Reading Classics, Chronologically Through the Ages discussion
Member TWEM/Classics Book Lists
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Kenia's Reading Projects
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This list can also be found on my website here.
I'm not reading this list chronologically even though it is listed in order with the publication date indicated. I've decided to jump around as I please with this one. The dates are just a good way for me to mentally see where a book stands relative to others in publishing history.
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· 1864 Journey To The Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
· 1866 The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
· 1870 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
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· 1950 I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
· 1950 The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
· 1951 The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov
(I have read the core trilogy:
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· 1959 Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
· 1959 A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
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· 1968 A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
· 1968 Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
· 1973 Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke
· 1976 Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler
· 1976 The Vampire Chronicles (3) by Anne Rice
· 1977 The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
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· 1980 Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien
· 1983 The Book of Lost Tales I & II by J.R.R. Tolkien
· 1983 The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
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· 1989 Hyperion by Dan Simmons
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· 1996 A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin
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· 2003 Oryx & Crake by Margaret Atwood
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· 2013 William Shakespeare’s Star Wars Trilogy (Um…because YES.) by Ian Doescher
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***I am currently reading The History of the Ancient World ***
Susan Wise Bauer's Books
In addition to The Well-Educated Mind, Susan Wise Bauer's The History of... series have also intrigued me, and I do like that Bauer goes through events chronologically across the globe, rather than focusing on one geographical area through various ages and then having to rewind time to think about a different area. I know some people are not a fan of that format, but it really suites the way my brain works. (And, now that I think about it, it's the same reason my brain rebels against reading all of one genre through the ages and then rewinding time to then read a different genre; hence why I created this group! :-D )
Ideally I want to read these history books at the same "pace" I read through my Literary Project (i.e. if the book I'm reading is from the year 29 BC, I'd like to be at that same time period in the history series). Reason being is that it would place the books I'm reading into context for me, with a better understanding of what the world was like at the time that the book was written and therefore where the author is coming from.
Here are Bauer's history books:
• The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome
• The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade
• The History of the Renaissance World: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople
• The Story of Western Science: From the Writings of Aristotle to the Big Bang Theory
Other History Books
In addition to Bauer's books, I'd like to explore other reads of course.
• As an American, I'd like to really understand my U.S. History.
• As a Cuban American I'd like to learn more about Cuban history and understand what my ancestors lived through. (And, I finally found a book that talks about Cuba's history from a Cuban perspective rather than a U.S. perspective! Most books begin with the Bay of Pigs invasion in the 60s as though that's where Cuban history started. It's really annoying.)
• Finally, as a citizen of the world, I'd like to read about the history of other countries, as well as ancient history from around the globe (suggestions highly welcome).
Cuban History Book List (I'll be adding to this over time):
• Cuba: A New History by Richard Gott
Ancient History Book List (I'll be adding to this over time):
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• The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance by Anthony Gottlieb
• The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby A.H. Wilkinson
• SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Mary Beard
Wordly History Book List (I'll be adding to this over time):
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U.S. History Book List:
• U.S. History 101: From the Civil War to the Great Recession, Your Guide to American History by Kathleen Sears
• Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism by Susan Jacoby
• John Adams by David McCullough
• Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
• A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
• The Ground Truth: The Untold Story of America Under Attack on 9/11 by John Farmer
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***Currently reading: A Companion to Jane Austen by Claudia L. Johnson and Clara Tuite (This is a collection of scholarly essays, and it's not meant as a cover-to-cover experience. I plan to read through them all over a 2-3 year period.)***
Seeing as Pride & Prejudice is my favorite book (that I've re-read 3 times), I'm ashamed to say that of Jane Austen's 6 novels, I have only read that one and Sense & Sensibility.
The plan is to read all 6 of Austen's novels, in addition to a few non-fiction works about Jane Austen herself, including the book where I got my project's title from: A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter .
Here are the book lists:
Jane Austen's Works (of course):
Sense & Sensibility, (pub. 1811)
Northanger Abbey, (pub. 1817)
Non-Fiction Works:
• A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter by William Deresiewicz
• A Companion to Jane Austen by Claudia L. Johnson and Clara Tuite
• A Truth Universally Acknowledged: 33 Great Writers on Why We Read Jane Austen by Susannah Carson
• Jane Austen's England by Roy and Lesley Adkins
• Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin
• Jane Austen's Letters edited by Deirdre Le Faye
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Author Ann Morgan spent a year reading a book from every country in the world. (While the number of countries that technically exist is up for debate, she chose to go with 196 countries.)
• She curated the list by taking recommendations from locals, and here's an article about her ambitious project: http://ideas.ted.com/your-guide-to-re...
(The article has several maps embedded with a pin on each country that, when clicked, gives you information on the recommended book for that country.)
• Here's a link to her lovely TED Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/ann_morgan_m...
• And her blog, A Year of Reading The World: http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/
Seeing as my other projects are already so many, my plan is to simply pick a book off the list from time to time. I'll also strive to read all books from Spanish-speaking countries in their original Spanish.
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I intend to read through every single one of The Bard's plays. I have no time limit on this and simply intend to do it over the years. I have already read several in high school, but it's been so long that I'd like to pretend I haven't read them at all and will re-read them now as an adult.
Henry VI Part II (1590-1591)
Henry VI Part III (1590-1591)
Henry VI Part I (1591-1592)
Richard III (1592-1593)
The Comedy of Errors (1592-1593)
Titus Andronicus (1593-1594)
The Taming of the Shrew (1593-1594)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594-1595)
Love’s Labour’s Lost (1594-1595)
Romeo and Juliet (1594-1595)
Richard II (1595-1596)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595-1596)
King John (1596-1597)
The Merchant of Venice (1596-1597)
Henry IV Part I (1597-1598)
Henry IV Part II (1597-1598)
Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1599)
Henry V (1598-1599)
Julius Caesar (1599-1600)
As You Like It (1599-1600)
Twelfth Night (1599-1600)
Hamlet (1600-1601)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600-1601)
Troilus and Cressida (1601-1602)
All’s Well That Ends Well (1602-1603)
Measure for Measure (1604-1605)
Othello (1604-1605)
King Lear (1605-1606)
Macbeth (1605-1606)
Antony and Cleopatra (1606-1607)
Coriolanus (1607-1608)
Timon of Athens (1607-1608)
Pericles (1608-1609)
Cymbeline (1609-1610)
The Winter’s Tale (1610-1611)
The Tempest (1611-1612)
Henry VIII (1612-1613)
The Two Noble Kinsmen (1612-1613)
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***Currently reading: Roe. v Wade***
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• Articles of Confederation
• U.S. Constitution
• The Federalist Papers
• The Paris Peace Treaty of 1783
• key Presidential Inaugural Addresses
• Tocqueville's Democracy in America
• Douglass speeches
• Lincoln–Douglas debates
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Supreme Court Opinions
• Marbury v. Madison, 1803
established the principle of judicial review in the United States, meaning that American courts have the power to strike down laws, statutes, and some government actions that contravene the U.S. Constitution.
• McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819
defined the scope of the U.S. Congress's legislative power and how it relates to the powers of American state legislatures. The dispute in McCulloch involved the legality of the national bank and a tax that the state of Maryland imposed on it.
• Eakin v. Raub, 1825
made judicial review legal on a state level.
• Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857 (and the Curtis Dissent)
in which the Court held that the U.S. Constitution was not meant to include American citizenship for black people, regardless of whether they were enslaved or free, and therefore the rights and privileges it confers upon American citizens could never apply to them.
• Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896
It upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation laws for public facilities as long as the segregated facilities were equal in quality – a doctrine that came to be known as "separate but equal".
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a case dealing with freedom of expression. At issue was whether James Joyce's novel Ulysses was obscene.
• Korematsu v. United States, 1944
concerning the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066, which ordered Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II regardless of their citizenship.
• Brown v. Board of Education, 1954
ruled that American state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality.
• Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965
access to contraception for married people.
• Loving v. Virginia, 1967
struck down all state laws banning interracial marriage as violations of the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
• Epperson v. Arkansas, 1968
invalidated an Arkansas statute that prohibited the teaching of human evolution in the public schools.
• Eisenstadt v. Baird, 1972
established the right of unmarried people to possess contraception on the same basis as married couples.
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affirmed that access to safe and legal abortion is a constitutional right
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 1978
upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission policy.
• District of Columbia v. Heller, 2008
the first Supreme Court case to decide whether the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 2010
ruled that laws that prevented corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds for independent “electioneering communications” (political advertising) violated the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 2012
in which the Court upheld Congress' power to enact most provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)
• Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015
which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
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Kenia wrote: "The Science Fiction & Fantasy Project Book List:
The list can be found on my website here.
(Will paste the list into here soon.)"
Nice list, Kenia! I've never considered myself a sci-fi/fantasy person, but was pleasantly surprised to see some titles that I've read! I loved The Martian Chronicles. Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite authors.
The list can be found on my website here.
(Will paste the list into here soon.)"
Nice list, Kenia! I've never considered myself a sci-fi/fantasy person, but was pleasantly surprised to see some titles that I've read! I loved The Martian Chronicles. Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite authors.
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hahaha That is very true. I'll just have to try very hard and be satisfied with however far I make it. I was listening to a podcast yesterday about great summer reads, and the host started out with (to paraphrase), "Now that it's summer and you've got all that extra time on your hands." I thought, "Who on God's green earth has more time in the summer? Summer is crazy!" I could've understood his statement if it was a podcast aimed at students, but it's aimed at adults.
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Kenia wrote: "I've filled out the rest of my project placeholders...and I think I may be in over my head! :-/"You are in good company here at Goodreads, Kenia!
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hahaha, yes this is true! At least I don't have to be crazy alone. :-P
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Oh my goodness, definitely not. If that were the case then I would be positively insane, haha.
There are only a couple of time constraints (e.g. I'd like to do the Austen project next year), but otherwise I'm at my leisure. :-)
I keep my reading projects in my head. That way I don't have to freak out by seeing it on paper. It would seem more daunting that way.....
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Your head must be much bigger than mine. ;-) Ha ha! (Gotcha!) :-)
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I do look forward to these!!! :-D
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I intend to read through every single one of The Bard's plays. I have already read several in high school, but it's been so long that I'd like to reread as an adult.
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Better yet, see them all performed!
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Julie, yes!! They are, of course, meant to be watched, not really to be read. :-)
In fact, here in Southern California is an organization called Shakespeare by the Sea, and every summer they go up and down the coast to perform free plays at various beach cities throughout LA and Orange counties. Every year they perform 1 tragedy and 1 comedy, and my husband and I--for the last 10 years--try to attend at least 1 if not both performances. This past summer we saw Othello...I was moved to tears. I'm always very impressed with the actors, as they are volunteers and yet they still put so much of themselves into this organization all summer long.
I've been thinking lately I would DIE to see performances of the great ancient Greek tragedies.
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Oh my, I've been thinking exactly the same thing! I have a DVD of Antigone in Greek starring Irene Papas and it's interesting but a live performance would be so much better!
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So I've come to accept that I will not be finishing Bauer's The History of the Ancient World by the end of this year after all. I had really hoped to do so before beginning Herodotus' Histories in January, but ever since we bought the house in August--and since been dealing with termites, pouring concrete, hosting Thanksgiving for 27 people in our new home, and other home projects--I'll sometimes go several days without picking up a book. :-( These are happy times for me now, they're just not conducive to reading. And now Christmas is upon us!
Anyway, I calculated that if I manage to read 3 chapters a week, I'll finish both ...Ancient World and ...Medieval World by the end of 2017. Coupled with other reads happening in parallel, I believe that pace is much more realistic.
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I stalled on the Ancient World, mainly because I was trying to summarize each chapter. I mused about continuing reading without summarizing and I know then I'd finish it but since I've started summarizing already, I'm hesitant to give it up. Best of luck for your plans for 2017!
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To be fair, hubby and I organized it potluck-style. He made 2 turkeys and the most delicious gravy from scratch. I made a corn casserole and purchased a scrumptious vegan wellington (a seasonal specialty from a local vegan restaurant) for my vegetarian friends who (obviously) can't eat the turkey. There is no way we would make all the food for 27. We were already exhausted as it is, and we stayed up until 1 am scrubbing and cleaning and getting the kitchen spotless again.
But if you made all the food for 12, then serious kudos to you!! Sounds like you did more than us, even though we had more guests.
Cleo wrote: "I stalled on the Ancient World, mainly because I was trying to summarize each chapter. I mused about continuing reading without summarizing and I know then I'd finish it but since I've started summarizing already, I'm hesitant to give it up."
haha I laugh because I was in the same predicament. I finally decided to scrap the summarizing in my journal because it was keeping me from reading the book at all. I admit it was a hard decision. Several pages of beautiful journal notes...and then to just give it up! But I decided to compromise by writing in the margins and scribbling a 2-3 sentence summary on the last page of each chapter. I'm still moving along slowly but at least I'm moving now. I was completely stalled before.
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I had someone who was vegetarian but didn't eat eggs or drink alcohol. The hard part was the alcohol because most of my desserts had some in them but I found a wonderful Salted Date Caramel Chocolate Pie that was scrumptious!
Kenia wrote: "I finally decided to scrap the summarizing in my journal because it was keeping me from reading the book at all....."
Ah, you've inspired me! Perhaps I'll try to do the same when I have time to slot it in again. I know that Bauer is trying to keep the chronology, but it does bother me slightly all the jumping around from place to place. I wish she would say more often, 'meanwhile in India ...' so there's some sort of perceived connection. But it is very interesting.
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I'm reading print; I absorb much more that way. I would find an e-book cumbersome but that's just me. Please let us know when you start, Sandy!
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I underline sentences, bracket paragraphs, and scribble in the margins. It saves considerable time to write in the book itself and not have to reference a page # from a journal or copy a whole passage into a journal. I also find that flipping back and forth from one chapter to an older one to connect dots across the historical events in each chapter is also very helpful to understanding the ideas--and that ease of flipping is also impossible to do with an eBook. I mean you technically can, but it's not as fast as with the tangible pages...I also remember about where, physically, in the book something was so it's easy to look at the edge of the pages and select about where that thing is I'm looking for.
I dunno...I'm just very biased towards physical books except in cases of casual/easy reads or for traveling. I'm kinda a snob that way...hahaha :-P
I have the book on my kindle (since it's so huge and cumbersome), and I bought a handwritten journal for taking notes. I read the Preface, and took notes in my journal. I was thinking of truly starting after I read the history chapter of TWEM. I've only gotten to the beginning of the autobiography chapter.
I took a little hiatus to work on NaNoWriMo.
Did any of you by any chance read Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean by Charles Freeman?
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[bookcover:Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilization..."
No, but I've added it to my to-read shelf--thanks!
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Are you enjoying it? I mean to participate every year but can never find the time.
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Not yet! I have a number of Folio editions that I need to read first. Don't tell me that I have to start a "Haaze Recommendations" bookshelf! ;-)
I haven't even started to recommend books from my (RL) Egypt/ Greece/ Rome shelves..... *muahahahahaha* ; -)I mentioned the Freeman book as it is a nice and compact "gateway" book to these cultures. Besides, he writes in an engaging style. Like Bauer he is not a historian, but used the "pros" for consultation as he wrote the book. Tons of references as well. (I love bibliographies - especially narrated ones... ).
Are you enjoying it? I mean to participate every year but can never find the time."I decided that I probably won't participate in it anymore. I never get past a few hundred words.
I think I'll just write throughout the year instead of trying to cram it all in one month.
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That sounds extremely sensible! :-)
Kenia wrote: "Reading the World Book List Here's link to a TED article about books that students around the world have as assigned reading in school.
http://ideas.ted.com/required-reading...
Hmm, yes, I agree with that. I have noticed with my own kids that they read nothing beyond the 1930s in school apart from Shakespeare and prose versions of Beowulf and Homer. My daughter is a sophomore in HS and is going to take AP English soon. When prompted the teacher said that all readings will be from the 20th century. I really think that the reading bar in K-12 is pathetic.
1. They need thicker books
2. They need to go beyond the present and reach back through the centuries
3. They need to read from the world literature.
I don't get the focus on short, 20th century books type Lord of the Flies. It almost feels as if they are afraid to give the kids something longer and challenging. Will the kids fail in terms of vocabulary, stamina, or not be able to engage with these novels? Is that the fear? How are we supposed to encourage reading in our schools if the kids aren't exposed to major works? My kids (as you can imagine) get most of their literature from home. Besides, I truly believe in that they follow example. If the parents read they are likely to read as well. I read to them almost every night when they grew up. It ranged from easy to hard. E.g. Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, Stevenson's Kidnapped and Dickens' Christmas Carol. It was hard at times. They followed along in the book simultaneously. Dickens was very confusing, but the gist of the story came across, they got exposure to Dickens (which made them curious) and they picked up some new vocabulary. Mission accomplished!
Actually, right now my youngest (13) is reading Oliver Twist and my oldest (15) is reading Great Expectations. They just picked them up and started to read although I suspect that my youngest influences my oldest child so she is "copying" the Dickens experience. Anyways, I am happy that they are pursuing the challenging and diverse paths of literature that the schools fail to provide them. The oxymoron is that our school district is one of the best in California!!!!!!!
Deanna wrote: "Kenia wrote: "Reading the World Book List Here's link to a TED article about books that students around the world have as assigned reading in school.
http://ideas.ted.com/required-reading......"
Btw, why did you post that in your "Kenia's Reading Projects" Thread? Perhaps a more general thread would suffice?
Sorry, I posted it here since she was talking about reading books from various countries earlier in the thread.
LOL, no worries, Deanna. Perhaps the mod can move it into a new thread. I liked the topic you started (obviously). :)
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Here's link to a TED article about books that students around the world have as assigned reading in school.
http://ideas.ted.com/required-reading......"
Sorry for the late response to this thread....but thank you for this link!! This is absolutely fantastic.
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I have this broken down into specifics in my notebook, but in general, here's what 2017 will (hopefully) look like.
The Literary Project
TWEM, chronologically:
• CURRENTLY READING: The Histories
• Medea
• On Airs, Waters and Places
TWEM, out of chronological order:
• CURRENTLY READING: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (As part of my Philosophy Meetup group, we will be celebrating Women's History month in March by having members each present a female philosopher. I chose Mary Wollstonecraft so I'd like to read her work for my report.)
• Richard III (As part of my lifelong effort to read all the Bard's plays, I figured I'd pick the one's off of the TWEM list to read first)
non-TWEM:
• The Rig Veda (I will read the selection offered in my copy of A Source Book in Indian Philosophy
A Jane Austen Education Project
(See above.) There are 12 books, so one for each month of 2017! I'll be alternating between Austen's novels and the non-fiction books in my list above.
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Project
• Brave New World
• Frankenstein
• ...as well as re-reading the first two Harry Potter's in Spanish for more Spanish-reading practice, which I never get enough of.
History
• CURRENTLY READING: The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome (time to finish it!)
• FINISHED!:
Civics
• The U.S. Constitution
Other
• CURRENTLY READING: How to Think About the Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization (There are 52 chapters, each with its own "Great Idea," so 1 idea per week for the year!
• ...and several more "wildcard" books. :-) (I need to allow for some spontaneity!)
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I've kind of stalled on my Great Ideas project .... I need to get back to it.
Great to see your list, Kenia, and I'm looking forward to watching your progress! I'm staying tuned ... :-)
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Thanks for posting your plans. I am following along with some of your additional Literary Project selections in addition to the TWEM books in chronological order.
I had put Zeno's Paradoxes from your list on mine for this year, because I'd guessed might read it in 2017. I've replaced it with the Rig Veda so that we'll have an opportunity to be reading the supplementary books at the same time.
-Julie (Sorento62)
Reading Classics, Chronologically Through the Ages
Books mentioned in this topic
The Waste Books (other topics)A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (other topics)
Richard III (other topics)
The Histories (other topics)
Medea (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Charles Freeman (other topics)Charles Freeman (other topics)
Charles Freeman (other topics)
***Currently Reading Charles Darwins' The Origin of Species ***
The list can be found on my website here.
(It's too monstrously long to paste into here. Even if it falls within the characters limit for a post, I'm afraid it would drown out the rest of the thread below.)
It includes many classics I've added myself, interspersed within the books from TWEM. It currently stands at 340 books (189 of which are TWEM books). I say "currently" because I feel this list is fluid, and I am always adding to it.
For the original TWEM list (and divided by genres as it's presented in the book), see Cleo's thread.