Should I feel guilty for overly relying on annotations when it comes to reading relatively difficult works such as Paradise Lost or the Divine Comedy? To me, these works just seem like a string of random words until I read the annotations.
I know I'm a brainlet, you don't have to remind me, so is there a list of prerequisites for these poems that would help me better understand them?
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> paradise lost
> the divine comedy
> difficult
have you ever read an actual difficult book? those are kindergarten classics that are taught in middle-school, you literal brainlet
I haven't read PL but it's pretty normal when reading Dante
No one gets him the first time they read him
people like this ruin the board
>he doesn't intuitively grasp references to the turbulence of 14th century Status Ecclesiae and the tumult of the English Civil War
LMAO LOOK AT THIS LOSER
Rather than wallowing in my own ignorance, I've chosen to crawl out of it. Everyone has to start somewhere.
It's definitely fine to need hella annotations for works like that. If you want to catch more illusions, pretty much read the major Greek and Roman authors (for Roman, especially read Ovid and Vergil).
*allusions
OP I kinda have to agree with this guy, actually. The Divine Comedy is one of the most multilayered poems ever written, but at face value it's very easy to understand. Notes are still necessary to get all the references but the narrative shouldn't be a problem
Those illustrations got me through PL and DC-Dore, right?
I had gorgeous old editions and don’t know what the hell happened to them
high point of my life
Bloom said Milton’s Lucifer wasn’t just poetic—Milton’s Lucifer IS poetry
wish you the best, op
did you start with the greeks tho
don't be so mean with OP...
No, don't be. Just take it slowly and try to understand on your own and then after you finish the chapter read the annotations and see how close you were. With such difficult books, even if you think you understand it all, it's good to read annotations to see a different point of view as well. I doubt anyone here understands such old books like Divine Comedy fully anyway, there are hundreds of old references from that period of time and I don't see how could you catch every one of them unless you lived there at his time.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with annotations. There's no shame in taking advantage of the research the annotator and multiple scholars have conducted. If you read a book on Japan and were ignorant to the culture, by ignoring the annotations you'd stay ignorant instead of learning more and gaining new insights into the work. Annotations are a godsend for works that have them. The only annotations i don't like are those you see more in books meant for adolescents which repeat the obvious especially any word that would require a dictionary to look up.
I had no clue what most of the archaic words and allusions to the Bible meant (I grew up in a Nu Atheist house). It's fine to not get it, but I powered on to, like, Paradise Regained in highschool and stopped there. Probably should pick it up again. Don't listen to the spergs here who think you need to read everything they have, at their level.
I'm not afraid of all the allegorical devices that Milton and Dante employ, but rather all the allusions that they constantly inject the verses with. Canto 18 of The Inferno references Jason, the leader of the Argonauts; that would've passed by me entirely, had I not checked the annotations.
That allusion is conspicuous to all of you, but my lack background with the Greeks—with the literary canon, in general—has led me to make this thread.
I only got the jason reference because i watched the old 70s movie with the claymation monsters when i was a kid
Obviously not
What exactly is the problem? You're not supposed to completely understand these texts like an academic specializing them on a first read through. Literary knowledge is something you build up.
Annotations and secondary sources are the biggest pleb filter. Only a dilettante would disregard them.
Can you explain what a postering post such as yours does to help OP or what it adds to the discussion?
This is why 'Start With the Greeks' is not just a meme. When I saw your thread the first thing that popped into my mind was that you probably
lack a foundational basis, which makes texts like the ones you mentioned both hard to understand and more importantly, unenjoyable. I would suggest doing more research before reading such texts, and if there are too many unfamiliar themes for you, postpone reading it and get more familiar with the background, instead of torturing yourself with countless annotations. Most of the writers that are references by Dante are worth reading just as much as he himself is, especially Cicero, Ovid, and Homer.
PS for Jason, a simple podcast would also suffice:
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It’s fine, you aren’t a native of the culitural milieu in which those works were written so it’s natural you would needs some guidance.
No, why would having a full understanding of the novel be bad? I would recommend rereading it after without the annotations so as to have a less choppy experience.
You're a poop head
Obviously meant posturing, just woke up. Just saying before that guy comes back to tell me I should kill myself for making a typo.
failing to understand the historical allusions when reading a text such as The Divine Comedy isn't that bad. Being dumb and lacking knowledge are two different things. If you are able to understand and decipher the text but you don't know the history behind it, then read the annotations for the history behind it. That's how you learn, by reading.