The New Lifetime Reading Plan

The Plum in the Golden Vase {Chin P'ing Mei)—Only the first vol­ume of David Roy's superb translation (Princeton U. Press) has appeared as of early 1997. Meanwhile, Clement Egerton's transla­tion (The Golden Lotus; Routledge and Kegan Paul, distributed in the U.S. by Columbia U. Press) is adequate. Arthur Waley's trans­lation (published anonymously by Putnam's), titled Chin P'ing Mei: The Adventurous History of Hsi Men and His Six Wives_y is abbre- viated, bowdlerized, and better avoided.

Further reading: The introduction, notes and appendices in Roy's translation are the best readily available commentary on the novel. More generally, see also C.T. Hsia, The Classic Chinese Novel.

Galileo Galilei—Stillman Drake's translation of the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (U. Califуrnia Press) is

scholarly and complete, and has a foreword by Albert Einstein. Better for the general reader, but hard to find, is the abridged text edition of the older translation by T. Salusbury, edited and with extensive commentary by Giorgio de Santillana. See also Siderius Nuncius or The Sidereal Messenger, tr. Albert van Helden (U. Chicago Press).

Further reading: James Reston Jr., Galileo: A Life; Giorgio de Santillana, The Crime of Galileo; Mario Biagioli, Galileo, Courtier: The Practice of Science in the Culture of Absolutism.

Thomas Hobbes—Leviathan: Bobbs-Merrill; Everyman; Pelican (Penguin); Colher.

Further reading: Richard Peters, Hobbes; D.D. Raphael, Hobbes. Basil Willeys The Seventeenth Century Background dis- cusses, in addition to Hobbes, Descartes (44), Milton (45), and Locke (49).

Renй Descartes—Discourse on Method: Everyman; Bobbs- Merrill; Penguin. Columbia University Press publishes a full-dress Philosophical Work in two volumes.

Further reading: For a full account, see J.R. Vrooman, Renй Descartes: A Biography. See also: Bernard Williams, Descartes: The Project of Fure Enquiry, and the relevant chapters in Durant, Story of Philosophy and Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy.

John Milton—Mentor has Paradise Lost and Other Poems; Holt offers Paradise Lost and Selected Poetry and Prose; and there is a Portable Milton (Penguin). Other editions are easily come by.

Further reading: A comprehensive biography is W.R. Parkers Milton (2 vols.). Shorter biographical treatments: J.H. Hanford, John Milton, Englishman; Rose Macaulay, Milton. See also: David Daiches, Milton; E.M.W. Tillyard, Milton (Macmillan); chapter 10 of Basil Willey, The Seventeenth Century Background; and the two interesting Milton essays in T.S. Eliot's On Poetry and Poets.

Moliиre—Signet issues a one-volume edition of Donald Frame's reliable translation of Tartujfe and six other important plays; and in another volume his translation of The Misanthrope plus other plays. Another good, more unconventional translator is Richard Wilbur. Harcourt Brace issues his Misanthrope (with Tartujfe) and The Schoolfor Wives in separate volumes. Penguin has two volumes of John Wood's translations, comprising most of the better-known plays. But the best way to read Moliиre is to learn French first.

Further reading: W.D. Howarth, Moliиre: A Playwright and His Audience; J.L. Palmer, Moliиre: His Life and Works; Gertrud Mander, Moliиre; D.B.W. Lewis, Moliиre: The Comic Mask.

Blaise Pascal—His Thoughts or Pensйes are in Penguin; Selections is published by Harlan Davidson.

Further reading: Jean Mesnard's Pascal: His Life and Works and Pascal are authoritative. Morris Bishop's Pascal: The Life of Genius is a sound biography; also A.G. Krailsheimers Pascal. See also T.S. Eliot's essay on Pascal in his Selected Essays.