Thursday, September 15, 2011

The ten books everyone should read

At his speech at Highlands Latin Schools Community Lecture Series last April, philosopher Peter Kreeft listed the ten books all our classical school teachers should read. It seems to me that everyone should read them. I will note that they were written by two saints (one of whom was a philosopher), two philosophers (one of whom was a saint), four poets (one of whom was also a dramatist), one mathematician (the maximum number allowed), and one novelist. And one author appears twice because he is the greatest: Homer. Here they are:

  • The Confessions, by St. Augustine
  • The Summa Theologica, by St. Thomas Aquinas
  • Plato's Dialogues
  • Shakespeare's plays 
  • The Divine Comedy, by Dante
  • The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
  • The Aeneid, by Virgil
  • The Iliad, by Homer
  • The Odyssey, by Homer
  • The Pensees, by Pascal
  • The Brothers Karamazov, by Dostoevsky
at

1 comment:

  1. ozziejoe11:38 PM

    "The *eleven* books everyone should read"

    ReplyDelete

You are welcome to post at this blog. You are asked, however, to refrain from the following:

1. Name-calling;
2. Questioning the motives or integrity of people you have never met just because you disagree with them;
3. Using obscenities or other expressions not appropriate or necessary to civilized discussion;
4. Taking disagreement personally;
5. Demeaning or insulting remarks.

The host will attempt to abide by the same rules and only asks that you not provide him with the temptation to do so in return by violating them.

Failure to comply with these rules can result (depending solely on the arbitrary and inscrutable will of the host) in the deletion of offending posts and suspension of posting privileges. Such measures are more likely if you post anonymously.