Customer Reviews

Great Books of the Western World

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Well, how does one start with an introduction to what the title already says - 'The Great Books of the Western World?' The 'GBBWW' (as they are called) more or less form what Mortimer Adler and his editorial team believed were the core of Western learning and culture, and I pretty much agree. Virtually every book in this collection is required reading in the Liberal Arts, and the ideas and issues discussed by these authors still dominates and influences debate today. Here we see the finest works of Art, Science, Philosophy, Poetry, Prose and History from the time of the Greeks until the early 20th century.

I have noticed other collections of great books often include mediocre and more obscure works which, while important in their historical context, are not part of what Adler described as the 'timeless conversation of ideas' that undergirds Western civilisation. Other collections of 'great books' more often reflect the compiler's or editor's cultural prejudices (though I know the same could be said for Adler, a 'Dead White Male') and frankly, a lot of chaff is in with the wheat. In one list for example, over 50% of the books were novels from the 20th century. The good thing about the 'Great Books' in this collection is that they are 'battle-tested' - Adler went to experts in the respective fields and asked them which works had survived the test of time, and which had not, and those that had 'made the grade.'

The other excellent thing is Adler's 'syntopicon of Great Ideas' and his extensive Bibliography at the end. The syntopicon and Bibliography together are almost a liberal education in themselves. The key ideas that have shaped western thought since its inception are cited and then Adler writes a 5,000 or so word essay explaining how they are discussed by the authors in the series, from Plato to Freud. Works that are highly relevant but not included in the collection but which also discuss these issues are included, such as Cicero, Schopenhauer, Lombard, Paine, Voltaire, etc.

In my view the collection is excellently priced. Considering a university education even in the liberal arts these days costs somewhere between $30,000 and $100,000, a book set costing only 1/30th or 1/100th of that but providing the core for a 'liberal education' as Adler puts it, is in my view a 'no-brainer.' Many people at my university have degrees in Law or the Arts but have not read a single book from this collection, and do not have any sense of where ideas like postmodernism have their actual origin; few have actually read the works of Plato or Plotinus (who Derrida refers back to a great deal in his most important works), Marx (many 'Marxists' have not actually read Marx's works aside from the 'Communist Manifesto') or Freud. Schopenhauer once said 'We need to read the primary texts (of an author of genius), for they will be far more enlightening than the mediocre mind who tries to fit him within his three pounds of grey matter.' Although Schopenhauer had Plato and Kant in mind when writing this, the same applies to the rest of these books. They are the finest of thinking the West has to offer the rest, and for better or worse, have framed 3,000 or so years of our intellectual history.

This set will be an excellent investment for anyone who seeks to learn about who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. Despite the price and the effort required to master these texts, the journey in the end is well worth it.

Some 15 years ago, I bought the 54 volume version of the great books of the western civilization -and spent ten years reading them (aside from making a living and raising two children). These books have affected my life in various ways, all very positive I believe. If my comment can at least encourage one person in the world to go ahead and read this extraordinary collection, I would be very happy. The publishers have been wise in avoiding footnotes and erudite biographical notes, and of course, in the selection of the works. R Roose from Mexico City

My in-laws bought this set for the family, but they never really got past Plato. The books sat on the shelf holding up an ideal. Recently, my mother-in-law decided to pass them on to us. I've begun studying them, and I found the set accessible and intriguing. The first book, The Great Conversation, encourages the late bloomer. I am determined that my children will make good use of grandma and grandpa's old books, sometimes good ideas just need time and good faith.

This is the second edition of the compendium of Great Books. The first volume titled "The Great Conversation" -- updated by the Editor in Chief of The Great Books, Mortimer Adler -- explains why the 60 volume collection is organized as it is and what the three criteria were, established over several years' compilation, for inclusion in the set. "Influence" was not a criterion for selection, otherwise Hitler, Stalin and Lenin would have been incorporated, among other notable authors who were omitted. Unless you read "The Great Conversation" and the two volume Syntopicon you will undoubtedly be bewildered about the organizational structure of these books. Be aware, this is not like a set of college textbooks. These are original works, dating from Homer in 900-800 B.C. through mid-20th century's Samuel Beckett. Much of it is difficult reading. It's a collection of the great ideas of western civilization, not simply books that encompass only one subject each. If you are looking for such a thing you will not only waste your money and time but you'll be very disappointed and your set will probably end up on eBay.

The general organization of The Great Books is by date written, but there are so many cross-references of the "great ideas" and "great authors" that you can find any subject, idea or author by using the Syntopicon as your guide. Adler and the editors have narrowed what they consider the great ideas of western civilization down to 102. Astonishing, when you consider the writing and authors span about 2800 years of western thought.

The readings include virtually all of the subjects considered the liberal arts: literature of all kinds; philosophy and theology; mathematics and the natural sciences; history, biography and the social sciences; and economics, sociology and anthropology. If you're not in a college program that uses the Great Books in their curriculum, Adler provides a ten year reading plan for the books in "The Great Conversation." Again, not for the faint of heart, but I guarantee if you manage to get through all 60 books you will truly be educated.

As an FYI, I'm currently in what seems to be the sole graduate program in the country that uses only the Great Books in their curriculum. It is also a distance-learning program and uses the Socratic method for discussions, which are held by telephone with tutors (what teachers or professors are usually called when using this method of inquiry and discussion). Check out my Amazon profile for some details.

This edition of the great books contains a welcome inclusion of some of the most important thinkers and writers of the 20th century. However, the manufacturing quality of the books themselves leaves a great deal to be desired. First of all, the block of pages is glued to the binding and has started to separate from their spines after just a few (and I mean no more than 3) reading sessions.

The book pages are thin and somewhat flimsy. I owned a set of the 54-volume cloth-bound first (1952) edition and the bookcase which came with them. I still have the bookcase and put this 60-volume set in it. The 60 volumes of this second edition take up much less shelf space than the 54-volume set. That's how much thinner is the paper on which the books are now printed.

The covers of the books feel like they are made of some kind of paper board. They just feel cheap in in my hands.

In short, you might want the set for its content, but don't expect a production quality reflective its intrinsic value.

I was brought to the Great Books via a spiritual orientation. I felt strongly motivated to distinguish between genuine spirituality and pseudo-spirituality. But in order to do that, I needed to discern the distinction between true and pseudo-science, true and imitation rationality.

I noticed that by and large our society is inundated with sophistry, slippery words, advertising white noise, deception, doubletalk, a machiavellian diplomacy. Just as there is genuine reason, there is also pseudo-reason or sophistry.

The Great Books were the answer to these questions. Except for Karl Marx, they exemplify just, wise, balanced, mature, sophisticated reason. Among them are the essential teachings of reason in logic, philosophy, history, sociology, rhetoric, poetry, and wisdom literature.

My conclusion so far is that the Great Books are not Truth with a capital T, but they sure are Reason with a capital R.

If you want genuine reason, clarity, logic, reality, and scientific precision, these are prerequisite reading for being entitled to form sensible opinions.

If you want to contribute to society, then the Great Books teach us what is meant by the words "society" and "contribute" so that we may do that.

The Great Books are the ultimate humbling intellectual experience available. You cannot delude yourself with illusions of rationality after reading them. They make reason accessible for a reasonable price whilst showing up the superficiality and lack of substance in almost everyone's naive faith in their own reasonability.

People don't like the Great Books because they are an affront to their pride, an allergy to their arrogance, and a hammer to their denial. If you imagine the Great Books are sexist or racist, talk to your therapist. Others say the Great Books are elitist; this is the attitude of the anti-elite elitists whom Harold Bloom calls the "culture of resentment". It is jejune.

That said, many of the translations are old. Most are old and good, a few are old and bad translations. I recommend purchasing secondhand alternative translations of some of these books. You may as well read a different translation the second time round anyway, but having a more recent version helps clear up what is the writer's stuff and what is the translator's stuff.

I used this set of books to cure myself of various dimensions of my own illiteracy.

Suffering from a lack, perhaps, of desirable introductions featured in other editions of the same works, the consistency of printed style makes it slightly more accessible for a serious reader. The overall aesthetics of the set may add to speed and comprehension.

Some of this set will seem, for many, a review of good high school studies. I would not necessarily read every word : page thru, and see what catches your eye ... then go back and study more thoroughly what needs to be.

Yet there are others I would have included, though Adler had his reasons. There's Robert Burton's 'Anatomy of Melancholy,' Vico's 'New Science,'
Kant's *complete* ' Critique of Pure Reason' and 'Prolegomena,' Spengler's 'Decline of the West(start with the abridged,)' and read different sections of Lyell's Geologies online every so often, to get a backround for your Darwin reading. And why not Arthur Conan Doyle, complete ? Werner Jaeger's 'Padeia' (3 vol)may be expensive, even in paperback, yet it's a great addition and keepsake/reference on the classical world. These additions will enrich your shelf for you, I trust. They broaden the view, flesh out the understanding, enhance and enrich the overall perspective from every angle. The grey type on so many pages turns into a huge historical/philosophical/literary map with these additions. With the GBWesternWorld, these additions help form a great broad overview to gently range the mind over, til 'this matter of culture' begins to fall into place.

yet dont try to read everything all at once, in a great and rapid hurry. Reading shld be more of a ballet than a racing competition, than it so often is. Organize yourself with grace, wisdom, strength.

Lane has a great music history book, a thousand pp., from the 1940s thats a great addition to anyone's personal library. Grove has a highly recommended opera volume, (tho I do not yet personally own it.) Siegfried Kracauer's 'Theory of Film' may be hard to get into right away, yet is such a staple in my library, I have yet to find a substitute for it, large or small: let it be the axle whereby you come to know the 'art form of the twentieth century,' through other film books, older or newer, greater or lesser in size or seeming usefulness.

... and start to familiarize yourself with such readings as Joyce's ULYSSES, FINNEGAN'S WAKE, Prousts' REMEMBRANCE, and Musil's MAN WITHOUT QUALITIES, Mann's MAGIC MOUNTAIN, and the works of Hermann Brock. Great Books lists abound. . .

...of course, one ought not to stop there . . . supplement your "great books" with the "missing features" included in Dr.Eliots' earlier five foot shelf of Harvard Classics. Eliot includes more eastern writings than Adler finally did.

Also, do not neglect Eliot's later addition to his five foot shelf, the Shelf of fiction in twenty volumes. It is essential. I have derived much of value from goiong through this supplementary set and coming to appreciate why Eliot decided to add it to his basic famous 'five foot shelf.'

(I would argue further with the exclusion of yet other titles from Adler's list. Wittgensteins' 'Philosophical Investigations', Husserl's 'Crisis of the European Sciences,' Heidegger's 'Being and Time' and 'What is Called Thinking,' Hegel's 'Intro to logic,' and von Clausewitz's 'On War'( a classic of elementary logic/ game theory ) all make their way onto various great books schools' reading lists.)

For modern verse, I wouldn't be without W Carlos Williams ' Paterson, 'Pound's 'Personae' and 'Cantos,' TS Eliot's 'Four Quartets' and 'Wasteland,' and Dylan Thomas' 'Selected' ( formerly 'Collected.' ) For practical modern philo, have Russell's 'Conquest of Happiness.' For Sci, have Schrodinger, 'What is Life?' three-essay book. For fic, dont neglect Thomas Love Peacock, no matter who else you read.

Consider also, Philip Wieners' 'Dist of the History of Ideas, ' Benet's readers encyclopedia, Hirsh and Co's 'Dictionary of Cultural Literacy,' and the Merriam Webster Reader's Handbook' (pbk,) Toynbee's 'A Study of History' abridgement (2 vols,) and Barne's o.p. ' Cultural and Intellectual History ( 3 vols,)' if you can find it.

Peter Watsons' idea history books, Richard Tarnas' 'Cosmos and Psyche,' may also prove useful to many. And add all the Whitehead and Borges you can stand.

Boorstin and Arthur Koestler ( yes, AK may have been bad news, yet his books are worthy,) may serve to enrich many.

While all this may seem an expensive proposition, at least many of these works may be purchased on sale, or used. Safe, sane, steady acquisition will lead you to gradual discovery of how conveniently you may gradually make room in your budget for a good personal library. Take it in stages. Public libraries can be useful, until such time as you decide which additions you choose to actually own.

... at any rate, any student carefully - not fanatically - lavishing several hours on each of the classic volumes included in the GBWW and Harvard Classics sets would be well-prepared, to a considerable extent, for any college curriculum. This is entirely apart from the increased appreciation of literature and other things one derives from the Great Books.

Its all in the matter of taking the upper hand in your own education.

...yes, not fanatically: as '...much study is a weariness of the flesh.'

... yet, 'Drink deep, or taste not, the Pierian Spring/ a little knowledge is a dangerous thing !

the final word on education: ' something of everything, and everything of something.' - LOL ! :)

My brother bought this collection when we were eight - a ridiculous request to any parent, undoubtedly - but whatever their reasons it still rests with us today, well-thumbed, especially the Syntopicons. The beauty of this collection is that it's a good introduction to aesthetics, to history and western thought. It generally captures the milestones - big or small - that permeates in influence over the world today. In America there is a growing redudancy to Freud, and Darwin relies on its PRs, extentionists who carry on his legacy in different colors. These are just some superficial examples. The only danger is that the reader may have to take a lot of effort in seeing how it has evolved and been adapted - to update themselves and not get caught with the raw material. as we grow up ( I'm eighteen now, my brother twenty one ) we still find it profound and delightful, and as we read, we learn to respect it more, we grow to liking it, like a blur picture that slowly comes into focus as the years unravel. It was a juvenile effort to cram such intellectual backbones before we hit puberty - but it doesn't come to any loss. The only problem I have with it is that it is in its core text, without much explanation besides the Syntopicon and a book that accompanies it ( timelines, etc) and I think they overlook some great people, like John Donne and include some ideas that are rather diluted in application today, like Spinoza. Of course, that's in my humble opinion, and well - it's debatable among the academias. It's a good book, with patience and some commitment it's rewarding, I'm sure.

These books are worth their weight in Gold. You can find most, if not all, of these writings for free on the internet since there is no copyright anymore; however, if you are looking for physical books then this is the way to go. Very well made and if you go to the Britannica website you may a good deal or at least a payment plan for the hefty price.

The Great Books of the Western World contain priceless insight by some of mankind's greatest thinkers. The problem I have is the idea behind the GBWW. It attempts to say, "this is culture, this is thinking." And yes, it is culture and it is thinking. But it isn't the extent of thinking.

The whole purpose of the greatest of these works, the Socratic dialogues, is to get people to question their cultural and social assumptions, not hold them sacred.

I think people should read these books, all of them and more. But not to accept the theories contained within unquestioningly.

It could be said that the GBWW make no such suggestion. The format, to me, suggests otherwise. The format suggests that this is where truth is to be found; don't bother looking elsewhere. And that would be a shame.

For me, a good education starts with the Greeks, and from there to wherever the questions lead. Maybe the questions will lead to Chalmers and Dennett, maybe they will lead to Rawls and Nozick and Waltzer. The implicit suggestion that these 60 volumes are all you need to be thoughtful is what I find troublesome.

If I were to do it over, I'd buy the books individually next time.