/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.17293840]

What artist lives should every /lit/izen have read about?

I enjoyed this and a biography on Bach. Considering reading about renaissance painters next.

[Anonymous No.17293949]

>>17293840
Haydn? He had a very uninteresting and boring life though?

[Anonymous No.17293964]

>>17293949
>Jesus

[Anonymous No.17293976]

I have a biography on Leibniz on my reading list because I want to understand how that kind of genius lives

[Anonymous No.17293994]

Have you read Cellini's autobiography? Or Einstein's biography of Mozart?

Good question, I am having trouble thinking of more great ones. I do know that reading biographies of the great early modern and enlightenment philosophers will pay itself off tenfold because it gives you an earthy feel for the period and all the connections they had with the other geniuses of their time. It's like an indra's net of mutual connections. I got a fun looking book called The Courtier and the Heretic about Leibniz and Spinoza.

[Anonymous No.17294003]

>>17293976
>>17293994
Nice synchronicity, didn't even read your post before writing mine. What bio is it? I was thinking of reading the biography of Mersenne since he was connected to so many great thinkers (Galileo, Fermat, Descartes, like 50 others).

Also read about the Royal Society, Boyle and Hooke, Newton and Locke.. Leviathan and the Air Pump is a good book

[Anonymous No.17294013]

The closest thing I read recently was Italian Journey by Goethe, which I really enjoyed. It only focuses on the timeframe of the journey, but offers a very authentic experience via the use of letters and diary entries. Also its themes are much varied: botanic, geological, meterological, artistic, social and cultural studies are all of interest to the author and are incorporated into a lively whole. I also found it interesting as a source of the general zeitgeist, but the most striking parts for me were the ones focused on examination of artworks, visits to museums, exploration of cities and the embedding of it all into the evolution of his art-philosophy, as the journey marked his turn towards the classic standard/classicism.

If anybody here has read Poetry and Truth I'd be happy to hear if it was worth it too

[Anonymous No.17294038]

>>17293840
Any good anecdotes? The only Haydn story I know is the one about him instructing the orchestra to get up and leave one section at a time during the finale of the Farewell Symphony as a hint to the emperor to let them return home to their family's for the winter.

His music often has little cheeky unexpected details in it as well that keep me on my toes when I'm learning new pieces by him. His music conveys a good sense of humor but I don't really know anything about him

[Anonymous No.17294045]

>>17294003
The one I was looking at is "Leibniz: An Intellectual Biography". Dunno how good it is, I've heard it's the best in English however

[Anonymous No.17294056]

>>17294013
Wahrheit und Dichtung is amazing but have you considered reading Conversations with Eckermann as well? That is one of those magic books that comes up surprisingly often, you will see people like Nietzsche talking about how they kept it at their bedside or something.

I can't believe I forgot to mention: The Pound Era, by Kenner. One of the greatest books of all time.

Another great one: Grossman's Basel in the Age of Bachofen.

Another great one that really affected me: Zweig's Struggle with the Daemon (a triple biography of Holderlin, Kleist, and Nietzsche).

[Anonymous No.17294066]

>>17294056
Oh and I forgot to mention one more thing. Nietzsche was enchanted by the journals of the Goncourt brothers, a group of aesthetes and poets. There is a story where some famous French author, I forget who but one of the "big" names, interrupts his drunken speech on something to go to the window and vomit, then comes back and resumes without missing a beat.

[Anonymous No.17295289]

Bump

[Anonymous No.17295364]

>>17294056
Eckermann is great. It's like reading /lit/posts by an actual genius

[Anonymous No.17295477]

>>17293840
Books about Renaissance art/artists are usually comfy

[Anonymous No.17296713]

I just finished reading this book - loved it. I have, of late, fallen in love with classical music. It's all I listen to in the car and at work. I felt it was time to learn more about one of my favorite composers, and this book was great.