@
Dad_Scaper
Per (too many, off-topic) posts in the
Movies thread, by myself and others, here's a link to
In the article's Concept section, three criteria are cited (from Mr. Adler) for what makes a book a Great Book.
- the book has contemporary significance; that is, it has relevance to the problems and issues of our times;
- the book is inexhaustible; it can be read again and again with benefit;
- the book is relevant to a large number of the great ideas and great issues that have occupied the minds of thinking individuals for the last 25 centuries.
For those who weren't looking at the discussion in the Movies thread, I have attended a college which is founded on a Great Books curriculum for nearly four years. While we're never taught a criteria such as those above, the discussion surrounding what makes a book great is ongoing amongst the community, both during and outside of class. I probably wouldn’t be misrepresenting the wider college community if I were to say that the above criteria are pretty close to the general consensus.
A couple people in the Movies thread also looked up my school and remarked on it. While THIS thread isn’t dedicated to colleges, my college IS dedicated to books, so I don’t feel bad about endorsing it here, but if folks want to discuss it at length, a dedicated thread is probably a better idea, so as not to hijack the thread.
But I'd like to bring this post back to books, and since the thread asks, what are you currently reading, here's a list.
I finished Stendhal's
The Red and Black a few days ago. It's funny, chilling, and left me feeling pretty dismal about the world.
I finished re-reading Robert Jordan's
The Shadow Rising last night. It's one of my favorite volumes of one of my favorite fantasy series, and it never fails to inspire me in much the same way as a return to the Shire.
I'm in the middle of writing my senior essay (other colleges call this a thesis) on Shakespeare's
Henriad, AKA
Richard II, Henry IV Part I & Part II, and Henry V. This tetralogy is some of the greatest stagecraft ever written- it'll make you laugh, make you cry, and it's been a source of endless discussion amongst myself and my friends since we all read it together a year and a half ago.
And a few weeks ago, I wrapped up my third reading of Homer's
Odyssey. It remains one of the strangest works I've read.