Masterpieces of the Imaginative Mind: Literature's Most Fantastic Works

by Eric S. Rabkin

Professor Eric Rabkin from the University of Michigan speaking about the world's greatest literary works. This two box set of 24 lectures on 12 cassette tapes covers the following: 1-Brothers Grimm & Fairy Tale Psychology; 2-Propp, Structure, and Cultural Identity; 3-Hoffmann and the Theory of the Fantastic; 4-Poe--Genres and Degrees of the Fantastic; 5-Lewis Carroll -- Puzzles, Language, & Audience; 6-H.G. Wells -- We Are All Talking Animals; 7-Franz Kafka -- Dashed Fantasies; 8-Woolf - Fantastic Feminism & Periods of Art; 9-Robbe-Grillet - Experimental Fiction & Myth; 10-Tolkien & Mass Production of the Fantastic; 11-Children's Literature and the Fantastic; 12-Postmodernism and the Fantastic; 13-Defining Science Fiction; 14-Mary Shelley --Grandmother of Science Fiction; 15-Hawthorne, Poe, and the Eden Complex; 16-Jules Verne and the Robinsonade; 17-Wells -- Industrialization of the Fantastic; 18-The History of Utopia; 19-Science Fiction and Religion; 20-Pulp Fiction, Bradbury & the American Myth; 21-Robert A. Heinlein -- He Mapped the Future; 22-Asimov and Clarke -- Cousins in Utopia; 23-Ursula K. LeGuin -- Transhuman Anthropologist; 24-Cyberpunk, Postmodernism, and Beyond.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Literature, History, Classics, Books About Books, Mythology

Audio CD

Published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this are quite intersting - yet it is also somewhat limited. Pratchett and Urban aren't really covered, for instance.

[Ivy-Mabel Fling · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting set of lectures on a broad spectrum of genres - well worth reading/listening to if you are interested in the bizarre without specialising in one area (e.g. fantasy). I am still reading the set books and think it will take me quite some time to cover all the material Professor Rabkin proposes. If you like the style of the Great Courses, this is definitely one I would recommend.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio download...during a really good sale.
I usually spend a great deal of time reading the reviews of lectures series before committing both the cash and the time to them. It took me a long while (and a very good sale + coupon) to get around to this one...mainly because the reviews are so negative. Many of those negative reviews (on The Great Courses site) focus on Dr Rabkin's interpretations of some of the literary works (books)...some of them may be valid...some may be pure speculation.
After listening to these lectures I've come to the conclusion that those criticisms are a bit too harsh, and really don't reflect what a solid, well-presented course this really is. I've taken several upper-level lectures in undergrad and grad school in which the prof waxes philosophical and offers opinions about whatever subject on which he's lecturing. I'm sitting there, listening, and either thinking, 'hmmmm...good point; I never considered that point of view.' Or I'm thinking...'what the heck is that moron talking about?' But most importantly, I'm thinking.
That's where I found myself in these lectures. I have read some (certainly not all) of these books...currently being reintroduced to the fairy-tale classics by my grandchildren (they don't give a hoot about Freud)...and have enjoyed them without much deep-meaning-thoughts. Dr Rabkin give me another point of view to think about and perhaps motivate me to reread some of them ("A Canticle for Leibowitz" comes to mind).
This course will push me to investigate enlarging my reading list to include more Hugo Award winners...but I probably won't spend too much time worrying about why Little Red Riding Hood's cloak is red....

Recommended for the patient reader

[~Geektastic~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is excellent; the professor is great and his material is top-rate. I only have two minor complaints: there is not enough fantasy covered compared to SF, and the last few lectures are very spoiler-y.

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 5 out of 5]

All humans desire knowledge, an indication for this is our esteem for our senses (if not obvious, that sentence is just a reworking of the first paragraph from Aristotle’s Metaphysics). Beyond the phenomena reside our art and reason which generates imagination. Fables, myths, and stories unite by providing shared values, meanings and prejudices while creating identities.

The power of imaginative story telling is the cohesion that oils the wheels that make us who we become. The Grimm Fairytales do that for the Germans as Martin Luther also does with his unifying the German nation with a vulgar (belonging to the masses) Bible.

This lecture series by no means an easy series to watch since the concepts are complex. The importance of imaginative story telling clearly become ‘grokked’ by the listener. (‘grok’ is from ‘A stranger in a strange land’). The professor would explain the metaphor that obviously was indicated by the storyteller thus allowing the listener deeper insights into the story presented and more importantly providing tools on how to read future fiction. For example, H. G. Wells couldn’t really criticize the British directly and the evils of colonialism, but he could write about the island of Dr. Moreau and what superior supercilious behavior leads to. At other times, Rabkin would show the Biblical metaphor in play (beware of the number 40 when used in stories!).

My wife and I watched these lectures together and we both were transfixed and learned to think about imaginative stories we’ll read in the future. I think it’s easy to say that this was one of our favorite Great Courses we’ve ever seen. Everyone desires to learn about the world, but often the best approach is to keep our senses at bay and use our imagination to edify us about our place in the world.

[Zulfiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This course of lectures was almost very good, almost, but it there was some spark missing, some piece of a puzzle did not fall into its place to give it five stars.
Oh, how wonderful it started. As a person who majored in communications, linguistics, but also literature, I truly enjoyed this confluence of the two branches that often seem to be separated in American university.
When the Grimm law was mentioned in regards of the folklore and the fantastic elements, I was elated, and when I heard the proverbial catch phrase that was widely used in Charles Fillmore's publication " The Case for Case" - "Flying planes can be dangerous" in reference to multi-interpretation of certain themes - I became euphoric. Linguistics, communications, and literature were all coming together in this very exciting exploration of imaginative themes in fiction, but then things slowed down a bit, and I was losing that feeling of excitement that was so present in the first third of the course.
It goes without saying, it was still very interesting because the familiar debates and discussions are always the best ones when it comes to literature . I also greatly appreciate the the fantastic in literature was only limited to some great canonical books, but the author/lecturer also explored the domains of the gold age of science fiction and the modern prospects of the imaginative genre.
Oh, yes, another thing I enjoyed is that Rabin also mentioned discursive linguistics in reference to V Woolf as well Roland Barthes and his structural approach to texts in general and works of fiction in particular.

So, four stars, but it could have been easily a five star read.

[Ângela Maresch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who knows me would be aware that I am in no way a novel reader. But I was captivated by the title, because I am fascinated by the process that creates, the mental exercise that brings novelty to the world and, hence, the way of thinking that brings us fantasy and fantastic stories. I was not disappointed. This collection of masterpieces teaches us about language, philosophy and anthropology. From the stories we are told as children to more mature, eccentric science fiction, these books are studied from the context they were born and tell us so much about human nature, our past, our present and our future.

[Brenden Gallagher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little less focused than other lectures in this series. For example, prone to digressions in linguistics and Freud that get a little far afield from the subject matter at times but good overall and worth listening to.

[Hank Pharis · Rating 3 out of 5]

(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).

The great news is that I can listen to a book a day at work. The bad news is that I can’t keep up with decent reviews. So I’m going to give up for now and just rate them. I hope to come back to some of the most significant things I listen to and read them and then post a review.

In my old age I have been somewhat tempted to write off the fantasy genre. But this helped me reimagine it.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good course.

Small room for improvement. At times he mentioned different works in passing and only once. Sitting in a car, that made his lectures not always not always comprehensible. Also, it would have helped if he named the title of the book he was discussing more often. As sometimes his lecture is interrupted by me arriving - or having a traffic situation at that one moment he mentions the title.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I did listen to this once before so I'm not sure if I felt the same. I enjoyed it but, while obviously the scope of it was limited by time constraints, considering all the time he spent on different types of "fantastic" literature in the first half, I could wish that he hadn't limited himself solely to science fiction in the second half.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, though it does not cover anything written in the past 60 years. Does a great job pointing out things I never would have been able to notice myself.

[Julie Bouchonville · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting tour, I had a lot of fun ! I wish the selection had been a bit more diverse but well, we all do our best.

[Kevin Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you liked fairy tales, or E.T.A. Hoffman, or Poe, Verne, H.G. Wells, Tolkien, or any science fiction or even cyberpunk—and if you like to learn things you didn't know about books you've read or their authors—there's a good chance you'll love these lectures. He almost succeeds in making me think an English major could have been fun.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Great Courses Series hat zwei Vorlesungen zum Thema Sci-Fi im Katalog. Diese hier ist die ältere. Ursprünglich Kurs Nummer 296, also einer der sehr frühen Kurse dieser Reihe, wurde die Vorlesung überarbeitet und mit Fantasy ergänzt.
Die Vorlesung besteht also nun aus zwei Teilen. Teil1 Fantasy und Teil 2 Sci-Fi.

=== Fantasy ===
1. The Brothers Grimm & Fairy Tale Psychology 34 min
2. Propp, Structure, and Cultural Identity 30 min
3. Hoffmann and the Theory of the Fantastic 31 min
4. Poe—Genres and Degrees of the Fantastic 31 min
5. Lewis Carroll: Puzzles, Language, & Audience 31 min
6. H. G. Wells: We Are All Talking Animals 31 min
7. Franz Kafka—Dashed Fantasies 30 min
8. Woolf—Fantastic Feminism & Periods of Art 30 min
9. Robbe-Grillet, Experimental Fiction & Myth 31 min
10. Tolkien & Mass Production of the Fantastic 31 min
11. Children’s Literature and the Fantastic 30 min
12. Postmodernism and the Fantastic 28 min
=== Science Fiction ===
13. Defining Science Fiction 31 min
14. Mary Shelley—Grandmother of Science Fiction 30 min
15. Hawthorne, Poe, and the Eden Complex 31 min
16. Jules Verne and the Robinsonade 30 min
17. Wells—Industrialization of the Fantastic 32 min
18. The History of Utopia 30 min
19. Science Fiction and Religion 31 min
20. Pulp Fiction, Bradbury, & the American Myth 31 min
21. Robert A. Heinlein—He Mapped the Future 32 min
22. Asimov and Clarke—Cousins in Utopia 31 min
23. Ursula K. Le Guin: Transhuman Anthropologist 31 min
24. Cyberpunk, Postmodernism, and Beyond

Vorgestellt werden Literaturwissenschaftliche Theorien wie Vladimier Propps Theoreme des Morphologie der Märchen, Freuds Uncanny, Roland Barthes Writing Degree Zero.
Die Genre Fantasy und Science Fiction werden in den Literaturhistorischen Kontext, in den geschichtlichen Kontext und in den ökonomischen Kontext eingebettet.
Es werden sowohl die Entwicklung des Fantasy Genres und des Science Fiction Genres hergeleitet und erklärt als auch die literarischen Meilensteile verschiedener Entwicklungsphasen vorgestellt und interpretiert (in Ansätzen).
Das Skript dieses Kurses ist sehr gut. Alles Wichtige aus den Vorlesungen ist enthalten + Glossar, Timeline, Biographical Notes und Bibliography.
Wer also Sci-Fi als Prüfungsthema in Anglistik wählen sollte hat mit diesem Kurs einen perfekten Einstieg und kann sich gleich die ihm am besten gefallenden Bücher für seine Leseliste rauspicken.
Prof. Rabkin hat eine angenehme Stimme und lebhafte Art, man kann ihm problemlos mehrere Stunden entspannt zuhören und anschließend das aus dem Skript nacharbeiten, was man selber für seine Prüfung braucht, um sich anschließend weiter zu spezialisieren, anhand der angegebenen Quellen.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific series that will help you to better appreciate the fantastic in literature (e.g., fables, children's literature, Tolkien, sci fi, Alice in Wonderland, Virginia Woolf, magical realism, and much more). Most listeners will have read many of the books that Dr. Rabkin talks about, but he brings out -- in a believable way -- some of the deeper layers of meaning that I never saw in my surface readings.

A few notes from the lecture on children's lit:
1. Characters: typically the hero is a child or animal. Relationships are between children, animals, and a parent figure. Children have full autonomy.

2. Plot: often simple, episodic, clearly goal directed, may be motivated by a single emotion, and typically with a happy ending

3. Theme: simple and typically with a single problem with a clear solution

4. Style: restricted vocab, but they often use cute or periphrastic language. Often they employ verse and nonsense.

5. Format: Format matters (illustrations, size, edition, color, font style).

Why do adult like children's lit:
1. They enjoy it on its own terms or for nostalgia.
2. Some children's books are also adult books.
3. Can be used to comment on children
4. Use of the form by adults to deal simplistically with a complex adult problem (e.g., Orwell's Animal Farm)

The second half of the course moves into an exploration and discussion of science fiction, which Dr. Rabkin defines (in my recollection) as fiction that’s made plausible against a background of science and technology. It’s a wonderful introduction to some of the masters of sci fi (Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Le Guin) and their predecessors (Mary Shelley, Hawthorne’s short stories, Poe, H.G. Wells). I look forward to tasting and savoring many of the books he discussed in the course. The lecture on science fiction and religion was particularly interesting.

[Victory Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this would be mildly interesting to hear about fantasy in novels, history and how it relates to our society present and past. But as soon as I started reading-- wow! Fascinating. I've read a lot of the novels talked about in part 1 of 2 so I'm not sure if that makes a big difference, I suspect it does but still... Really interesting, once I got into the first lecture, i.e., kept distractions at bay I zipped through the first part like there was no tomorrow. It starts with Grimms Fairy tales and heads past the Tolkein by the first part so I'm wondering what part 2 will hold. Can't wait for it to arrive in my library hold list... sigh, it always takes forever. If it's as good as the first lecture I will consider shelling out the considerable sum of money, if I recall most lecture parts, so there are two of these are a hundred or so? So yeah, I like it, especially as I have no room whatsoever but it's just so good. I would recommend to anyone interested in fantasy at all.

I will admit there were a few times my eyes glazed over and in the beginning of the lecture I feared Proff. Rabkin would be a rather circuitous lecturer (he took awhile to wind his way to a topic), but once things got going, talk about interesting. There are a few moments that really it's dry, there's no escaping that, but I'd say 07% of it is just riveting, well it was to me. I loved the lecture on Metamorphoses and Kafka in general, Poe, Woolf, all really interesting. It made me want to read Orlando, which I never got around to reading, and reread the Metamorphoses as it's been... gulp, over 15 years since I last read it.

Great listen, I liked his lecture style and I loved the topic. eager for part 2

[Justin March · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be warned, here you will find statements such as this:

"In fact, the union of these pieces in the tripartide manner or quadripartide manner of Freud or Jung is what gives psychological strength."

I'll fully admit that I am being incredibly unfair in taking the above quote out of context, but I wanted to illustrate what I mean when I say that there is more to Rabkin's lectures than many readers, starting with myself, are looking for.

Consider this an advanced analysis of Fantasy/Science Fiction from the point of view of a professor with theories to advance on the subjects. I might suggest Micheal Drout's From Here To Infinity: An Exploration of Science Fiction Literatureand Rings, Swords, and Monsters: Exploring Fantasy Literature for more of an overview of the mediums as well as a bit more of an accessible start. (Though, Drout's stance that all Fantasy after Tolkein is a reaction to Tolkein is short-sighted.)

I will say this though; Rabkin had taught me something about H.G. Wells, and more specifically, about "War of the Worlds" that I wasn't aware of. Arthur C. Clake as well. There's a lot in here and while some of it is academic dissertation gone wild, there is plenty of value as well.

[Scott Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is as positive a point of view on Fantastic literature as I've found from any academic aside from Tom Shippey. I liked Shippey's course on Heroes more, but Rabkin is worth listening to if you're interested in an academic take on the fantastic in literature. In the end my primary beef is that the academy attempts to define "the fantastic" in a way that feels stretched to me, and that feels like it's designed to pull away from fantasy. While Rabkin embraces science-fiction as a key contemporary genre--perhaps even the most important contemporary genre, he dismisses modern fantasy with a lecture on Tolkien and the "mass-production of the fantastic." While Rabkin was, on the whole positive in his treatment of Tolkien, I feel like he missed a lot there, and missed even more in looking at the side works, especially shortchanging "On Fairystories" which offers an equally academic but, very, very different theory of the fantastic that I find more valid, and ignoring "The Monsters and the Critics"--which while focused on Beowulf has tremendous implications for critical treatment of the fantastic as a whole--completely. And then he ignores anyone post-Tolkien in modern fantasy, which, honestly, in a course on "Literature's Most Fantastic Works," feels indefensible to me.

Beef aside, this course was worth it for Rabkin's insightful treatment of science-fiction particularly Bradbury, Heinlein, Assimov and Clarke.

[Alexis Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough lecture series, and quite comprehensive. Rabkin covers the significant contributions to science fiction and fantasy (including fairy tales and the like) from the Grimm brothers (and earlier) to modern day, including recurring themes and stories. Which is why this series is 24 lectures long instead of the usual 12.

I didn't necessarily buy all of his symbolism and interpretations--I realize sex is a dominant theme in literature, but I don't know that literature is about sex quite as often as Rabkin thinks it is. Then, too, he sees allusions that I'm not entirely sure the authors intended. Of course, there are themes and ideas in the cultural memory, and I have no trouble believing that authors can unintentionally reflect or allude to other works or archetypes. But making the argument that such allusions were intentional requires a stronger correlation or additional behind-the-scenes insight.

Still, Rabkin knows his stuff and is not unpleasant to listen to, even if he's not the most scintillating lecturer I've ever heard. And lectures like this are a great source of recommended reading lists, which I always appreciate.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was well produced, and the format of 30 minute (approx.) sections made it very convenient to pick up and put down as my available time allowed. I found myself disagreeing with about 70% of the Professor's interpretations and conclusions, but the material was set up in such a way that it made me think about my own conclusions- how I came to them, what influenced my understanding, etc. and so, even though I disagreed with almost everything, it was good for me to see those other interpretations. It seems odd to say that I enjoyed this lecture series because I disagreed with it, but it's true; it exercised my brain.

[Rick Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun course that follows fantastic literature from the writing down of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm up through modern sci-fi and cyberpunk novels. The teacher is very scholarly and illuminates the fantasy and science fiction stories and their authors well. He was a little too fond of Freudian analysis, and makes some, in my opinion, unjustified leaps of interpretation in that direction. Other than that, I loved his insights into the way that mythology and religion continue to shape fantastic literature and how the genre continues to address important issues in modern life.

[Coyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent lecture series on a fairly eclectic range of "imaginative" fiction. Obviously, all fiction is somewhat imaginative (otherwise it would be nonfiction), and the connecting link to all of these stories seems to be that they are ones the lecturer enjoyed (which isn't a bad thing, most of them seemed quite good).
Overall, Rabkin does a decent job of summarizing and an even more decent job of highlighting important themes and innovations in the works. He's also quite a good lecturer, and I would very much enjoy hearing more of what he has to say.

[Kirsti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and accessible lectures on fantastical elements in literature. The professor focuses on English-language literature, with some French- and German-language lit as well.

People often speculate on why traditional fairy tales are so darkly violent. Rabkin's theory is that grandmothers told the tales to grandchildren while all the able-bodied people were out farming and harvesting. So the parents weren't around to tell the grandmas not to frighten the kids, and the grandmas had a pretty bleak view of life.

[Victoria Drob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't tear away from this lecture series. Incredibly interesting and made me want to read almost every book discussed, even ones from genres I'm not generally interested in, like science fiction. A multitude of fantastical books are presented with profound insight, mastery, vivid imagery, and societal impact. Moreover, there is attention given to the personal lives and inspirations of several great authors, offering details that I never knew and thoroughly enjoyed learning about.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can appreciate the worlds of fantasy and Sci-fi, however, these lectures helped to remind me of how little I am interested in reading those genres in general. I think that Prof. Rabkin did a fantastic job leading the course through a survey of these works and their major themes. He obviously has a passion and deep knowledge of Imaginative works. But, even with this helpful introduction, I'm not inspired to explore many of the works he discussed.

[Roberta Westwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grand
I really enjoyed these lectures. Eric took me on such a range of significant literature! From the most important works in history through to many recent books of note. Many I knew, but many I have added to my list. I especially liked the way he constructed the science fiction lectures, increasing my interest in a genre I’ve never really ‘got’ previously.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rabkin is an excellent lecturer who obviously knows his material. Material on Verne, Wells,, Heinlein, Asimov is very good; that on Le Guin, Gibson, and especially Miller's "Canticle for Leibowitz" less so.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish it, this was so bad.

[Trinity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broad in scope and very entertaining. I didn't agree with all of the professor's opinions, but even when my viewpoint differed it was still worthwhile to hear this approach.