Comments on: The Misunderstood Greatness of “Great” Books

By: cubbollasse

cubbollasse — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:12:25 +0000

All cats are grey in the dark in the night

By: Max Weismann

Max Weismann — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:40:00 +0000

Argumentum ad Hominem

The subtitle should have read, Every Negative Fact and Innuendo I Could Dredge Up

Although he was not particularly unkind to me in the book, I found virtually every page to be a smart-alecky and snide diatribe of the worst order against the Great Books, Adler, Hutchins, et al. Plus the book is replete with errors of commission and omission.

As an effective antidote, I prescribe Robert Hutchins’ pithy essay, The Great Conversation.

If the Great Books crusade is as bleak as Beam purports, then happily, not many will read his invective book.

Max Weismann,
President and co-founder with Mortimer Adler, Center for the Study of The Great Ideas
Chairman, The Great Books Academy

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:12:50 +0000

Candide, one of the best philosophical criticisms around as well as a good story in its own right, is definitely less than 245; I don’t know exactly, but I think my copy is even less than 100.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:50:10 +0000

That was the only great book not in your list that I had in my office bookshelf. Kant’s Perpetual Peace (A great essay?) is really short too.

I read that about a dozen times.

By: Greg Forster

Greg Forster — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:53:17 +0000

Yes, there were plenty of other Great Books I could have listed. I wanted to stick to what was on my shelf to avoid skewing the picture with books chosen specifically because they’re short – in order to give Beam as much of a fair shake as I could.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:43:03 +0000

Frederic Bastiat’s The Law (hey I consider it a great book ) is 76 pages.

Also a surprisingly clear and easy book to understand, despite being written 160 years ago (make the latest translation took care of that…I don’t know).