The Reading Room

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11:44 AM

I'm a little torn about this answer: literature.stackexchange.com/a/12403/17

On the one hand, it's useful information but doesn't fully answer the question by itself, and under normal circumstances I'd say it should be converted to a comment.

On the other hand, the answerer is the guy who wrote the paper quoted in the OP, who actually went and lived among the Turkish Alevi people and translated their hymns himself. And I asked that question specifically in the hopes of getting an answer from him, after he'd answered another question here.

And apparently I already offended him before, so I don't want to be the one criticising his new answer now.

In fact, both answers (Spagirl's too) give some useful context about the significance of 40 and 7 without exactly answering "what does 'saints of forties and sevens' mean".

I was hoping for a more in-depth response from Thomas McElwain.

Hmm, actually that gives me a solution: instead of "this should be posted as a comment" or some such, I can ask him if it's possible to expand on the meaning of that specific phrase about forties and sevens.

And done. Thanks, chat, for being my rubber duck :-P

3 hours later…

IkWeetHetOokNiet

2:36 PM

For those who are still in "Gilgamesh mode": Translating Gilgamesh: A Conversation with Benjamin Foster. Benjamin Forster also published a 1044-page anthology of Akkadian literature that I have added to my reading list.

And for those who prefer edible archaeology: 'THE EPIC' Cuneiform Rolling Pin: The Epic of Gilgamesh.

b_jonas

3:17 PM

@Randal'Thor The answer is certainly not self-contained, but it links to an article on en.wikipedia which says "As far as the number of the abdal is concerned, there are 300 servants of Allah in the creation whose hearts are like that of Adam. There are 40 whose hearts are similar to the heart of Musa and 7 whose hearts are similar to the heart of Ibrahim. [three more classes follow]"

3 hours later…

Bookworm

6:20 PM

Q: What is the source of Irving Babbitt's disctinction between supernaturalism, humanism and naturalism

In the chapter "Ideals of Life" of My Country and My People, Lin Yutang writes (emphasis mine), The Confucian conception of man's place in nature is that "Heaven, earth and man" are regarded as "the three geniuses of the universe". This is a distinction somewhat corresponding to the Babbittia...

IkWeetHetOokNiet

@Bookworm Trying to post more Lin Yutang questions before the reading challenge ends...

Bookworm

7:19 PM

Q: What novel is Yehsao Paoyen?

In the chapter "Ideals of Life" of My Country and My People, Lin Yutang briefly discusses the novel Yehsao Paoyen, an out-and-out Confucianist novel, which takes special delight in exposing the libertinism of the monks, and whose hero, a Confucian superman, goes about persuading his bachelor ...

story-identification chinese-literature

IkWeetHetOokNiet

@Bookworm Story-identification questions usually provide a description and ask for a title and an author. In this case, I have both a description and a title, and I'm still clueless.

3 hours later…

Gallifreyan

10:42 PM

I went to the library today and picked up Alison Bechdel's Fun Home on an impulse

I've been meaning to read it for quite some time now (same goes for Blankets)

So I finished it this evening

I need to sleep on it, but it was brilliant

Bookworm

Q: children's short story about boy flying plane in storm

I am trying to identify and locate a children's short story about a boy who takes over the flying of a plane in a storm when the pilot becomes incapacitated. I am not sure, but I believe the boy was taking lessons and a storm came and the pilot/instructor had a heart attack or something. The boy ...