2. Solutions to current problems

[Manuel]

Do you think this book offers good solutions to the problems of our time?

[Christopher]

I have not yet read this book. But I have purchased good amount of the books that he recommends for children for my children. For instance I have almost all of the Lang books. I really am desirous of reading him. I think his reading list for children followed by the Great Books is a great way to make progress through our families.

[Jill]

He contrasts "simply" reading with analyzing with the help of atlases, dictionaries, etc. That seems like a false dichotomy. Even in reading aloud to little ones, it's good to make sure they understand the words being used!

[John]

Jill wrote: "He contrasts "simply" reading with analyzing with the help of atlases, dictionaries, etc. That seems like a false dichotomy. Even in reading aloud to little ones, it's good to make sure they unders..."

This was actually one of his comments that made sense to me. I think what he is saying ts to read the story as the author has written it. If you don't understand a word, or the relationship between two places becomes important and you need to look at an atlas to understand the author's point, then sure you need to do that. But there are many people today who won't read a book without first reading several reviews or approaching the book in a technical fashion as one might do in a modern college literature course. I try to ignore reviews before reading a book and never read forwards by people other than the author when reading a novel. I want to experience the story, straight from the author, as he or she intended.

I have had debates in the past with some like that who insisted that my criticism of a book was wrong (!?) because of all the great reviews they had read.

[Manuel]

John wrote: "I have had debates in the past with some like that who insisted that my criticism of a book was wrong (!?) because of all the great reviews they had read."

This reminds me of C.S.Lewis saying somewhere that reviews of Plato's works are usually very dull, while Plato's works are great reading!

[Jill]

Excellent point. Our children attended Trinity School(s), which has a classical great books curriculum. One of their principles is always to read primary sources rather than books-about, e.g. they read the Federalist papers, Constitution and other founding documents rather than a history book.

[Mariangel]

Italian journalist Intro Montanelli tells that once he could not remember which of two Roman emperors had come first, went to textbooks to look it up, and felt bored to death reading them. So he took Livy and Tacitus and found a "vibrant journalistic account", he says. Then he went on to write his popular "History of Rome"