Quote:
Originally Posted by astrangerhere
Well, I did get my copy from the library and I was largely underwhelmed. The introductory material about the trivium was interesting, but not new to me. As for the guided reading - you would find almost the same lists in any graduate program as in each genre, her list is largely the recognized "THE CANNON." In fact, if you want a checklist, you can find all the books she lists in the book here without the outlay.
I have no desire to start an argument about the cannon, but I think if you followed her suggestion of reading chronologically, you could get just as much as the Harvard Classics to then guide you into modern reading that you could likely curate for yourself.
*disclaimer - I did not attend public school and was likely educated in the classical manner even if not in name. |
Well, if you read the intro, you would note that the point of the book is that it's oriented towards helping someone who does not have a classic liberal arts education, educate themselves with the classic books. Yea, you get the same book list, but a secondary point is the engage in meaning discussion of the various books, i.e. force yourself to actually think about the books. It's the sort if thing that I first started doing in the 7th grade at school, but a lot of people didn't have the advantage of that sort of education. Her ideal seems to be something much like those book clubs that a lot of people belong to where everyone read the same book then gets together to discuss it. I suspect this type of activity tends to appeal to a certain type of personality.