Siobhan, your experience confirms my uneasiness about those "must read" lists. Of course I think there are books which every reader should get to in time. But I think these books would be more appreciated when the reader is ready for them. My reading of a book like Madame Bovary was much deeper at forty than at sixteen.I think there is some justification for taking your own sweet time getting to Milton and Whitman.

I think most readers discover their favorite books by accident, which in my opinion is how reading should be. I ignore best-seller lists, Oprah et al., and try to follow my own interests.

From your description, it sounds like The Reading Guide is heavily slanted towards poetry, which not every reader enjoys. I noticed similar guides also tend to emphasize poetry.

Siobhan, My goodness, what a challenge you have set yourself. I had a look through the totally daunting list and felt that the second part 'Shelf of Fiction' might be less intimidating although I had never heard of some of the books.
I think had you been a Classics scholar at Harvard or an undergraduate at Oxford or Cambridge a hundred + years ago these works might have been considered necessary reading and your leather-tomed study would have been lined with similar volumes. Interestingly the older English Universities never taught 'English Literature' as it was considered that every gentleman would already be familiar with these books.
Re the poetry thing. Over here all school pupils are 'exposed' to poetry but it seems that to actually enjoy it (in later life) depends on the quality and enthusiasm of the teacher.

Don't worry about Cloud Atlas I too found some chapters hard to decipher so probably missed the 'point' of the book.:-(

Actually, you both have touched on something interesting - the emphasis on poetry. Since I love poetry, read poetry extensively and on a daily basis, and am something of a poet myself, wouldn't you think this would be a tad easier for me? I almost feel that Mr. Eliot deliberately chose the most obtuse and difficult selections to spite me!

Another thing that sounds insignificant but really isn't - those volumes are musty, musty, musty!

I have to say that list of Harvard Classics looks desperately worthy. I wouldn't mind betting that over 95% of all the sets sold just look good on the shelves and are never cracked open. I mean, how many people have even heard of Religio Medici by Sir Thomas Browne? I hadn't. (And having glanced through the first couple of paragraphs, it has rapidly dropped down my TBR list to somewhere very near the bottom - probably just above anything by Danielle Steele.)

How did Christopher Beha get on? Did he finish them?

I was just going to ask the same question Martin asked -- did Beha accomplish the task? And, if so, was he able to articulate what he learned from each volume?

Siobhan, you asked if anyone else has set a reading goal that couldn't be met. I've done that on more than one occasion but my stumbling point is usually that there are so many other books to read that I just don't stick to my goal. My failures include reading huge books on plant biology, soil science, and genetics.

I admire your attempt to read the Harvard Classics but I do question how much value they can provide, other than the pride in reading them. I'm also amazed that you were able to find those volumes for loan in a library.

I would have great admiration and respect for someone who read the Harvard Classics, but possess not a scrap of ambition to emulate that person. I do think I'd like to read more classics than I have, but the HC list is full of works I'd rather not read. Sometimes I consider taking a few literature classes ti guide and motivate my reading.

On the other hand, I do see some works there that are probably treasures. It might be a sensible resource from which to cherry pick.

And they would look so very impressive on your bookshelf, should you ever decide you couldn't live without your own personal collection! I'm pretty sure you could pick them up on Ebay or from some used book vendor. Nicely bound, naturally....

;-)

I have a book called The New Lifetime Reading Plan by Clifton Fadiman and John S. Major. It contains a precis of 130 world classics and makes the claim that if one reads this book about books, he would be better read that most people.

I bought it some years ago and thought I would read its suggestions after retirement. I look at the spine on the shelves once in a while but confess that I have not tackled the project. I admire you, Siobhan, but reading for pure entertainment and traveling are just taking up too much of my time!

Not only were they just sitting on the shelves of my local library, a quick search showed they are widely available at the libraries in our network. But keep in mind that I live just north of Boston, home of Harvard University.

Beha did complete his reading of this massive work, and writes beautifully about his experience with each volume, and gives nice interpretations. I think my knowledge of the Harvard Classics is going to come from reading his memoir.

I am always amazed at what one can find at the library.

Siobhan,

I had never heard of the 'Harvard Classics' (to do with my being British?) - thank you for enlightening me.

What a list! I have heard of most of them and dipped into quite a few (having done a degree in Eng Lit. with Latin and Philosophy I couldn't avoid them) but I wouldn't like to have to read through the whole lot.

Dido

Not much to add to your mammoth task! but - Sir Thomas Browne - what I love about literature is the coincidence of reading - remember his statue outside Norwich Cathedral and the subtle allusion introduced by Hartley re Leo's spells - of course my favourite The Go-between.

Lots of stamina to you Siobhan - Dont think you missed much with Cloud Atlas BUT Milton always rewards another visit
Jan

People read for many different reasons. I find most folks read primarily for enjoyment. Over the last ten years or so, I've tried to challenge myself by reading from this list as well as many of the others that came out after the Modern Library lists of fiction and non-fiction, i.e., I recently read The Orestia by Aeschylus as I read somewhere that these were the foundation of Shakespeare's works. Finding out about the similarities and differences of people over time is just plain fascinating to me. I find that I do need to switch back and forth between an easy read and something more challenging, but the rewards have been tremendous.

In addition to there being many reasons for reading, there are also many ways to read. In addition to the Fadiman book mentioned by Carolyn I also read "How to Read a Book", by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren, and thoroughly enjoyed it; it includes a booklist as well. These two alone have motivated me to read on for knowledge and not just for pleasure.

These lists abound. While I try not to cling to any one list, I figure that when a book shows up on many different lists, there is probably some kind of social redeeming value to it, which is basically my measure of a good read. It ends up on my TBR list.

I also thought it was interesting that Cloud Atlas was mentioned here. I recently tried reading it, for about the third time, but just cannot get into it. Primarily so because I do trust the opinions of the readers on this forum and if there is a general positive reaction to a newer book, it goes on my TBR list as well.

As for the specifics of the Harvard Classics list, I would suggest trying something else on the list but certainly don't ostracize yourself for not either enjoying or 'getting' any one in particular. Also, putting any kind of time limit on reading a certain book just does not work for me. How each person processes the information in these books is different too based on our individual life experiences. I admire you for attempting such a feat. Also, with the direction of the libraries these days, I check out books that may appear on one of these lists, just to prevent them from being culled from the shelves. As they say, trying and failing is better than not trying at all, so give yourself a break.

I apologize. I should NOT have used the word failing. There is no failing here, only learning. Hope you got my drift.

No offense taken, kathy. I did pretty much fail with the Harvard Classics - but a couple of good things happened. I am well known for my eclectic tastes at my small local library because I take full advantage of the generous interlibrary loan system. In fact when the employees see me check out, they are known to run over to see what I have. (This is almost totally because of RP.) One of the young librarians had never heard of the Harvard Classics and is now deep into them, getting more out of them than I ever could. (This is a librarian who shudders at my SF, ghost stories, and magical realism.) And not only did I keep them from being culled, they are taking actively seeking out older works and doing special displays on them to introduce works that people might not otherwise find mouldering away in the stacks. So my experience was worthwhile, just in a different way.

I've turned to a more modern way to improve my mind - sort of a book of days that introduces ideas a page at a time - much more productive use of my time.

Did this thread ever take me back in time!

My father never got past the 8th grade due to family circumstances, but he was a brilliant man who spent the rest of his life self-educating for the love of knowledge. He had scores of books and scores of book sets.

Among them was the set of Harvard Classics and he read every single one of the books. He also read the entire set of Encyclopedia Britannica, the Bible and his set of the Books of World Knowledge - I think that was the name of the set. He was a brilliant man who did well in life at the time of our last century right after serving in WWII when brilliant but under-educated men had many more opportunities to able to succeed by drive and self education.

Another family member has his set of the Harvard Classics but was simply unable to read most of the books in the set though he tried. I skimmed through several of them years ago as a young adult and always knew I wouldn't be able to either.

Rather than dipping in, why not take one work, and really delve into it?

Ben Franklin's pretty accessible, as is Emerson, or Robert Burns (he's fun to read)

You're not going to get settled into any of the books with a snippet and the style of the older books isn't always easily comprehended by modern readers.

What an ambitious goal!

I am a sucker for such lists. I have The New Lifetime Reading Plan Carolyn mentioned and credit it with my finally reading The Iliad in its entirety. And I fell in love with it! I read it, listened to it, and compared translations. I've a couple of other similar what and how to read books. I found it encouraging to learn that it was okay to gloss over bits of Herodotus. I was having a very hard time trying to actually learn and put into some sort of context some very obscure bits that really have no context. They are about as engaging and mind expanding as the Biblical begats.

I have repeatedly tried and been defeated by Elliot's The Wasteland. I've listened to every [expletive deleted] word and cannot wrap my mind around it.

The good news is that every time I start one of these reading plans I get one or two more pieces of classic literature into my repertoire before "temporarily" giving up. I expect to die well read.

Chris, I thought it was interesting in James Michener's Hawaii that the kahunas liked the begats better than any other part of the Bible because it is similar to the way they learned their genealogies.

I never even made it quite through The Lifetime Reading Plan much less read the books as I had planned to do upon retirement. That was 8-1/2 years ago. Hopeless!

Since the fall of 2008 I've set up a challenge for myself to read most, if not all, of the books listed on the "Harvard Classics List" as well as "The Modern Mans Library". Yes, it's ambitious, but it's been done.

You know, when I first started reading many years ago, my interests centered more around subjects on painting and cheap paperback novels. I never imagined I would ever want to read anything labeled a "classic". The very first classic I read was "Lolita", because I adored the film adaptation with Jeremy Irons, and I must shamefully admit I hated the book because it wasn't written in the style I was accustomed to. Meaning it wasn't a cheap sleazy novel. It took reading at least 30 more classics to appreciate it, and now it's my most favorite novel in the whole world. I actually get goose bumps when I even think of Nabokov's words.
I was surprised at myself at how much patience and desire I had when reading all these classics, even the ones I didn't particularly enjoy because it was still an experience.
Through this process I read books I was sure I was not going to find interesting, for example "The Odyssey", and it turned out to be one of the best books I've ever read. Then there were book I thought I would love and didn't enjoy at all, Like "Madame Bovary" and "A Tale of two Cities". So the point is that even though it may seem like an unrealistic goal to set for oneself, you can guarantee that you'll find many among the list that you'll be glad you read. I cannot imagine having lived my life without reading Lolita, so I feel like although they may not all be the best novels and poems you've ever read, there are many other books in other genres that will not guarantee 100% satisfaction either, so why not start off with the classics.

I'm currently reading War and Peace along with Yeats' collection of poetry, and I'm enjoying the experience of both and look forward to reading many more classics for as long as I live.

Thanks for bumping this one up. BTW, I ended up finishing Cloud Atlas by Mitchell and yes, it probably resides in my top ten list of good reads. Earlier this year I also read The Iliad, which I enjoyed immensely. And more recently, I read Lolita which had been sitting in my TBR pile for several years. That one took me by surprise. After I got past the concept of the theme, I was able to appreciate the writing style of this author.