The Vulgar Eclectic

Tag: classics

  • The Eumenides by Aeschylus

    Finished reading The Eumenides by Aeschylus, the third part of the Oresteia.

  • The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus

    The Libation Bearers (The Choephori) by Aeschylus (translated by Robert Fagles); second part of The Oresteia.

  • Agamemnon by Aeschylus

    Agamemnon by Aeschylus, first part of the Oresteia

  • The Lower Depths by Maxim Gorky

    I just finished reading The Lower Depths (translated by David Magarshack), a play written by Maxim Gorky in 1902. It brutally depicts the lives of several poor Russians who are living in the cramped basement of a boarding house. The characters are superbly drawn. Through the dialogue, Gorky is able to ask profound questions regarding…

  • The Pathfinder by James Fenimore Cooper

    I just finished reading The Pathfinder (1840) by James Fenimore Cooper. Although it’s the fourth novel Cooper wrote in the Leatherstocking Tales, it is the third in the chronology of the series. The novel is set around the year 1758, in the midst of the French and Indian War. Pathfinder (known at various times throughout…

  • The Power of Darkness by Leo Tolstoy

    I finished reading The Power of Darkness (1886) by Leo Tolstoy. It’s a five act tragedy set in a peasant village in 19th century Russia. Several of the characters commit increasingly depraved acts, culminating in a particularly vile crime. As these actions and their outcomes are contrasted with another, sympathetic character, I was left with…

  • Historia Brittonum (History of the Britons) by Nennius

    I just finished reading Historia Brittonum (History of the Britons) by Nennius, translated in the 19th century by J. A. Giles. This early history of the British Isles is usually attributed to Nennius, a Welsh monk, and was possibly first compiled around 830 AD. There are a number of old manuscripts of this work that…

  • The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith

    I finished reading The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) by Oliver Goldsmith. This novel is told from the point of view of Dr. Primrose, as he attempts to resolutely persevere through a number of personal and familial hardships in 18th century England. The plot revolves around the vicar’s family and those they meet when they must…

  • Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Other Stories by Nikolai Leskov

    I finished reading Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Other Stories by Nikolai Leskov (translated by David McDuff), a collection of novellas and short stories originally published between 1863 and 1894. Of all the literature I’ve read from this time and place, these are some of the most unique and unusual I’ve come across. Stories in…

  • Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy

    I just finished reading Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) by Thomas Hardy. It was his second published novel, and the first one set in his fictional Wessex County. In it, Hardy unfolds a love story set amid the rural, rustic farmland and villages of 1850s England. There is a simplicity and warmth about the story…