Rating: 
Summary: Great introduction to the classics
Review: My new year's resolution a few years ago was to strive to be well read. Basically, I would browse the classics section or look through the Cliffnotes rack until I found something that piqued my interest. Though I found some great literature this way (hey, they call 'em classics for a reason), I also got bogged down with some heavy, tedious, social commentary-type books that just weren't fun to read; especially since I was looking for a good story first, deeper meaning second (in my opinion, this makes for better commentary anyway). When I stumbled onto Great Books, this changed. Denby's observations on some books I had also read were similar to my own -though not always (To the Lighthouse bored me to tears). He led me to other books that I would have otherwise never read: Sophocles, Shakespeare, and Conrad, et al. This is not the greatest book ever, nor is it profound and earth shattering. It is, however, insightful, amusing, and entertaining to read. And as a result, I have become more a little more selective in what I read. If you love books, especially "the classics", you should like this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Solipsism At Its Finest
Review: My objection to this book mainly stems from Denby's shallow and misinformed views about Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" and its two well-spoken critics Chinua Achebe and Edward Said. Denby cannot swallow the truth that Conrad's work is overtly racist and at best fuctions as a limited remonstration against European imperialism. Denby, who should stick to his day job as a "movie critic", shows a biased and uneducated understanding about the work of post-colonial criticism.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Books there are; unfortunately this is not one of them
Review: OK, I think I can shoot my mouth off here since I attended Columbia University at the same time as Denby and was forced to take the same classes that he took. I give it one-star because I think the book is fluff and that you should read the texts themselves in context and not in a self-serving, self-congratulating work such as this. First of all, while I do agree that some of the works were great, the fact is a lot of us simply didn't read or understand most of them. Columbia is full of uptight, competitive students who went out and bought Cliff's Notes-type study aides to ensure they got an "A" in class rather than absorb anything substantive or meaningful. Secondly, I had two T.A.'s teaching the classes--one who nearly swooned when she quoted a passage from Thackeray--and they couldn't teach worth jack. I spent most of the time doodling and trying to make the time pass during those excruciatingly boring classes. I'm sure the 19-year old Denby felt the same way. Finally, we have to realize how much power Denby yields as a writer who can give the final say while nominally addressing their arguments. For e.g., he dismisses an African American student, a Comp Lit Prof and others who have legitimate complaints about the Core Curriculum by being able to reconstruct and present the dialogue and conversations from HIS point of view. That's part of the problem with CC inthe first place, isn't it? It's always the opinion of a select view that gets the most visibility and credence. For an insightful critique of the Western Canon, read Robert Scholes' "The Rise and Fall of English." While I do think much of the works of literature in the program are important and great, Denby's opinion and evaluation of them are still contrived, constructed opinions problematically dressed up as an argument for a "Greatest Hits" of Western Literature curriculum. As one of the many students who found the courses boring and uninspiring, his argument for institutionalizing a Western canon in colleges strikes me as humorous given my real-life experiences with it.
Rating:
Summary: reading over david denby's shoulder
Review: Reading over David Denby's shoulder is an education in itself. The New York movie critic has taken the experience of several fairly pedestrian undergrad courses and transformed them into autobiography of a charmingly intimate kind, an insightful portrait of students and the current crop of young people in general, a critique of academe and academics (and a fairly friendly one, at that), and a literary travelogue that is unparalleled in its sheer friendliness. I have always thought his movie reviews were intelligent, occasionally sublimely insightful (see review of "Schindler's List"), but this book was an unexpected treat for a comp.lit. undergrad. Especially complex and riveting were DD's sudden recognition of himself as a younger student in the form of a nervous young man debating "Heart of Darkness" in class; flashback to a mugging; surveying the territory of his children's cultural imagination; and revisiting his mother via "King Lear." His analysis of a campus "Take Back the Night" march was revealing but ultimately formless...but this is my only complaint! Denby never apologizes for his populist tone--what a relief! Harold Bloom's "Western Canon" is irreplaceable, but not as much fun. It's the difference between sitting and arguing at the dinner table and taking notes in a lecture hall. Denby reminded me that lit. lectures were great fun, but with a dinner-table tone.
Rating: 
Summary: anti-pc polemic or insightful read - you choose
Review: Sure, Denby's preaching to the choir, but oh, what a lovely song! The reader likely to get the most out of this book is one who has read a few of the 'Canon' books covered-- Jane Austen and King Lear, say-- but is happy to be remined that she hasn't picked up the 'Decameron' yet. Thoughtful visits with old friends and inspiring introductions to new ones, the perfect bedside reading for 'bookish' people. Not that Denby is 'cute' at all, this is a more soul-searching work than the rather similar "Ex Libris" by Anne Fadiman. With other reviewers, I should add that this is more of a travelogue than a travel guide-- these aren't Cole's Notes! Anyone calling this book a 'polemic' is too used to reading nothing but. Of course, anyone whose politics are capable of overcoming their love of books will probably not enjoy this one.
Rating:
Summary: Bedside book
Review: Sure, Denby's preaching to the choir, but oh, what a lovely song! The reader likely to get the most out of this book is one who has read a few of the 'Canon' books covered-- Jane Austen and King Lear, say-- but is happy to be remined that she hasn't picked up the 'Decameron' yet. Thoughtful visits with old friends and inspiring introductions to new ones, the perfect bedside reading for 'bookish' people. Not that Denby is 'cute' at all, this is a more soul-searching work than the rather similar "Ex Libris" by Anne Fadiman. With other reviewers, I should add that this is more of a travelogue than a travel guide-- these aren't Cole's Notes! Anyone calling this book a 'polemic' is too used to reading nothing but. Of course, anyone whose politics are capable of overcoming their love of books will probably not enjoy this one.
Rating:
Summary: A book that book lovers will love
Review: There are two kinds of readers - those who enjoy reading and
those who have to read. You addicts will certainly want to grab
Great Books by David Denby. For many years, Denby had made his
living as a New York film critic, but when he turned 48, he
wondered if there were more to life than he was experiencing. As
part of his search, he returned to Columbia University, from
which he had graduated many years previously and signed up for
their two "Great Books" courses. He wanted to confront those
writers again to see what meaning they had for him as an adult. In this book, he writes about the books and about his reactions
to them and to the classes he visited. "It wasn't just learning
that excited me," he writes, but the idea of reading the big
books. I had grown into a book-buyer but not always a book-
reader; a boon to the book trade, perhaps, but not a boon to
myself." This book may be read on two levels. I found his journey
fascinating and enjoyed the discoveries he made about himself and
the reactions he had to the students who were half his age (and
the reactions they had to him). But I also enjoyed the
discussions of the books that made an impact on him. I must
admit, however, that when he discussed books I had not read
myself, I tended to skim a bit, slowing down when he returned to
more familiar material.
Rating: 
Summary: Warning!
Review: There is much to recommend this book. Indeed, when Mr.
Denby gets pedagogic the book is as good as it ought to be.
Try reading chapters of authors you are familiar with--
in my case those on Austen, Conrad and Woolf--and you will
find it does not get any better than this. However, Mr. Denby defeats his noble purpose by too much
personal self congratulation. Constant references to his
wife and two boys, his Upper West Side life style and his
defence of bourgeois capitalism smacks of self justification,
as though he needs to prove himself a "regular guy" in spite
of his academic jouney. There is nothing regular or
mainstream about those of us who care about serious
literature and I resent Mr. Denby bringing it down to this
level. Had he steered from these digressions and just stuck
to the task at hand, as in the aforementioned chapters, the
overall quality of the book could have been improved.
Rating:
Summary: A dilettante's delight
Review: This book could have been called Alma Mater Memoirs. Denby's discussion of various works in the Western Canon is interspersed with recollections of his undergraduate days at Columbia University, and his impressions of his fellow teenaged students as well as the elegant demeanor of his professors ("he spoke the way a good many of the younger teachers spoke, in academic dialect, as if the dangerous subjectivity of language could be tamed by using standard terms, but he had energy and flair"). Denby gives his thoughts on a portion of Columbia's 'Great Books' course, focussing on the likes of Homer(Iliad, Odyssey), Sappho, Plato (the Republic), Sophocles(Oedipus the King), Aristotle, Dante, Shakespeare, Conrad (just name a few). He gives us the general theme and focus of each work while subordinating details. If you want in-depth explication of each work you won't find it here. On the other hand, his approach makes the works much more accessible for the average reader. Let's face it, not that many people (including myself) are going to rush out to buy The Republic to take to the beach. His writing style is readable and, at times, entertaining ("Socrates the great teacher seems to flatter his students and friends, praising them extravagantly. Oh yes, they're so wise, so clever, and his own powers are so feeble, so terribly feeble! But he'd just like to ask them some small question: What do they mean by such-and such a word, such-and-such an idea? And then WHAM! he catches them in some contradiction or confusion, and they're knocked sprawling"). As to why Denby wrote the book in the first place, he states as one reason that, despite his desire to read more, movies, magazines and t.v. had made his mind less able to concentrate, less able to keep "vagrant thoughts (from) charging in". This sounds a lot like me. Television has destroyed my ability to patiently graze upon the field of literary nourishment. Instead, I gravitate to quick and furious images, pastiches of petty drama and pretty divas rather than profound thought (of course, I'm also fairy lazy). So, give a hoot. Read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent writing style and content with great insights
Review: This text is an excellent compilation of classic texts, written from the unique perspective of a college classroom. The writing style is very compelling and kept me riveted to the journey through the classics. I loved the interpretations by the author and the professors teaching the class. I also thought it was incredible the way the author brought the essence of the classics to the reader in an understandable format. I have not had any extensive experience with many of these texts and the author sparked my interest in many of them and i will definitely read them for myself. I highly recommend this text to absolutely everyone. It is very well written and a pleasure to read.
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