It will examine the historical record and behavior of certain well known religions who have perpetrated atrocities in the name of God, and will move on to consider a common thread inherent among all religions and denominations, i.e., control and manipulation over their adherents.
I’m looking forward to reading Building Blocks for Liberty by Block.
The Odyssey, Lattimore translation.
I LOVE Lattimore. In fact, all other English versions of the Iliad pale in comparison to him. It’s the “King James” of the Iliad so far as I’m concerned.
That said, I like the Fitzgerald translation of the Odyssey, or even the Penguin translation. Maybe because the Odyssey is so much “breezier” / fantastical it works better with a more loose and coloquial type of translation.
My 2 cents on that. Either way there is no going wrong with Lattimore, so enjoy it.
You’re probably right. The translation I read when I was a kid was just the old beat-up one my dad had in the house, probably from the used book store, and there’s no telling whose translation it was. I re-read it until it fell apart, so I can’t look now!
I DO like Lattimore better than whoever that was, he’s got a courtly formality that doesn’t usually get in the way of clarity. I find some funny stuff like tense adjustments within sentences, and I feel like this reflects his attempt to be as literal as possible.
I have my doubts about the alliteration he sprinkles through the text in both Iliad and Odyssey. It sometimes gives an Anglo-Saxon kind of feel that seems out of place.
Interesting, I never reallynoticed any “anglo-saxonisms”- I’ll keep my eyes peeled next time. Though I’m not very anglo-saxon,so that may be lost on me.
His translations are the most literal, and the most Poetic especially trying to keep up with the dactylic hexameter and rhythym, epitaph, and many of the stock alliterations used in the Iliad. My “Homeric” Greek is not so good, so I can’t comment too much on how “pure” it is, but I am almost OK enough in “classic” Greek to know he does very good translations of shorter poetry and fragments.
anyway, if you want to read the Lattimore illiad translation this book is a great tool to go with it
http://www.amazon.com/Companion-The-Iliad-Phoenix-Books/dp/022689855
I’m not too sure if the Odyssey has a companion or not. Once again though, I’m not sure if something like that would help it or hurt it. It moves along so nicely by it’s own nature. It is the worlds greatest romance / camp fire story, a companion may get in the way. lol, I read my first version literally to it’s death as a child too.
That’s funny! That’s the Companion I bought. I haven’t read it, though. I’m listening to the Lattimore Iliad in audiobook format first, before I read it in print. With texts I’m afraid I might lose focus on, I start with an audiobook.
I doubt the Odyssey needs a companion reader. It’s not really very challenging, it’s just a fun adventure story. The Iliad is so much more about cultural and religious specifics, that I’m sure a companion would be helpful. Also, the Iliad is absolutely FULL of references to the different city-states and areas of classical Greece, and their mythical heroes, and as I understand it, was sort of THE defining text that united the cultures of that whole area.
Oddly, I never read the Iliad as a kid. I once read Aeschylus’ Agamamnon, I think in about eighth grade, and found it so depressing I retreated into Jane Austen, and never revisited the Trojan War in any other texts. I’ve been meaning to look into The Aeneid at some point too. From my initial glance-through, it’s disappointing in that it’s so very political and pro-Roman-state. Homer’s not political, so I find it easier to read him for pleasure.
Every TRUE reader has certain books they have to re-assemble in page order before reading, heh heh heh.
Mine as a child were Tolkein and C. S. Lewis, Malory, Jane Austen, Homer, E. Nesbit, L.M. Alcott, James Stephens, Rudyard Kipling, and certain Shakespeare plays, especially Henry V. Going back a little further, anything illustrated by Adrienne Segur and Maurice Sendak.
Now ask me if I ever read the stuff they assigned in school. Shrug.
I review Dambisa Moyo’s Dead Aid: Not-so-Humanitarian Aid. For those who haven’t read it, I suggest doing so. It’s relatively short, to the point, and a good analysis of the problems with foreign aid.
Ooh, I like the looks of that. Definitely on my reading list.
The video doesn’t suggest her views on aid have changed; it suggests that her understanding of economics in general is a bit … poor. I’ve actually noticed that economists who’ve done good work in development economics fail to extrapolate their findings to the rest of the world.
“Le chômage, fatalité ou nécessité ?” (you can translate as follows “Unemployment, Fate or Necessity ?”) is a 2005 book I read a long time ago. I have just finished writing a review, in english. See here. This a short article however (my english is not very good).
Can’t believe I’ve only now discovered Rothbard.
This is mother’s milk. By god, it’s so beautiful. If you haven’t, you’ve got to read For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto, and Ethics of Liberty, and then everything else he wrote 
I have actually not yet read any book by Rothbard. I was considering buying FaNL and EoL, but I decided that the cost is too high for me right now. I was considering printing them out at Fedex, but it turns out it’s more expensive. I guess I’ll just have to read them on a computer. But I hate how I can’t annotate them there. Anyone know of any good way to annotate pdfs?
@Whey: I thought you’re in college. Just print it out at school, bro.
Clayton -
Few years after reading Rothbard I feel like I’ve moved on from Rothbard, but that’s just me.