The Reading Room

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5:01 AM

Q: What is the meaning of the Benjamin the donkey's cryptic answer?

In these lines in animal farm by George Orwell in chapter 3: When asked whether he was not happier now that Jones was gone, he would say only “Donkeys live a long time. None of you has ever seen a dead donkey,” and the others had to be content with this cryptic answer. Why does Benjamin give th...

Rand al'Thor

Still no edits or reopen votes on What was Faust's goal in the first book?

3 hours later…

Bookworm

7:59 AM

Q: What is a Pehliva?

The word "Pehliva" is used several times in the third part of the Shahnameh (Helen Zimmern translation), particularly to refer to Sam/Saum, apparently a ruler in Seistan (which I thought might be Sistan, but that Wikipedia page says that Sistan is called Zabulistan in the Shahnameh - so I'm confu...

meaning persian-literature shahnameh ferdowsi

Tsundoku

8:40 AM

@Randal'Thor It's a question by an unregistered user. If the community's first reaction is "close that question", such users typically don't come back.

b_jonas

9:34 AM

@GarethRees That would be in scope for the Limericktionary, but it doesn't seem to be listed at oedilf.com/db/Lim.php?Browse=[B%20-Ba]&Start=1800 . Perhaps submit it.

@GarethRees Right. That's why we usually spread out those edits, or, if there are a lot of them, such as for introducing the [tolkiens-legendarium] tag on Sci Fi, hold a big one-day edit event.

Tsundoku

10:06 AM

Ohio Center for the Book: Comics Discussion Guides for Maus, Persepolis and Fun Home.

Rand al'Thor

@GarethRees I'm digging into the "seventh sphere" question and it seems there might be more to it than the celestial spheres originating from the ancient Greeks. Zoroastrianism (which would've been the dominant religion in Persia at that time) had a concept of seven layers/planes/spheres called "dakhyus" - possibly corresponding to what we would call hell, or possibly neither heaven nor hell but something else. I'm still researching into it to learn more.

Tsundoku

Walter Benjamin died 80 years ago (well, on 26.09.1940). See Walter Benjamin Now (James Martel, podcast) and Walter Benjamin - Radical Chains.

Rand al'Thor

(The next interesting question then would be whether the Greek "celestial spheres" at all influenced the Zoroastrian "dakhyus" or whether the concepts emerged independently. It's a pity there isn't a Religion SE to ask such questions, although I suppose if it existed it would be hell to moderate between the different religious factions.)

Mithical

would be on-topic there I believe

Tsundoku

@Randal'Thor Seven was a number that had meaning in even older religious traditions. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Humbaba lives in the Cedar Forest beyond the seventh mountain range and has seven "radiances" or "auras".

Ancient Mesopotamian religion had "seven gods who decree".

See also the Sumerian concept of heaven: four or seven domes.

Looks like the next topic challenge will be Ko Un after "Literary Theory" was downvoted two days ago.

2 hours later…

Napoleon Wilson

12:19 PM

@Tsundoku Your general point is acknowledged and appreciated, but one could also say unregistered users don't come back anyway.

Tsundoku

12:39 PM

They are obviously less likely to come back than registered users, but unhelpful reactions reduce the chances that they become registered users.

Napoleon Wilson

Yet there are comments highlighting exactly the issues the question was supposedly closed for. It's not like there wasn't any feedback. Of course closing is usually a lot less helpful than answering, but that is the eternal dilemma of SE.

Tsundoku

1:05 PM

"Gombrowicz was a novelist & playwright. He was one of the most original
Polish writers in the latter half of the 20th century. His dramatic plays anticipated the Theatre of the Absurd, which grew in popularity in postwar Europe." On Twittter: https://twitter.com/ArkadyRzegocki/status/1290553608753340417

Gombrowicz Museum in Poland

Bookworm

1:29 PM

Q: Can you identify this poem about axolotl, fish, salamander

I have some lines from my dads favourite poem, but they’re jumbled as he was 94! The lines may not be in the correct order. He couldn’t remember the writer... and several internet searches have not helped, except they landed me here.... We’d like to find it so we can read it at his remembrance...

author-identification

b_jonas

Q: Literature for mesopotamian seven-tiered cosmos?

Reading up on the (excellent) Gilgamesh epic, I found a note for the 11th tablet (where Uta-Napishti - the 'original' Noah) describes the seven-tiered layout of the Ark. The author appended a note stating that some scholars believe this is a poetic reflection of the seven-tiered structure of the ...

mesopotamia reference-request astrology cosmogony

Q: How did the importance attached to the number seven originate?

I was reading Why 7? on SFF, and it got me thinking. I know that there are plenty of occurrences of the number 7 (see for example Wikipedia), some for quite a long time, for example the seven deadly sins of Christianity. In popular (western) culture, it is the number the most often associated to...

comparative numerology

2 hours later…

Tsundoku

3:50 PM

@Bookworm To continue the axolotl theme: there's also the novel Axolotl Roadkill by Helene Hegemann.

Mithical

I try to axolotl questions.

Tsundoku

Sounds better than badgering axolotls.

Tsundoku

4:04 PM

@NorthLæraðr Still no new tags :-(

North Læraðr

@Tsundoku Well, there was, but SOMEBODY already filled it out

That person being Gareth :P

Or maybe it already existed, I don't know

Rand al'Thor

Anne Morgan's Axolotl Rap involves rhyming axolotl with throttle and salamander with verandah. (Who knew there are so many poems about axolotls!) — Rand al'Thor ♦ Sep 8 at 9:11

I found several axolotl poems while hunting for the one asked about in that first question.

Tsundoku

Axolotl Overkill

Rand al'Thor

@Tsundoku Seven spheres of existence is a bit more specific, although the question of the origin of the idea of seven as a significant/magical number would also be interesting ...

... and already asked, thanks @b_jonas for the link. I should've thought of Mythology & Folklore for this kind of stuff.

2 hours later…

Tsundoku

5:54 PM

@EddieKal New reading challenge suggestion: Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado.

Machado de Assis would probably also make a good reading challenge.

And see 5 Brazilian Women You Should Read Who Aren’t Clarice Lispector.

Rand al'Thor

@snappyhaiku responded to a StackLiterature tweet: I made a video the tale of Genji. Watch it if you like. Or not. That’s also cool. I’m on journey to read books from every country on earth. Feel free to tag along by subscribing to my channel

They also made a video about the Shahnameh, and their most recently uploaded video (18 hours ago) is Shahnameh vs The Tale of Genji.

New Topic Challenge Suggestion

6:10 PM

A: New Literature SE Topic Challenge Suggestions Thread

The Works of Jorge Amado Jorge Amado (1912 – 2001) was a Brazilian novelist whose works have been translated into 49 languages. He started his writing career as a modernist but later adopted a more conventional style. In 1937, his books were publicly burned in Brazil; they were also banned in Por...

Napoleon Wilson

Tag along in Tagalog?

Eddie Kal

@Tsundoku Awesome! I don't know anything about Jorge Amado. Appears he had a sojourn in Europe just like many other Latin American writers of his time. Would be interesting to read him.

Eddie Kal

6:40 PM

@Randal'Thor The cultural references. Ugh. Well, the initiative is laudable.

Eddie Kal

6:55 PM

@Randal'Thor Can we get the person to participate on the site? I watched a few more of their videos and I think they have a quite intriguing view towards literature.

Mithical

How would you suggest getting them to participate? I can reply from the StackLiterature account, I just have no idea what I'd say.

Eddie Kal

@Mithical "Hi some of us over at literature.stackexchange.com watched your videos and thought they were interesting and helpful! We wonder if you'd like to come visit our site and answer some questions. Two of our recent topic challenges were Shahnameh and The Tale of Genji, and we have some unanswered questions (list). We would be very glad to have you on the site and help us with those questions"

Like that?

Tsundoku

7:11 PM

Ronica Valdeavila: The 10 Best Books in Philippine Literature, on Culture Trip, 30 April 2018. #Tagalog

Arvyn Cerézo: 5 Books by Women to Read During Filipino American History Month, Book Riot, Oct 2019. Apparently not in Tagalog.

Rand al'Thor

7:57 PM

@EddieKal "Ugh" at StackLit's tweet, or that person's videos? I haven't watched the latter yet, but very happy to get feedback on the former, as someone with zero experience of that medium of writing.

Eddie Kal

8:16 PM

@Randal'Thor Just at that video analogizing Genji to Fifty Shades of Grey, Shahnameh to Game of Thrones