Items related to Ardor
In this revelatory volume, Roberto Calasso, whom the Paris Review has called 'a literary institution', explores the ancient texts known as the Vedas. Little is known about the Vedic people who lived more than three thousand years ago in northern India: they left behind almost no objects, images, ruins. They created no empires. Even the hallucinogenic plant, the soma, which appears at the centre of some of their rituals, has not been identified with any certainty. Only a 'Parthenon of words' remains: verses and formulations suggesting a daring understanding of life.
'If the Vedic people had been asked why they did not build cities,' writes Calasso, 'they could have replied: we did not seek power, but rapture.' This is the ardor of the Vedic world, a burning intensity that is always present, both in the mind and in the cosmos. With his signature erudition and profound sense of the past, Calasso explores the enigmatic web of ritual and myth that define the Vedas. Often at odds with modern thought, he shows how these texts illuminate the nature of consciousness more than neuroscientists have been able to offer us up to now. Following the 'hundred paths' of the Satapatha Brahmana, an impressive exegesis of Vedic ritual, Ardor indicates that it may be possible to reach what is closest by passing through that which is most remote, as 'the whole of Vedic India was an attempt to think further'.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
Roberto Calasso [is] the most inquisitively suggestive literary critic in the world today (Thomas McGonigle The Los Angeles Times)
About the Author:
Born in Florence, Roberto Calasso lives in Milan, where he is publisher of Adelphi Edizioni. He is the author of an ongoing series of books which began with The Ruin of Kasch and includes The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, Ka, K., Tiepolo Pink, La Folie Baudelaire, and Ardor.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherAllen Lane
- Publication date2014
- ISBN 10 0241011760
- ISBN 13 9780241011768
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages432
- Rating
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
Ardor
Published by
Penguin Books Ltd, United Kingdom, London
(2014)
ISBN 10: 0241011760
ISBN 13: 9780241011768
Used
Paperback
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Fine. In this revelatory volume, Roberto Calasso, whom the Paris Review has called 'a literary institution', explores the ancient texts known as the Vedas. Little is known about the Vedic people who lived more than three thousand years ago in northern India: they left behind almost no objects, images, ruins. They created no empires. Even the hallucinogenic plant, the soma, which appears at the centre of some of their rituals, has not been identified with any certainty. Only a 'Parthenon of words' remains: verses and formulations suggesting a daring understanding of life. 'If the Vedic people had been asked why they did not build cities,' writes Calasso, 'they could have replied: we did not seek power, but rapture.' This is the ardor of the Vedic world, a burning intensity that is always present, both in the mind and in the cosmos. With his signature erudition and profound sense of the past, Calasso explores the enigmatic web of ritual and myth that define the Vedas. Often at odds with modern thought, he shows how these texts illuminate the nature of consciousness more than neuroscientists have been able to offer us up to now. Following the 'hundred paths' of the Satapatha Brahmana, an impressive exegesis of Vedic ritual, Ardor indicates that it may be possible to reach what is closest by passing through that which is most remote, as 'the whole of Vedic India was an attempt to think further'. Seller Inventory # GOR013650396
Buy Used
£ 40
Convert currency
Stock Image
Ardor
Published by
Allen Lane
(2013)
ISBN 10: 0241011760
ISBN 13: 9780241011768
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hard Cover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. Seller Inventory # 001249
Buy Used
£ 20
Convert currency
Seller Image
ARDOR
Published by
Penguin Books Ltd, New York
(2013)
ISBN 10: 0241011760
ISBN 13: 9780241011768
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. First UK Edition. Translated from the Italian by Richard Dixon. First UK edition. Hardback, with dust wrapper. Red boards with black lettering on the spine. Binding is neat and tidy. Whole book is tidy, with light thumbing on the page edges, free endpapers and pastedowns. Some discolouration on free endpapers, pastedowns and the occasional page, albeit light, otherwise this book is in good condition. Dustjacket is moderately thumbed. Small rubbed mark on the front cover. Spine rubbed a little, else in good condition. *We always describe the faults of our books meticulously but they usually present better than they sound. Seller Inventory # MYT016
Buy Used
£ 26.57
Convert currency
Seller Image
Ardor
Published by
Penguin Books Ltd
(2013)
ISBN 10: 0241011760
ISBN 13: 9780241011768
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Gut. umschlag lädiert, sonst gut, gebunden, 420 Seiten . Translated from the Italian by Richard Dixon. First UK edition. Seller Inventory # A-770-FGzhg
Buy Used
£ 35.20
Convert currency