9th Grade Reading List - Ancients

[Literary Mom]

I am starting with the lit list in the WTM, but I would like to balance/lighten it with other less heady but still relevant/worthwhile book selections, e.g. young adult historical fiction. Our history spines will be The History of Ancient World and Mystery of History. I would appreciate seeing other people's reading lists who are correlating literature with history for this time period. I am open to other curriculum suggestions as well. I am a last minute planner, so this is just my rough draft. Thanks!

[Guest]

TOG has a list. I'm pulling from the Dialectic and the Rhetoric levels because she's already read some of the R level stuff. If you go to Lampstand Press's website and pull up Year 1 for dialectic and rhetoric you can see their lists and maybe get some ideas.

[regentrude]

Below is DD's reading ist for Ancients in 9th grade:

Major works of Literature studied:

The Iliad                      Homer (translated by Fitzgerald)

The Odyssey               Homer (translated by Fitzgerald)

Histories                      Herodotus

Antigone                     Sophocles

Oedipus Rex               Sophocles

Oedipus on Colonos   Sophocles

Electra                         Euripides

Poetry                          Sappho

The Aeneid                             Vergil

Metamorphoses                       Ovid

Trial and death of Socrates     Plato

 

Supplementary reading:

A Day in Old Athens              William S. Davis        

Aristotle leads the way           Joy Hakim

The Greek Treasure                 Irving Stone   

Everyday things in Ancient Greece    C. H. Quennell

The King must die                  Mary Renault

A Day in Old Rome                William S. Davis        

Famous men of Rome             John Haaren

The buildings of Ancient Rome          Helen and Richard Leacroft

 

DS read I, Claudius   by Robert Graves as a supplementary selection and Arian's campaigns of Alexander as literature.

Edited June 29, 2016 by regentrude

[Brad S]

Ours was similar to regentrude's but a bit different.

 

Major works of Literature studied:

The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Iliad                      Homer (extensive selections but not in its entirety)

The Odyssey               Homer (translated by Fagles)

Histories                      Herodotus

Oresteia                      Aeschylus

Antigone                     Sophocles

Oedipus Rex               Sophocles

Medea                         Euripides

Poetics and Rhetoric    Aristotle

Clouds                         Aristophanes

Trial and death of Socrates and a few more dialogs    Plato

some parts of the Bible, and lots of other things in the Norton Anthology of World Literature, concise version, second edition

 

We did a course on ancient lit, a second one on ancient history, and a third one on "composition and rhetoric" which contained a fair bit of literary analysis of more modern works among the writing assignments.  Most people aren't going to have that amount of time, and the ancient lit took more time than we usually can devote to one course. But it worked for us.  I really like the Norton Anthology, and with a different kid might just use it and nothing else for ancient lit.

 

Edited for clarity.

 

Edited June 29, 2016 by Brad S

[Lori D.]

The Ancients with grade 8 and 9 DSs was our first outing with doing full-on WTM-style for our Literature, so we eased into it with fewer works than the above posters, used a few abridged adaptations as well as some full translations, and we stuck with the epics, adventures, and more story-like works to keep interest up. (I thought we would be more ready for the philosophical works and ancient historians later in high school). We were also doing a full-year Lord of the Rings trilogy study at the same time to help keep up from feeling overwhelmed by too much ancient Lit. ;)

 

Our classics list:

- Gilgamesh and Other Babylonian Tales -- Jennifer Westwood (out of print abridged prose adaptation of the epic + several myths)

- Tales of Ancient Egypt -- Green -- religious myths and folktales

- The Iliad -- Fagles translation

- The Odyssey -- Fagles translation

- various Greek myths (from anthologies I already owned, so authors included Bullfinch, Hawthorne, Padric, and others)

- Oedipus the King -- Fitzgerald translation (note: I REALLY wish we had also had time to do the middle of these 3 plays by Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus)

- Antigone -- Fitzgerald translation

- The Aeneid for Boys and Girls -- Alfred Church (abridged prose adaption)

- Till We Have Faces -- CS Lewis (modern author; fictional story loosely retelling the Cupid and Psyche myth with ancient Mesopotamian-type of setting)

 

For the History portion of our study, we used SWB's WTM suggestion at that time which was the first part of Spielvogel's History Odyssey textbook (which has some excerpts of primary source documents and authors), plus we added in quite a few other non-fiction resources, documentaries, etc.

 

Ideas for historical fiction free reading that would be workable for a young teen -- plus a few movies:

 

general/archeology

- Motel of the Mysteries -- Macauley -- silly fun way to kick off your new year of History studies

 

Egypt

- Mara, Daughter of the Nile -- McGraw

- Shadow Hawk -- Norton

- Hittite Warrior -- Williamson

 

Greece

- Ides of April -- Ray

- Beyond the Desert Gate -- Ray

- for fun: The Queen's Thief series -- Whalen Turner -- fictionalized/mythological world of ancient Mediterranean small nations, heavily drawing on ancient Greece influences

- movie: The Odyssey (1997 mini-series)

- movie: Jason and the Argonauts (1963)

- TV series: Jim Hensen's The Storyteller: Greek Myths

 

Rome

- The Bronze Bow

- movie: Spartacus (1960)

- movie: Gladiator (2000) -- preview first

- TV series: I Claudius (1976) -- preview first

 

Romans in ancient Britain

- Eagle of the Ninth -- Sutcliff

- The Silver Branch -- Sutcliff

- The Lantern Bearers -- Sutcliff

Edited June 29, 2016 by Lori D.

[2_girls_mommy]

We will be starting with the Bible readings.  I think it is Genesis - Job that is listed in WTM.  Then on to the Illiad, Oddysey, etc.  We just picked about 5 WTM listed books to start.  We'll see how many we get in the first semester before planning the whole year.

 

We will be reading from Dulaire's book of Greek myths aloud with my middle schooler and Famous Men of Rome to review for latin exams, so she'll be around for those. She has read several of the lighter books listed above in her logic stage ancients.  For mine, I don't think we will have time supplement with  any lighter books with her other work.  Mine is a great reader, but she is s*l*o*w in her work in other courses.  So to be able to get all that needs to be done in her other courses, I won't be trying to get a bunch extra read.  It would get read, but at the expense of the other work, lol.

[Chrysalis Academy]

We're in progress with this right now. One of the goals of our literature study is to show how modern authors incorporate and respond to these most ancient stories, so we are using a mix of ancient sources and modern retellings/revisions.  We're also doing a separate Theater credit, so our drama (ancient tragedy and more "modern" retellings and/or novelizations) is pulled out from the lit list. My dd is a writer and an actor, so this was the approach that made sense to personalize the lit study to her interests.  

 

Literature:

 

a.       The Epic of Gilgamesh (Stephen Mitchell translation)

b.      The Book of Job (Stephen Mitchell translation)

c.       A Masque of Reason – Robert Frost

d.      The Palace of Illusions – Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

e.      The Trojan War – Olivia Coolidge

f.        The Odyssey – Homer (Robert Fagles, trans.)

g.       Homer’s Daughter – Robert Graves

h.      The Penelopiad – Margaret Atwood

i.         Theogony – Hesiod

j.        Tales from Ovid – Ted Hughes, trans.

k.       The Tao te Ching

l.         I am the Great Horse – Katherine Roberts

m.    Plutarch – selections (Theseus & Romulus; Alexander & Julius Caesar; Mark Antony)

n.      The Arabian Nights

o.      The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

p.      Poetry by Rumi

 

:

Theater Arts:

·         Agamemnon – Aeschylus

·         The Libation Bearers

·         The Eumenides

·         Mourning Becomes Electra – Eugene O’Neill

·         Antigone – Sophocles (Modern version of the play by Brendan Kennelly)

o   Leaf Storm – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

·         Oedipus the King – Sophocles

o   Chronicle of a Death Foretold – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

·         The Infernal Machine – Jean Cocteau

·         Iphigenia at Aulis – Euripides

·         Iphigenie - Racine

o   Songs of the Kings – Barry Unsworth

·         Julius Caesar – Shakespeare

·         Anthony & Cleopatra - Shakespeare

[Literary Mom]

Thanks for these ideas!  I have two younger ones as well (grades 4 & 6), that I am planning to use MOH with, but still dip into SOTW some (I've been through two cycles of it). 

 

Our reading list will also be integrated with / complementary to a new group learning experience created by a family in our church that operates a learning center (until now, she was a CC director - some of you may remember my "Is Classical Conversations Neither?" thread, so this is a wonderful answered prayer). They are working on publishing a curriculum that will be available as a free download (with a hard copy for purchase). So we will be beta testers :)  What they are doing totally meshes with the four year history cycle (and they are using SWB's books as spines). Check it out here:

 

http://www.chronoscohorts.com

 

http://goldengatelearning.center/chronos-cohorts

 

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Edited June 29, 2016 by Literary Mom

[Literary Mom]

I have been contemplating doing that as well. Did you use this?

 

http://www.homescholar.org/LOTR%20Curr.htm

 

We were also doing a full-year Lord of the Rings trilogy study at the same time to help keep up from feeling overwhelmed by too much ancient Lit. ;)

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[Lori D.]

We're in progress with this right now. One of the goals of our literature study is to show how modern authors incorporate and respond to these most ancient stories, so we are using a mix of ancient sources and modern retellings/revisions.  We're also doing a separate Theater credit, so our drama (ancient tragedy and more "modern" retellings and/or novelizations) is pulled out from the lit list. My dd is a writer and an actor, so this was the approach that made sense to personalize the lit study to her interests.  

 

SO cool, adapting a classics study to your student's specific strengths and interests! :)

 

Rose, you guys might enjoy watching the 1976 TV series of I Claudius -- adapted from the novel by Robert Graves, it has the feel of a televised stage play. It covers the first 4 Roman emperors, and the depravities are mentioned, but not visually graphic or verbally gratuitous. I'm thinking your DD might enjoy that series from a theater perspective. :)

[Chrysalis Academy]

SO cool, adapting a classics study to your student's specific strengths and interests! :)

 

Rose, you guys might enjoy watching the 1976 TV series of I Claudius -- adapted from the novel by Robert Graves, it has the feel of a televised stage play. It covers the first 4 Roman emperors, and the depravities are mentioned, but not visually graphic or verbally gratuitous. I'm thinking your DD might enjoy that series from a theater perspective. :)

 

Thanks for the recommendation, I wondered about that series - I've read the book, but not seen the TV series. I wondered how graphic it was, but I guess 1976 network TV standards would keep it from being too graphic or gory.  I will check it out for sure!

 

Rose

[Lori D.]

Our reading list will also be integrated with / complementary to a new group learning experience created by a family in our church that operates a learning center … They are working on publishing a curriculum that will be available as a free download (with a hard copy for purchase). So we will be beta testers  :)  What they are doing totally meshes with the four year history cycle (and they are using SWB's books as spines)...

 

What a great opportunity! That looks wonderful! :) Hope you have a super year with Chronos Cohort!

 

 

I have been contemplating doing that as well. Did you use this?

 

http://www.homescholar.org/LOTR%20Curr.htm

 

Yes, we did. We really enjoyed Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings, esp. the 12 units of tangential material. Those units and the end-of-chapter notes/questions are really the meat of the program. It was a bit light for us in the literary analysis dept. so for discussion, we used LLftLotR more as a springboard to then go deeper on our own. Also, because we were doing the heavier Ancient classics for our meatier analysis and study that same year, it was fine to use the lighter LLftLotR mostly as written, and just take our discussion deeper. It made for a fun, lighter balance.

 

I have since twice taught a year-long Lit. & Comp. class for gr. 7-12 on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the first time around I thought I would be able to use quite a bit of LLftLotR, but it was way too light for what I was trying to accomplish, and I ended up writing my own lessons and questions and assignments, and used just a little of LLftLotR in the class.

 

But I do think LLftLotR is a terrific, gentle intro to literary analysis program, esp. for a student who is really "into" Lord of the Rings. I'd say the program would be best for grades 7-9 for those with not much prior formal literature studies -- 6th grade for a strong reader, 10th grade for a "late bloomer" in writing/reading/literary analysis.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Lori D.

[Lori D.]

Thanks for the recommendation, I wondered about that series - I've read the book, but not seen the TV series. I wondered how graphic it was, but I guess 1976 network TV standards would keep it from being too graphic or gory.  I will check it out for sure!

 

Rose

 

It's tough to tell whether or not this will fly for you. I watched it as a fairly young teen on PBS, and didn't seem to take harm from it, and I was fairly sensitive to the pain, suffering, and violence done to others -- but, this was so clearly not real, it was "just TV", so it didn't strike me the same way.

 

But they don't pull any punches about some of the practices, which are spoken of, just not shown. You do hear of some of the nasty and insane things Caligula does; that Livia is poisoning off heirs so her son Tiberius will reach the throne; that Claudius' wife Messalina has a timed contest with a pr*stitute of how many customers each can serve; and that a power-climbing general (Patrick Stewart!!) falls out of power and before they kill all his family, the entire soldier regiment sent to do that deed each r*pes his pre-teen daughter.

 

However --- all of this happens off-stage, with just hearing some cries or comments, just enough to get the gist of what is happening. The FOCUS of the series is the character development and some of the historical events, not the nasty bits. Does that make sense??

 

Spartacus is a terrific film, with a few tastefully handled adult moments, and totally worth watching. Gladiator is more explicit and graphic, and as much as I really like that film from a filmmaking standpoint (cinematography, script, editing, and some of the acting), I would hesitate to show that one to under age 15-16. I really can't watch the scene in which the growing-insane Comodius threatens intimate relations with his sister (but nothing actually happens), as it is so potentially horrible and violating.

 

Hope that helps… ?? lol. Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Yep, that does help, thanks! I'll preview, but I think I Claudius the miniseries will be fine - kind of like lots of older tragedy, bad things happen off-stage it sounds like. I think she'll get a kick out of seeing all those great Shakesperean actors in their "youth!" The book is kind of on the line for her, I will probably have to re-read it to decide if I will have her read it.  I've watched Gladiator and I definitely think it's too graphic for my 13 year old.  

Edited June 29, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[Literary Mom]

 

 

 

What a great opportunity! That looks wonderful! :) Hope you have a super year with Chronos Cohort!

 

 

 

Yes, we did. We really enjoyed Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings, esp. the 12 units of tangential material. Those units and the end-of-chapter notes/questions are really the meat of the program. It was a bit light for us in the literary analysis dept. so for discussion, we used LLftLotR more as a springboard to then go deeper on our own. Also, because we were doing the heavier Ancient classics for our meatier analysis and study that same year, it was fine to use the lighter LLftLotR mostly as written, and just take our discussion deeper. It made for a fun, lighter balance.

 

I have since twice taught a year-long Lit. & Comp. class for gr. 7-12 on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the first time around I thought I would be able to use quite a bit of LLftLotR, but it was way too light for what I was trying to accomplish, and I ended up writing my own lessons and questions and assignments, and used just a little of LLftLotR in the class.

 

But I do think LLftLotR is a terrific, gentle intro to literary analysis program, esp. for a student who is really "into" Lord of the Rings. I'd say the program would be best for grades 7-9 for those with not much prior formal literature studies -- 6th grade for a strong reader, 10th grade for a "late bloomer" in writing/reading/literary analysis.

 

 

This is very helpful. She has been resistant to literary analysis (thinks it takes the fun out of reading), so this sounds like a good way to get her feet wet, since I am pretty certain she'll love the books (fantasy and history are her favorite genres). I tend to "beef up" whatever we're reading with my own insights, but just informally through discussion. Since I know LOTR fairly well, I am hoping that LLftLotR will be the catalyst to make me better prepared, though not as thoroughly as what you did (that sounds amazing!). 

 

I had hoped that reading/discussing The Eternal Argument this past year would give her motivation to go deeper, but alas, while she loved it, she is just as resistant to writing anything beyond summaries (lengthy ones, lol). That's one reason I'm actually glad we're going back to ancients, because I'd rather save novels for the last couple years of high school when she'll be more mature and equipped to analyze them. 

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[2_girls_mommy]

I read a couple of biographies on Livia this year.  All mentioned that made for TV movie portrayal of her and how one sided it is, obviously coming from the later historians.  Her contemporary historians spoke very respectfully of her apparantly.  So I might keep that in mind if you do watch it.  You might put a biography of her on your list.  I enjoyed reading Roman History from the women's point of view this year to get my co-op classes ready for the Exploratory Latin Exam's subject area for 5th and 6th graders.  It was definitely some different material than the usual.

Edited June 29, 2016 by 2_girls_mommy

[Lori D.]

This is very helpful. She has been resistant to literary analysis (thinks it takes the fun out of reading), so this sounds like a good way to get her feet wet, since I am pretty certain she'll love the books (fantasy and history are her favorite genres)...

 

Be SUPER careful to not analyze EVERY book, and esp. NOT a best-beloved book. And, judge carefully as to how deep to go and when to be done with discussing for the day. SWB speaks on these subjects in her talk on "What is Literary Analysis and When to Do It" -- that analyzing a favorite book or over-analyzing any book is a sure way to kill a love of literature and reading. It's a tricky little dance you get to do with your student to transition gently, slowly, over time, from only *just* reading books, to starting to talk about them, to eventually digging deeper into them, and finally writing about them -- and still loving them by the end of all that. ;)

 

 

She has been resistant to literary analysis (thinks it takes the fun out of reading)… Since I know LOTR fairly well, I am hoping that LLftLotR will be the catalyst to make me better prepared...

 

Again, you'll want to gauge this carefully. You may have more success into transitioning into discussion and analysis by just doing the study *together* -- let DD ask some of the questions of you! Then the discussions and analysis become a journey of discovery together, rather than the student feeling like it is you the parent/teacher pushing the child/student down a path that the child/student may not care to go down, or may not feel the freedom to express their newly developing independence, personality, and ideas. Just a thought! :)

 

 

I had hoped that reading/discussing The Eternal Argument this past year would give her motivation to go deeper, but alas, while she loved it, she is just as resistant to writing anything beyond summaries (lengthy ones, lol)...

 

Goodness, she's only 8th grade! That's incredibly NORMAL and absolutely OKAY! :) Sounds like you did a great job of balancing offering the book and beginning to see that there is more than just reading, and NOT pushing too hard so that she bucked and rebelled at the idea. Summaries in 8th grade are perfectly fine -- they can be a great tool into high school, too, to help keep complex and difficult works straight in your head! :) As you move further into high school, she'll be more equipped to go deeper -- just do it a little at a time as she is ready. Which is what it sounds like you are already doing! :)

 

 

In the gr. 7-12 Lit. & Comp classes I've led for the past 4 years, almost across the board it's not until about 11th and 12th grades that students really can go deeper and hit their stride with analysis, esp. in WRITING about the Literature! The majority of 7th-9th graders are still really absorbing information and learning what to be looking for and then how to express what they see and how to support their thoughts with examples from the text. On average, somewhere along in 10th grade I see them start to turn a corner and gain confidence and it starts to "click" for them. It doesn't mean they aren't smart, because they really are -- it means they are learning a whole new set of tools and they are processing how to USE those tools. That takes time.

 

And, as with all subjects, picture development as that bell curve -- a few students "click" earlier in the middle school grades (one end of the bell curve), the vast majority start to "click" along about 10th grade (the peak of the bell curve), and a few are just starting to click later in 11th or even 12th grade (the other far end of the bell curve). It's all good -- everyone is on their own unique timetable of development.

 

Wishing you all the BEST in your ancient history/lit. year and future Literature adventures! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited June 30, 2016 by Lori D.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I read a couple of biographies on Livia this year.  All mentioned that made for TV movie portrayal of her and how one sided it is, obviously coming from the later historians.  Her contemporary historians spoke very respectfully of her apparantly.  So I might keep that in mind if you do watch it.  You might put a biography of her on your list.  I enjoyed reading Roman History from the women's point of view this year to get my co-op classes ready for the Exploratory Latin Exam's subject area for 5th and 6th graders.  It was definitely some different material than the usual.

 

Any bios you particularly recommend? I am Livia by Phyllis Smith is on my preview-read list, but I'm open to others.  That is the main thing I remember about reading I, Claudius - Livia was definitely portrayed as the source of all evil.  So interesting to read different perspectives on historical "villains." I'm reading about Richard III right now and it's fascinating.

[Lori D.]

Yep, that does help, thanks! I'll preview, but I think I Claudius the miniseries will be fine - kind of like lots of older tragedy, bad things happen off-stage it sounds like. I think she'll get a kick out of seeing all those great Shakesperean actors in their "youth!" The book is kind of on the line for her, I will probably have to re-read it to decide if I will have her read it.  I've watched Gladiator and I definitely think it's too graphic for my 13 year old.  

 

Yes -- that's it exactly about I, Claudius. And, I think that's a good call about Gladiator and a 13yo. If you are interested, Spartacus covers a lot of similar thematic ground as Gladiator and is much less graphic.

 

 

Any bios you particularly recommend? I am Livia by Phyllis Smith is on my preview-read list, but I'm open to others.  That is the main thing I remember about reading I, Claudius - Livia was definitely portrayed as the source of all evil...

 

Well, yes and no -- yes, the I, Claudius series shows her evil side, but no, I did not at all see her as the "source of all evil" -- I actually thought the series showed Livia as a very strong, clever female character holding her own in a male-dominated political landscape. I thought the actress Sian Phillips pulled off the character of Livia as a more complicated type of Lady Macbeth.

 

And she is not the sole villain --Tiberius is evil. Caligula is evil. Various other characters are clearly portrayed as power-grabbing, loose-moraled, or dissipated… Even Claudius himself is shown, esp. towards the end of his life, to make some choices that reveal weak character. I thought the series was showing the whole range of fallen human nature, from poor choices to down-right evil ones -- all the kinds of choices that get made by the small upper class of super-wealthy and powerful people who rule a powerful empire… :)

 

 

...So interesting to read different perspectives on historical "villains." I'm reading about Richard III right now and it's fascinating.

 

Totally agree! I loved reading about a potentially other side of Richard III in Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time! :)

Edited June 30, 2016 by Lori D.

[2_girls_mommy]

Any bios you particularly recommend? I am Livia by Phyllis Smith is on my preview-read list, but I'm open to others.  That is the main thing I remember about reading I, Claudius - Livia was definitely portrayed as the source of all evil.  So interesting to read different perspectives on historical "villains." I'm reading about Richard III right now and it's fascinating.

I read the only two on women I could find at my library. The first one was titled, " Livia, Empress of Rome, a biography" by Matthew Dennison and the other one I don't remember the title, or have any clue on how to search for it.  It was on more than just her. 

 

The 5th and 6th grade special subject was Famous Women of Rome this year.  There were some stories that were very hard to find information on.  I remember with one woman I was only coming up with materials in Latin and Italian online.  I finally found a paper someone had written on her which gave me a lot of info to share with the class.  But it was still not enough! I should have bought the Am. Classical League's curriculum for this topic.  There was one question that came up on the exams that they all missed due to it being a bit of info that I hadn't come up with in my searches.(I found the answer later after I knew what I was looking for.)   I really did find the study of women a fascinating one after teaching Roman History (of men!) for several years at co-op. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

 

 

Yes -- that's it exactly about I, Claudius. And, I think that's a good call about Gladiator and a 13yo. If you are interested, Spartacus covers a lot of similar thematic ground as Gladiator and is much less graphic.

 

 

 

Well, yes and no -- yes, the I, Claudius series shows her evil side, but no, I did not at all see her as the "source of all evil" -- I actually thought the series showed Livia as a very strong, clever female character holding her own in a male-dominated political landscape. I thought the actress Sian Phillips pulled off the character of Livia as a more complicated type of Lady Macbeth.

 

And she is not the sole villain --Tiberius is evil. Caligula is evil. Various other characters are clearly portrayed as power-grabbing, loose-moraled, or dissipated… Even Claudius himself is shown, esp. towards the end of his life, to make some choices that reveal weak character. I thought the series was showing the whole range of fallen human nature, from poor choices to down-right evil ones -- all the kinds of choices that get made by the small upper class of super-wealthy and powerful people who rule a powerful empire… :)

 

 

 

 

Totally agree! I loved reading about a potentially other side of Richard III in Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time! :)

 

 

See, this is why I need to re-read I, Claudius - it's been long enough that I can't remember the details at all.  Sometimes I'm surprised when I re-read something that I don't remember as inappropriate, but when I read it through the lense of handing it to my kid, I sometimes come to a different conclusion!

 

I love Daughter of TIme too.  I'm reading a very beefy historical fiction called The Sunne in Splendor, about Richard's whole life, from his childhood through his brother's reign and his own.  It is fascinating, and definitely shows the other side of the story - a non-Shakespearean, much more historical Richard III.  Fascinating stuff.

[Lori D.]

See, this is why I need to re-read I, Claudius - it's been long enough that I can't remember the details at all.  Sometimes I'm surprised when I re-read something that I don't remember as inappropriate, but when I read it through the lense of handing it to my kid, I sometimes come to a different conclusion!

 

Just really quickly -- I have not read the book, only seen the TV series, so book and show may each have a very different emphasis. ;) And, that was just my take-away; others may view the series and have a completely different take-away. :)

 

 

I love Daughter of TIme too.  I'm reading a very beefy historical fiction called The Sunne in Splendor, about Richard's whole life, from his childhood through his brother's reign and his own.  It is fascinating, and definitely shows the other side of the story - a non-Shakespearean, much more historical Richard III.  Fascinating stuff.

 

Thanks for sharing that title! One to look for at my library. :)

[2_girls_mommy]

Yes, both biographers that I read on Livia had a different take away and felt the show wasn't shown as she was seen at the time.