Finished: The Miser (Moliere). Loved it! Another hilarious Moliere play. :-) I've enjoyed every play of his I've read so far. I can only think how wonderful these plays translate to stage...to be able to see all the expressions and witness firsthand the humor! The Miser, of course, is full of misunderstandings, newly found parents, newly found children, and lots of secret love. The father of the play, Harpagon, is a miser who loves his money more than his grown son and daughter. Both the son, Cleante, and daughter, Elise, have fallen in love with people who they don't think their father would approve of, i.e., neither has any money to bring to the marriage. The daughter's love, Valere, has tried to ingratiate himself to the father by first becoming his employee. The son's love, Marianne, unbeknownst to the son, has become the object of his father's desire for marriage. Jacques, the father's servant is hilarious, but his pride has been insulted by the hiring of Valere. Meanwhile, someone has dug up and made off with the 10,000 crowns Harpagon has buried in his garden. Hilarity ensues!

In this first scene, Jacques didn't see who stole the money, but tells the police officer that it was stolen by Valere. Then, in the next scene, Valere thinks he's being accused of stealing the miser's daughter, not his money. It's so funny! :-)

JAC. Some money has been stolen from you?

HAR. Yes, you rascal! And I'll have you hanged if you don't give it me back again.

OFF. (to HARPAGON). Pray, don't be hard upon him. I see by his looks that he is an honest fellow, and that he will tell you all you want to know without going to prison. Yes, my friend, if you confess, no harm shall come to you, and you shall be well rewarded by your master. Some money has been stolen from him, and it is not possible that you know nothing about it.

JAC. (aside). The very thing I wanted in order to be revenged of our steward. Ever since he came here, he has been the favourite, and his advice is the only one listened to. Moreover, I have forgotten neither the cudgelling of to-day nor....

HAR. What are you muttering about there?

OFF. (to HARPAGON). Leave him alone. He is preparing himself to satisfy you; I told you that he was an honest fellow.

JAC. Sir, since you want me to tell you what I know, I believe it is your steward who has done this.

HAR. Valère?

JAC. Yes.

HAR. He who seemed so faithful to me!

JAC. Himself. I believe that it is he who has robbed you.

HAR. And what makes you believe it?

JAC. What makes me believe it?

HAR. Yes.

JAC. I believe it...because I believe it.

OFF. But you must tell us the proofs you have.

HAR. Did you see him hanging about the place where I had put my money?

JAC. Yes, indeed. Where was your money?

HAR. In the garden.

JAC. Exactly; I saw him loitering about in the garden; and in what was your money?

HAR. In a casket.

JAC. The very thing. I saw him with a casket.

HAR. And this casket, what was it like? I shall soon see if it is mine.

JAC. What it was like?

HAR. Yes.

JAC. It was like...like a casket.

OFF. Of course. But describe it a little, to see if it is the same.

JAC. It was a large casket.

HAR. The one taken from me is a small one.

JAC. Yes, small if you look at it in that way; but I call it large because of what it contains.

HAR. And what colour was it?

JAC. What colour?

OFF. Yes.

JAC. Of a colour...of a certain colour.... Can't you help me to find the word?

HAR. Ugh!

JAC. Red; isn't it?

HAR. No, grey.

JAC. Ha! yes, reddish-grey! That's what I meant.

HAR. There is no doubt about it, it's my casket for certain. Write down his evidence, Sir! Heavens! whom can we trust after that? We must never swear to anything, and I believe now that I might rob my own self.

JAC. (to HARPAGON). There he is coming back, Sir; I beg of you not to go and tell him that it was I who let it all out, Sir.

SCENE III.-HARPAGON, THE POLICE OFFICER, VALÈRE, MASTER JACQUES.

HAR. Come, come near, and confess the most abominable action, the most horrible crime, that was ever committed.

VAL. What do you want, Sir?

HAR. What, wretch! you do not blush for shame after such a crime?

VAL. Of what crime do you speak?

HAR. Of what crime I speak? Base villain, as if you did not know what I mean! It is in vain for you to try to hide it; the thing is discovered, and I have just heard all the particulars. How could you thus abuse my kindness, introduce yourself on purpose into my house to betray me, and to play upon me such an abominable trick?

VAL. Sir, since everything is known to you, I will neither deny what I have done nor will I try to palliate it.

JAC. (aside). Oh! oh! Have I guessed the truth?

VAL. I intended to speak to you about it, and I was watching for a favourable opportunity; but, as this is no longer possible, I beg of you not to be angry, and to hear my motives.

HAR. And what fine motives can you possibly give me, infamous thief?

VAL. Ah! Sir, I do not deserve these names. I am guilty towards you, it is true; but, after all, my fault is pardonable.

HAR. How pardonable? A premeditated trick, and such an assassination as this!

VAL. I beseech you not to be so angry with me. When you have heard all I have to say, you will see that the harm is not so great as you make it out to be.

HAR. The harm not so great as I make it out to be! What! my heart's blood, scoundrel!

VAL. Your blood, Sir, has not fallen into bad hands. My rank is high enough not to disgrace it, and there is nothing in all this for which reparation cannot be made.

HAR. It is, indeed, my intention that you should restore what you have taken from me.

VAL. Your honour, Sir, shall be fully satisfied.

HAR. Honour is not the question in all this. But tell me what made you commit such a deed?

VAL. Alas! do you ask it?

HAR. Yes, I should rather think that I do.

VAL. A god, Sir, who carries with him his excuses for all he makes people do: Love.

HAR. Love?

VAL. Yes.

HAR. Fine love that! fine love, indeed! the love of my gold!

VAL. No, Sir, it is not your wealth that has tempted me, it is not that which has dazzled me; and I swear never to pretend to any of your possessions, provided you leave me what I have.

HAR. In the name of all the devils, no, I shall not leave it to you. But did anyone ever meet with such villainy! He wishes to keep what he has robbed me of!

VAL. Do you call that a robbery?

HAR. If I call that a robbery? A treasure like that!

VAL. I readily acknowledge that it is a treasure, and the most precious one you have. But it will not be losing it to leave it to me. I ask you on my knees to leave in my possession this treasure so full of charms; and if you do right, you will grant it to me.

HAR. I will do nothing of the kind. What in the world are you driving at?

VAL. We have pledged our faith to each other, and have taken an oath never to forsake one another.

HAR. The oath is admirable, and the promise strange enough!

VAL. Yes, we are engaged to each other for ever.

HAR. I know pretty well how to disengage you, I assure you of that.

VAL. Nothing but death can separate us.

HAR. You must be devilishly bewitched by my money.

VAL. I have told you already, Sir, that it is not self-interest which has prompted me to what I have done. It was not that which prompted my heart; a nobler motive inspired me.

HAR. We shall hear presently that it is out of Christian charity that he covets my money! But I will put a stop to all this, and justice, impudent rascal, will soon give me satisfaction.

VAL. You will do as you please, and I am ready to suffer all the violence you care to inflict upon me, but I beg of you to believe, at least, that if there is any harm done, I am the only one guilty, and that your daughter has done nothing wrong in all this.

HAR. I should think not! It would be strange, indeed, if my daughter had a share in this crime. But I will have that treasure back again, and you must confess to what place you have carried it off. [Footnote: A good deal of the mystification is lost in the translation through the necessity of occasionally putting it for casket, and she for Élise.]

VAL. I have not carried it off, and it is still in your house.

HAR. (aside). O my beloved casket! (To VALÈRE) My treasure has not left my house?

VAL. No, Sir.

HAR. Well, then, tell me, have you taken any liberties with...?

VAL. Ah! Sir, you wrong us both; the flame with which I burn is too pure, too full of respect.

HAR. (aside). He burns for my casket!

VAL. I had rather die than show the least offensive thought: I found too much modesty and too much purity for that.

HAR. (aside). My cash-box modest!

VAL. All my desires were limited to the pleasures of sight, and nothing criminal has profaned the passion those fair eyes have inspired me with.

HAR. (aside). The fair eyes of my cash-box! He speaks of it as a lover does of his mistress.

VAL. Dame Claude knows the whole truth, and she can bear witness to it.

HAR. Hallo! my servant is an accomplice in this affair?

VAL. Yes, Sir, she was a witness to our engagement; and it was after being sure of the innocence of my love that she helped me to persuade your daughter to engage herself to me.

HAR. Ah! (Aside) Has the fear of justice made him lose his senses? (To VALÈRE) What rubbish are you talking about my daughter?

VAL. I say, Sir, that I found it most difficult to make her modesty consent to what my love asked of her.

HAR. The modesty of whom?

VAL. Of your daughter; and it was only yesterday that she could make up her mind to sign our mutual promise of marriage.

HAR. My daughter has signed a promise of marriage?

VAL. Yes, Sir, and I have also signed.

HAR. O heavens! another misfortune!

JAC. (to the OFFICER). Write, Sir, write.

HAR. Aggravation of misery! Excess of despair! (To the OFFICER) Sir, discharge your duty, and draw me up an indictment against him as a thief and a suborner.

Finished: The Giver (Lowry). Very good book! This was one of Jenny Cate's favorite books in middle school, and I'm so glad I decided to read it! The Giver is a book about people who live in a dystopian society where everything is the same. It is called Sameness. The people feel no true emotions, therefore, make no hard decisions. They don't even see color or have animals or weather or cars or dissension or love. This is all they've known for as long as they can remember, so they think they are happy. Babies are born and assigned to parents, who are allowed two children. From the time they first feel "stirrings" members of the society are given pills to squash their sexual desires, so as far as I can tell...none of the husbands and wives ever have sex. Their goal is to raise the children until they are productive adults and then keep on with their own jobs until they are no longer productive. Then, they become "olders" and live with the other older people. Eventually, olders are "released", along with people who commit too many transgressions, and newborn babies who are not deemed worthy enough to go and be raised by parents. It's never indicated exactly where the babies come from, except that there are some women who are assigned the role of "birther". The father's are never mentioned...and perhaps the birthers are inseminated.

Anyway...there is only one person who has knowledge of anything other than the world they live in. He is "the Receiver" and is the keeper of all the memories of the past. He doesn't even have first-hand knowledge of events, feelings, etc. from the past, but they have been passed on to him. When Jonas, the main character of the story, turns 12 his "career assignment" is to become the new Receiver. He has shown all the special qualities needed, and someone must learn from the Receiver to carry on the tradition, since the Receiver is getting old. Jonas must receive memories, both good and bad from the Receiver, who now, since Jonas is the new Receiver, becomes.....The Giver. Jonas first learns about snow, and to actually feel it and is given the memory of going down a hill on a sled. He then learns about sunshine, sunburn, colors, etc. The Giver must also give Jonas bad memories, so he learns what it feels like to have a broken leg, and then to be starving, and then to be lying on a battlefield wounded, watching another young soldier die before his very eyes. He also learns, though, about true happiness, family and love when he sees a family celebrating Christmas. Jonas and the Giver work together for nearly an entire year. Jonas changes deeply and can't understand why his friends and family don't feel the same things he does. The Giver explains that they don't have the memories. They are not bad people, they just don't know differently. Only once before, when the Giver was training a new Receiver, things went terribly wrong. The 12 year old girl decided she didn't want the pain and responsibility of being the new Receiver and asked to be "released". When that happened, then whatever memories the Giver had given her were known suddenly and briefly by the society. That time of "discomfort" passed, and it was ten more years before they selected Jonas to be the new Receiver.

Jonas has accepted his fate and his responsibility, but is not happy that the entire society will never know the feelings he knows. He and the Receiver decide that the only way that can happen is if Jonas escapes from their community. Once gone, the society will experience the entire year's worth of memories that Jonas has accumulated. While everything is carefully planned out for the Giver to help Jonas escape, Jonas has to jump the gun and leave two weeks earlier than planned. He finds out what being "released" means. He sees video of the smaller of two newborn twins being "released"....the baby is injected with a needle and dies. He realizes that the society is killing unworthy babies and olders when they are no longer useful. When Jonas' father informs him that the next morning they will be "releasing" a one year old baby, Gabriel, who Jonas has helped take care of because he's just to difficult to handle, Jonas puts his plan into action early. He takes Gabriel and makes his escape. The ending is ambiguous, but Jonas and Gabriel finally make it to a land where they see animals for the first time. At the end of the book, though they are near starving and freezing to death, they see the lights of a cabin in the distance...the same cabin from the Christmas memory where Jonas learned about love and family. I choose to believe that Jonas and Gabriel made it there safely....and that the society was then flooded with all the memories that Jonas had been given, thus maybe giving them the knowledge to do things differently! I really enjoyed this book and think it's a great book for the kids to have on their middle school reading lists. :-)

Finished: Ten Nights in a Bar Room (Arthur). Well, that was depressing. For some reason I thought this was going to be a lighthearted piece. I don't know why. I know it was a play that my brother was in during high school, but I was off at college and didn't see it. It was very much a story that was preaching the evils of drinking and drinking establishments in towns across American in the late 1800's. Simon Slade was a well-known, successful, good man who was the miller of the town the first time the traveling narrator of the story stops in the town of Cedarville. Simon has just sold his mill for a profit and opened a tavern and rooming house where the narrator stays. From there, each chapter is one of ten nights in the bar room. I thought at first they'd all be different years, but some nights all spanned the same year. Of course, the very first year, the narrator expresses his concerns to the friendly Simon that his sixteen year old daughter, and especially his twelve year old son, who Simon lets help out behind the bar, will be negatively influenced by living and working in a tavern. Simon pooh poohs those concerns. However, the very next year things have become worse. Many horrible things happen as a result of the evils of alcohol, including the accidental death of a ten year old girl who has come to take her drunken father home from the tavern. Things go from worse to worse as drinking leads to gambling and almost all of the "promising young men" of the town are led down the evil path of destruction. More alcoholics are formed, more debts are incurred, more deaths ensue. There is some pontificating about the temperance movement, which I believe must have been a movement to prohibit alcohol use. And, of course, by the end of the story, the son, Frank, who is now about 21, is such a drunkard and so far beyond saving that he gets in a fight with his equally drunken father, Simon, and accidentally kills him as well. The few remaining "good" citizens of the town get together and decide to close down the tavern and establish some no alcohol laws in their town. As I said...rather depressing. OK, on to something more lighthearted I hope! :-)

Finished: Candide (Voltaire). A quick, "ok" read...not as good as the musical. :-) I think I have two problems. One, I really love musicals and I loved Candide...especially since my brother played Candide! Two...I think I've figured out that I'm not a huge fan of satire UNLESS I totally understand and sympathize with what's being satirized. I think the subject material has to be close to my heart or something that's going on in my life or my era for me to enjoy. There were so many notes in this version of Candide to flip to the back and read. When I did...I could see how this must have been a brilliant, scandalous satire on French life, politics, religion, and more broadly then, on the outlook of life and on the world in general. That time period is just not one I can really relate to in great detail, so the wit falls a bit short with me. I enjoyed finally reading the book though. Voltaire wasn't subtle in his criticisms of various other writers from his time and before, and he definitely moves at quite a brisk and blunt pace through all kinds of tragedies. I guess he's got to smack both the reader and his hero in the face with the fact that all is not always the best, as Pangloss would have us believe.

My brother was the perfect Candide in 1985 at the age of 25...with the lovely voice to match. I was so blessed to see him perform that role! That was at a regional theater in NY. Then, less than ten years later, he played Pangloss in a Philly production. I would have loved to see that as well. I'm sure he enjoyed playing both characters. Candide will always hold a special place in my heart for him alone. :-)

Finished: War and Peace (Tolstoy). An instant favorite book; partially because I survived it...but mostly because I relished so many moments in the book. It is definitely worthy of being considered one of the all time great novels. I'm still in that kind of thoughtful, spacey buzz after reading a book that was heading towards 600,000 words. I actually find myself at a loss for words...maybe too many have been crammed into my head in the last nine days. :-) I loved reading this book, though! It was such a combination of sweeping historical fiction and heartbreaking romance and family closeness and enlightening, deep-thinking religious and moral beliefs.

I absolutely love the intense and detailed writing of Tolstoy. He gives such depth and vitality to his characters. You really feel like you get to know these people, and either love them or hate them or somewhere in between. All of the characters have flaws, yet such human emotions, doubts and actions that you feel for almost all of them.The romances are both heartbreaking and satisfying. The manipulations are cringe-worthy. The battle scenes, and thoughts and fears of the soldiers as they plunge into combat seem as if they would probably stand the test of all the time and wars in history. The depiction of the Russian people, the French soldiers, Napoleon, Alexander I, the peasants, the nobility, the main characters...all so vivid. I want to say I adored and fell in love with Natasha, Nikolai, Pierre, Andrei, Marya, Petya and Sonya...but they drove me crazy so many times! When you find yourself yelling at a character in a book...or exclaiming "oh no!" really loud when a character dies, then you know you're emotionally attached to your book.

I waited with patience to see who would come back from war alive and who would end up with who. I was happy that Pierre and Natasha ended up together, as well as Nikolai and Marya, but so sad at those who didn't make it home. Well, except for Anatole, the irreverent scoundrel who I wasn't sorry to see expire. Andrei's reaction to seeing Anatole being tended to on the hospital bed next to him was so moving, though, considering Anatole ruined Andrei's life on a mere whim. Finally Andrei showed the emotion I knew he had. I only wish he'd shown it to his own little son too. And, I wanted so much for Nikolai to be a little more loving, Natasha to be a little less single-minded, Marya to be a little more confident, Pierre to be a little less flighty, and Petya definitely less impetuous. :-(

I was slightly disappointed, after reading more than 1200 pages, that I never got to see how the lives of Boris, Vera, and Dolokhov end up. I know how I would have LIKED for Dolokhov to end up after his callous disregard for Pierre, Nikolai, and everyone else. I found nothing redeeming in him or in Helene, Anatole's sister. I was so happy when Helene died, and only wished more time had been devoted to the telling of it instead of just hearing of it second hand. And...it was never explained how Denisov escaped from being prosecuted, but I'll assume that Alexander I pardoned him. I also loved reading about all the real-life military characters mixed in with the fictional ones. I had to take breaks at times and go read about them separately.

Tolstoy did drone on a bit too much for me with his debate about whether the single historical figure, like Napoleon truly made history happen, or whether circumstances make history, and the historical figures just help it along. I know I completely oversimplified that, but that was probably my least favorite part of the book. The final 35 pages...part 2 of the Epilogue...are devoted to Tolstoy's very definite opinions on what exactly makes historical events occur...how history becomes history, etc. It's very detailed, but I made myself read it. In hindsight, I wish I'd just ended with the first part of the Epilogue which contained the final moments with the characters I'd grown attached to!

I had so many passages I loved. I couldn't possibly type them all out. I will put a few in though. :-)

As a Russian commander leads his soldiers into battle:

Having galloped luckily through the French, he came to the field beyond the woods through which our men were running and, disobeying commands, heading down the hill. That moment of moral hesitation came which decides the fate of battles: would these disorderly crowds of soldiers heed the voice of their commander, or look at him and go on running? Despite the desperate shouts of the regimental commander, formerly so terrible for the soldiers, despite the furious, crimson face of the regimental commander, who no longer resembled himself, and the waving of his sword, the soldiers went on running, talking, firing into the air and not listening to his commands. The moral hesitation that decides the fate of battles was obviously being resolved in favor of fear.

These next two brought tears to my eyes. First, the scene with Nikolai and his mother. Then, the scene with his sister, Natasha, who he was so close to. Twenty year old Nikolai, who has already been heroic in battle, gets leave to come home from the war and has an emotional reunion with his family, and especially his mother. Then, he catches up with his sister:

    Rostov, not wishing anyone to announce him beforehand, threw off his fur coat and ran on tiptoe to the big, dark reception room. Everything was the same--the same card tables, the same chandelier in its cover; but someone had already seen the young master, and before he reached the drawing room, something flew out of a side door precipitously, like a storm, and embraced and began kissing him. A second, then a third such being sprang from a second, a third door; more embraces, more kisses, more shouts, tears of joy. He could not make out where and who was his papa, who was Natasha, who was Petya. Everybody wept, talked, and kissed him at the same time. Only his mother was not among them--he noticed that.....The old countess had not come out yet. And then footsteps were heard at the door. The footsteps were so quick that they could not have been his mother's. 

    But, it was she, in a new dress, unfamiliar to him, which must have been made in his absence. Everyone let him go, and he ran to her. When they came together, she fell on his breast, weeping. She could not lift her face, and only pressed it to the cold cords of his Hungarian jacket.

-----

Natasha, taking her brother under the arm, led him to the sitting room, and started talking with him. They hastened to ask and answer each other about a thousand little things that could interest only them. 

One of Tolstoy's little statements about history:

     Fatalism in history is inevitable for the explanation of senseless phenomena (that is, those whose sense we do not understand). The more we try to explain sensibly these phenomena of history, the more senseless and incomprehensible they become for us.

     Each man lives for himself, uses his freedom to achieve his personal goals, and feels with his whole being that right now he can or cannot do such-and-such an action; but as soon as he does it, this action, committed at a certain moment in time, becomes irreversible and makes itself the property of history, in which it has not a free but a predestined significance.

When Napoleon marches into Moscow in triumph, he expects that he will be meet by Russians willing to bow down to him. He memorizes his speech in his mind, and all his grandiose gestures of good will, his own little theatrical production. Instead, he encounters a Moscow that has been deserted by the Russian people with no one there to great him. Tolstoy, who uses much French in the book simply writes:

Le coup de theatre avait rate. (The coup de theatre had not come off.)

Andrei is severely wounded, drifting in and out of consciousness, his early childhood flashing through his mind, when he notices the other wounded soldier they are working on beside him....the man who tried to seduce his fiance, and ruined his life, Anatole. However, in his state of mind, he feels none of the former hatred for Anatole, and only love and compassion:

     The doctors were bustling about a wounded man, the shape of whose head seemed familiar to Prince Andrei; they were lifting him and calming him. 

     "Show me...Oooh! oh! oooh!" his moaning, broken by sob was heard, frightened and resigned to his suffering. Hearing those moans, Prince Andrei wanted to weep. Whether it was because he was dying without glory, or because he was sorry to part with life, or from those memories of long-lost childhood, or because he was suffering, others were suffering, and this man was moaning so pitifully before him, he wanted to weep childlike, kind, almost joyful tears.

     The wounded man was shown his cut-off leg in a boot caked with blood!

     "Oh! Ooooh" he sobbed like a woman. The doctor, who was standing in front of the wounded man, screening his face, stepped away.
     "My God! What is this? Why is he here?" Prince Andrei said to himself.
     "In the unfortunate, sobbing, exhausted man whose leg had just been removed, he recognized Anatole Kuragin. They were holding him up in their arms and offering him water in a glass, the rim of which he could not catch in his trembling, swollen lips.....He remembered now the connection between him and this man, who was looking at him dully through the tears that filled his swollen eyes. Prince Andrei remembered everything, and a rapturous pity and love for this man filled his happy heart.
    Prince Andrei could no longer restrain himself, and he wept tender, loving tears over people, over himself, and over their and his own errors.
     "Compassion, love for our brothers, for those who love us, love for those who hate us, love for our enemies--yes, that love which God preached on earth, which Princess Marya taught me, and which I didn't understand; that's why I was sorry about life, that's what was still left for me, if I was to live. But now it's too late. I know it!"

This evolving of Andrei's was a huge step in the book, considering he'd rejoined the army just to search for Anatole and take revenge on him after what he'd done to him. Being a non-fan of Anatole, I'm afraid I wasn't as magnanimous as Andrei. I quite enjoyed him being the one whose leg was taken off. Then...we hear later on that Anatole died from his wounds. I could go on and on. I loved the friendship between Andrei and Pierre. Tolstoy uses that friendship to show two sides to a few moral and theological debates. And, I loved the growth of Pierre throughout the book. Yes, I think this is one of those books whose characters I'll be thinking about for quite awhile. :-)

I've started reading War and Peace by Tolstoy! This will be a long one. So far I really like it. :-)

Finished: Julius Caesar (Shakespeare). Another classic! :-) I decided to read Julius Caesar right after reading I, Claudius since so many of the characters were the same. I, Claudius didn't cover the exact same events, but it was interesting to keep the historical characters in my mind. I've seen the play, Julius Caesar, twice...but had never read the book. I think both times I saw the play, the last scenes of battle happened so quickly that I never got to fully appreciate the actual dialogue. As usual, I loved Shakespeare's writing!

Of course, I loved Mark Antony's classic speech to the public after Julius Caesar was slain..."Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears...". He craftily turns the crowd against Brutus and the others who have just killed Caesar, while moments before the crowd was backing the very same people.

I also loved reading the famous line uttered by Casca when he didn't understand a conversation because it was spoken in Greek, "...it was Greek to me."

And, I loved the self-description of Brutus' honor:
What is it that you would impart to me?
If it be aught toward the general good,
Set honor in one eye and death i' th' other,
And I will look on both indifferently;
For let the gods so speed me, as I love
The name of honor more than I fear death.

And, the famous line when Caesar realizes that Brutus has betrayed him as well as the others. So short, yet so powerful:

"Et tu, Brute? Then fall Caesar."

And, finally, I loved Shakespeare's own prediction that this scene of Caesar's death would be played over and over for hundreds of years to come as Cassius encourages his fellow murderers to bathe their hands in Caesar's blood:

Stoop then, and wash. How many ages hence
Shall this our lofty scene be acted over
In states unborn and accents yet unknown!

Well, the Olympics are over, the Texans have gone home (boo!), the theme-parking is done, and I finally finished I, Claudius (Graves). I really enjoyed this book! I started reading it at the beginning of the Olympics and read leisurely since I also spent alot of time watching the Olympics and visiting with my sister and niece from Texas for 10 days. I loved reading the account of the Roman Empire for this time period from the fictional auto-biographical voice of Claudius. Claudius began his story with the death of Julius Caesar and the rise of his great-uncle Augustus as the emperor. Roman history can be so confusing, that this telling of the story made it much more interesting and easier to follow. I can't wait to dig into each of the historical characters now and read about them and match them to the story! Was Livia, the wife of Augustus and grandmother of Claudius, really responsible for killing her own husband, among other people? I loved Claudius, the crippled, stuttering youngster that no one paid any attention too, and how he kept his wits about him and rose to become the emperor at the end of the book. And, I really loved his older brother Germanicus who was the only person who was ever truly kind to Claudius and loved him. He was a noble general and should have been the successor to Augustus, but he maintained his loyalty to his uncle and adoptive father, Tiberius (who succeeded Augustus instead) throughout his life, even when Tiberius wrongly suspected Germanicus of trying to usurp his position. I figured out right away who killed Germanicus and it was quite chilling to have that confirmed towards the end of the book. The characters of Caligula, Livia and Tiberius were downright evil! I know Caligula is a famous name, but I really have not invested any time in Roman history, so I didn't know of all his atrocities. And, duh, I totally kept waiting for him to be killed by his horse!! I didn't get the meaning of that prophecy until it was literally hitting me over the head at the same time if was hitting HIM over the head in the last few pages. Anyway, like I said...I'm going to read some history to compare the two accounts. Loved the book! I might just have to read the sequel which is about the time period that Claudius actually was emperor of Rome.

Here are a couple of snippets from the book. The first one is at the beginning when Claudius is explaining why he's writing the account:

This is a confidential history. But who, it may be asked, are my confidants? My answer is: it is addressed to posterity. I do not mean my great-grandchildren, or my great-great-grandchildren: I mean an extremely remote posterity. Yet my hope is that you, my eventual readers of a hundred generations ahead, or more, will feel yourselves directly spoken to, as if by a contemporary: as often Herodotus and Thucydides, long dead, seem to speak to me.

And, of course, the well-known or well-imitated first line of the book:

I. Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This-that-and-the-other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles) who was once, and not so long ago either, known to my friends and relatives and associates as "Claudius the Idiot", or "That Claudius", or "Claudius the Stammerer", or "Clau-Clau-Claudius" or at best as "Poor Uncle Claudius", am now about to write this strange history of my life; starting from my earliest childhood and continuing year by year until I reach the fateful point of change where, some eight years ago, at the age of fifty-one, I suddenly found myself caught in what I may call the "golden predicament" from which I have never since become entangled.

When Claudius, the boy, is being asked his opinion about two rival historians' methods of writing history, they are surprised that he is very knowledgeable on the subject, and has his own thoughts on the matter. Pollio thinks perhaps Claudius has become disillusioned that his tutor Livy's way of writing history is only one way of looking at things:

"It's not disillusion, sir. I see now, though I hadn't considered the matter before, that there are two different ways of writing history: one is to persuade men to virtue and the other is to compel men to truth. The first is Livy's way and the other is yours: and perhaps they are not irreconcilable."

I really love that quote and the entire time I was reading I, Claudius I kept wondering if my dad had ever read this book. He would have loved it! Wish I could ask him.

I've started reading I, Claudius. I think I'm going to enjoy it! It's historical, yet a "first person" fictional account. Could take me a while to finish with company coming for ten days (which I'm ecstatic for!) and the Olympics still on!

Finished: Things Fall Apart (Achebe). Interesting book about the customs and beliefs of a village in Nigeria. Okonkwo is the main character, and a leader in the village. He is also fierce, quick-tempered and prone to beating his children and wives if they disobey him or show any weaknesses. The primitive, backwards nature of these village people breaks my heart. For instance, if twins are born...they are taken to the woods to die because twins are considered a bad omen. However, I think it broke my heart more when the white man came and interfered...bringing religion that conflicted with the village's beliefs in many gods, etc. Things fell apart, as the title says, and violence ensued in the name of civilizing or teaching the villagers. This was another of those books that Josh read during high school that I've been anxious to read. I'm glad I read it and continue to be amazed at the broad spectrum of books my  kids read in high school!