WEM Project



This is my self project to delve into the classics pieces using methods from The Well Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. From 150 classics the book has suggested, I have picked 40 that I planned to read (without any time target), and I don't read them in certain order. The list could expanded or updated along the way.

  1. Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes
  2. The Pilgrim’s Progress – John Bunyan
  3. Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift
  4. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (re-read)
  5. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
  6. The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
  7. Moby Dick – Herman Melville
  8. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  9. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
  10. The Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy
  11. The Portrait of A Lady – Henry James
  12. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
  13. The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton
  14. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald (re-read)
  15. Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
  16. The Trial – Franz Kafka
  17. Native Son - Richard Wright
  18. The Stranger – Albert Camus
  19. 1984 – George Orwell
  20. Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison
  21. If on a winter's night a traveller - Italo Calvino
  22. Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison
  23. Possession – A.S. Byatt
  24. The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila – St. Teresa of Avila
  25. The Confessions – St. Augustine
  26. Roman Lives - Plutarch
  27. City of God – St. Augustine
  28. The Prince – Niccolo Machiavelli
  29. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon
  30. All The President’s Men - Carl Bernstein, Bob Woodward
  31. Agamemnon - Aeschylus
  32. Richard III – William Shakespeare
  33. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
  34. The Cherry Orchard – Anton Chekhov
  35. Saint Joan – George Bernard Shaw
  36. Dante’s Inferno – Dante Alighieri
  37. A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen
  38. Doctor Faustus - Christopher Marlowe
  39. A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennesse Williams
  40. Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller


14 comments:

  1. Oh Yea! Glad to know you're reading these WEM titles. I always enjoy reading your insights!

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    1. Thanks Adriana, I'm now munching the first book from the list: The Scarlet Letter, and have been enjoying it till now! :)

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    2. Fanda, on Feb. 19th I am putting up a post on my place about how I take notes. Some of the WEM ladies are going to be writing posts on the same topic and we're all going to link to each other that day. I think we all have a different system. I thought it would be fun and helpful to share what we do.

      You are invited to take part! Let me know if you want to do it so I can link to you! Take care! :)

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    3. Wow, very interesting idea. Count me in, Adriana!

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  2. Fanda, I loved your wonderful selection of classics. I read many of them, but the ones I'd like to read (I have them) are: Don Quixote, The Divine Comedy, Faust (Goethe), Confessions' of St. Augustine, and Confessions' of Jean Jacques Rousseau. As for the book "The Well-Educated Mind", I've never heard about it, but I've just purchased through Amazon few seconds ago. Your blog is so enlightening and informative. Good luck with your readings.

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    1. Ahh...I'm going to read The Divine Comedy from June to August (each part for each month), do you want to read along with me? ;)

      It's good to hear that you too are interested in WEM! Good luck too with your journey with WEM...

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    2. It is a great Idea.. I think I'll join you.. I always wanted to read this great work, and I have two versions, one of which is illustrated by Gustave Dure..

      As for WEM, I learnt from Amazon that they have just shipped it to me, and I'd like to read it.. Thanks for you inspirations.

      Happy Reading.

      Maan

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    3. Great! Actually I'll be reading Divine Comedy for Narrative Poem Reading Challenge (the link is on the right sidebar, under '2013 Challenges'). Usually I don't like poem, so it'd be really a challenge to read it. I'll let you know when I'm going to start it!

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    4. Good for you.! Actually, I tried to read the "Divine Commedy" many times but failed to do so; what prevented me from continuing the reading, was the need to frequently refer to the notes pages in order to understand the symbols and names included in the work. I have different versions, the most beautiful one I have (but without interpretatioin" is the one Illustrated by Gustave Dure. I love poems so much, and I would recommend Keats "La Belle Dames Sans Merci" and Tennyson's "The Lady of Shallott"; as a narrative poems. I usually refer to Sparknotes for analysis and better understanding of themes and motives.

      Maan K

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    5. I'm going to be reading from ebook (don't have enough time to order online), so I think I'll consult Sparknotes very often. Thanks for the info.

      I'd try The Divine Comedy first, if I like it, I'll consider to read other narrative poems that you recommend. Thanks :)

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  3. I'm still waitng for my copy of the "Well-Educated Mind" in a couple of days; sounds very interesting :-)

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  4. I just found your blog and I really enjoy it. Keep up the good work!

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