Great Books Question?

Does anyone here know where to find out what standards were used to decide if a given book should be one of the Great Books of the Western World? Who would one ask?

 

I think that I should be the one to decide. It's just another injustice that I'm rarely consulted on such matters. Instead, it seems to be up to these people:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World

 

I'm voting for Harold and the purple crayon.

 

Apparently not their editors' choice, Steve, although as you say, the series was published by Encyclopedia Britannica. It comes to us originally from the University of Chicago's President, Robert Hutchins. Also, Prof. Mortimer Adler's name is forever linked to "Great Books" programs and his work on the accompanying Syntopicon is mentioned. The site contrasts the Harvard Classics (1909) series with the 1950's Great Books of the Western World.

Harvard Classics vs. Great Books of the Western World | Self Made Scholar - Free Self Education Classes Online

Quote re: the origin of the Great Books series from another site:

"In 1947, two educators at the University of Chicago, Robert Maynard Hutchins, president of the university, and Professor Mortimer J. Adler, established the Great Books Foundation to draw together passionate readers to meet and talk about enduring issues and ideas." Whole thing here:

Great Books Discussion Series: The Individual and Society | The Aspen Institute

J.

 

My vote, too. A real favourite with my grandkids (and me, of course) when they were small. This rather academic site about the book may interest you. We just had fun with the story...

http://www.teachingchildrenphilosophy.org/BookModule/HaroldAndThePurpleCrayon

J.

 

So, who would be the person to write to if you want to know why suchn and such author didn't make the cut at the Great Books of the Western World?

 

I agree! I wrote my doctoral thesis at the University of Metaphysics on Harold and the Purple Crayon. Just to be clever I wrote it in crayon. Hardest four pages I ever cranked out. Practically killed my afternoon.

 

You can try Dr. Woods. He is one of the foremost authorities on the Great Books.

Robert M. Woods, Author at The Imaginative Conservative

 

OK - conspiracy theory time:

From Robert Hutchins, who came up with the list of Great Books, in a "confidential memorandum" to children whose parents had bought them:

"This is a conspiracy to get you to do some reading and thinking. It is based on the assumption that you believe you don’t like books, and this assumption is false..."

Quoted by the aforementioned Dr. Woods, here. A Case for the Quaint: The Great Ideas Program- TIC

J.

 

But you got your doctorate, right? Then it was worth it! Congratulations, Dr. Neuhaus. :smile:

J.

 

Ted: "Does anyone here know where to find out what standards were used to decide if a given book should be one of the Great Books of the Western World? Who would one ask?
"

John: In the early 60s, my wife, Marina, and I were doing consulting for Encyclopedia Britannica, which included meetings with Mortimer Adler, "inventor" of the Great Books. He had formulated 102 "great ideas", and every book needed to address at least 25 of them. Of course there were committees and advisory boards, but it was pretty nearly 100% his. Initial sales were terrible, so they moved into the high pressure door to door mode, which Adler absolutely hated. He lamented that this 'great product' was being pushed by pushy salespeople who probably never read one. They included a "free" bookcase, and in fact the books were delivered already in the bookcase. I'm pretty sure the 102 'ideas' appear in the first, or perhaps it is there last, volume.

Adler told the story that there were a couple of dozen sets of the great books that were for show only, at trade shows: just the covers, but all blank pages. He claimed that ten of these totally blank sets were, by mistake, delivered to customers . . . and only six of them were noticed and exchanged.

 

You're in luck, Ted! Here are the 102 "Great Ideas."

All 102 are posted and discussed on this site: The Great Ideas

In other Great Books news, in 1963 (I think) Britannica published a shorter, 10-volume series, "Gateway to the Great Books." Some time in the 80s, I bought this set in a thrift shop for -- oh, I forget - $7 or so. Very good value, I thought.

Here's a page on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gateway_to_the_Great_Books

J.

 

So, to whom would one write if one wanted to know, for example, "Why did Johan Huizinga makeb tyhe Great Books when Jacob Burkhardt didn't?" (and i have a veritable bucket list of similar questions).

 

Well, Prof. Mortimer Adler, who masterminded the Great Books program, has been deceased since 2001. However, the site has a lot of info about him and the program. Someone there may have answers for you, or could direct you further - who knows? Perhaps you could contact the Great Books site by email. Here's the contact address, as shown on the web-page: [email protected] I didn't look for a snail-mail address.

Johann (not Huizinga) :smile:

 

OkayOkayOkay! My conscience was bothering me. Here's the missing snail-mail and phone info. Good luck with that bucket list, Ted!

Center for the Study of The Great Ideas
Mailing Address: 1151 North State St., Chicago IL 60610 US
Phone: 312-943-1076

J.

Just noticed - the zip code is one away from the famous Spiegel Catalog (Steve Allen show sponsor, 1960s.) I remember hearing "Chicago 60609" over and over again on TV. Steve made a long-running joke of it.

 

There are very many lists of great books each using different criteria.

I rather like merged lists that use statistics for rank.

The Greatest Books: The Best Books - 1 to 50

 

Yes, as you say, there are many lists of "great Books." The list you linked to is a fine one. I like it, even though it's limited to great works of fiction.

We only dealt with one list, as Ted made it clear in the original post that his enquiry was about a specific, well-known collection, "Great Books of the Western World," chosen by Prof. Mortimer Adler and U. of Chicago President, Robert Hutchins -and published as a set by Encyclopedia Britannica. No matter. Plenty of room for other lists! :smile:

Hey, I notice Marcel Proust is No. 1 on your list! Good choice! That series of 7 volumes is known in French as "À la recherche du temps perdu" and takes me back almost 55 years! I read quite a bit of it in my late teens, but never finished all seven volumes. I can still smell and taste the madeleines! :wink: Thanks for the memory!

J.