Long Live Latin

A 'fascinating' meditation on the joys of a not-so-dead language (Los Angeles Review of Books).From acclaimed novelist and Oxford professor Nicola Gardini, this is 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? It's a question we're 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 man's capacity to shape reality through reason; Virgil composed the Aeneid, without which we'd 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 it's 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.'Gardini gives another reason for studying classical languages: 'The story of our lives is just a fraction of all history . . . life began long before we were born.' This is the very opposite of a practical argument-it is a meditative, even self-effacing one. To learn a language because it was spoken by some brilliant people 2,000 years ago is to celebrate the world; not a way to optimize yourself, but to get over yourself.' -The Economist'Nicola Gardini's paean to Latin belongs on the shelf alongside Nabokov's Lectures on Literature. With a similar blend of erudition, reverence, and impeccable close reading, he connects the dots between etymology and poetry, between syntax and society. And he proves, in the process, that a mysterious and magnificent language, born in ancient Rome, is still relevant to each and every one of us.' -Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer Prize winner and New York Times-bestselling author of Roman Stories