Teddy Rook Book

Starting a thread to keep track of my thoughts as I read through The Brothers Karamazov. Not a literary expert, just a regular guy for the first time getting into a book everyone says it’s one of the greatest novels ever written. I have also heard it described as Russian Jerry Springer meets existential crisis. Sold. What should I keep an eye out for? Anyone else read it recently? I’m genuinely curious what other people get out of the book.

@wylfcen Ent - giant, like the tree-giants (or tree-like humanoids) called the Ents in Lord of the Rings. That’s interesting!

If the Anglo-Saxons saw the Kraken, they might call it an *entcudole, from ent (“giant”) + cudole (“octopus, cuttlefish, squid”). If that word survived to today, it’d be “entcuddle.”

@wylfcen Less than 150 years before the Wright brothers “deprive[d] large masses of their gravity.” This is cool, thanks for sharing.

Do British people ever get jealous reading about how cool our Founding Fathers were?

@direstraitts I interpret your reply as a compliment to me and optimism for you. Thank you.

coisas que compraria pr o meu filho se fosse mãe

@PeterRandewijk I ordered a few of these because those look awesome. Thank you so much for the suggestion!

@TeddyRookBook Once they start reading comic books.

At what age does everyone else’s kids start learning Latin?

@castlehillmom Thank you! My kids are not yet at kindergarten age and I would be interested to hear more so I can prepare for when they are that age.

@TeddyRookBook Kindergarten, but it’s very low key and story based in elementary.

@radicalzest @mertonesque Familiar, partly why I’m trying to go against that trend.

you joke but my dad did briefly attempt to raise me bilingual in english and latin before giving up because it was hard

@B_Gutierrez_G That’s a great one too! These are the three we have so far.

@TeddyRookBook Picked this up a couple of weeks ago for our three-and-a-half year old, but I love the idea of a story book in latin!

The Brothers Karamazov: Part One Book Two Chapter Five - Elder Zosima returns to the cell where conversation is underway with other elders. - Lots of discussion about the relationship between church and state, centered on Ivan’s recent article about ecclesiastical courts. - The members of the church (and Ivan) make strong arguments for the state being part of the church, rather than the other way around. - The chapter’s title is “So be it! So be it!” Which was said by Father Paissy after he rejects the model of church being part of the state. - Miusov is mocked for his liberal European worldview, contrasted by their Russian Orthodox views. - Dmitri has yet to arrive to the meeting. - I’m getting the feeling reading this chapter that Dostoevsky wrote this book, almost as a proxy father for young men like the three brothers, or anyone without a father, or even with a bad father, like Fyodor (character not author). Could also be addressing the fatherhood crisis.

The Brothers Karamazov: Part One Book Two Chapter Four - Continuation of the previous chapter, but with a woman much different from the peasant women who came before. - She (and especially her daughter) single out the youngest son Alyosha, embarrassing him. - I would describe her as someone who seems to represent people who put more effort into waiting for their moment to talk or be in the spotlight, than into really listening or being there for anyone. - Elder Zosima is able to get right down to her essence and she admits he was able to pierce her. Same way Fyodor described their initial interaction. - Kind of seems like she’s the female version of Fyodor. - Elder Zosima’s advice is even similar. Both start out with “don’t lie to yourself,” but he said more to the woman (about practicing active love).

Starting a thread to keep track of my thoughts as I read through The Brothers Karamazov. Not a literary expert, just a regular guy for the first time getting into a book everyone says it’s one of the greatest novels ever written. I have also heard it described as Russian Jerry Springer meets existential crisis. Sold. What should I keep an eye out for? Anyone else read it recently? I’m genuinely curious what other people get out of the book.

@Graham_Mark_E @leonardo_1452_ I would be interested! Thanks for sharing.

@leonardo_1452_ @TeddyRookBook I will be launching a website for adult Latin learner within 2-3 months. I'll write a blog post eventually on why parents who know a little Latin needn't waste their money on tutors or materials if they just follow a few basic guidelines and methods consistently.

Five, but I definitely didn't start them of with Winnie Ille Pu. I was a bit more systematic in my approach.

@blhack Thank you so much for the recommendation! I just ordered it.

@TeddyRookBook We have liked this book a lot. a.co/d/09dI8mYP Kids are still very young, but it starts introducing the sounds, as well as the concept of different languages meaning the same thing.

@mcgillmd921 I’m reading Brothers Karamazov right now and am about 70 pages in and have noticed at leave five Roman references. It’s now becoming a side game for me to try to identify as many as possible. Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday to everyone who loves Roman history 🫡🏛️

@LucineVBK Thank you for the thoughtful reply! I didn’t study Latin growing up and not sure what’s common. What your daughter did sounds great.

@TeddyRookBook My daughter started at 12, so quite a bit older that this precious baby. She studied it for 6 years in school (grades 7-12), eventually ran the after school Latin club, was on the certamen team, and I think even captain one year.

@SoulCultivated Great article! Thanks for sharing. It gave me a few things to think about.

Full article:⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/cultivated…

Everyone thinks reading the Great Books takes a special kind of reader. It doesn't. Here are 10 things I learned along the way.

@njissawrites I can’t believe I have Beatrix Potter and Winnie-The-Pooh in Latin, but not Harry Potter! Thank you for the inspiration!

@TeddyRookBook Nice! I might bust this out after my daughter reads it in English, haha.

@pensandpoison @maeanneforreal Let’s talk Dostoevsky! x.com/teddyrookbook/…

Are we still talking about The Odyssey or am I good to resume my regular Dostoyevsky programming?

@JoshPhillipsPhD About a hundred years ago, Harvard’s president put together a 15 minute per day reading list for the entire year. It’s all available online for free too. x.com/teddyrookbook/…

Just read 30 minutes a day. You'll be miles ahead of most people.