What is the point of all this?
I'm starting a project to read the classics of Western Civilization, from the beginning. It's a matter of personal enrichment (as opposed to expecting any practical or professional benefit from it). Longer term, perhaps the thought is that with a proper base of knowledge, it will be easier / more likely / more useful for me to enter into conversations about enormous, big-picture issues and be satisfied with my ability to make a meaningful contribution. Do I expect that to happen? Not exactly-- but I expect it won't happen if I don't undertake the project.
One issue holding me back is the recognition that I'm not the best reader in the world. That is, I'm not good at reading for overarching themes, for symbolism, for the illustrations of philosophy that the best literature tries to achieve. Once again, undertaking the project itself should go a long way toward addressing these deficiencies. But I'm also afraid I'm not all that good at even remembering what has happened in a major work from one section or chapter to the next. At least at first, the majority of posts will be simple outlines or summaries of the surface action of the work-- a source that I can refer to later to remind myself of what happened when. I think that once my memory has been jogged (by my own writing, of course-- isn't that what I preach to the students I tutor?) I will be able to recall the work itself, well enough at least to recognize the themes that appear or are referenced in later literature.
So, boring notes to begin. Maybe personal insights-- or reminders of personal insights-- as they arrive. If it seemed important, write it down.
Why a blog? Because that's how it's done nowadays. But also, after manually jotting notes from the first two books, I realized that I didn't want a stack notebooks to be discovered by the authorities at a later date like with Kevin Spacey in Se7en. And if I ever do get good at this, it will be easier to show a blog to other people.
