Not long ago I shared my thoughts on a list of literary works that the College Board recommends college-bound students read before leaving high school. In my opinion the list is unrealistic in scope, with too many titles and a number of selections that I consider to be more college than high school terrain.
Here's a better list, compiled by Bill Bennett a few years ago after he posed the question to a group of experts he selected. I have read either all or part of everything on the list except for the Communist Manifesto. (Must I?) I didn't finish War and Peace, I can't say that I have read every last word of Homer, and I've only read parts of Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Politics and Tocqueville's Democracy in America. Oh yes, and I'm ashamed to admit I haven't read every one of Shakespeare's plays (although I've read many). That's one of my goals before I die. But the rest of it I've got covered--even all of Paradise Lost (that is one great read, let me tell you). Do you think that means I could get back into college? What about you? Are you college material. Go and see. (To my teenagers: if you want to see what's coming in the next few years, this list will give you a good idea. And take note of what we've already read. We're making good progress!)
By the way, there is nothing on Bennett's list younger than 30 years old. I like that. Not that a work has to be old to be good. But I think it takes a little time to ascertain if something is a classic or not. The College Board list was, in my opinion, a bit too eager to open the door to modern literature.
(HT: Kathryn Lopez, The Corner at National Review)
2 comments:
I'm missing Steinbeck, Hawthorne, Melville, Faulkner, Salinger, De Tocqueville, and Tolstoy. So, most of the Americans and Tolstoy. And a lot of Shakespeare, but I've got the fundamentals, I think.
I love that the Aeneid is on the list. It's the most neglected of the epic poems.
The Communist Manifesto is a pretty quick and easy read, and I think it's worth reading. It really drives home how much Marxism plays off some of the worst of human desires to produce something so dehumanizing.
Many of those works I have not read. Does it count for something that I know *about* them, and something about *why* they're important?
De Tocqueville would be a good example of that. I haven't read it, but I know about it.
You know what else? When I read that list, I get angry. I get angry at how my "education" has failed me.
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