I won't give a star rating on this because I didn't finish. Began over ten years ago, I decided to read the classics it spoke about, and I made it up to John Milton. I will read (or try to) Paradise Lost, but I am not finding the Christian central viewpoint in this book as helpful as I did when I began. My viewpoint has shifted a bit I suppose. Also, I now know how limited my lifespan is and I want to read whatever calls to me in the time I have left.

This book would be helpful to a Christian teacher/parent who wanted their children to be well read and exposed to the development of the Western mind.

A wonderful introduction to the classics that explores the importance of the seventy-five greatest books of Western civilization and opens us up to reading these books. ( )

I highly recommend this book! ( )

great resource for Moms like me, who are not as wellread as we could be. It is written/edited by people with a passion for their subject.

Each book has around two pages devoted to it.The entry will begin with a little bit of background information on the author's time and geophraphic area, some biographical information (all of which I find that CM's teachers also did when the started a new book), and then some inromation on the book itself. They don't try to cover every book by the authors they've chosen. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is the book they've chosen to represent Austen. Goethe's Faust gets most of the attention in his story.

There is usually an illustration of the author, or sometimes if part of the story has been illustrated by a recognized artist, tht will be in the book. Then there is a short discussion of the story itself and its themes. My favorite section is 'Issues to Explore," in every entry.

For Faust 'Issues to Explore' reads:

"From a Chrstian point of view, the recurring theme of Faust in world literature and music remains a fascinating challenge. (Apart from Goethe's Faust, consider Marlowe's tragedy of 1594, Alexander Pushkin's Russian treatment of 1826, and Thomas Mann's novel Dr Faustus of 1946) The quest for absolute power over living beings ad nature accompanied by a desperatrely guilt-ridden conscience retains a disturbingly modern appeal.
(1) Why have Goethe's dramas appealed to readers and theatergoers fro more than two centureies as the most thought-provoking apporach to the subject?
(2) How integral is a Christian perspective to understanding the play?
(3) How is our own era's attitude to knowledge and power infected with a sense of Faustian bargaining?"

The other novels mentioned above are introduced earlier in the discussion of Faust and its background, so they aren't totally intimidating when you come across them in the issues to explore section. There is also a small box called 'For Further STudy' in each entry. It includes books about the bplay, which translation, if it was not originally in English, is preferred, and information on other resources (biographies, for example).

We bought our copy from Conservative Books about a year ago (9 years ago now). I use it for myself often. When the older girls are reading or have just finished one of the books in the volume, I have them read the entry in the book. If they are interested, they get online and check our library system for any books for further study mentioned. Sometimes, I ask them to focus their narration on one of the themes mentioned in the book. Sometimes that's it, I ask them to pick any one of the issues brought out in Invitation to the Classics, sometime I pick out the issue.

It is not our only book for studying literature, but it's an important one. I don't rely entirely on it- my ideas about what is appropriate for young maidens to read is not always the authors' (Chaucer's Wife of Bath, for instance).

It contains themes and entries you won't find in other resources. For example, it has a section on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor imprisoned and then murdered by the Nazis for speaking out against them. I have found it an excellent resource.