A Great Idea at the Time: The Rise, Fall and Curious Afterlife of the Great Books by Alex Beam
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- A book review and summary. Where did the Great Books fad come from and what happened to it? Alex Beam's 2008 book has some answers!
Good day, Jim. I was curious about the Great Books history. Pretty good salesmen. In the late 80's when I began to frequent used bookshops I"d see them. They were everywhere, it seemed. I think it was when owners of the books died and their kids and grandchildren sold them to places like Half-Price books.
Thanks for the comment, Libro. I still see them from time to time, scattered volumes. Sellers on eBay have complete sets available. I doubt they'll attain collectible status, with one exception that I will talk about in a video soon.
You know, a door to door salesman trying to sell me these books wouldn't be the worst person to come to my door.
I know! I would be like, “I’ll take one of everything.”
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This was fascinating! I’ve not read it, and I’m quite new to the Great Books set really, but it’s really interesting! My Dutch grandpa always got great use out of his encyclopaedia set (wasn’t the Great Books set though), always looking up anything that came up in conversation that he wanted to know more about (and to teach us about), so I’ve fond memories… liking this deep dive!
Thanks for watching! We used to have the World Book Encyclopedia and I spent countless hours browsing it.
I read the book, have a hard copy of it, I agree with you, he was very snarky throughout the book, but it still was an interesting read.
Yes, that's the gist of my reaction, too. It's a good story.
I'm skeptical of Mr. Beam's claim that the "fad" of reading classic literature grew out of Columbia University. It's not like those works were just sitting neglected on a shelf gathering dust and waiting for the intellectuals at Columbia to "rediscover" them. They have ALWAYS been part of a classical education and were something that any "well-read" person would consider necessary to have a well-rounded education. While Encyclopedia Britannica may have capitalized on the convenience of bundling many of these great works into one product in order to turn a profit, that doesn't change the fact that these works have been read extensively for many, many years and are still considered required reading for anyone interested in classical education.
Yes, thanks for pointing that out. I'll just add that John Erskine at Columbia was an innovator in how the books were taught (two instructors leading seminar style shared inquiry discussions in a generalist spirit). Adler and Hutchins took that approach to the masses, and it caught on (the fad), which led to the publishing ventures. Of course, we have many other classics publishers welling up at the time: Harvard Classics, Modern Library, Everyman Library, Penguin Classics, etc. I hope to dig into these areas more in depth sometime soon.
Have you read Professing Literature by Gerald Graff? It’s not the main focus, but it covers great books programs at one point in addition to other ways English literature programs were taught, and I think the whole book is interesting.
The author's name is recognizable, but I haven't read Professing Literature. I'll have to borrow it and see what he says about the great books movement. Thanks for the recommendation!
Fascinating overview. I'd be curious to hear your take on the books selected for the first edition vs. the books selected for the second edition and how the left and right have both politicized the debate. In some future video, you may want to discuss which Great Books you would include on your own recommended list.
Thanks! I plan on doing a video very soon about the 1st vs. 2nd edition. Stay tuned for that. The politicization of the canon is a theme I'll be visiting from time to time. I do like making lists, so down the line maybe I'll share recommendations!