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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (37103)	5/8/1999 10:56:00 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

Now, wait. I think we are not looking for the essential works of Western civilization, but a reading list of essentials for the young. Malthus' ideas are important, but are you saying that you gave a copy of Malthus to your daughter to read when she was in high school or college? As a for instance, Locke is very easy to read. Adam Smith is not. I would strongly urge that something by Locke be put on the list, but I would resist putting Adam Smith, for that reason. The Federalist Papers are somewhat easy to read, but they are not essential, unless you are studying politics or law. But I think Einstein's little book on relativity is an easy read, and I would put that on the list.

To: Chuzzlewit who wrote (37103)	5/8/1999 11:23:00 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

I have given the matter a little bit more thought. What is uppermost in my mind is my grandmother's bookshelf (father's mother). I know that she and her sisters graduated from high school, which was not a common thing in Biloxi, Mississippi, in about 1917 or 1918. My mother's mother did not, I think she finished eighth grade. She had some books on her bookshelf, I don't know whether they were my father's textbooks, or hers, but they were aimed at high school students. I think some of the things would be considered oldies and moldies today, but some of the things I can't imagine children today not having read. The Declaration of Independence. Patrick Henry's speech ("Give me liberty or give me death.") Washington's farewell speech. The Gettysburg Address. Some of the Greek myths. Some of the Norse myths. Something about Rome. I really liked the story of Cornelia's jewels, and the story about the man who only wanted to be a farmer (can't remember his name). Some, at least, of Chaucer. Something by Shakespeare, maybe from Hamlet or Macbeth. "Friends, Romans and countrymen." Something by Dickens. "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done." Something by Mark Twain, say, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Caleveras County? I know this is biased, but I really believe that every student in American should have read the things on the list before he/she graduates from high school.