Category: Booklog
Colette Baudoche by Maurice Barrès
Maurice Barrès is hardly a name in the United States, even to American conservatives who could learn a great deal from his fiction and essays. A collaborator of Charles Maurras, Barrès had a deeper understanding of blood-and-soil conservatism than most Americans can grasp, and his celebration (in this book) of Metz under Yankee—I mean Prussian—occupation should resonate with many.
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Aeneid 7-12, Part I
The second half of the Aeneid has rarely delighted readers to the same extent as the first half, but the poet tells us explicitly that in bringing Aeneas to Italy he has embarked upon a greater theme. It would be a mistake, then, to underrate books 7-12, though it is probably a good idea to read it through rapidly the first time.
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Aeneid VI B
Vergil lavishes a great deal of talent, energy, and lines on getting Aeneas to the Sibyl and transporting him to the Underworld. Clearly, in this very Odyssean section, he is seeking to outdo his master. There are many questions of the nature, geography, and justice system of Vergil’s Afterlife. One question has to do with how he interrelates his tripartite division–where bad people go, where good people go, and the intermediate zone–with his Pythagorean account of the reincarnation of souls.
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Aeneid VI
Book VI and VII of the Aeneid mark the halfway point of the poem, and while VII describes the beginning of the final struggle–the landing in Italy, alliance with Latinus, and the war in Italy–book VI is even more pivotal. It looks back to the death of Anchises but more importantly it looks forward, past the coming trials, to all of Roman history down to Vergil’s day.
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