Invitation to the Classics

Rating:
Summary: Great literature from a Christian perspective
Review: After recently perusing "The New Lifetime Reading Plan", I dug this book back out to do a comparison. "Invitation to the Classics" has more of a particularly Christian approach, including works by Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Weil, and Lewis that other such surveys might omit. It also focuses on western literature, leaving out some of the great Japanese and Chinese classics that would give one more of a well-rounded education. Most authors included here are represented by only one work, and some choices are curious indeed (for Faulkner, "Go Down, Moses" was selected over "The Sound and the Fury", for Joyce, "Dubliners" got the nod over "Ulysses"). That does not diminish the value of this book, however. This is more than just a reading list. It is a beautiful book in its own right, with color photographs and illustrations to enhance the experience. All in all, I highly recommend this volume.

Rating:
Summary: A Treasure
Review: I buy copies of this for every college-bound teen at our church. It features articles by a very eclectic mix of Christian literary critics (though evangelical Reformed/Presbyterians and Roman Catholics predominate). It is fair and balanced in its treatment of works that are often very hostile to the faith. Beautifully illustrated.

Rating:
Summary: A Treasure
Review: I buy copies of this for every college-bound teen at our church. It features articles by a very eclectic mix of Christian literary critics (though evangelical Reformed/Presbyterians and Roman Catholics predominate). It is fair and balanced in its treatment of works that are often very hostile to the faith. Beautifully illustrated.

Rating:
Summary: A great way to be introduced to the classics
Review: I found this book at Seattle Public Library and decided I needed a copy to keep. It is a great resource for anyone interested in reading this kind of literature. From basic descriptions of the lives of the authors, to questions for further study as well as suggestions for more research, this book can be referred to again and again.

Rating:
Summary: A Manual for Western Civilization
Review: I found this book to be a training manual for the renewal of Western Civilization. Our Culture, heritage, and way of life must not become extinct. Cowan and Guinness have done the church a remarkable service for the Church by compiling these essays.

Each essay is about 4 to 6 pages in length, supplemented by photos/pics, quotes, and questions for application at the end of the chapter. Like many works associated woth OS Guinness and the Trinity Forum, this book can challenge deeply held notions and force one to rethink them. The breadth of authors covered is immense: the Greeks to the Latins to the Reformers to Modern Day. Also interspersed are esssays about classics by non Christians.

The Book stresses that the classics are not canonicle but complementary. The need for reading--studying--old books can not be overstated. C S Lewis said that for every new book one reads, one should next read to books from another century for obvious reasons: those books have been tested over time.
Tolle Legge

Rating:
Summary: A Manual for Western Civilization
Review: I found this book to be a training manual for the renewal of Western Civilization. Our Culture, heritage, and way of life must not become extinct. Cowan and Guinness have done the church a remarkable service for the Church by compiling these essays.

Each essay is about 4 to 6 pages in length, supplemented by photos/pics, quotes, and questions for application at the end of the chapter. Like many works associated woth OS Guinness and the Trinity Forum, this book can challenge deeply held notions and force one to rethink them. The breadth of authors covered is immense: the Greeks to the Latins to the Reformers to Modern Day. Also interspersed are esssays about classics by non Christians.

The Book stresses that the classics are not canonicle but complementary. The need for reading--studying--old books can not be overstated. C S Lewis said that for every new book one reads, one should next read to books from another century for obvious reasons: those books have been tested over time.
Tolle Legge

Rating:
Summary: An Invitation to want to read all night.
Review: I received this book after a long anticipation of its arrival from Amazon.com and the wait and cost were by far worth it. As a student at Bob Jones University who loves to study and read classic literature on my spare time, the book soon became indispensable(probably with in a few minutes of cracking the cover). This volume does more in a few strokes of the pen than some do in a whole set of books. I suggest it strongly, it affirms Os Guiness' prowess as an editor as well as writer, as well as providing a concise literary base for practically every famed author of our world's favorite classic. Ranging from the Greeks to the existentalists and beyond...it is wonderful. I end this review in saying that it would be wise for anyone interested in the classics, from novice to advanced, no matter what the desire--you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: An Invitation to want to read all night.
Review: I received this book after a long anticipation of its arrival from Amazon.com and the wait and cost were by far worth it. As a student at Bob Jones University who loves to study and read classic literature on my spare time, the book soon became indispensable(probably with in a few minutes of cracking the cover). This volume does more in a few strokes of the pen than some do in a whole set of books. I suggest it strongly, it affirms Os Guiness' prowess as an editor as well as writer, as well as providing a concise literary base for practically every famed author of our world's favorite classic. Ranging from the Greeks to the existentalists and beyond...it is wonderful. I end this review in saying that it would be wise for anyone interested in the classics, from novice to advanced, no matter what the desire--you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Endorsements for Invitation to the Classics
Review: Invitation to the Classics immerses us in the wisdom of the ages, those noble thoughts that enrich society's values and guide our youth along positive paths toward fruitful lives.

President Jimmy Carter

A magnificent resource, an urgently needed publication in an era when politically correct higher education is trying to deconstruct Western civilization. Wonderful!

Charles Colson, Prison Fellowship

There are classics, thank God, but not many. This important publication should be in every library and out on the table in every Christian home.

Dallas Willard, Department of Philosophy, University of Southern California

Take this book, follow its guidance, and discover your roots. This collection of brief, jewel-like introductions to the classics make accessible and compelling those great writings of the Western tradition on which Christians down through the ages have been nourished, and by which they have nourished others.

Nicholas Wolterstorff, Professor of Philosophical Theology, Yale Divinity School

The classics are the best that has been thought and written about the human experience; books about nobility and valor, ambition and treachery, political theory and human passions. Invitation to the Classics is just that-an invitation to read, or to read again, these wonderful books. It does so in a way that makes them accessible, provides useful insights, and demonstrates an unabashed love for the classics.

William J. Bennett, Author, The Book of Virtues

A useful tool for encouraging interest in the timeless achievements of our civilization, and as such it may prove a valuable weapon in the ongoing battle for the culture.

Michael Medved, SRN Radio Network

A classy book that may become itself a classic of its kind: a "matchmaker" between generations, a glue to help hold a culture together-engaging, clear, attractive (verbally and visually), and a living example of the result of apprenticeship to the classics in economy and winsomeness of style and judiciousness of selection.

Peter Kreeft, Department of Philosophy, Boston College

In an age of intellectual and cultural starvation, whether deliberate or unwitting, an invitation to a literary banquet as richly nourishing as Invitation to the Classics is doubly welcome, both as a stimulus to the Christian imagination and as a reminder that there are remedies for our moral and spiritual hungers.

Luci Shaw, Poet/author, Water My Soul

A publishing event of the first magnitude. The "culture wars" raging in our land have effectively cut us off from the life-giving power of Western culture: the Left attacks tradition because it is deemed "oppressive" while the Right praises the tradition, but fails to engage it at the deepest levels. This lucid and well-organized book enables us to join the Great Conversation once again-to become active participants in a living tradition.

Greggory Wolfe, Editor, Image: A Journal of Arts and Religion

Invitation to the Classics comes at just the right time. Those who are engaged in the work of recovering true education are returning to the much neglected literary heritage of the West. This is wise; the mine may have collapsed, but the ore is still there. Invitation provides a wonderful introduction for those involved in this critical work.

Douglas Wilson, Editor, Credenda/Agenda

The liberal arts in America today are like a burnt-out forest, in which academic stars busily clear-cut what fire has spared. Yet among the stumps a close observer finds new growth: flowers, moss, young saplings. There is reason to hope. Scattered across the country, people still gladly learn and gladly teach. Those who thirst for truth and beauty beyond the superficial moment may find small satisfaction in the wreckage of once-respected universities, but what prevents them from reading for themselves? Invitation to the Classics offers them wise and friendly guidance.

Anthony Low, Professor of English, New York University

Rating:
Summary: For readers of all faiths
Review: This is a wonderful overview of classic Western literature from a Christian perspective. With a wide scope and a clarity of expression, there is likely something that any reader can enjoy and understand within these pages.

More significant than any of this, however, is that the book has something that far too many "contemporary Christian" books do not have: fundamental fairness. When dealing with unorthodox or non-religious opinions (take Nietzsche for example), the editors neither preach nor abdicate their religious duties. Instead, they urge the reader to consider the author's viewpoint, relate it to their beliefs and experiences, and take away from it what they may.

Any book which shares the good news of God's love and encourages critical thinking is a welcome addition to any bookshelf... whether a Bible shares the shelf is completely irrelevant.