Friday, December 20, 2013

St Augustine Agonistes


La la la la la .....

"Always take the easy way" - Some Guy

Some years ago I confessed here that my attempts to read St. Augustine's "Confessions," were summed up by the margin notes in my text book (facsimile above).  I bought the Great Books of Western Civilization (ranked number one civilization in the world)  series many moons ago, and have been working my way through them for 40+ years.  Confessions is not the first, nor only work which greatness exceeds my ken (Ptolemy, Copernicus and Kepler evidently require an understanding of Algebra) , but dammit, St. Augustine?

A few days ago I was looking for something else and landed on the "Spark Notes" page.  I got through high school using Cliff Notes;  and Classic Comics; Spark appears to be the same; difference being that Spark is free on line.  So, in a matter of a few hours I am able to pass Augustine's Confessions (Spoiler: he fornicated a lot  and stole pears)  You're welcome. (Srsly, it was worth the journey, now I can read the book- if I want).

Next Road to Discovery adventure: How to Insert a Foley catheter in a woman


7 comments:

Jess said...

The quest for knowledge is an unending task. May your participants for the Foley catheter adventure be numerous and curious.

Anonymous said...

Thanks! Now I can finish Moby Dick.

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:37 Your next assignment will be:
How to insert a Foley catheter in Moby Dick.
Film at 11:00.
Lt. Col. Gen. Tailgunner dick

Helly said...

Oh Rodger, I feel your pain.

Three years ago I spent a small fortune buying "Newton's Principia for the Common Reader" by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Yes, the same guy who discovered the Chandrasekhar Limit.

In terms of calculus for the dollar, it's a terrific bargain. 600 big pages festooned with thousands of graphs and equations. Because that's the only way a 20th Century super-genuis could explain a 17th Century super-genuis.

I confess, I've only been able to get through the 1st 4 (of 28) chapters. Do you think SparkNotes would help?

Rodger the Real King of France said...

Helly, why don't you use your talent to summarize it in Classic Comic format? It would be both altruistic and keep you from burning food in the kitchen. :)

Chris in NC said...

Spark Notes is a great website!

Anonymous said...

...and this, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be pear-shaped.

Kim

Post a Comment

Just type your name and post as anonymous if you don't have a Blogger profile.