The Lifetime Reading Plan

I haven't reviewed a book in a long time because customer reviews so often annoy me. Now I'm writing this one because another one has. Another reveiwer here criticizes The New Lifetime Reading Plan and its predecessors for not including the Bible. That would be a good criticism indeed if not for this sentence from the preface to the book, " We assume that nearly every reader of this book will own a Bible and be at least somewhat accustomed to reading it; and there is nothing we might try to say about it that would not seem presumptuous." And for those who find the listing and others like it 'dogmatic', it is a list of the books that people who have read widely and deeply over many years have found lasting value in. The earlier works in the list were an influence on the later works. The later works have been appreciated by the contemporary authors influenced by the earlier ones. The list is a suggestion. These are the books I and people like me have enjoyed. Try them if they sound interesting to you. If they don't, then read something else. If you want to write a book suggesting your own favorites, knock yourself out. And as for political correctness, while that is indeed a problem in modern scholarship, it is not a problem in this book. Hippies may very well have played at Buddhism, but it is a religion older than Christianity that is still practiced by many sincere followers in Eastern countries. Hinduism is also older than Christianity and still practiced by many people. The works of those religions and cultures have not had much influence on the literature of the West because they were not well known until relatively recently. The later Eastern novels included in The New Lifetime Reading Plan show the influence both of the great Western works and of those such as The Ramayana, The Bhagavad Gita, and The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch. I have several books of this type, but this is the one I like best. The two to four page introductions to authors and their major works are interesting and informative. I used the book in particular to get more familiar with classical Greek drama and Asian literature. I have very much enjoyed several of the books I learned of through it.

This book is essential. It is opinionated and selective. It promises nothing but the considered opinion of two people that have been significantly involved with reading and thinking about literature throughout much of their lives. Many of the comments made by different reviewers at this site are addressed in the book itself. It explains why the Bible is not included. It explains why significant scientific works are excluded. Even within the strict realm of literature, they also explain that people might argue with their choices. In fact, this is part of the point. This is not the last word on literature. It is a starting place that provides a number of excellent points of departure. It invites you to look at and think about the authors, the books it recommends and ask some basic questions: Is the author described interesting enough to read? If so, which book? Once finished with a book, do I agree with the comments made? Why or why not? The authors provide a good summary - some have honestly brought tears to my eyes I thought they were that good - and some pointers for background information, literary criticism, anthologies, suggested translations and other information. You may find that Thucydides is "charmless" as Clifton claims. I didn't. You may find that Finnegan's Wake is worth your time. Clifton recommends avoiding it - which I find I agree after several attempts to read it. Most importantly to me, it is with the suggestions of this book that I was able to tackle works like Joyce's Ulysess and Mann's Magic Mountain that would have been impossible to do without the very helpful suggestions it contains. This book should be owned by anyone with even a passing interest in literature. It needs to be approached as you would a respected friend with a different outlook on life. Take the suggestions you find useful and explore what you like. It is a guide, and used appropriately, it will help you make good choices in deciding what to read (what, which translation) and help you get the tools you may want to understand it better (historical context, explanations). Buy it, and read it!

This new edition of the Lifetime Reading Plan is a brilliant updating of Fadiman's old standard that promises to keep the book useful well into the 21st century. While a few of Fadiman's essays on great authors (Shakespeare, Dickens) are starting to look a little stodgy and old-fashioned forty years after they were first published, most remain surprisingly lively and fresh. Fadiman was an immense force in molding America's literary taste throughout most of the last century, and his opinionated, judicious, friendly voice continues to resonate in our own time. Fadiman's new co-author, John S. Major (whose contribution justifies calling this the NEW Lifetime Reading Plan) has re-organized the book's content and has contributed essays on a number of works that are new to the list; these new works broaden the book's appeal considerably. (Major is an excellent guide to good reading; see also his new book 100 One-Night Reads.) The best thing about this new edition of the Lifetime Reading Plan is that it recognizes that we are all now heirs to a truly global culture, so that, for example, Confucius and Muhammad have a daily impact on the way all of us think and behave; it behooves us to be familiar with their works. In other words, the Great Conversation of human literary achievement has moved into a more capacious room, broadened beyond the old "Western Canon" to include representatives of the world's other great traditions. (In fact those representatives were always in the room, but most of us Westerners were too wedded to our own tradition to be willing to listen to them.) The reading plan that this book proposes is thus full of fascinating juxtapositions: read Thucydides, and then read his ancient Chinese counterpart Ssu-ma Ch'ien; both confronted the problem of how to shape the past into a memorable literary form that remained true to the facts of history. Read Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji - the world's first true novel - and then read George Eliot's Middlemarch. Read Joseph Conrad and Chinua Achebe back-to-back for two complementary, powerful views of European imperialism as well as two wonderful exemplars of English prose. And so on. The possibilities are endless; this really is a book to use as a companion to a lifetime of reading.

Want to get serious about reading great literature but don't know where to start? This is a perfect starting point. Not only does it guide you into the classic "repertoire" but it creates a hunger to delve into these literary delicacies. The authors definitely have a passion for this material, and the best part is they are not afraid to be critical of these works and authors at times. Included are works that fall outside the "western" canon that could easily go unread by those unfamiliar with eastern culture. The worlds of science and philosophy are also well-represented. I remember that I did some of my required reading in school like many did: by reading the Cliff's Notes. Now, as an adult, it's time to go back and give books like "The Scarlet Letter" and "Crime and Punishment" a second chance, from a more mature perspective. Ahead of me lies literary "Mt. Everests" to climb such as "Ulysses" and "Remembrance of Things Past". Of course, in a reading plan such as this, there are always omissions (where's "Beowulf", for gosh sakes?), but even recognizing the omissions increases my awareness and hunger for them. This book is not the be-all and end-all of literary reading plans, no book is, but it accomplishes its task perfectly.

This book serves not only as a list of the editors' recommendations for books the serious reader will want to have read by the end of one's life, but as an informal guide to the works themselves. They offer analysis of the works' historical origins and value, as well as things to keep in mind while reading them (their suggestions on reading Shakespeare and James Joyce are splendid!)What's more, they encourage the reader to add upon the suggestions made here; the emphasis above all is placed on the love of reading and the discovery of great literature.