Tuesday, December 27, 2005

et in Arcadia ego

This evening I decided to start going through my books here at home to catalogue on LibraryThing, and I came across quite a few fun things on my shelves I had forgotten about. One of these was Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. I saw it performed several years ago and liked it, so I bought it. Well, upon finding it, I read the brief play tonight, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I remember that when I first saw the play that there were several references, literary, Latin, and the like, that I picked up on but didn't understand-- it was pleasant this time around, years later, to get some of these witticisms.
One theme of the play I can particularly appreciate as I toil in the academic world is the picture of the scholars who pick through the historical record-- notes in books, pictures, scraps, etc.-- to try to piece together scenes from the past. That they get it so wrong because they find only what they're looking for is practically a universal truth.
The way Stoppard alternates (and doesn't) between past and present is quite astonishing, as well. The fact that I enjoyed it again and yet still didn't get the full mathematical/philosophical complexities means I'll just have to pick it up again in a few years.

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