Synopses & Reviews
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER At the age of forty-eight, writer and film critic David Denby returned to Columbia University and re-enrolled in two core courses in Western civilization to confront the literary and philosophical masterpieces -- the "great books" -- that are now at the heart of the culture wars. In Great Books, he leads us on a glorious tour, a rediscovery and celebration of such authors as Homer and Boccaccio, Locke and Nietzsche. Conrad and Woolf. The resulting personal odyssey is an engaging blend of self-discovery, cultural commentary, reporting, criticism, and autobiography -- an inspiration for anyone in love with the written word.
Review
Tracy Kidder What Mr. Denby has written is a book filled with keen literary and social observation, which captures the excitement of exploration and discovery. This is a wonderful book.
Review
Tracy KidderWhat Mr. Denby has written is a book filled with keen literary and social observation, which captures the excitement of exploration and discovery. This is a wonderful book.
Review
Joyce Carol Oates The New York Times Book Review A lively adventure of the mind....The tone of the prose...is one of unqualified enthusiasm: energy, vigor, intellectual curiosity, and what might be called an ecstasy of imaginative journalism.
Review
Jane Smiley Chicago Tribune Books He sustains a variety of tone, subject matter and approach that keeps Great Books alluring and readable throughout...I was torn between getting out a copy of the book he had just discussed and reading it and going on with Denby. In every case. I went on with Denby.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 467-470) and index.
About the Author
David Denby has been film critic and staff writer at The New Yorker since 1998; prior to that he was film critic of New York magazine. His reviews and essays have also appeared in The New Republic, The Atlantic, and The New York Review of Books. He lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
ContentsIntroduction
Reading Lists
FIRST SEMESTER
1. Homer I
2. Sappho
Interlude One
3. Plato I
4. Homer II
Interlude Two
5. Plato II
6. Sophocles
7. Aristotle
Interlude Three
8. Aeschylus and Euripides
Interlude Four
9. Virgil
10. The Old Testament
11. The New Testament
12. Augustine
13. Machiavelli
Interlude Five
14. Hobbes and Locke
15. Examination
Winter Break
SECOND SEMESTER
16. Dante
17. Boccaccio
18. Hume and Kant
Interlude Six
19. Montaigne
20. Rousseau
21. Shakespeare
22. Hegel
23. Austen
24. Marx and Mill
25. Nietzsche
Interlude Seven
26. Beauvoir
27. Conrad
28. Woolf
Epilogue
Appendix: Earlier Reading Lists
Selected Bibliography
Index