Rating: 
Summary: "Western Cannon" its not
Review:
This was not a great book, This reader envies and admires the author being able to return to Columbia College and partake in the "Great Books Program". The author could not maintain this reader's attention. Many passages from the classics seemed to drone on, peppered with some side-light descriptions of the author's younger "college aged" classmates. I can see by the number of five star reviews that this book was a hit with many readers. I thought it provided a narrow scope on classic literature. The book I read previous to this book was Harold Bloom's "The Western Cannon". Harold Bloom gives concrete examples and rules why a book should be considered a classic in Western Literature. This book by David Denby offers a more intuitive approach. I recommend Harold Bloom's book instead.
Rating: 
Summary: Puts Oxidant Deconstructionists in their place
Review: A great book which defends the classics and succeeds in warding off the oxidant/deconstructing left who are dedicated to trashing the western canon (since they have nothing original or life affirming themselves to offer). A hot topic with me considering I live in PC Minnesota where a legions of mediocre, pseudo liberal hacks have taken over the universities causing curriculum mutations of a very nightmarish variety (Andrea Dworkin's Menacme 101). The author re-enrolled in a literature class at Columbia University, having first taken it back in the early 60's and describes the sorry changes over the last thirty years. A must read for anyone disillusioned by the left and what they've tried to do the classics. Long live Dead White European Males!
Jaye Beldo: Netnous@Aol.Com
Rating:
Summary: Puts Oxidant Deconstructionists in their place
Review: A great book which defends the classics and succeeds in warding off the oxidantly deconstructive lefty creeps dedicated to trashing the western canon (since they have nothing original themselves to offer). A hot topic with me considering I live in PC Minnesota where a plethora of mediocre, pseudo liberal thugs have taken over the universities causing curriculum mutations of a very nightmarish variety (Andrea Dworkin's Menacme 101). The author re-enrolled in a literature class at Columbia University, having first taken it back in the early 60's and describes the sorry changes over the last thirty years. A must read for anyone disillusioned by the left and what they've tried to do the classics. Long live Dead White European Males!Jaye Beldo: Netnous@Aol.Com
Rating:
Summary: Not so deep
Review: Almost every book that Denby defends so wholeheartedly in this book is worth reading. Still, his exploration of the culture debates seems superficial. He is able to attend these classes and come out with basically the same opinions with which he left, having absorbed nothing of the justifiable rage of groups left out of the "core curriculum", smugly sure that the books he grew up with are the best that are out there. His dismissal of the liberal students' concern as "tragically mistaken" seems glib and self-satisfied, and the book is tainted by the bias of its author, whose purpose (to re-educate himself, to find himself) is defeated from the start by his closed-mindedness.
Rating:
Summary: A very readable and intelligent piece of writing.
Review: AN APPRECIATION OF THE GREAT BOOKS. Enjoy this gentle introduction to some great books. Great books are dangerous, powerful and they are addictive. Combine them with social conditions, human follies and passion; and you have social movements and revolutions. Handle them with care, for they are like explosives, Used properly they blow open broad new perspectives. Great books are radioactive and they have long half-lives. They radiate, irritate and irrigate; and they never die.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book itself
Review: As a former classics major, I have followed the debate over the western canon with a great deal of interest. But after slogging through Harold Bloom's "The Western Canon" for over a year and a half, this book was an absolute delight. David Denby reminds us just why these books are so important--they make you strugle to build a self, which is (or should be, anyway) the true purpose of education. I am also fascinated by how much his perspective has changed in the thirty years since he read many of the books in college. And in the chapter on Shakespeare--focusing on the parallels between King Lear and Denby's own relationship with his mother--the essay itself actually brought me to tears. I have been recommending this book to everyone I know, and now I'll recommend it to everyone I don't know...read it! It's amazing!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book itself
Review: As a former classics major, I have followed the debate over the western canon with a great deal of interest. But after slogging through Harold Bloom's "The Western Canon" for over a year and a half, this book was an absolute delight. David Denby reminds us just why these books are so important--they make you strugle to build a self, which is (or should be, anyway) the true purpose of education. I am also fascinated by how much his perspective has changed in the thirty years since he read many of the books in college. And in the chapter on Shakespeare--focusing on the parallels between King Lear and Denby's own relationship with his mother--the essay itself actually brought me to tears. I have been recommending this book to everyone I know, and now I'll recommend it to everyone I don't know...read it! It's amazing!
Rating:
Summary: A good trip back to the classics
Review: Dabbling in a little bit of many masters of western thought, Denby skillfully uses his modern perspective to shed new light on these timeless works.
Rating:
Summary: Great Writing about Great Books
Review: David Denby is a good writer. I don't say that lightly. His command of the English language, his ability to describe things vividly, his way of expressing his thoughts ought to bring to delight to every reader. I'm thrilled by his writing style. With regard to the content, the book is very satisfying when read on its own terms. If you approach the text expecting, or demanding, that Denby do all the hard work for you--so that you don't have to read the Great Books yourself, then you might get mad and decide to scapegoat him. But if you will just be there with him and listen to his journey, there's a lot to be gained from the book. I appreciate his vulnerability as well as his moderation. He's neither too liberal nor too conservative. I think he's just plain sensible. Thus in my opinion, he makes a compelling case for reading Western classics.
Rating:
Summary: A great book about great books!
Review: David Denby tells us that our everyday assumptions are arbitrary. He says power justifies itself by pointing to powerlessness as proof of incapacity. Gems of wisdom like these appear throughout this book. "Being examined is one of the things you become an adult to avoid," he writes. "Once you pass twenty-five, you learn how to cover your weaknesses and ignorance and lead with your strengths. Every adult, by definition, is a corner-cutting phony; experience teaches you what to attend to and what to slough off, when to rest and when to go all out." One of my criteria for a great book is finding I dread being finished reading with it. Such was the case with this one. Denby's work is truly inspirational for those who wish to uphold the sanctity of ideas. Highly recommended.
| 
