Posted on 02/17/2020 7:52:44 PM PST by Fester Chugabrew
Thucydides, not Herodotus.
While I’ve read and value a number of those books, in regards to the “greatest influence on how and what I think” I would have to have Orwell’s 1984 near the top of my list.
With you on that. Photography came in at around 1830 (not sure). Then movies and phone. Millenia ahead of us had none of that. The social ramifications are enormous.
As a youth, the book had to have pictures. Hardy Boys was one of my first ventures into “real reading.” Big whoop!
No Dreams from my Father? Racist list.
That was an assignment for me in school. 1984. Definitely a classic. Never did read “Brave New World,” but Dems would like to make us live it these days if I’ve garnered comments on that work correctly.
Pretty sure that volume ranks low on the list of classics. Or has that volume influenced culture in a big way?
Canterbury Tales.
L
Amongst the handful of written classics there undoubtedly was a phalanx of really bad books, pamphlets, magazines etc. Indeed, there is likely an even greater pile of written rubbish - scribbles and sophomoric syntax - that never made it to a proper publisher.
The same holds true for almost every art form: for every Quadrophenia, we have scores of Yoko Ono albums. And for every Breaking Bad or Mad Men or Monty Python's Flying Circus that ultimately excels as a magnificent examination of the human condition, we have a gazillion horrid TV shows.
But I agree, the apex of every art form is to be celebrated and held up as a bellwether.
Two of those tomes reside in my humble abode, awaiting their time to be read.
I’m in my 70s and in declining health, making it unlikely I could make much headway on such a list in this life’s remainder. Happily, I’ll soon have Christ’s 1,000-year reign in which to accomplish this, along with any number of worthy endeavors during any free time—perhaps including expanding my repertoire of Bible memorization globally. Anyway, thanks for the list.
I see that The Call of the Wild is being redone, don’t know if it is in theaters or on TV.
*facepalm*
There is more insight into the human condition in his work then anything outside the Bible.
Yes he does. Eliot was a big signpost for Kirk.
Excellent observations by the professor.
Our civilization is dying. We have let liberal termites infest our educational system from top to bottom. The structure is crumbling. There is not one solid support left. It looks OK on the outside, but a little gust of wind will knock it down.
I have read a lot in my 70 years for one outside of academics. A lot of it was crud but also a lot that was sound.
Writing from earlier times was tough to address until I had worked many hours on those I wanted to get through and profit from having digested. Those sort of works became easier the more of them I finished.
Where is Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren and their “Great Books” from the University of Chicago 1940?
Many people no longer read books...any books.
...hilarious comment, thanks!
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