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<\/a><\/p>\nNathanael Blake at the Federalist<\/em> has written a perceptive essay entitled\u00a0If We Want Western Civ Revitalized, We Can\u2019t Leave It To Universities<\/a>, with the deck,\u00a0 \u201cWe should be less concerned with getting elite universities to rededicate themselves to teaching the Western heritage, and more focused on making Western culture a reality in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Conservatives often call for universities to teach more or require more Western civilization courses.\u00a0 But we should not want today\u2019s academic establishment to teach Western civilization.\u00a0 Their approach will be to attack<\/em> our cultural heritage, presenting it as nothing more than racist, sexist, homophobic, oppressive white privilege, with nothing positive to offer people today.\u00a0 This is completely wrong, but this is the impression students often get from their superficial survey courses.<\/p>\n It is, however, true that students need help and background to fully understand and appreciate the Western classics.\u00a0 And higher education is where this can be learned.<\/p>\n There are colleges, such as Patrick Henry College<\/a>, that take Western civilization seriously.\u00a0 And even the big established universities generally have illuminating old-school scholars.\u00a0 So I do favor the study of our intellectual and cultural heritage in colleges.\u00a0 It\u2019s just more difficult than it used to be, and students need to take more effort in ensuring that they are getting what they need from their classes.<\/p>\n But Mr. Blake makes a further point in his essay:\u00a0 There is a difference between knowing about<\/em> something, and living it.\u00a0 This is certainly true, he says, of religion.\u00a0 It is also true of civilization.\u00a0 You can know about it\u2013knowing the history, the major figures, the great works, the important ideas\u2013without drawing on those treasures in your own life and being part of this continuing tradition.<\/p>\n Realize, though, that Western civilization is not one thing.\u00a0 Humanists tried to create a \u201ccanon\u201d of \u201cGreat Books\u201d and \u201cGreat Ideas.\u201d Notice the religious language, referring to the books that constitute the Bible.\u00a0 The Humanists\u2013who are now as out of approval in the Academy as Christians\u2013thought that these wonderful human achievements could function as a secular Scripture.\u00a0 They can\u2019t.\u00a0 Western thought contains many different movements, schools, styles, and ideologies.\u00a0 There is nothing monolithic about it.\u00a0 Some of it is consistent with Christianity (or freedom and democracy), some emerged from Christianity (or freedom and democracy), and some is actively hostile to Christianity (or freedom and democracy), though in many different ways.<\/p>\n We do have \u201cGreat Books,\u201d \u201cGreat Ideas,\u201d \u201cGreat Minds,\u201d \u201cGreat Discoveries,\u201d \u201cGreat Music,\u201d and \u201cGreat Art\u201d in our heritage.\u00a0 What makes them great, though, is that, for one reason or another, they stand the test of time.\u00a0 We can still appreciate, learn from, and draw from them in our own lives today.<\/p>\n These Great Works are better<\/em>, by just about any measure\u2013more entertaining, more involving, more stimulating, more valuable, more enjoyable\u2013than the typical fare from our small, parochial slice of time.\u00a0 This is important for those of us who don\u2019t necessarily agree with the dominant ideas and values of our time, since drawing on the treasures of our past can counter-balance them and give us alternative ways of thinking and feeling.\u00a0 (Read C. S. Lewis\u2019s On the Reading of Old Books<\/a>.)<\/p>\n So we should take advantage of this heritage.\u00a0 Let me suggest some ways of doing that.\u00a0 \u00a0First of all, let your enjoyment be your guide.\u00a0 Some books we read because they are good for us, but when just getting started \u201cliving\u201d our civilization, you can let your inclinations be your guide.\u00a0 And don\u2019t think you have to give up your contemporary fare.\u00a0 Just because you will develop a taste for Bach doesn\u2019t mean that you necessarily have to give up your favorite radio stations.\u00a0 C. S. Lewis, in the essay I linked to, said that while it\u2019s a good idea to read one old book for every modern book, if that\u2019s too much, you can read one old book for every three modern books.\u00a0 If that\u2019s too much, go for less.\u00a0 But try these enduring works from the past.<\/p>\n Start with Bach and Mozart.\u00a0 It\u2019s not slow.\u00a0 It\u2019s not boring.\u00a0 It\u2019s highly rhythmic and will get your juices going.\u00a0 You and your family, including your children, will enjoy<\/em> it.\u00a0 Once you get used to it, you will acquire a taste for it.\u00a0 You can still listen to your pop songs, but after awhile, you will prefer the good stuff.<\/p>\n If you like romance novels, read Jane Austen, starting with Pride and Prejudice<\/a>.\u00a0 If you like mysteries, read Arthur Conan Doyle\u2019s Sherlock Holmes.<\/a>\u00a0 If you like military sagas, read Tolstoy\u2019s War and Peace<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>If you like humor, read Jonathan Swift\u2019s unexpurgated Gulliver\u2019s Travels<\/a> and Mark Twain\u2019s early travel narratives Innocents Abroad<\/a> and Roughing It<\/a>.\u00a0 If you like weird, funny, experimental, off-the-wall stories, read Laurence Stern\u2019s Tristram Shandy<\/a>.\u00a0 If you want to become wholly absorbed in a book that can change your life, read Victor Hugo\u2019s Les Miserables<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you like theology, read Augustine\u2019s Confession<\/a> and Luther\u2019s Commentary on Galatians<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you are interested in politics, read The Federalist Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you like history and period pieces, read a book from that period, which will put you inside another place and time.\u00a0 All of these books will lead you to more books by the same or similar authors.<\/p>\n Take on projects<\/strong><\/p>\n If you want an enjoyable crash course in Western civilization, read the epics:\u00a0 Homer\u2019s Iliad<\/a> and Odyssey<\/a>.\u00a0 Virgil\u2019s Aeneid<\/a>.\u00a0 Dante\u2019s Divine Comedy<\/a>.\u00a0 Milton\u2019s Paradise Lost.<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s all there.<\/p>\n For a bucket list project, read all of Shakespeare\u2019s plays<\/a>.\u00a0 For stories, characters, and language, they are supreme.<\/p>\n If you are a fan of Downton Abbey, Masterpiece Theatre, or steam-punk Victoriana, read the complete novels of Charles Dickens.<\/a>\u00a0 They have humor, pathos, romance, adventure, unforgettable characters, life lessons, style, historical evocation, social criticism, and sheer story-telling genius.<\/p>\n As Mr. Blake says, all of this is at our fingertips today on the internet.\u00a0 Most of the works I link to can be downloaded for free<\/em> on Kindle, though the free versions are not always the best translations or editions\u2013I tried to link to good ones\u2013and I myself like to underline passages in books that are this good.<\/p>\n I could go on and on, as I did as an English professor for four decades.\u00a0 But you get the idea.\u00a0 In every field, read the old books, look at the old paintings, go into buildings of the old architecture, and you will begin to \u201clive\u201d our civilization.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Photo by\u00a0Suzy Hazelwood<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>form\u00a0PxHere<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nathanael Blake points out that we not only need to study Western civilization, we need to live it. Some suggestions about how to do that, including books to read that you will not only benefit from but greatly enjoy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":49466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,12,14,20,22,28],"tags":[80,9662,3402,7312,1308,1850,5845,9249],"class_list":["post-49295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-culture","category-education","category-history","category-humor","category-literature","tag-academia","tag-classics","tag-great-books","tag-literary-canon","tag-literature-2","tag-reading","tag-western-civilization","tag-western-civilization-programs"],"yoast_head":"\nListen to classical music<\/em>.<\/h4>\n
Read classic books<\/em>.<\/h4>\n