[goldstategop]

I'd have to give the vote to Hypnerotomachia Poliphili by the Renaissance Italian architect author Francesco Colonna. Its written in a rather convoluted Italian replate with Greek and Latin derivatives. It prefigures surrealism and is opaque and obscure. You have to know a great deal about ancient literature and languages, math and architectural elements to fully appreciate the work. And the writer's ornate expressions can get tiring at times for modern readers.

[prov1813man]

"I'd have to give the vote to Hypnerotomachia Poliphili by the Renaissance Italian architect author Francesco Colonna. Its written in a rather convoluted Italian replate with Greek and Latin derivatives. It prefigures surrealism and is opaque and obscure. You have to know a great deal about ancient literature and languages, math and architectural elements to fully appreciate the work. And the writer's ornate expressions can get tiring at times for modern readers."

Huh ?

[Mannaggia l'America]

I'd have to give the vote to Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

Funny you pointed that one out, because I was going to say Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell, which is about just that.

I had to force myself to finish Rule of Four, hoping it would get better - and it never did.

[flaglady47]

"I'd have to give the vote to Hypnerotomachia Poliphili by the Renaissance Italian architect author Francesco Colonna. Its written in a rather convoluted Italian replate with Greek and Latin derivatives. It prefigures surrealism and is opaque and obscure. You have to know a great deal about ancient literature and languages, math and architectural elements to fully appreciate the work. And the writer's ornate expressions can get tiring at times for modern readers."

Have you read: "The Rule of Four [Hardcover] by Caldwell, Ian; Thomason, Dustin." This book (which has some similarities to the Da Vanci Code in style) was based on the "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili". It's kind of a whodunit thriller based in the world of academia, mostly located on a college campus (Princeton). A couple of grad students wrote it, and were doing so about the same time that Dan Brown was writing his Da Vinci code, although the grads started writing their book before Brown did his. You should check it out. A kind of thinking man's Da Vinci Code. A fun book, and an interesting premise. I've already mapped out a sequel to the Rule of Four book in my mind.