can you remind us the story of sophocles and the story of the play of "ajax?"t happens and how does that translate to the experience that military members are having? guest: it is a story about the great decorated warrior who in the ninth year of the trojan war loses his best friend achilles and comes unglued after a nine-year deployment. he is then passed over for an award for the armor of his friend achilles and it strips of of his sense of identity, manhood, his ability to grieve, and he flies off into a blind rage which he actually attempts to kill his manning officers who he feels the trade him. he enters into this associated state of mind -- this dissociated state of mind where he sees animals instead of the man he killed, and when he wakes up covered in blood and shame, he enters into this spiral of thought where he believes that taking his own life would be a good thing. the play tells the story of his suicide and it happens onstage and sophocles stages his suicidal thoughts, ambivalence in taking his life and the actual act itself and it explores the i

so we don't have to figure out what sophocles is trying to say, at the motivation of these characters is unclear that is the purity of it, not to say it's simplistic mess but it's distilled to a point of transparency, and it's so effective i think i would challenge anybody to read these words and not have some. and however it comes out when you read it, that's what it means because that's how you see it. that's the beauty of this literature. because it transcends and becomes a very universal thing. bryan has talked about this as he said in a book that you're not alone in this room. you're not alone across the country or across time because this material, we are all together in a. it's not about doing a process of how i'm going to read this stuff. it's very, very primitive kind of music that comes in and goes out in an unimpeded way. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you. spent bryan, congratulations. thank you very, very much. thank you both. [applause] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> booktv is on facebook are like us to get publishing news

i think sophocles does a little better job. >> he's already dead. >> i didn't mean that. >> also becausei can't really, full disclosure would probably i would never work again. >> please. >> i was just thinking of what we don't do those things. i think there's a visceral theory. they are scary. they are scary to do. they are scary and i think people are scared of them. and they are a kick in the head. >> you just stole my word. >> i'm sorry. >> you are taking me off, okay? >> i am in miami, man. last night. >> welcome to miami spent on latin. >> right on, okay. scary. they are scary though, right? but they are. >> help has no -- i think you said you like to hear from us look what we got or what happens. well, we all have our share of morning things to happen to us, and you don't compare tragedies. but we all mourn. we all have our individual moods that people can relate to. don't cry, giunta, but not essentially together we are not all jewish so we don't get together in the temple. so a lot of times i find that crying is not enough. i find myself moaning, you know, like walking and moani