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loujoseph's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe this one was talked up too much for me, but I really thought this was overrated, and it seems like Dirda might have been elevated to the NPR Smug Cannon (Ira Glass, Malcolm Gladwell, Oliver Sacks, maybe Mark Bittman) in that there's a way they make the reader feel smarter with little effort.
Part of my problems with this might be that I read it straight through, b/c i had it from the library- maybe if i look out for him in small doses in the Post or wherever, it won't be so much to swallow. That said, there were a few reviews that made me want to read more of that author's work- Hasek's "The Good Soldier Sjeck", Germinal by Zola, and more Spinoza and Rousseau.
Part of my problems with this might be that I read it straight through, b/c i had it from the library- maybe if i look out for him in small doses in the Post or wherever, it won't be so much to swallow. That said, there were a few reviews that made me want to read more of that author's work- Hasek's "The Good Soldier Sjeck", Germinal by Zola, and more Spinoza and Rousseau.
marystephanos's review against another edition
4.0
Michael Dirda has the talent for making every book he likes sound like the most compelling read out there. For the most part, we benefit from his passion, though Dirda's rather infectious praise can sometimes lead some readers badly astray. For this collection, he has selected "classics" that may be lesser known than what we all read in high school and college but are just as, and sometimes even more, enjoyable to read. His picks range from Ovid, Beowulf, and the Arthurian romances to Dashiell Hammett, Georgette Heyer (a longtime Dirda favorite), and even Edward Gorey. The range is delightful, and most curious readers are bound to find new ideas for the TBR list. Recommended for fans of Michael Dirda's criticism and anyone looking to sink into something a little different for a while.
towardinfinitybooks's review against another edition
3.0
Michael Dirda writes, "Classics are classics not because they are educational, but because people have found them worth reading, generation after generation, century after century. More than anything else, great books speak to us of our own very real feelings and failings, of our all-too-human daydreams and confusions."
Dirda's aim is to convince us that classics can be as entertaining, thoughtful, and accessible as contemporary literary fiction, genre fiction, and nonfiction. Dirda received a Pulitzer Prize for his literary criticism as the book editor at the Washington Post's Book World. He also has written a few other books. His goal for this book was to recommend authors/works off the beaten path of those authors many of us read in high school or that are so often recommended in the "best of literature" lists (no Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, Murasaki Shikibu, etc. here).
The book is separated into 11 sections with broad themes (e.g. "Playful Imaginations," "The Dark Side," "Lives of Consequence," etc.) and each section has about 7-10 suggested authors. Dirda's short essays on these authors are conversational and easily understandable. He uses a variety of methods to explain why a particular author's work is worth reading, sometimes quoting an excerpt, other times describing the life of the author or the plot in some detail (in most cases, he doesn't give away the ending). I read this book all the way through, and even though I wasn't convinced to add every single author to my to-read shelf, it was worth it in the sense that I have a better understanding of the works of writers and philosophers of which I've only heard brief mention.
I was an English major in college and still read a few "classics" every year out of my own personal interest, so I didn't really need convincing that they can be worthwhile. Instead, I read this book mostly because I felt that my "literature" bookshelf was running low on classics and I needed some direction as to which authors or works might appeal to me. Some of Dirda's suggested authors were familiar, but I like that he discusses their less-well-known works (e.g. [b:A Lost Lady|48200|A Lost Lady|Willa Cather|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328848526s/48200.jpg|2064261] by Cather, [b:The Begum's Millions|18290537|The Begum's Millions|Jules Verne|/assets/nocover/60x80.png|25771393] by Verne, etc.).
The major drawback of this collection is the usual drawback of most books of this nature: it is heavily Western canon-centric. The overwhelming majority of suggestions are writers and thinkers from the Greek and Roman civilizations, Europe, and the United States. Lao-tse is one of the very few exceptions, and the only one that comes immediately to mind. I added several books to my to-read shelf but I can't help think that I probably would have discovered them eventually through my usual methods of finding books. I had hoped for suggestions that were original but also diverse. I didn't get that here.
Dirda's aim is to convince us that classics can be as entertaining, thoughtful, and accessible as contemporary literary fiction, genre fiction, and nonfiction. Dirda received a Pulitzer Prize for his literary criticism as the book editor at the Washington Post's Book World. He also has written a few other books. His goal for this book was to recommend authors/works off the beaten path of those authors many of us read in high school or that are so often recommended in the "best of literature" lists (no Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, Murasaki Shikibu, etc. here).
The book is separated into 11 sections with broad themes (e.g. "Playful Imaginations," "The Dark Side," "Lives of Consequence," etc.) and each section has about 7-10 suggested authors. Dirda's short essays on these authors are conversational and easily understandable. He uses a variety of methods to explain why a particular author's work is worth reading, sometimes quoting an excerpt, other times describing the life of the author or the plot in some detail (in most cases, he doesn't give away the ending). I read this book all the way through, and even though I wasn't convinced to add every single author to my to-read shelf, it was worth it in the sense that I have a better understanding of the works of writers and philosophers of which I've only heard brief mention.
I was an English major in college and still read a few "classics" every year out of my own personal interest, so I didn't really need convincing that they can be worthwhile. Instead, I read this book mostly because I felt that my "literature" bookshelf was running low on classics and I needed some direction as to which authors or works might appeal to me. Some of Dirda's suggested authors were familiar, but I like that he discusses their less-well-known works (e.g. [b:A Lost Lady|48200|A Lost Lady|Willa Cather|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1328848526s/48200.jpg|2064261] by Cather, [b:The Begum's Millions|18290537|The Begum's Millions|Jules Verne|/assets/nocover/60x80.png|25771393] by Verne, etc.).
The major drawback of this collection is the usual drawback of most books of this nature: it is heavily Western canon-centric. The overwhelming majority of suggestions are writers and thinkers from the Greek and Roman civilizations, Europe, and the United States. Lao-tse is one of the very few exceptions, and the only one that comes immediately to mind. I added several books to my to-read shelf but I can't help think that I probably would have discovered them eventually through my usual methods of finding books. I had hoped for suggestions that were original but also diverse. I didn't get that here.
wmhenrymorris's review against another edition
Concise essays that attempt to entice readers to indulge in certain minor and/or ignored authors and works. It might be four stars -- it depends on how good some of the stuff I added to my reading list turn out to be.
cheryl_r's review against another edition
4.0
I'll do WAY better at Jeopardy now! I fell more & more in love, each synopsis transporting you just like any good book does. Yes, Dirda is an entertaining, passionate writer in his own right; in fact, this book should be in his final section "Encyclopedic Visions."
bookwormmichelle's review
3.0
I didn't like this quite as much as I had hoped to. Far too many of the books/authors reviewed were way too salacious for my taste, so I won't be reading many of these. There are a few authors included I've already read most of, like Elizabeth Gaskell, Rudyard Kipling, Willa Cather.
debnanceatreaderbuzz's review
3.0
I was expecting this to be a 10; it barely scraped in at a 7. I could not wait for it to be published; I stopped by the bookstore three times, hoping to find a copy before the official publication date. And then when I actually got the copy and started to read it? You must be kidding me. Who would read these books? The summaries did not even intrigue me. I, who have been known to write down titles recommended by first graders, wrote down a single recommendation from the scores Dirda mentions. Big disappointment.