Classics: from the Iliad to Midnight's Children

by Jane Gleeson-White

And yet in our uncertain modern times, not only do books that are considered classics fill the shelves of many bookshops, but these books still exert a powerful influence on contemporary culture. Some do so in obvious ways, such as the film and television adaptations of the works of Homer, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Charles Dickens and Henry James; others in less obvious ways, through their enduring impact on fellow writers, artists and musicians. Until the end of twentieth century, many of these books were taught in schools and universities as part of a commonly recognised list of great literature known as 'the canon'. This canon has quite rightly been challenged by postmodern critics, essentially because it excluded writers from beyond the prevailing culture, especially women and non-European writers, and it is no longer taught. Nonetheless, the books the canon once embraced, and other books now considered classics, are invaluable for their insights into the human heart and soul; for their wisdom and humour; for their worth as records of social, political and economic life in other terms and places; and for their extraordinary mastery of language - so extraordinary, in fact, that each book serves as a storehouse of literary quality, of style, rhythm, vocabulary, and ingenuity of expression. These books are important because they are among the best books ever published, whether in our times or in their own - and it's worth remembering that many of these novels were bestsellers of their day, particularly those published before the twentieth century, before technological advances made it economically feasible to print small quantities of books for specialised markets. This is a selection of some of the best books ever written and published. It represents a small cosmos of 2500 years of our literary heritage. It is your invitation to those great works you always wanted to read, a gateway of fulfilling pursuit of understanding of human culture by exploring some of the most enduring writings of the

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Classics

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

Jane Gleeson-White is a writer, editor and speaker, and is well known for her work on literature, economics and the natural world. She is the author of the bestselling, internationally acclaimed Double Entry: How the merchants of Venice shaped the modern world (2011) and its sequel Six Capitals: The revolution capitalism has to have (2015). Her first two books are about literature: Classics (2005) and Australian Classics (2007).

Jane is a regular commentator on economics and sustainability, including for the Sundance Film Festival, United Nations and European Union. She has written for the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Bloomberg, Wired, The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Meanjin, Overland, Wellbeing and Good Reading magazine. She is a former fiction editor of Overland literary journal and wrote a blog about books, bookishgirl.com.au, from 2010 to 2016. Jane has a PhD in creative writing, which included work on country in the novels of Alexis Wright and Kim Scott, and is currently working on a project about the emerging rights of nature movement in Australia.

Reviews

[Angela Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an inspiration to all book-lovers. It takes you on a journey through books, from old classics to new, linking together writer influences as it goes.

Each book and author is discussed in a bite-sized chapter, making it perfect for a lunchtime or commuting book, where you only have a short time to read before you get disrupted. For each book, you are introduced to the story of the writer's life, how they would up writing this book and what makes this book so great. It's passionately written, so you can't help but be enthused about the books and authors also. It truly does a great job of introducing these classics and making the reader want to pick them up right now. Honestly, when I started this book, most of these authors and titles were just names to me. They meant nothing and I had no better reason to read any of these books other than "It's a classic". Now I want to rush out and get all of them.

This book would be the perfect gift for any book lover, but especially for someone young looking to expand their reading habits. If you can give it to them before high school forces them to dismember several classics, then do it. And yes, give this book - don't lend it. This is a book which will be referred to often over the years.

And as usual, when I read a book which lists off other good books I find myself making a list about it: Janet Gleeson-White's Classics

But then, this book is full of its own lists of best classics by (mostly Australian) artists and authors which I also had to create in Goodreads, like these (I decided to add each author's own top books to these too):
- Malcolm Knox's Favourite Classics
- Sophie Cunningham's Favourite Classics
- Margaret Harris' Favourite Classics
- Brenda Maddox's Favourite Classics
- Elizabeth Knox's Favourite Classics
- David Maupin's Favourite Classics
- Annamarie Jagose's Favourite Classics
- Michelle De Kretser's Favourite Classics
- Georgia Blain's Favourite Classics
- Barry Pearce's Favourite Classics
- Kathy Mossop's Favourite Classics
- J.K. Rowling's Favourite Classics
- Helen Barnes' Favourite Classics
- Mardi McConnochie's Favourite Classics
- Andrew McGahan's Favourite Classics
- Paul Kelly's Favourite Classics
- Jane Messer's Favourite Classics
- Don DeLillo's Favourite Classics
- Anna Funder's Favourite Classics
- Edmund Capon's Favourite Classics
- Margaret Fink's Favourite Classics
- Margaret Merten's Favourite Classics
- Nicholas Shakespeare's Favourite Classics
- Nikki Gemmell's Favourite Classics
- Charlotte Wood's Favourite Classics
- Catharine Lumby's Favourite Classics
- Louis Nowra's Favourite Classics
- Jill Hickson's Favourite Classics
- Mandy Sayer's Favourite Classics
- Tim Winton's Favourite Classics
- Christos Tsiolkas' Favourite Classics
- Tobsha Learner's Favourite Classics
- Nick Earls' Favourite Classics
- Robyn Arianrhod's Favourite Classics
- Gaby Naher's Favourite Classics
- Luke Davies' Favourite Classics
- J.M. Coetzee Favourite Classics

Well, I hope that by leaving the author's works in there it leads to some serendipitous exploration by fans through that author's favourite books.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading books about books, and this has definite GR appeal, everyone should have a copy! I have read it a couple of times to get ideas for reading suggestions. Eventually, I will have ticked them all off my reading bucket list.

[Louise]

A great resource. One womans view of Classic Literature. Incredibly she re-read, pondered and wrote about these 62 greats in the space of one year! A nice shortish chapter on each book, encompassing the book itself, biographical highlights about the author, and historical happenings at the time to give the works social resonance. A nice approach. I haven't read the whole book (I don't like reading too much about books that I haven't read, what if there are huge spoilers??), but have read the chapters on Madame Bovary, Bleak House, Persuasion, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights (perhaps my most loathed Classic), The Great Gatsby and Lolita, The Outsider.

[Anne Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting list of classics - some I would not want to read, but others were quite interesting.

[Bender · Rating 2 out of 5]

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[Heather Browning · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does really well in conveying her love of these books, and why they matter. It served as a great way of picking out some new classics to read.