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[Everyman]

Julia wrote: "Everyman, I have been impressed by your comments in other goodreads group and am glad to find you here as a moderator. "

I'm blushing, but thank you. And delighted that you found the group.

I've taken and enjoyed several Coursera courses, but hadn't noticed that one. I'm off to sign up for it. Have you discovered edX, the other major MOOC platform? They are doing a poetry series, just finishing up a segment on early American poetry, of which there was a lot more than I ever realized; the next segment, on Whitman, will start in January. Just go to https://edx.org

Again, welcome, and glad to have you with us.

[Susan]

Hello all. I am a returning member as well. Is there a calendar or posting of upcoming reads? It seemed more prudent to attempt (ha ha) to organized my reading for 2014.

[Eliana]

Hello, everyone!

I'm Eliana, homeschooling mother of 7, second generation St. Johnnie (though only for a couple of years), and eclectic autodidact.

Now that my kids are older (some of the grown up & moved out!) and not all homeschooling, I have been craving more companionship in my reading - other thoughts and reactions, to the text, and to my attempts to articulate my responses...and, for that matter, a place where those attempts at articulation are more appropriate than in casual conversation!

I look forward to sharing some great books with you all!

[Everyman: I see you are a Johnnie - which year and campus? I am wondering if you might have known my parents. ...I also wanted to thank you for your booklists and reviews! I have added some more books to my TBR stacks!]

[Julia]

Everyman wrote: "Julia wrote: "Everyman, I have been impressed by your comments in other goodreads group and am glad to find you here as a moderator. "

I'm blushing, but thank you. And delighted that you found th..."

Sorry that I cannot stay in the group, but I had hoped for a more in-depth examination of the ideas of Socrates and Plato. When we sit here in the 21st century and simply post opinions without research, I find that insulting to both Plato and Socrates.

I'll stick with the Coursera classes on this topic, and I wish you well.

[Everyman]

Eliana wrote: "Hello, everyone!

I'm Eliana, homeschooling mother of 7, second generation St. Johnnie (though only for a couple of years), and eclectic autodidact"

Welcome! Good to have another Johnnie here. (Thomas is also one.)

I was the Annapolis campus -- when I started there wasn't a Santa Fe campus, though it started up while I was there. Which pretty much dates me, but as to exactly which year, that would be telling my age a bit too closely!

[Thomas]

Julia wrote: "Sorry that I cannot stay in the group, but I had hoped for a more in-depth examination of the ideas of Socrates and Plato. When we sit here in the 21st century and simply post opinions without research, I find that insulting to both Plato and Socrates. .."

Sorry to hear that Julia. I appreciated your comments. But I have to say that I'm finding more "research" in the discussion than is actually necessary. In my opinion, all that is required is the work itself. To me, that is what makes a great book -- a work that stands on its own, in this case for many centuries.

[Lily]

Julia wrote: "Sorry that I cannot stay in the group, but I had hoped for a more in-depth examination of the ideas of Socrates and Plato. When we sit here in the 21st century and simply post opinions without research, I find that insulting to both Plato and Socrates..."

Sorry to see you leave, Julia, and personally I hope you'll change your mind. Goodreads discussions are one thing, Great Courses and Coursera something else. I haven't taken the latter, but I have done continuing education elsewhere. I had hoped you might find space and time for the dynamics of both.

I do believe Thomas and Eman, perhaps because of their St. John's training, create a particular sympathy for wrestling with a work itself, although I do find the same on many other Goodreads boards. For me, the attitude extends a certain respect to the participants themselves as well as to the work being discussed. (Perhaps sometimes whether or not deserved, a bit like Socrates' deprecation of his own wisdom. [g]) It is fun sometimes to see how one's own contribution does or does not impact a discussion -- and to choose when to or not to and how to participate. (I find observing that on oneself to be part of the examined life?)

[Nemo]

I've always wondered how people do "research" in the field of philosophy. What is there apart from opinion?

[Richard]

I'm the history and social sciences editor at UVA Press and occasionally teach courses on psychology, mythology, literature, and ancient Greek political thought at UVA. I've been interested in (esp. Greek) classics since undergrad days and I wrote a PhD dissertation on psychology and political thought in the Iliad. While working in academic publishing I plugged away on a book that was published last year in the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies/Lexington Book series, Greek Studies: Interdisciplinary Approaches, edited by Gregory Nagy. The book is Becoming Achilles: Child-Sacrifice, War, and Misrule in the Iliad and Beyond. The epilogue argues that Plato's Socrates is modeled on Homer's Achilles -- not the brave warrior who prefers death to dishonor, but the public hero who speaks truth to power, or so it seems.

The brief book talk on my site should give you a good idea of whether the book is of interest: http://pages.shanti.virginia.edu/beco....

[Richard]

Thank you. I look forward to participating in these lively and interesting conversations.

[Thomas]

Welcome to the group, Richard. By happy coincidence, Socrates is the subject of our "Holiday Interim" read -- we're looking at Plato's Apology this week, and next week we'll move onto Crito and Xenophon's Apology, and a couple weeks later we'll finish with Aristophanes' the Clouds. I hope you'll join us!

[Richard]

Thomas wrote: "Welcome to the group, Richard. By happy coincidence, Socrates is the subject of our "Holiday Interim" read -- we're looking at Plato's Apology this week, and next week we'll move onto Crito and Xen..."
I've been reading the posts on the Apology and look forward to participating in coming conversations. I may have only read snippets of Xenophon's Apology. Anyhow, it's been a while.

[Nemo]

Welcome to the group and looking forward to your comment, Richard.

(If I didn't know better, I would think that Thomas were a sales and marketing executive, and Patrice a teenage girl swooning over the Beatles. :))

[Thomas]

That's right, it filets, it chops
It dices, slices, never stops
Lasts a lifetime, mows your lawn
And it picks up the kids from school
It gets rid of unwanted facial hair
It gets rid of embarrassing age spots
It delivers a pizza
And it lengthens, and it strengthens
And it finds that slipper that's been at large
Under the chaise longe for several weeks...

(Tom Waits)

[Lily]

Eliana wrote: "Hello, everyone! I'm Eliana, homeschooling mother of 7, second generation St. Johnnie (though only for a couple of years), and eclectic autodidact...."

Eliana -- Welcome! Am enjoying your contributions. Do hope you'll tell us how you have managed to raise a family, including homeschooling, and still average reading better than a book a day in 2013, at least if I understand your profile page accurately.

[Eliana]

Lily wrote: "Eliana -- Welcome! Am enjoying your contributions."


Thank you!

Lily wrote: "Do hope you'll tell us how you have managed to raise a family, including homeschooling, and still average reading better than a book a day in 2013, at least if I understand your profile page accurately. "

I never know quite how to answer that question. At this point, reading, intensely, almost compulsively, is part of who I am and how I exist.

Some of it is the consequence of a misspent childhood". I grew up without television, in a house not only full of fascinating books, but with parents who are lifetime learners - so, to me, free time was associated with reading and studying.

Habit and a naturally fast reading pace are part of it, but it's more than that...

I don't want to go all Socrates and claim a G-d given mission in life, but I think the way I read and study is part of what makes me feel I am leading a meaningful life and being/becoming the person I can/should be.

Adding pieces to the jigsaw puzzle of my tiny glimpses of understanding of 'the human condition', finding interconnections and relationships... trying to *understand* this world what it is to try to live in it.

...and that means I view this as really important.

...more important than the hobbies I dropped as our family grew, more important than maintaining my white-glove housekeeping standards, more important than watching a movie... some days, more important than a full night's sleep.

...but each year has been so different. This is the first year I've actually been keeping a list of what I read (some years I maintain a reading journal, but not about every single book I read), but last year was dominated by American history and politics; the year I took Organic Chemistry (I went back to school when my twins (kids 5 & 6) were toddlers) I read hundreds of mysteries (a genre I generally eschew, with the exception of Sayers).

This year is the first year since my eldest was born that I've made any kind of plan (vague though it was - I set a few challenges: the Continental (10+ books from each continent except Antarctica) and the Shakespeare (reread all of Shakespeare's plays) were the most significant). and that I was participating in any kind of regular conversation about what I was reading (a weekly thread on my homeschool discussion boards)

...and that's because I have three kids out of the house, one newly in a Jewish day school, one taking some college classes (but doing his other high school work at home) and one doing some online classes - so my 'teaching' load has dropped dramatically.

Oh, Lily! I'm sorry! You asked a tiny question, and I'm giving you a dissertation length non-response.

The short answer: I read quickly, and squeeze reading into every possible corner of my days.

[Everyman]

Richard wrote: "I'm the history and social sciences editor at UVA Press and occasionally teach courses on psychology, mythology, literature, and ancient Greek political thought at UVA. I've been interested in (esp..."

With that background, we obviously will have much to benefit from your participation. We may have to go back and revisit the Iliad at some point -- we read it a while back, but the benefit of classics is that they are endlessly re-readable with increasing benefits with each reading. (I sometimes think that I should pick a basic 100 or so books and just keep reading them over and over.)

Anyhow, I'm delighted to welcome you to the group.

[Everyman]

Thomas wrote: "That's right, it filets, it chops
It dices, slices, never stops
Lasts a lifetime, mows your lawn..."

It sounds like wompom.

What? You don't know about wompon? Well, it's time you did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivf4w3...

(If you don't know Flanders and Swann, as a French Horn player this is naturally one of my favorite of their songs. It helps if you know the Mozart horn concertos.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjA6bA...

[Lily]

Eliana wrote: "...The short answer: I read quickly, and squeeze reading into every possible corner of my days..."

Eliana -- thank you for your response. I shall be fascinated to understand better in the months ahead?

[Thomas]

Everyman wrote: "Thomas wrote: "That's right, it filets, it chops
It dices, slices, never stops
Lasts a lifetime, mows your lawn..."

It sounds like wompom.

What? You don't know about wompon? Well, it's time y..."

That's it! I want one. And since I haven't yet posted my letter to the North Pole, there is still time for a small amendment.

[Richard]

Everyman wrote: "Richard wrote: "I'm the history and social sciences editor at UVA Press and occasionally teach courses on psychology, mythology, literature, and ancient Greek political thought at UVA. I've been in..."

This seems like a very congenial group. I'm happy to have found it. I am always ready to reread the Iliad. And ancient Greek tragedy and comedy. And Plato. And Aristotle. And to read other ancient Greek authors I may not have read or be aware of.

[Everyman]

Richard wrote: "This seems like a very congenial group. I'm happy to have found it."

Thanks for noticing. We work hard at being congenial without being vanilla.

As I just noted in another thread, a core value of the group is to "disagree without being disagreeable."

We're also happy that you found us.

[Mike]

I'm a public finance guy. Politically, I'm generally moderate and communitarian. My favorite eras in history are the French and American Revolutions. My favorite books are The Picture of Dorian Gray, Candide, and Yukio Mishima's Spring Snow. I would rather be a polymath than an expert in a single area-- Berlin's fox over his hedgehog.

[Nemo]

Mike wrote: "I would rather be a polymath than an expert in a single area.."

That's obvious from your comments. Welcome again, Mike!

[Linda]

Hi everyone! My name is Linda and I was invited to join this group by Everyman as I have Daniel Deronda on my To-Read list so I may join in its discussion in March.

I do not have a literary background at all, I think I only took one literature class back in college. Instead I was drawn to the sciences and I currently do research at a non-profit cancer center in Seattle. I love to read a wide variety of books, and have only started to venture my way into the classics in the past few years - mostly Austen, Eliot, Galsworthy, Tolsoy, Bronte(s) so far. I have not read any of the "heavier" older reads that I see on your list and find them daunting, quite frankly. When I'm not working or reading, I spend my time with my husband, two young children, seven hens, and three cats.

[Everyman]

Linda wrote: "Hi everyone! My name is Linda and I was invited to join this group by Everyman as I have Daniel Deronda on my To-Read list so I may join in its discussion in March.."

Glad to have you here. Another Washingtoninan, I see. I hope you're surviving this cold snap successfully (okay, to some in the Northern Plains our teens and twenties are almost balmy, but to us they're cold!)

The "heavier" older reads may seem daunting from the outside, but I think once you get into reading them, especially with group support like you get here, you'll find them enjoyable and enriching. There's a reason they are still read with pleasure hundreds or thousands of years after they were written. (There's even a bit of resurgence in interest in the classics, with many new and very accessible translations coming out in the past few decades.)

Anyhow, glad to have you joining us. Stay warm (and drive carefully if the threatened snow or black ice do arrive!)

[Linda]

Thank you for the invite and welcome, Everyman. Yes, trying to keep warm here for sure!

I'll keep that in mind about the older reads - this group may be the perfect place to attempt a start at reading a few.

[Thomas]

Welcome to the group, Trina! We can always use a few more librarians, especially questing ones. Questioning ones too.

[Everyman]

Trina wrote: "I am a librarian on a quest to fill my library with classicsand read as many as possible."

Great to see you here, Trina. Librarians who respect and appreciate the classics are a special gift to society!

[Andrew]

Hello group. I am a PhD student (Education) in Canada who got the book bug (or the awakening of my ignorance) during my Masters when I realized two things: graduate school seldom contained the kind of didactic people I thought it would, and the state of the education system (the former a product no doubt of the latter). Over the last few years I have been reading substantially in all subjects trying to educate myself where my, to that point, around 17 years of schooling had failed to achieve. And by education I do not mean literacy or numeracy, but exactly what Adler means, a depth of understanding of the few but irreplaceable concepts that drive our existence, eg. justice, liberty, etc.

I have been looking through this group and noticed many speak of (Harold) Bloom, and Hutchins, but few (none?) of Adler. Perhaps I am biased but I have read many of Adler's works, including his first and presently half way through his second autobiography. It seems to suggest he is the larger player in revitalizing a serious return to a liberal education for all in the mid-20th century. A somewhat earlier liberal ed big name would probably be HD Newman.

I operate a youtube channel which I have book reviews and hauls (currently 27 hours worth of videos). It was my attempt to help spread ideas and model serious book reading behavior. They get few views, but I am not dismayed as it seems goodreads groups that read serious works are under the same low membership plight. Unfortunately, it may just be the case that in any period of human history, while many read, few read well, and (perhaps as a result) even fewer change the world. This reminds me of something I read in Adler's first bio. He stated that the birth of the US founded on liberty was made possible by liberally educated men. The slow erosion of these liberties has come predictably because the population has lost its educational status to possibly hold such liberties responsibly. This is pretty grim but it seems true.

I look forward to participating in this group as my time allows. My choices of books to read (non-school related) are somewhat at whim. I had begun a long history project, beginning with pre-man, pre-civ, and then the first civs (Egypt, Sumaria) but got lost in the latter part. I made a post here about that in case anyone is interested in the reading list:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Andrew]

I found that quote actually. It is from Walter Lippman, quoted in Adler's first autobiography (Philosopher at Large).

p209-from a review by Walter Lippmann commenting on the ed of the founding fathers, "it was very significant that men so educated had founded our liberties, and that we who are not so educated should be mismanaging our liberties and be in danger of losing them. Gradually I have come to believe that this fact is the main [clue] to the riddle of our epoch, and that men are ceasing to be free because they are no longer educated in the arts of free men."

[Everyman]

Andrew wrote: "Hello group. I am a PhD student (Education) in Canada who got the book bug (or the awakening of my ignorance) during my Masters when I realized two things: graduate school seldom contained the kind..."

Welcome! And glad to see you turning from learning to education. The former can sometimes be found found in schools and colleges, the latter seldom, and never on standardized tests.

I'm glad to see you mention Adler. If I turn my head 90 degrees to the right I see several of his works that I have greatly enjoyed reading, not only his philosophical work, but also his great "How to Read a Book." And his work in the Syntopicon of the Great Books of the Western World is monumental; I browse in those volumes frequently. I'm not sure why he has fallen out of popular favor, but I'm glad to see some people still appreciating him.

Glad to have you with us for our journey into books Adler knew intimately and shared with love and passion.

[Thomas]

It was a tradition to play practical jokes on Adler when he came to lecture at St. Johns. One year we attached thin fishing lines to his podium and a student off stage very slowly pulled on the lines so that by the end of his lecture poor old Adler was almost lost behind the curtain. He was a good sport, that Mort.

[Andrew]

To Everyman: I have read his 'How to Read a Book', and taped a 7 video series talking about it on youtube. Its a great book.

To Adler Stories: That's amazing that there are people here who went to St. Johns. His first autobio talks about pranks because he would go over time every class. One I remember was the students cut the power, and Adler took out a match to finish the lecture. Its a real testament to the agenda of students not to learn but to finish and get the degree. I was like that in my undergrad (chemistry), the 'is this on the exam'-type, including taking bird courses as electives to 'get through'. One elective I took was on Microsoft Word and yet I was already quite familiar with it. Its awful, that mindset. And then in graduate school I flipped and was the type of student who would follow the prof back to their office after a class to pelt them with more questions. Some profs were ok with it, some were bothered.

Also I should mention on this page at the top a couple people mentioned MOOCs so I looked into it and found a pretty awesome (so far) course on History of Humankind, so I've already been influenced by this group!
https://class.coursera.org/humankind-...

[Everyman]

Andrew wrote: "That's amazing that there are people here who went to St. Johns."

There are actually several of us here.

[Lily]

Patrice wrote: "And they are amazing! ;-)"

Agreed!

re msg 999 But I don't understand why their existence and participation here should be considered amazing. Isn't this where one might expect to find them?

[Chris]

Hello! Since retiring from full-time work in mid-2003, my time for reading has increased exponentially. I enjoy almost every reading genre and I have read the classics periodically since H.S. days. I have made a concerted effort over the past few years to dig into them in a more thoughtful way, including study. On average I have only read 2/year. Those that I've taken time with since I started with that personal challenge include: Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Beowulf and The Inferno. I tried The Canterbury Tales and had to give up. Would like to get to that again sometime. Hope this group will help me increase my enjoyment & understanding.

[Everyman]

Chris wrote: "Hello! Since retiring from full-time work in mid-2003, my time for reading has increased exponentially. I enjoy almost every reading genre and I have read the classics periodically since H.S. day..."

Welcome. Glad you found us. That "more thoughtful way, including study" is exactly the way we approach the classics here -- you'll fit right in. We're still fairly early in Daniel Deronda, so you could catch up if you wanted to, but if not, I urge you not to miss Frankenstein, which will be led by Laurel, whose knowledge and expertise are not to be missed.

[Chris]

Looking forward to it!

[Genni]

Hello, Everyone. I am excited about finding this group! I have always been an avid reader, however, at this particular point in life, I have no one to discuss great books with. (Sniff, sniff.

[Everyman]

Genni wrote: "Hello, Everyone. I am excited about finding this group! I have always been an avid reader, however, at this particular point in life, I have no one to discuss great books with. (Sniff, sniff. "

Welcome, Genni! Sniff no more. You have found the right people to discuss great books with. Dive in and join us!

We're about half-way through a reading of Eliot's Daniel Deronda, but we read slowly enough to allow plenty of time for reflection and discussion, so you can probably catch up if you decide to. Otherwise, you're in plenty of time to join the Frankenstein discussion in about six weeks.

So discuss away!

[Genni]

Thank you, Everyman! I think I will try to catch up.

[Tiffany]

Hello, everyone.

I'm an ESL/EFL teacher who moves around a lot. I enjoy reading and wish to challenge myself by reading more classics. Additionally, for the few classics that I have read on my own, I feel that I'm missing something when I've finished. As if there was something else the author wanted to express but I'm not seeing it. In the few cases, like 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and 'Jane Eyre', where I read the book on my own and the later had a discussion about the book. I found that I did miss things. I look forward to expanding my bookshelf of classics and gaining a better appreciation for them.

(Oh, dear... as I re-read what I wrote, I feel like I'm this pretentious teacher's pet trying to apply for a job. But since this is the 4th time I've rewritten this intro, it's the way it'll stay and I hope you will all forgive me...)

[Everyman]

Tiffany wrote: "Hello, everyone.

I'm an ESL/EFL teacher who moves around a lot. I enjoy reading and wish to challenge myself by reading more classics. Additionally, for the few classics that I have read on my own..."

A very warm welcome to you. I think all of us have the feeling when we read great literature that we miss a lot, and we do, which is why this group is so important to me, and I think to others here. The exchange of thoughts, the shared analysis, makes these books really sing for us. And I hope it will for you, also.

We're entering the sixth week of an eight week reading of Daniel Deronda; you're welcome to join us, but it may be a bit of a challenge to catch up, and it's not the easiest book. If not, do plan to join us for Frankenstein, which will be led by Laurel, who is a fantastic discussion moderator and has convinced me that the book is well worth reading (and has little to do with the movies which have totally distorted and trivialized the book).

BTW, I saw no pretentiousness at all in your charming introduction. And nothing at all to forgive

[Mary]

Hi everyone
Quite some time ago, Mar 01, 2011 04:02PM, I introduced myself and mentioned that I was writing Muse, a novel about the muse of Francesco Petrarch. It has now been published in both English and Italian (as L'amante del Papa), and will be coming out in a French edition later this year.
In June 2014, the group The Imprinted Life, which focuses on biographies, will be reading Muse and I'm sure they'd be delighted to have more people pop in to talk, if you're interested. The link is: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

best wishes,
Mary
Mary Novik

[Everyman]

Y.V. wrote: "Hi!

I'm a recent college grad unsure of my plans for the future. Currently studying for the LSAT, but considering philosphy or Slavic grad programs as well. I love to travel. I recently got back f..."

Welcome! We have a couple of lawyers in here (present company included), so you would be in good company if you went that direction. But you also have several here who were philosophy majors or studied philosophy extensively, so you would also be in good company there. Slavic I don't know about. [g]

But as to hoping we read philosophy, you're in luck: our summer read, starting in early May, will (unless the voting on the poll goes totally berserk in the next two days) be three dialogues of Plato.

As to Russian literature, I'm sorry you missed the excellent and extensive discussion of War and Peace last summer and fall. But the posts are still available on the site if you're interested in browsing them.

[Everyman]

Y.V. wrote: "Also, I see you're from the NW. I was just up in the San Juan Islands last summer. Really, really beautiful. "

In fact, that's where I live -- on San Juan Island. Just had to go over to America today, nice ferry ride over with an uninterrupted hour to read Frankenstein (dilated on the way back, so didn't read but just listened to Paradise Lost).

Which part of the islands did you go to? Did you take the ferry, or come by private boat?

[Everyman]

Y.V. wrote: " I honestly thought the ferry ride alone was worth it. Just stand out on the deck against the railing and you've got amazing views. "

Yes, it is pretty amazing, particularly when the sun is shining, but equally so when the fog rolls in and you see these mysterious islands rising up out of and then disappearing into the mist.

I've ridden the ferry probably several hundred times, and still appreciate it, though sometimes I admit that it would be a lot more convenient to be able to shop, go to museums and the theater, etc. without quite such a long and costly trip being required!

[Icydove]

I am a homeschool mom, former journalist, and future novelist in the rural South (U.S.). I hope to catch up on the Great Conversation that I have missed out on most of my life. I look forward to discussing Frankenstein with you.

[Everyman]

Icydove wrote: "I am a homeschool mom, former journalist, and future novelist in the rural South (U.S.). I hope to catch up on the Great Conversation that I have missed out on most of my life. I look forward to di..."

Welcome! We're glad to have you join us.