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A review by eberico
Great Books by David Denby
5.0
This book challenged and affirmed my thoughts on the Western Canon – the much-maligned, desperately loved canon. From my blog:
A review from Amazon: "As a former classics major, I have followed the debate over the western canon with a great deal of interest. But after slogging through [a:Harold Bloom|236|Harold Bloom|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1212940902p2/236.jpg]'s [b:The Western Canon|20941|The Western Canon The Books and School of the Ages|Harold Bloom|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167301334s/20941.jpg|347796] for over a year and a half, this book was an absolute delight. I totally agree! I've been slugging through [b:The Western Canon|20941|The Western Canon The Books and School of the Ages|Harold Bloom|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167301334s/20941.jpg|347796] for a few days, not a year and a half, and I'm finding Denby a delight. His responses to the books and poems aren't those of a critic or stuffy academic - they are the reactions of a reader. OK, I guess that isn't totally accurate. Denby IS a critic - he has written for The New Yorker, among others - but I guess his responses just seemed more natural than Bloom. He is exhausted, horrified, delighted, bored, etc. It feels like a post-class debriefing with a friend - not a lecture during which you're likely to fall asleep, then get yelled at by the prof. I love it and feel bad that I didn't finish the book the first time I started.
A review from Amazon: "As a former classics major, I have followed the debate over the western canon with a great deal of interest. But after slogging through [a:Harold Bloom|236|Harold Bloom|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1212940902p2/236.jpg]'s [b:The Western Canon|20941|The Western Canon The Books and School of the Ages|Harold Bloom|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167301334s/20941.jpg|347796] for over a year and a half, this book was an absolute delight. I totally agree! I've been slugging through [b:The Western Canon|20941|The Western Canon The Books and School of the Ages|Harold Bloom|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167301334s/20941.jpg|347796] for a few days, not a year and a half, and I'm finding Denby a delight. His responses to the books and poems aren't those of a critic or stuffy academic - they are the reactions of a reader. OK, I guess that isn't totally accurate. Denby IS a critic - he has written for The New Yorker, among others - but I guess his responses just seemed more natural than Bloom. He is exhausted, horrified, delighted, bored, etc. It feels like a post-class debriefing with a friend - not a lecture during which you're likely to fall asleep, then get yelled at by the prof. I love it and feel bad that I didn't finish the book the first time I started.