[kenberg]

Waiting for the debate to start, I am reading Follett's Edge of Eternity.. Not particularly recommended, but I have time to kill.

Dimka, one of the many characters, muses:

Quote

"Call no man happy until he is dead" said the playwright Aeschylus

Aeschylus? I recall this being from Oedipus Rex. Right? So Sophocles, not Aeschylus?

I did warn you that this was not a question of burning importance. But I saw the movie of Kiss Me Kate when I was on the brink of adolescence and I took to heart the advice on wooing:

To win their hearts you must quote with ease
Aeschylus and Euripides


Misquoting could ruin a good start.

I figure people need a little distraction about now.

[Phil]

The debate started off actually talking about issues. Then Roe V Wade got brought up.

Now it's in a downward spiral and I'm guessing someone's not going to ask what one candidate thinks is so wonderful about the other.

[Winstonm]

Making brownies is better than learning quotes.

[kenberg]

I thought Chris Wallace did as good as could probably be done moderating a debate between two candidates who, far more than is usually the case, loathe each other.

It dealt some with issues, more than the other two debates, but still the headlines will be that Trump refuses to say that he will abide by the results of the election. In some abstract universe of theory, of course one cannot know until one sees what happens. In the real world, we expect our candidates will accept it, and it is embarrassing that they even have to be asked. Coupled with Trump encouraging his white supporters to go into the black neighborhoods, or rather the you know where I mean, of course just to monitor, this is beyond horrible. I doubt even Reince Priebus will be able to swallow this. At some point, everyone says "That's it".

I have said before that a real tragedy of this election is that one of the candidates is so totally awful that it suppresses debate. Chris Wallace asked some questions about the economy, indicating some areas where prominent and non-aligned institutes are not so enthusiastic over either of their plans. I think HC got the best of Trump on this, and on just about everything else, but I would have liked more depth. To put it mildly, I did not think Clinton's answers were optimal.

But it is difficult to avoid the elephant in the room, the sheer incoherence and demagoguery of Trump.

Added: This response was after reading Phil. As to brownies, I never understood the appeal. No matter the ingredients.
Upon reflection, this may have been mt error.

[Zelandakh]

The internet is a wonderful thing. Just stick the quote into Google and out pops the answer - it was said by Solon.

[kenberg]

 Zelandakh, on 2016-October-20, 03:19, said:

The internet is a wonderful thing. Just stick the quote into Google and out pops the answer - it was said by Solon.

From http://www.litcharts...lines-1311-1680

Quote

"Now as we keep our watch and wait the final day, count no man happy till he dies, free of pain at last."

Not word for word, but close, and anyway he probably said it in Greek.

But you are right. Salon definitely has precedence, and the quote is exact: From the article you cite:

Quote

Croesus had considered himself to be the happiest man alive and Solon had advised him, "Count no man happy until he be dead."

I have had killjoy friends like Salon.
.
Anyway, it does not seem to be Aeschylus.

[barmar]

Not familiar with the book, but is Dimka a character who should be expected to know the source of a quote like that? The mistake could have been intentional on the part of the author.

[kenberg]

 barmar, on 2016-October-20, 08:54, said:

Not familiar with the book, but is Dimka a character who should be expected to know the source of a quote like that? The mistake could have been intentional on the part of the author.

Sorry, but I think you are giving the author too much credit. I have read quite a few Ken Follett books and, no surprise, some are better than others. Long ago I saw Eye of the Needle during a long flight. I enjoyed it, got the book, and have generally enjoyed his writings. Edge of Eternity is the third volume (1100+ pages) in the very ambitious "Century Trilogy". I read, and liked, the first two and I am halfway through Edge, and I will be finishing it. I would not be finishing it if it were not decent, I have never had any problems pitching a book across the room and saying that's enough of that.

Dimka is (in 1966) a young, trusted and close aide to Nikita Khrushchev. He is very smart, we are told so. As is his twin sister, Tanya. Well, except Dimka got trapped into marriage by a woman who told him there was no need to use contraception because a doctor told her she could not get pregnant. And he is in love with another woman, who is married to a mysterious and powerful, but as yet unidentified, man. But anyway, he is brilliant. He is reflecting on his marriage as his grandfather, a hero of the October Revolution, is speaking of his own great good fortune in his choice of wives at the funeral of his wife of fifty years. And thus the quote.

I can well imagine that Greek Tragedy was not required knowledge for those in the inner circle of the Kremlin (although it might have helped) but I do not think Follett was being ironic here.


Many of the characters in this third volume are descendants of characters in the first two volumes. In my opinion, these third generation characters are of lesser interest than the earlier ones.