The 10-year reading plan…
YEAR THREE:
- Troilus and Cressida, Jeffrey Chaucer - Jan, 2009
- Prometheus Bound – Aeschylus - Jan, 2009
- Eugénie Grandet – Balzac – May, 2009
- Adam Bede – George Eliot – May, 2009
- Silas Marner – George Eliot - June, 2009
- Statesman – Plato – Sept 2009
- On Interpretation – Aristotle - June, 2009
- Cymbeline - Shakespeare – June, 2009
- King Lear – Shakespeare
- Vanity Fair – Thackeray
- Tom Jones – Henry Fielding
- Paradise Lost – Milton
- The Science of Right – Kant
- Representative Government – John Stuart Mill
- Brothers Karamazov – Dostoevsky
- A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens – Sept 2009
YEAR TWO:
- The New Testament – Matthew, Acts Jan 2008
- Homer – The Iliad April 2008
- Aeschylus – Agamemnon Jan 2008
- Aeschylus – Coephoroe Feb 2008
- Aeschylus – Eumenides Feb 2008
- Sophocles – Oedipus the King Feb 2008
- Sophocles – Antigone March 2008
- Herodotus – The History (currently reading)
- Plato – Meno May 2008
- Aristotle – On Poetics June 2008
- Longinus – The Sublime July 2008
- Lucretius – On the Nature of Things Aug 2008
- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus – The Meditations Aug 2008
- Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan
- John Milton – Areopagitica Aug 2008
- Blaise Pascal – Pensées
- Shakespeare – Troilus & Cressida Oct 2008
- Jonathan Swift – Gulliver’s Travels Nov 2008
- Jean Jacques Rousseau – A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality Nov 2008
- Immanuel Kant – Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals
- John Stuart Mill – On Liberty
YEAR ONE:
- Aristophanes – The Clouds Jan 2007
- Aristophanes – The Lysistrata Jan 2007
- Plato - The Apology Feb 2007
- Plato – The Crito Feb 2007
- Plato – The Republic March 2007
- Aristotle – Ethics May 2007
- Aristotle – Politics
- Plutarch – (Selections from) Lives April 2007
- Machiavelli – The Prince May 2007
- Rabelais – Gargantua et Pantagruel July 2007
- Montaigne – Les Essais
- Shakespeare – Hamlet July 2007
- Locke – Civil Govt Aug 2007
- Rousseau – Social Contract/Principles of Political Right Aug 2007
- Gibbon – Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Oct 2007
- Declaration of Independence Sept 07
- Articles of Confederation Oct 07
- American Consititution Sept 07
- Hamilton, Madison, Jay- Federalist Papers Jan 08
- Marx and Engels – Communist Party Manifesto Dec 07
23 responses so far ↓
David Scott Milton // July 17, 2007 at 12:00 pm |
I have no idea how old you are. The reading plan reminds me of something I did in my early twenties. I took Mortimer Adler’s 100 Great Books, the course he taught at the University of Chicago, and methodically worked my way through them. This was on my own, not at the university. I went through them in perhaps a year or year and a half. Many were the books that you list above. Some, particularly the philisophical works, I had a great deal of trouble fully understanding. Nevertheless, I persisted. Those books have been the foundation of my education. Good luck!
verbivore // July 17, 2007 at 9:12 pm |
Hello David. I’m also doing this on my own and enjoying it quite a lot! I can’t imagine trying to squeeze this project into one year so I applaud you, that must have been some terribly concentrated reading. Although I was going over the selections for year two recently and am itching to get to them sooner…we’ll see if I can be patient!
Dorothy W. // September 12, 2007 at 1:18 pm |
I’m curious — is this a list you are compiling yourself, or are you following someone else’s list? It sounds fabulous.
verbivore // September 12, 2007 at 8:20 pm |
Hi Dorothy – No, I’m not compiling it myself (arranging it a little myself though). I found it here: http://www.io.com/~beckerdo/books/gb195210.html and its based on Great Books of the Western World an old Encyclopedia Brittanica project. I just separated out each yearly list into twelve hopefully manageable chunks and started reading. I’m proud of how well I’ve kept up this year and I hope I can really stick with it for the ten years.
MH // October 8, 2007 at 10:34 pm |
This is almost the exact reading list that St John’s College uses. They start with the ancient Greeks and progress through to the 20th century reading the “western canon of knowledge” in 4 years. Philosophy, theology, math, science, music theory, everything! It’s a great education; I think they also offer it as grad degree (in 2 years not 4). I found the program to be pretty challenging even with the support of all the other students and tutors. Good luck reading it on your own!
verbivore // October 9, 2007 at 7:08 am |
MH – Thanks, I think spreading it out over ten years will make it a lot easier. I couldn’t imagine tackling these books in two to four years, especially with all else I have going on.
Juliette // October 30, 2007 at 8:12 pm |
You certainly do deserve to be proud of yourself – you have taken on a huge challenge! Full of admiration and I am wondering what was your original motivation and how did you decide which to read when? I look forward to following your progress over the years to come.
verbivore // October 31, 2007 at 10:58 am |
Juliette – Thank you! This project has been tremendously fun. I haven’t loved everything I’ve read this year but on the whole, I was surprised how much I did really enjoy. I am looking forward to early next year as well – with all those greek plays!
Michelle // November 15, 2007 at 1:33 am |
Did you get through Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in just one month? Wow!! I just wanna say that what you have accomplished in this first year is amazing. I couldn’t even remember exactly how many reading plans I have set up and failed before. It takes a great deal of persistence to stick to a plan like that. Congradulations and keep up the good work!
Do you need to have a lot of background knowledge about the Roman Empire to fully appreciate Gibbons’ work?
verbivore // November 19, 2007 at 1:26 pm |
Michelle – Thank you. It took me a bit over two months to finish Decline and Fall and I admittedly skimmed a lot of the battle descriptions.
This has been such a fun project and although I have slowed down a bit here at the end of the year, I am excited to finish up and get going on the readings for Year 2.
I would say no to your question about Roman Empire knowledge. Gibbon does a great job of explaining everything – the personalities of the various emperors, the political systems that each supported or created. It was a highly readable (a bit dry, however) book but it gave me a lot to think about in terms of looking at a political entity in its entirety, its breadth…if that makes sense.
dew // November 28, 2007 at 4:13 pm |
I love the idea of a ten year reading plan, but since I’m making my first-ever reading plan for next year (mostly through challenges) I think I should see how that goes first. It seems like you’re making good progress, from the number of book titles in blue. Best of luck with this project!
Bonnie Jacobs // January 13, 2008 at 7:23 pm |
“The New Testament – Matthew, Acts”
I think it’s interesting that Matthew and Acts are singled out to read from the New Testament, especially since Acts is actually the “sequel” to the gospel of Luke.
* Matthew was written for Jewish readers.
* Luke was written for Gentile readers.
* Acts is the only book (besides Paul’s letters) telling about the early church.
* Matthew and Luke both used the gospel of Mark as the basis of their gospels.
I’m kind of curious now about why those two (Matthew and Acts) were chosen.
Bonnie Jacobs // January 13, 2008 at 7:23 pm |
I forgot to say that Acts is the “sequel” in that it was written by the same person who wrote the gospel of Luke.
verbivore // January 14, 2008 at 8:12 am |
Bonnie – what good information to have as I get started on the first set of readings for Year 2. I read half of Matthew last night and that was very interesting. So much of it was familiar to me but from so long ago. I am also curious why those two were chosen together. I will do some research and see if I can find an answer!
Julia // February 12, 2008 at 11:22 pm |
Antigone is a great story. I just read it in my English class. It brings up a lot of things about loyalty and family ties, but also about what role women can take. It is also the thrid book in a type of “series” that sophocles wrote.
verbivore // February 13, 2008 at 11:39 am |
Julia – I remember really liking Antigone when I read it the first time quite some years ago. An incredibly powerful story for all the reasons you mention as well. I am definitely looking forward to re-reading this month.
Adso // August 17, 2008 at 10:00 am |
Hello Verbivore,
I am very amazed of your reading plan, and I salute the idea. I have entered a week ago in the blogging sphere, trying to promote a little the culture from all over the world. I found your blog by surfing on different other blogs on culture, and I think it’s great. I, too, was thinking a few months ago to re-read the ancient tragedies I’ve studied in the faculty. They represented a long-term literary fascination. Good luck with your project!
verbivore // August 18, 2008 at 1:58 pm |
Adso – thanks for stopping by and your comment. Good luck on putting together your own reading plan of the ancient tragedies – what a great idea. I look forward to visiting your blog.
Year to Come « My Life in Books // December 30, 2008 at 6:10 pm |
[...] real reading lists, as I don’t have that kind of self-discipline (but how jealous I am of verbivore’s 10-year reading plan!). All the same, there are some goals I have for the coming year, and some things to [...]
sarah // March 8, 2009 at 7:25 am |
What a list! I wish you the best of luck and I look forward to hearing about what you think. Have you read St. Augustine’s “Confessions” yet? Out of your list so far, I absolutely love “Confessions,” and Chaucer’s “Troilus and Criseyde.”
I find it so amazing that these works written centuries, millennia ago are still so clearly relevant to the human condition! I’m an English literature major, and my concentration is medieval literature – I was amazed to see so many of the works I’m reading in class on your ten-year plan. Not that I took my major for granted, but it makes me feel like I’m studying the right thing.
But in terms of reading time, I feel like I need to get through the beginning of history before I can get to contemporary stuff
p.s. are you Japanese?
verbivore // March 9, 2009 at 6:38 pm |
Hi Sarah – thanks for leaving a comment. I’m so glad you liked The Confessions, I have to admit they weren’t my favorite and I didn’t finish! They were scheduled for year one and I went through about half, just couldn’t seem to get into it and so gave up. But I’ve rescheduled them for year four (I think) just in case it was me! But I also loved Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde – and you’ll get so manyother great works doing medieval lit, I’m quite jealous. And as to your last question, no, I’m not Japanese but I was born in Japan and lived there for a while after college.
andremanguel // June 30, 2009 at 8:47 pm |
Hi verbivore – It is a great list. Good luck with your reading plan. I’m on Year 4 of using Harold Bloom’s Western Canon to underpin my reading. It’s a lifetime list:
http://www.interleaves.org/~rteeter/grtbloom.html
verbivore // July 1, 2009 at 12:16 pm |
Andre – Wow, I’ve not seen Harold Bloom’s list before, it is very tempting. An incredible lifetime list…