How to Tell a Story: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Storytelling for Writers and Readers
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-08-06 08:52:20
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Aristotle
- ISBN：0691205272
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Summary
An inviting and highly readable new translation of Aristotle's complete Poetics--the first and best introduction to the art of writing and understanding stories
Aristotle's Poetics is the most important book ever written for writers and readers of stories--whether novels， short fiction， plays， screenplays， or nonfiction。 Aristotle was the first to identify the keys to plot， character， audience perception， tragic pleasure， and dozens of other critical points of good storytelling。 Despite being written more than 2，000 years ago， the Poetics remains essential reading for anyone who wants to learn how to write a captivating story--or understand how such stories work and achieve their psychological effects。 Yet for all its influence， the Poetics is too little read because it comes down to us in a form that is often difficult to follow， and even the best translations are geared more to specialists than to general readers who simply want to grasp Aristotle's profound and practical insights。 In How to Tell a Story， Philip Freeman presents the most readable translation of the Poetics yet produced， making this indispensable handbook more accessible， engaging， and useful than ever before。
In addition to its inviting and reliable translation， a commentary on each section， and the original Greek on facing pages， this edition of the Poetics features unique bullet points， chapter headings， and section numbers to help guide readers through Aristotle's unmatched introduction to the art of writing and reading stories。
Aristotle's Poetics is the most important book ever written for writers and readers of stories--whether novels， short fiction， plays， screenplays， or nonfiction。 Aristotle was the first to identify the keys to plot， character， audience perception， tragic pleasure， and dozens of other critical points of good storytelling。 Despite being written more than 2，000 years ago， the Poetics remains essential reading for anyone who wants to learn how to write a captivating story--or understand how such stories work and achieve their psychological effects。 Yet for all its influence， the Poetics is too little read because it comes down to us in a form that is often difficult to follow， and even the best translations are geared more to specialists than to general readers who simply want to grasp Aristotle's profound and practical insights。 In How to Tell a Story， Philip Freeman presents the most readable translation of the Poetics yet produced， making this indispensable handbook more accessible， engaging， and useful than ever before。
In addition to its inviting and reliable translation， a commentary on each section， and the original Greek on facing pages， this edition of the Poetics features unique bullet points， chapter headings， and section numbers to help guide readers through Aristotle's unmatched introduction to the art of writing and reading stories。
Reviews
Alicia Zellmer
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I liked this for what it was: another modern day translation of Aristotle's poetics。 Without a doubt， this is a foundational read for any storyteller; however， storytelling has become much less black and white than the way it was during the limited genres of Aristotle's time。 No longer do things have to be written in the chronological beginning， middle， end order， nor do they have to have a straightforward plot that fits into one of the typical Greek frames （e。g。 heroics， comedy， tragedy， etc）。 I liked this for what it was: another modern day translation of Aristotle's poetics。 Without a doubt， this is a foundational read for any storyteller; however， storytelling has become much less black and white than the way it was during the limited genres of Aristotle's time。 No longer do things have to be written in the chronological beginning， middle， end order， nor do they have to have a straightforward plot that fits into one of the typical Greek frames （e。g。 heroics， comedy， tragedy， etc）。 That's part of the enjoyment and creativity of modern day literature！ That being said， it was nice to re-visit the basics and I enjoyed Freeman's （organizational） style of doing so。 。。。more
Kyle Spishock
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Phew。 I can imagine an english teacher with a turtle neck， putting on vinyl， pouring a glass of wine， and setting down with this book， only to throw it away in disgust。 I feel like Aristotle was better off leaving these ideas in his lecture notes。In a very dated compilation， the great philosopher provides a lesson on story telling。 He would sh*t his pants if he saw the ways story was told over the last millennium。 Big flubs on his part: Aristotle insists woman should never be the protagonist bec Phew。 I can imagine an english teacher with a turtle neck， putting on vinyl， pouring a glass of wine， and setting down with this book， only to throw it away in disgust。 I feel like Aristotle was better off leaving these ideas in his lecture notes。In a very dated compilation， the great philosopher provides a lesson on story telling。 He would sh*t his pants if he saw the ways story was told over the last millennium。 Big flubs on his part: Aristotle insists woman should never be the protagonist because they aren’t as interesting or intelligent as men。 He then claims villains or unsympathetic characters should never be the main character。 Not sure how he would feel that Joker was a billion dollar earner。 Also， stories should be told around famous families or royalty。 Anything below this would be uninteresting and lowly。 Somewhere， Oliver Twist and Annie are punching at the air right now。 Aristotle goes on to profess and dismiss his fandom and loathing of epics and tragedies， drooling over Homer， but frowning at everyone else for daring to make anything that he considered too long。 Speaking of too long， let me close this book。 I could write a rebuttal as long as an epic to dismiss the claims made here。 That’s enough literature criticism for me。 。。。more
Ian
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Disclaimer - I have not read other translations of Aristotle's Poetics， so I can't comment whether this translation is better or worse than others。 Having said that， Freeman's version was easy to read and digest。 The prestige of this book seems to come from its age and author。 If was "How to Tell A Story" by Larry， it would seem like nothing more than obvious observations （e。g。， a story should have a beginning， middle and end）。 But perhaps we are all still living （and writing） in Aristotle's sha Disclaimer - I have not read other translations of Aristotle's Poetics， so I can't comment whether this translation is better or worse than others。 Having said that， Freeman's version was easy to read and digest。 The prestige of this book seems to come from its age and author。 If was "How to Tell A Story" by Larry， it would seem like nothing more than obvious observations （e。g。， a story should have a beginning， middle and end）。 But perhaps we are all still living （and writing） in Aristotle's shadow and that the wisdom in this book only seems commonplace because his criticism continues to shape western literature。 。。。more
Adonis
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twas surprised how easily i read this dude i thought it’ll be more deciphering to do。 sat and finished it 2 hours so thats slay and actually enjoyed all of it。 a lot of references to various arts so i want to look into that amen
Subjuntivo Subjuntivo
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It's ok， it's just re-writing。 It's ok， it's just re-writing。 。。。more
Jordan
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