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NM Jo's avatar

Many thanks to those who put this list together. I wish i had the time left to read them all. (I’m almost 90 years old.).

Richard Comer's avatar

Excellent list. For those interested, take a look at The Catherine Project which organizes reading groups on line. Core program includes many of the early Greek works. I would add one Shakespeare play, Measure For Measure, which deals with government, sacrifice, justice, and hypocrisy.

The Ascent's avatar

The Catherine Project is good. Dr. Zena Hitz who oversees it has come on our sister publication, Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, several times.

Rosa Maria's avatar

Youpiiie! A new list! To be downloaded and archived at once!

Beauty Matters's avatar

Excellent list.

Porter Kaufman's avatar

Happy to see I have a lot of the same texts on my own reading list were on this one; as well as a few other titles that weren’t on this list, such as Hamlet. My own reading list has a different goal in mind though. With that said, I was still surprised that On the Incarnation was not included on this list.

The Ascent's avatar

That would be a good add. There are many great books not on this list, as it is just introductory. Shakespeare would be a great add too.

Owen Lewis's avatar

Lord of the Rings? Maybe a more modern classic, but I think it deserves a spot.

Victor Carvalho Pinto's avatar

I hope one day I can regain my faith. I saved this post so I can consult from time to time on what to read. Thank you very much.

Westerey's Hap's avatar

If you're going to put Leo Strauss in there to represent some of modern 20th cen thought, I should think you would add something from Russell Kirk as well. If not his magnum opus, The Conservative Mind, then certain one of his essays like "The Drug of Ideology" or "Order, the First Need of All"

The Ascent's avatar

That would be a good add. Do those works help understand modernity as a whole? Strauss was added just because that essay is quite helpful in understanding how modernity developed.

Westerey's Hap's avatar

The Conservative Mind captures the competing conservative disposition in the Anglo-American world in the wake of the French Revolution and the more disastrous offshoots in certain Enlightenment thought.

"The Drug of Ideology" describes the structure of radicalism since the late 18th century.

"Order, The First Need Of All" lightly explores the roots of the American order (Athens, Rome, Jerusalem, and London)

The Ascent's avatar

As an aside, the goal of the list is to introduce you to the great books; thus, while there are many other great books that could be added, this list gives you a reference point to read almost all others.

In the Tulsa diaconate, this is about a 4-5 year reading cycle but that is in addition to other systematic theology courses.

The Librarian's avatar

The Corpus Hermeticum is missing, but good selection nonetheless.