Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World

[nous_corpus]

Why didn't anyone ever tell me this book existed? I just stumbled onto it via Amazon, and can't wait for it to arrive. From the description, it sounds like it combines my interests in philosophy, class identity, politics, and history. It was exactly what I've been looking for, without even knowing it.

Comments

[dobrovolets]

An excellent book. Here's a good obituary of the author from the World Socialist Website, describing his work, including his other books, his methods, and the scholarly and political debates into which he entered. Something I'd like to revisit.

[nous_corpus]

Thanks--I'll check that out! Have you read the original "What is to be Done?" by Cherneshevsky? I know a lot of literary critics pan it, and it's certainly not an artistic tour de force like War & Peace or Dead Souls, but I thought it read quite well and made some important points. Plus, it encouraged many Russian women to pursue careers in medicine.

How about Belinsky? I've read his letter to Gogol and some stray literary criticism, the latter of which hasn't done a lot for me. But it seems like Belinsky is probably in need of a good translator and editor, to bring his work to a wider audience.

[dobrovolets]

I must confess, despite the journal name, I'm not an expert on Russian literature or culture, and I've only cursorily studied the language. My LJ started life as an elaborate pun built around this default icon. Yet it outlived the pun, so here I am, seeming to be as I am not. I'd like to read Chernishevsky at some point, but I have to rely on the efforts of translators. Belinsky I'm not familiar with at all.