Though the title suggests another culture-war screed, this book
comprises polished lectures on Homer, Plato, Tolstoy, Conrad,
Yeats, and other canonical must-reads. Late in this collection of
20 essays based on classroom lectures, Sinaiko (Humanities/Univ. of
Chicago) modestly notes that he left a remunerative and senior
administrative position to return to something he loves, teaching.
Delivered originally to audiences composed, variously, of
University of Chicago undergraduates, Air Force Academy facutly,
and members of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Society, these
jargon-free, thoroughgoing essays never fail to hit their pedagogic
mark. Unsurprisingly, many are centered on the significance of
teaching and the search for knowledge, especially in Plato's
Socratic dialogue Laches, as well as Tolstoy's artistically
tempered didacticism in Anna Karenina and War and Peace,
Confucius's Analects and the psychoanalytic procedure. There may
not be a common theme linking them - even that of a college-level
humanities survey course - but throughout, Sinaiko's attention to
textual detail, articulate summaries, and objectivity serve him
well. (The temptation to skip taking notes sometimes arises,
though, during the mandatory summary of Plato's parable of the cave
in the Republic or yet another discussion of Conrad's Heart of
Darkness.) The closest he gets to the current controversy over the
canon is in an essay on Hume's open-minded "Of the Standard of
Taste." There Sinaiko declares he is more worried about deserving
works going unappreciated than about the decline of the Great
Books, but likewise, the only way to recognize contemporary
greatness is to read and reread those works that have stood the
test of time. Reclaiming the Canon makes it easy to see why Sinaiko
has been twice distinguished for excellence in undergraduate
teaching and why he takes his revered occupation so seriously:
old-style, no-nonsense humanities taught with thorough grounding
and relish. (Kirkus Reviews)
Herman Sinaiko is renowned for his gifts as a guide to exploring
and appreciating the humanities. This book brings to general
readers Sinaiko's thoughts on, and invitations to read or reread, a
wide selection of major literary and philosophical works -- from
ancient Greek to Chinese to modern. Taking a conversational
approach, he deals with the perennial questions that thinking
people have always raised and investigates how works of great art
may provide answers to these questions.
Sinaiko reestablishes the notion that there is a canon of great
works from the great traditions of the world and argues for the
existence of permanent standards of excellence. He rejects most
contemporary critical views of classical literature and philosophy,
including those of "experts" who seek to monopolize access to great
works, academics whose extreme emphasis on historical context
disallows any current relevance, and theorists whose lenses distort
with personal bias rather than sharpen focus on the works they
discuss. Sinaiko reclaims the canon for all of us, opening up
discussion on texts ranging from Plato to Tolstoy, Confucius to
Mary Shelley, and encouraging each reader to listen and respond to
the rich diversity of powerful views on the human condition that
such great works offer.
"Sinaiko's essays are interesting, provocative, thick like a
good pudding, and contain much original thought. Plato, Confucius,
Yeats, Nietzsche, and others -- a gala and stimulating Humanities
course." -- Bennett Simon, M.D., Harvard Medical School
"The more one knows and has studied a work that Sinaiko
addresses, the more one appreciates the depth and significance of
what he has to say." -- Bruce A. Kimball, University of
Rochester
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