Our discussion on Monday about the decline of education in America sent me to this volume from 1962. Back in the Fifties and Sixties, many colleges and universities had a curriculum based on Great Books. The University of Chicago and Columbia University were chief proponents of this approach to learning. Students were presented with the Great Books of Western Civilization and expected to master their wisdom. The Proper Study: Essays on Western Classics was designed as a guide book to the great works. It was illuminating to see what was considered “a classic” back in 1962:
The Iliad & The Odyssey by Homer
Oresteia by Aeschylus
Middle Tragedy by Sophocles
Alcestis by Euripides
Mythistoria by Thucydides
The Republic by Plato
The Foundation of Tragedy by Aristotle
The Aeneid by Virgil
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
City of God by St. Augustine
Divine Comedy by Dante
The Prince by Machiavelli
Essays by Montaigne
Hamlet by Shakespeare
Don Quixote by Cervantes
Paradise Lost by Milton
Le Misanthrope by Moliere
Ethics by Spinoza
Gulliver’s Travels by Swift
Faust by Goethe
The Immortality Ode by Wordsworth
On Love by Stendhal
Moby Dick by Melville
Crime & Punishment by Dostoevsky
Portrait of a Lady by James
Civilization and Its Discontents by Freud
Most of my student know nothing about Greece or its literature or philosophy. In fact, most of my students would be unaware of 90% of the works on this list (they may have heard of Moby Dick and Gulliver’s Travels). After reading the essays in this volume, the best was Jacques Barzun’s essay, “Stendhal on Love.” I immediately wanted to drop everything and read Stendhal after reading Barzun’s essay. That’s how great writing is supposed to work! GRADE: A
This corresponds with what we read in college the first two semesters. Even in high school, we had read a great deal of poetry, Shakespeare, etc. I wonder if the kids in Phil’s honors class would know these works. I am guessing not many. Now with the emphasis on reading multi-cultural lit, they don’t get to much of this. Of course, he teaches a lot of the Greek philosophers but not as often as he used to.
I agree, Patti, today’s students just aren’t exposed to this literature anymore. What public schools teach Latin or Greek?
You made this book sound very interesting. I just ordered a copy from abebooks.com for $4.50, including postage.
I found THE PROPER STUDY full of good essays on literature, Walker. My favorite was the Barzun, but Macaulay on Machievilli and Hazlett’s essay are standouts, too!
Interesting. I was surprised to realize that I read a lot of these. My interest in mythology started when my mother went back to college and took a course on Greek mythology and I read some of the books.
Barzun was a fascinating guy. He just died at 104.
I’ve been a Barzun fan for decades, Jeff. For an academic, he wrote clear, delightful prose on difficult subjects. We studied Greek Mythology all year in Fourth Grade. I doubt if that’s going on any more.
Fourth grade is about when we studied mythology too, the teacher had Hamilton, and tree was a grade-level mythology book we did, which would be considered 7th grade level these days, probably.
I’ve read all but a couple of these books, most in high school and college, but instead of those couple we read Kant, French and German philosophers. Plus I had two semesters of Shakespeare in college, one on the tragedies and one on the comedies and histories.
I suspect students from Fourth Grade to College are reading a much different set of “classics,” Rick. I spent a couple of semesters with Shakespeare in college, too. Loved it!
I agree entirely about Barzun’s “Stendhal on Love.” I did drop everything and read Stendhal … and discovered just how amazing Barzun was as a reader. JB exposes the nonsense and points out the essential in Stendhal. Thinking about “On Love” is an even greater pleasure when reading Stendhal’s novels, “The Charterhouse of Parma,” especially, and even “The Red and the Black.” Barzun can “derive benefit” from just about anything, as anyone can discover in his collection of essays, THE ENERGIES OF ART. That may lead you on to the best of JB in A JACQUES BARZUN READER, or his masterpiece of cultural history, FROM DAWN TO DECADENCE, a bestseller in 2000. Enjoy!
As a Jacques Barzun fan, I’ve enjoyed both A JACQUES BARZUN READER and FROM DOWN TO DECADENCE, John. Barzun always rewards the readers who seek out his work.
Glad to hear that you know Barzun’s work well, George. The last sentence of your reply puts the case so well: “Barzun always rewards the readers who seek out his work.”
If any of your readers are interested in THE ENERGIES OF ART, may I recommend the 1962 Vintage paperback for both its contents and the significant new Preface (that’s missing from the original and most library editions)? Another favorite is A STROLL WITH WILLIAM JAMES.
I’ve quoted the last two lines of your review for members of the Jacques Barzun Fan Club on Facebook. Cheers!
Thanks, John! I’ve read most of Barzun’s books, but I’m a big fan of THE HOUSE OF INTELECT and TEACHER IN AMERICA. I wish I could have taken a course from Jacques Barzun. I just know he was a master teacher!