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Rating: 
Summary: a first rate apologia
Review: Having studied Latin (and a little bit of Greek, not nearly enough), I totally agree with his major argument that both Latin and Greek are worth studying for their own sake. This elegantly written and well-argued book is a first rate defense of the classics even though it "stands on the shoulders of giants." The intelletual history of humanism and classicism through the ages is worth the price alone, not to mention the terrific quotes he finds from avid classicists like Nock and CS Lewis (whose essay The Parthanon and the Optative was one of the highlights of the cited works). Although he could have been even more damning, I laughed out loud at how silly he makes some of our "modern" educational ideas look (as in "responding" to works we cannot possibly understand) -- more emphasis on the hard work and less on the "feel good" part of academia and our students would be a lot more capable. The central fact of the book is that even those who don't remember a word of Greek and Latin manage to keep and foster a lifelong appreciation for learning and an ability to understand and digest complex texts. This is one of the most cogent arguments for the classics that I've come across and should be mandatory reading for educational reformers who seem bent on dumbing down an already weak curriculum.
Rating:
Summary: a first rate apologia
Review: Having studied Latin (and a little bit of Greek, not nearly enough), I totally agree with his major argument that both Latin and Greek are worth studying for their own sake. This elegantly written and well-argued book is a first rate defense of the classics even though it "stands on the shoulders of giants." The intelletual history of humanism and classicism through the ages is worth the price alone, not to mention the terrific quotes he finds from avid classicists like Nock and CS Lewis (whose essay The Parthanon and the Optative was one of the highlights of the cited works). Although he could have been even more damning, I laughed out loud at how silly he makes some of our "modern" educational ideas look (as in "responding" to works we cannot possibly understand) -- more emphasis on the hard work and less on the "feel good" part of academia and our students would be a lot more capable. The central fact of the book is that even those who don't remember a word of Greek and Latin manage to keep and foster a lifelong appreciation for learning and an ability to understand and digest complex texts. This is one of the most cogent arguments for the classics that I've come across and should be mandatory reading for educational reformers who seem bent on dumbing down an already weak curriculum.
Rating:
Summary: Never Too Late for Latin & Greek!
Review: I cannot add much more to the great 5-star reviews here, except to say this book has given hope that even older adults can, and should, begin learning Greek and Latin immediately. We were robbed of a true education. But that's no excuse not to try in a lifetime to finally read these classics in the original language. I was twelve years old when I first realized how cool it would be to read and hear ancient Greek. I was intimidated out of that fancy. Now I know the rest of the story. Thank you for your precise and elegant prose, and--by the way--very readable book. It has been an inspiration, in all the true senses and history of that word.
Rating:
Summary: Never Too Late for Latin & Greek!
Review: I cannot add much more to the great 5-star reviews here, except to say this book has given hope that even older adults can, and should, begin learning Greek and Latin immediately. We were robbed of a true education. But that's no excuse not to try in a lifetime to finally read these classics in the original language. I was twelve years old when I first realized how cool it would be to read and hear ancient Greek. I was intimidated out of that fancy. Now I know the rest of the story. Thank you for your precise and elegant prose, and--by the way--very readable book. It has been an inspiration, in all the true senses and history of that word.
Rating: 
Summary: unreadable
Review: I tried to read this book, but got so frustrated by his rambling, flowery writing that i returned it to the public library (good thing i didn't buy it...). He does a good job of making Classics inaccessible to the average reader. I'm reminded of a phrase from Shakespeare: "More words, less art...". If you want to read a book on this topic (a topic i highly recommend), try "Who Killed Homer?" by Hanson and Heath.
Rating:
Summary: Climbing High
Review: Simmons has long been a defender of a concept that has recently been left by the wayside; education. In a world of soft standards, and self esteem driven educational goals, Simmons stands up for the things that matter.
Rating:
Summary: Classical Education - The Great Books Alone Will Not Suffice
Review: Simmons presents a compelling and beautiful case for the study of Greek and Latin. He forced me to realize that merely reading the Great Books in English translation will not suffice. One small sample from Simmons' work is illustrative: "Every lesson in Latin is a lesson in logic...Taking the simple two-word Latin sentence Vellem mortuos ("I would that they were dead"), ... this sentence aright requires fourteen intellectual turns. A student must know (1) the person, (2) tense, (3) voice, (4) number, (5) mood of the verb..., (6) it comes from volo, meaning (7) 'I wish'; and that (8) the subjunctive has here a particular shade of meaning. As to mortuos, he must know that it is (9) the accusative, (10) plural, (11) masculine, from (12) mortuus, meaning (13) 'dead'; (14) the reason why the accusative is necessary.... A student who slips up on any one of these steps is bound to make a lovely mess when he comes to translate... In Latin you must be absolutely right, or you are not right at all... Can anyone seriously maintain that such stiff training in just expression leaves no salutary marks upon the intellect of someone who, having successfully run its gauntlet, becomes captive to the habits of the precise mind?"
Rating:
Summary: Worth the climb
Review: The author humbly presents the lost art of education, namely language education. Simmons is able to richly articulate what was so special about classical education. It will make you feel so small even if you possess a Doctorate. His prose is very ornate just the example of what language study can do. He rightfully debunks multiculturalism and the over emphasis on usefulness in our current age. This book was a joy to read. I want to start my children on personal Latin study. Very much worth the climb--I hope educators get a copy.
Rating:
Summary: A little gem
Review: This marvelous book is a work of humanism in the best and most encompassing sense of the word. It is an "apologia" - which is not an apology but rather a plea - for Greek and Latin. However, it is not the study of these supposedly "dead" languages alone Tracy Lee Simmons advocates but rather what they stand for. If, in André Gide's words, "culture is what remains when all else is forgotten", Greek and Latin are formative rather than merely educational. They need no utilitarian "defense", no claim that they help to train logical thinking, facilitate the study of law, medicine or theology, or open the door to "modern" (and therefore more "useful") languages. Merely functional arguments miss the point. Simmons' claim is more radical - and for some more "reactionary": If we treasure the culture most of us were raised in, and some of us still want to live in, if we hold our traditions to contain some of that "wisdom of the ages" Edmund Burke wrote about, if with Matthew Arnold we seek for "sweetness and light", we cannot but treasure the world of antiquity - the world without which we cannot truly understand ourselves. The "gradus ad Parnassum" on which Simmons leads us is not only about two languages nor is it dismissive of other cultures or traditions. It never compares, ranks or evaluates though it is certainly an antidote to the smuck version of modern multiculturalism. The book is a story born of love for the Western cultural heritage that cannot be reduced to the Greeks and Romans but would be nothing without them. It is also a potent poison pill for self-indulgent and simplistic Americanists who believe in the myth of a "new civilization" being born in the New World that no longer needs the Old. This very myth is, as users of one-dollar bills will know, itself expressed in elegant Latin and goes back to Virgil's "Eclogae" and beyond: "novus ordo seclorum". Classically educated persons, American or not, will object: "est constantia in rebus" - and yet there is continuity. The study of Greek and Latin, Simmons argues, is its own reward, much as music and philosophy are. The languages are difficult to learn and require intellectual discipline; yet for more than two millennia people of all nations have grit their teeth and labored with them. Some still do, though fewer and fewer, and they are handsomely rewarded for memorizing paradigms and studying syntax. Their prize is the access to a wealth of meaning and a much deeper understanding of what has made us what we are. When, in Part Two of his book, Simmons recounts the history of classical learning through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment to its flourishing in colonial and revolutionary America, he tells the story of a continuity the likes of which are unknown in any other culture - variations on a theme with a constant "basso continuo". One need not be a cultural conservative to appreciate and to want to protect this legacy. One needs only to desire understanding of oneself. But true and full appreciation of classical philosophy, literature, politics, science, and the arts is impossible without assimilating the languages in which they are clad and with which they are so intricately interwoven. This may be the author's strongest claim. More recent cultural achievements - from analytic philosophy to jazz and film - travel regardless of language. But the themes of freedom and dependence, gods and men, individuality and collectivism, truth and appearance, guilt and punishment, passion and jealousy, and the overriding theme of the good life, travel universally and best in the suits into which they were originally fitted. Though views may have changed, and indeed the variety of opinions on these issues was bewildering in antiquity itself, the languages provide the vessels of continuity for their travels. This is what Tracy Lee Simmons wants to communicate. This "doctor elegantiae" tells his story with such grace, style, erudition, and persuasion that this book is wonderful reading for anyone who cares about himself and the culture in which we live. And if, with Arnold, culture is "the study of perfection," Simmons' book is not only about culture and learning; it is an admirable example and piece thereof.
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