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Handing One Another Along: Literature and Social Reflection
In this book on shaping a meaningful and ethical life, the renowned, Pulitzer Prize–winning author explores how character, courage, and human and moral understanding can be fostered by reflecting on the lives of others, through stories. Based on Robert Coles’ legendary course at Harvard, this provocative book addresses such questions as, “Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going?” It calls on us to become stronger and more aware, by reflecting on ourselves and others with the help of great literature and art.
Dr. Coles shows how the work of writers, artists, and thinkers of the past two centuries can inspire our own reflections on the daily lives we lead. He offers a compelling call to venture outside of our own selves and lives and to listen, attentively and with growing humanity, to the way others get through life. Coles encourages us to examine our own character, kindness, and complexity by looking carefully at our perceptions of others, and by studying the wisdom of authors from Charles Dickens to Flannery O’Connor, from James Agee to George Orwell, and many others. In this influential conversation about empathy and engagement, Coles inspires us to seek out deeper meaning in our lives, and guides us toward achieving greater clarity, strength, and richness of understanding, amid the moral, psychological, and social complexities of the modern world.
Dr. Coles shows how the work of writers, artists, and thinkers of the past two centuries can inspire our own reflections on the daily lives we lead. He offers a compelling call to venture outside of our own selves and lives and to listen, attentively and with growing humanity, to the way others get through life. Coles encourages us to examine our own character, kindness, and complexity by looking carefully at our perceptions of others, and by studying the wisdom of authors from Charles Dickens to Flannery O’Connor, from James Agee to George Orwell, and many others. In this influential conversation about empathy and engagement, Coles inspires us to seek out deeper meaning in our lives, and guides us toward achieving greater clarity, strength, and richness of understanding, amid the moral, psychological, and social complexities of the modern world.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
14 people are currently reading
109 people want to read
About the author
Robert Coles
245 books77 followersChild psychiatrist, author, Harvard professor.
Robert Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at the Harvard Medical School, a research psychiatrist for the Harvard University Health Services, and the James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard College.
Robert Coles is a professor of psychiatry and medical humanities at the Harvard Medical School, a research psychiatrist for the Harvard University Health Services, and the James Agee Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard College.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 17, 2011
This is a collection of Professor Robert Coles' lectures for a course he teaches at (ahem) Hah-vahd. Being a little public university kid, I wondered what all the ivy was about and so read this book, more a "dipper" than a "cover-to-cover" deal.
Coles is concerned with the same terrain as early man (OK, early, on-time, and late man, for that matter): Where did we come from? Who are we? And where the hell are we going? Hell, I could answer the last one for him, but I might get my ass kicked into the poison ivy outside. Anyway, back to the terrain. Where THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES author Joseph Campbell tried to answer these seminal questions with myths, Coles tries to answer them with a conglomeration of poets, short story writers, essayists, novelists, painters, photographers, musicians, and singers. He connects the dots with chapter after chapter (the equivalent of lecture after lecture).
You might expect that Coles is an English professor, given the subject matter, but pay attention to the "Social Reflection" in the subtitle because his background is actually in psychology, specializing in children. Thus we get a lot of back and forth between the liberal arts -- literature meets sociology meets psychology meets music meets art.
For the psychology part, he spends not a little time looking at the Civil Rights era of which he took part first hand, working with little Ruby Bridges, the 6-year-old black girl at the epicenter of New Orleans' school integration protests. This he links to Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN and from there he jumps to the oh-so-Southern short stories of Flannery O'Connor. If you don't see the links, he'll help you along.
Speaking of, will you like this book? Well, it's a breadth vs. depth question, as well as a bit of self-assessment. Are you a fox who wants to know many things to a certain extent, or are you a hedgehog who wants to learn one thing to much greater depths? Being a bit of a hedgehog myself, I yearned for greater depth on the literary front. Seemed Coles had just got me hooked on James Agee and he was off to George Orwell. Then I no sooner got comfortable with my Orwellian hat when he switched to William Carlos Williams. Damn.
But I must admit some of the side trips interested me. For instance, Coles actually met Dr. Williams and made the rounds with him in Paterson, NJ, so you get a little personal insider info on the cryptic poet who gave us red wheelbarrows in the rain beside white chickens and plums that got eaten from the icebox.
Coles also likes Edward Hopper, so there are pictures of Hopper's paintings and connections between them and the beautiful loneliness of literature, such as you see in Raymond Carver. Who else is in this book? Here's a partial list of the biggest names included in the lectures:
James Agee, George Orwell, William Carlos Williams, Edward Hopper, Raymond Carver, Tillie Olson, Ralph Ellison, Flannery O'Connor, Ignazio Silone, Elie Wiesel, John Cheever, Zora Neale Hurston, and Walker Percy.
If any of these are on your radar, you might enjoy this. Just know that they won't be on your radar for long!
Coles is concerned with the same terrain as early man (OK, early, on-time, and late man, for that matter): Where did we come from? Who are we? And where the hell are we going? Hell, I could answer the last one for him, but I might get my ass kicked into the poison ivy outside. Anyway, back to the terrain. Where THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES author Joseph Campbell tried to answer these seminal questions with myths, Coles tries to answer them with a conglomeration of poets, short story writers, essayists, novelists, painters, photographers, musicians, and singers. He connects the dots with chapter after chapter (the equivalent of lecture after lecture).
You might expect that Coles is an English professor, given the subject matter, but pay attention to the "Social Reflection" in the subtitle because his background is actually in psychology, specializing in children. Thus we get a lot of back and forth between the liberal arts -- literature meets sociology meets psychology meets music meets art.
For the psychology part, he spends not a little time looking at the Civil Rights era of which he took part first hand, working with little Ruby Bridges, the 6-year-old black girl at the epicenter of New Orleans' school integration protests. This he links to Ralph Ellison's INVISIBLE MAN and from there he jumps to the oh-so-Southern short stories of Flannery O'Connor. If you don't see the links, he'll help you along.
Speaking of, will you like this book? Well, it's a breadth vs. depth question, as well as a bit of self-assessment. Are you a fox who wants to know many things to a certain extent, or are you a hedgehog who wants to learn one thing to much greater depths? Being a bit of a hedgehog myself, I yearned for greater depth on the literary front. Seemed Coles had just got me hooked on James Agee and he was off to George Orwell. Then I no sooner got comfortable with my Orwellian hat when he switched to William Carlos Williams. Damn.
But I must admit some of the side trips interested me. For instance, Coles actually met Dr. Williams and made the rounds with him in Paterson, NJ, so you get a little personal insider info on the cryptic poet who gave us red wheelbarrows in the rain beside white chickens and plums that got eaten from the icebox.
Coles also likes Edward Hopper, so there are pictures of Hopper's paintings and connections between them and the beautiful loneliness of literature, such as you see in Raymond Carver. Who else is in this book? Here's a partial list of the biggest names included in the lectures:
James Agee, George Orwell, William Carlos Williams, Edward Hopper, Raymond Carver, Tillie Olson, Ralph Ellison, Flannery O'Connor, Ignazio Silone, Elie Wiesel, John Cheever, Zora Neale Hurston, and Walker Percy.
If any of these are on your radar, you might enjoy this. Just know that they won't be on your radar for long!
January 2, 2011
Harvard's Gen Ed 105 in a book! I LOVED loved loved.
October 22, 2012
Highlights: narrative-driven chapters/lectures plus deeply human/e insights on William Carlos Williams, Raymond Carver, Flannery O'Connor, Ruby Bridges. First half of the book was stronger, more insightful and interesting, better written than the second half. Have to hand it to him though: Robert Coles' insights, reflections, and thoughts on William Carlos Williams and Raymond Carver made me want to read their entire body of work and teach from his prescribed pieces.
July 20, 2020
Robert Coles, a psychiatrist and revered literature professor at Harvard University, has performed a vital mission in penning this book. An actual compilation of his university lectures, I found it a probing and stimulating overview of authors of fiction who challenged what George Orwell (one of the writers he cites) once called "the smelly orthodoxies" - namely, a status quo prone to judge fellow human beings based on perceived differences or characteristics.Drawing on evocative works from representative authors, the book might actually be subtitled, "How Literature Can Help One Unlearn Elitism." Harvard, like all prestigious (and pricey) universities, of course, is a bastion for grooming graduates to assume positions of power and privilege. But drawing on his broad grasp of writers bent on uncovering some aspect of how "isms" like sexism and racism and classism disfigure and destroy human potential, Cole reminds us of our shared humanity. Or conversely, some common ways we subjugate and dismiss each other. The work, in essence, helps retrieve literature from the pretentious, sterile ash heap where so many English teachers have unknowingly insisted it reside. Another benefit here, Coles will likely add a few fresh "must reads" to one's reading bucket list. Finally, a thoughtful book for any budding bibliophile or socially engaged young person.
July 19, 2024
His thoughts on children and the time when schools were first being integrated was worth the read. His thoughts on other books and authors seemed to drag...especially when I took time to check out a couple of books I had not read which reminded me why I don't read much fiction.
February 12, 2015
Under the title: "On character, courage and compassion"
I would have loved to have been in the course where this was taught.
Some Takeaways: ". . . what some of the writers in this book have been trying to do: to understand the progression of life and its meaning." (224)
The short stories, novels and poetry Coles suggests reading, ". . . became an integral part of our own lives, as we absorb them, take in their summoning moral fire, aimed so adroitly: there for us to behold in our reading, and respect and reflect on and, most of all, respond to in our reading and in our lives." (230)
Henry James in response to a query from his nephew, "to find out the answers to this life" (241) responded, "My Dear One, I have your letter and here is my answer: Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. Let us all try in the important and the small ways in this life given us to be kind, even when it may be hard for us, even when we are challenged by the darkness that inhabits all of us and tears at us; even during those demanding, hurried times, let us try to be kind. Let us reach out to one another and think well of one another, knowing that the flaws in others we share in our own way. (241-2)
In summation: Be Kind!
I would have loved to have been in the course where this was taught.
Some Takeaways: ". . . what some of the writers in this book have been trying to do: to understand the progression of life and its meaning." (224)
The short stories, novels and poetry Coles suggests reading, ". . . became an integral part of our own lives, as we absorb them, take in their summoning moral fire, aimed so adroitly: there for us to behold in our reading, and respect and reflect on and, most of all, respond to in our reading and in our lives." (230)
Henry James in response to a query from his nephew, "to find out the answers to this life" (241) responded, "My Dear One, I have your letter and here is my answer: Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. Let us all try in the important and the small ways in this life given us to be kind, even when it may be hard for us, even when we are challenged by the darkness that inhabits all of us and tears at us; even during those demanding, hurried times, let us try to be kind. Let us reach out to one another and think well of one another, knowing that the flaws in others we share in our own way. (241-2)
In summation: Be Kind!
March 29, 2013
This is such a great book. Coles writes passionately about both literature and social reflection. His sense of social responsibility is high and he conveys that sense of importance to the reader. I especially enjoyed his stories about William Carlos Williams, Flannery O'Connor, and Ruby Bridges. This book is a must read for any educator or anyone interested in education.
Please support independent bookstores, if you order this book please use Indie Bound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/978081...
Please support independent bookstores, if you order this book please use Indie Bound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/978081...
April 14, 2011
Robert Coles is a great academic, but more importantly, a great storyteller. He writes well, of course, but more importantly, he's able to take the personal narratives and writing lives of those featured in this book and craft them into exampled about how we live together in community and what that might mean. Poetic, academic, and inspiring; not a bad combo.
March 16, 2016
This book represents Professor Coles' Literature and Social Reflection class he taught at Harvard. An informative read which also includes the syllabus for the class. Some of the authors analyzed over the course include: Walker Percy, Flannery O'Connor, Dorothy Day, James Agee Zora Neale Hurston George Orwell, William Carlos Williams, Ralph Ellison, and many others.
February 27, 2016
I've read a fair amount of Coles over the years, and was excited to pick up this one. But, not so much. This never pulled me in, and left me feeling like he was recycling a lifetime of good work and writing.
January 31, 2011
My reading list has grown greatly from this great book.
June 21, 2012
A refresher course in re-reading and the training in empathy and depth that literature, and especially, a wide spectrum of voices provides. Robert Coles continues to be a wise guide.
January 24, 2012
A nonfiction book companion to Coles' Harvard class. Discusses different authors and how they help readers interrogate life and how to live it.
January 22, 2013
The subtitle says it all: On character, courage, and compassion
January 5, 2014
if you read his books, all similar references and points made,nonetheless insightful and useful tool. Big contribution to the concept of bibliotherapy
August 8, 2016
This book was OK. It got kind of repetitive.
December 14, 2016
This was very comforting to read post-election.
February 25, 2025
Gen Ed
Working my way again through “the reading list for life”.
Thank you for putting this outstanding semester into a book I can revisit many more times.
Working my way again through “the reading list for life”.
Thank you for putting this outstanding semester into a book I can revisit many more times.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews