Reading
From January 2021 to the end of 2022 I am reading a selection of the "Great Books" of the Western Canon.
The list below is compiled from several sources:
I have also added some more books, inspired by Tommy Collison's Great Books list, conversations with friends, and personal interest.
Here is the list:
(Anon): Beowulf Aquinas: Treatise on Law Arendt: The Human Condition Arendt: The Origins of Totalitarianism Aristotle: Politics Augustine: The City of God Austen: Pride and Prejudice Boswell: The Life of Johnson Brecht: Mother Courage and Her Children Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales Constant: The Liberty of the Ancients Dante: The Divine Comedy Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy Du Bois: The Souls of Black Folks Fanon: The Wretched of the Earth Fukuyama: The End of History and the Last Man Gandhi: Hind Swaraj Hayek: The Road to Serfdom Herodotus: The History Hobbes: Leviathan Homer: Iliad Homer: The Odyssey Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature Huxley: Brave New World Kant: Perpetual Peace and other Essays Livy: The Rise of Rome Locke: Second Treatise of Government MacKinnon: Towards a Feminist Theory of the State Machiavelli: The Prince Marx: Communist Manifesto Marx: Selected Writings Nietzsche: On the Genealogy of Morals Orwell: 1984 Plato: Republic Plato: The Last Days of Socrates Rousseau: Political Writings Shakespeare: Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Richard III, Henry V, Tempest and Twelfth Night Shelly: Frankenstein Smith: The Wealth of Nations Sophocles: Antigone Tacitus: Annals Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War Toqueville: Democracy in America Vergil: The Aeneid Weber: The Profession and Vocation of Politics Wollstonecraft: A Vindication of the Rights of Women Woolf: Mrs Dalloway By the nature of following the traditional "Western Canon" works the list is not particularly diverse. I will do two things to alleviate this bias: 1) Seek out classic works outside the canon to expand the list, 2) Read adaptions, re-interpretations or translations made by women and non-white writers.
There are some obvious Classics that are missing from this list, and I will be adding these as I decide which works to read. As I read around each of the books I'll be posting on my Goodreads profile.
Other Reading Lists
I am in the process of putting together a reading list for photography. If you have thoughts on any of these lists then please do drop me a line!