Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: What’s the oldest work (by publication date) you’ve read?
I took a Greco-Roman class in college where we read a number of ancient Greek and Roman works. I can’t name most of them from memory, so let’s give it to Homer (8th to 7th century BC) with The Illiad and The Odyssey.
The Bible is an ancient text I read daily–I’m currently reading the Gospel of John, which dates to around 100 AD, one of the later books.
Setting religious texts into its own category, the oldest author on my shelf I read on a semi-regular basis is probably William Shakespeare (lived 1564 to 1616). Hamlet (1602) and Much Ado About Nothing (1600) are my favorites.
After Shakespeare, I think it would be Jane Austen, who lived slightly before Charlotte Bronte. My favorite Austen is Northanger Abbey (1818), my favorite Bronte Jane Eyre (1847). And once you’re into the second half of the 1800s, I’ve read lots of books from that time.
Hmm, there’s a big jump in time from Homer to Shakespeare–about 2,300 years! Makes me feel that I’m actually ignoring most of human history. Anyone got a recommendation for a good book from around 600? 🙂
Oldest for me is definitely the Bible – I read it nearly every day and am currently following a plan to read through the entire text. Made it so far up to Kings, so I’m pretty far in. Other really old books, not so much. I tend to read a lot of current fiction and memoir/biography.
It’s a little later than the year 600, but how about Beowulf? Or The Canterbury Tales, which is from the 14th century?