Long live latin: the pleasures of a useless language - nicola gardini

A lively exploration of the joys of a not-so-dead language From the acclaimed novelist and Oxford professor Nicola Gardini, a personal and passionate look at the Latin language: its history, its authors, its essential role in education, and its enduring impact on modern life--whether we call it dead or not.

What use is Latin? Its a question were often asked by those who see the language of Cicero as no more than a cumbersome heap of ruins, something to remove from the curriculum.

In this sustained meditation, Gardini gives us his sincere and brilliant reply: Latin is, quite simply, the means of expression that made us--and continues to make us--who we are.

In Latin, the rigorous and inventive thinker Lucretius examined the nature of our world; the poet Propertius told of love and emotion in a dizzying variety of registers; Caesar affirmed mans capacity to shape reality through reason; Virgil composed the Aeneid , without which wed see all of Western history in a different light.

In Long Live Latin , Gardini shares his deep love for the language--enriched by his tireless intellectual curiosity--and warmly encourages us to engage with a civilization that has never ceased to exist, because its here with us now, whether we know it or not.

Thanks to his careful guidance, even without a single lick of Latin grammar readers can discover how this language is still capable of restoring our sense of identity, with a power that only useless things can miraculously express.