Binding: Paperback
Description: A lively exploration of the joys of a not - so - dead language From the acclaimed novelist and Oxford professor Nicola Gardini a personal and passionate look at the Latin language: its history its authors its essential role in education and its enduring impact on modern life - whether we call it "dead" or not. What use is Latin? It's a question we're often asked by those who see the language of Cicero as no more than a cumbersome heap of ruins something to remove from the curriculum. In this sustained meditation Gardini gives us his sincere and brilliant reply: Latin is quite simply the means of expression that made us - and continues to make us - who we are. In Latin the rigorous and inventive thinker Lucretius examined the nature of our world; the poet Propertius told of love and emotion in a dizzying variety of registers; Caesar affirmed man's capacity to shape reality through reason; Virgil composed the Aeneid without which we'd see all of Western history in a different light. In Long Live Latin Gardini shares his deep love for the language - enriched by his tireless intellectual curiosity - and warmly encourages us to engage with a civilization that has never ceased to exist because it's here with us now whether we know it or not. Thanks to his careful guidance even without a single lick of Latin grammar readers can discover how this language is still capable of restoring our sense of identity with a power that only useless things can miraculously express.
Title: Long Live Latin The Pleasures Of A Useless Language
Author(s): Gardini Nicola
Publisher: Picador
Barcode: 9781250758149
Pages: 256 Pages
Language: English
Publication Date: 12/1/2020
Category: Literary Studies: Classical, Early & Medieval