
The Books I Kept - wkirby
http://apsis.io/blog/2016/04/11/the-books-i-kept
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yomritoyj
Interesting that the author chose the books they liked the most, rather than
choosing books where print gave the greatest advantage over ebooks (say books
with large photographs or illustrations, textbooks where being able to see a
lot of text at once is useful).

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wkirby
Two things about your observation: First, I don't actually own any books with
large illustrations or photographs, and second, I would argue that my iPad Pro
is actually a better device for viewing documents with large illustrations or
photographs.

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cpr
If you want a wonderful newer translation of Dante, there's a newer one by
Anthony Esolen that is muscular, dynamic and just ripping good! ;-)

We used it with our kids in our home education efforts.

But, yes, the Dorothy Sayers translation is a real tour de force, if a bit
stilted because she has to resort to truly archaic English to get the terza
rima to work. But still...

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wkirby
Wonderful. I will go find it tomorrow.

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DomreiRoam
I like this list and the logic behind a lot. But as a French speaker and
reader and don't know how much I will enjoy the English book he recommend or
how much I will gain from it. I like Calvino, Asimov, Aurelius but will I
enjoy the English authors?; I would be quite intersted to have a list of book
that you should read to understand English and/or American culture. Other list
for chinese, japanese, ... would be interesting also :) . I like a lot that he
gives the translator of the books the good one like Patrick Couton are unsung
heroes.

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wkirby
I would also be curious to see these lists. As for understanding American
culture, that's a _very_ interesting question: what America do you want to
learn about? I might argue that for understanding the American identity that
Mark Twain is essential reading --- but just by the nature of time, what he
writes has little bearing on the literal facts of today's America. He won't
address how computers and mass media affect our populace, but he _will_ touch
on divided racial identities, struggles with the unknown, war, the power of
geography to unite and divide...

If you're looking for something more recent (and from my list), I believe that
William Maxwell possesses a uniquely American voice. Hemingway and Faulkner
are also both arguably quintessential American writers, and --- even though I
discarded my copy of Gatsby --- F. Scott Fitzgerald will give you a fun
weekend in.

For truly contemporary work, I'd look at Jonathan Franzen, David Foster
Wallace, Jonathan Safran Foer, Kurt Vonnegut, Cormac McCarthy, Philip Roth...

These, of course, represent largely my own experience. You'll likely notice
right off the bat that these are all white men. In addition to books that are
cultural guides to other countries, I'd be interested in seeing a similar list
composed by someone from a different socioeconomic, racial, or sexual
background from myself.

