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The New Lifetime Reading Plan: The Classical Guide to World Literature, Revised and Expanded
Now in print for the first time in almost 40 years, The New Lifetime Reading Plan provides readers with brief, informative and entertaining introductions to more than 130 classics of world literature. From Homer to Hawthorne, Plato to Pascal, and Shakespeare to Solzhenitsyn, the great writers of Western civilization can be found in its pages. In addition, this new edition ...more
Paperback, 378 pages
Published
July 1st 1999
by HarperResource
(first published 1997)
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bookczuk
rated it
One of my absolute favorite books...A reading list for life.
Though Fadiman and Major occasionally fall prey to faddish endorsements, disavowals, and omissions, this book is on the whole a tasteful, clear, and erudite guide to world literature, with many helpful suggestions for preferred translations and editions and for places to start in giant oeuvres. Its entries of at most 2 or 3 pages a piece usually provide a level-headed and concise orientation to famous authors and works. An appendix with 100 20th century writers contains many delectable-soundin...more
Dad once read a statement by Winston Churchill, saying something like "Quote books are good for people who don't read." I kept thinking about that as I read this book--it's a great book for those who are not (and may not be planning to be) well-read. Daunting, in many respects, but I did appreciate the exposure to--and justification for--the selections Fadiman and Major consider to be "the books to read." I had read a fair number, and was acquainted with more, but there were ...more
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One of my goodread friends Michael turned me on to this book about 5 years ago and it is excellent. For a bibliophile it will have you licking your lips because many of these books are at the library or free on line so for little monetary outlay you can read for a lifetime. It is laid out from the birth date of the authors from Homer to Marquez choosing the authors best works (Fadimans opinion)and commenting on them in a few paragraphs. It would take a lifetime to finish all the works listed b...more
I have a "reading challenge" I've been working on for 22 years or so. It's the "Lifetime Reading Plan" compiled by scholar and author Clifton Fadiman. He wrote a book of that title around thirty years ago that's been revised a couple of times. It's kind of the original "Beowulf on the Beach", in that it takes over 100 authors who have contributed great writings over the past 3000 years or so, gives a profile, defines the flavor, and gives a rationale is to why it wo...more
This is one of those books you can look over and browse as you see fit. Fadiman, now with help from Major, lay out a plan for the educated reader. As they state, this is not meant per se for those who already have a fairly extensive education. It is more for those who need to read more, or feel they have gaps in their reading, or wish to challenge themselves a bit. The book is basically a collection of short essays on the books they list. I was happy to see I have read a good number of them, but...more
133 1-2 page synopsis of books/authors to read. starts with the old dead white men and ends with mainly old dead white men, and chinua achebe, plus 200 more 20th cent. otherwises(richard wright, rebecca west, etc..) this would be a very good book if you didn't have a clue what to read or wanted to read the "classics". you would be better off talking to a live librarian.
Maybe this reference book is amazing and I just don't know it. I am wanting to up my reading to books with more depth to them and got this one from the library to familiarize myself with books I've not heard of... this was way too over the top on literature and seriousness for me. No I did not read much of it, I could tell this wasn't what I was looking for....
I used this book to model a 10 year reading program and have just about finished his recommendations - a very worthwhile endeavor. I chose this book over many others because I liked the quality of the reviews on why I should read the book and also the fact that some non-Western literature was included.
James
rated it
An updated version of Fadiman's great guide to reading the classics and beyond. Almost four decades after the original, the original author and John S. Major expanded the plan with the addition of literature from throughout World literature. This edition also removed some works and added new authors that had not been included in the original plan. Also, the organization of the works was changed from topical to chronological. I do not believe the resulting changes diminished the value of the b...more
Meter
added it
Concise and human reviews. Some gaps. Some new authors. Gave suggestions on which were the better books by a given author, which i do like.
Perfectly suited my purposes by giving a wide-ranging variety of books and authors.
Will probably want to get the book again (loan from library) after I complete some of the reading suggested in the book. I'm sure the biographies of the authors and the comments about the suggested books would mean more to me after I had read some of them.
Will probably want to get the book again (loan from library) after I complete some of the reading suggested in the book. I'm sure the biographies of the authors and the comments about the suggested books would mean more to me after I had read some of them.
Alex
marked it as to-read
Jim (among others) swears by this book and he seems like a pretty sharp guy, so...okay fine, I'll get the thing.
I used this book to find books that I should read in order to become "well read".
I refer to this scholarly but humorous review of must-read books all the time.
This book was very useful when I was a young homeschooler and wanted to basically know which books I "should" read to be "well read". I, of course, have not read everything in this list (it will literally take you a lifetime or two since there is so much other stuff to read out there) but I have remembered quite a few of the recommendations and Fadiman's opinions on the authors and their work, but this is not a final authority by any means. No book about books is.
Zoe
is currently reading it
This is the book I'm using for my read the classics project, even though I don't care for a lot of the books listed and think he left out some that everyone else includes on their classics lists - so I'm adding things in as I feel like it. It does include eastern classics, which is one reason I chose it.
I'm reading this as a refresher course on the history of literature, mainly so that I can beat my sister at Trival Pursuit: Booklovers' Edition. The authors say some preposterous things in the introduction, but the Cliffs Notes-esque synopses of books I have / should have read make for strangely entertaining reading.
This is an excellent resource for those seeking to get a well rounded education through reading good literature. I really enjoyed reading about some of my favorite authors, and being introduced to new ones to read in the future.
I like the idea that we have a lifetime to read all the classics that we haven't read yet. Fadiman is like a favorite professor that recommends books and gives a little information to get us interested.
This is a listing of authors and their works to read and ponder over the course of one's life. Helpful
companionable, sometimes quirky reading, and much more interesting than you'd think.
Trying to get my smart on.
Shannon Bever
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Jimbo
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“Books act like a developing fluid on film. That is, they bring into consciousness what you didn’t know you knew.”
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