The Skeptic's Guide to the Great Books

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01: A Skeptic's Way; Gogol's "Dead Souls"

Start with an overview of what it means to take a skeptical approach to the "Great Books." Then, dive right into the course with Nikolai Gogol's "Dead Souls", a marvelous short novel that proves just as effective as War and Peace at capturing the diverse spirit of early 19th-century Russia.

32 min

02: Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London"

Travel to the seedy, impoverished underside of 1920s Europe with this lecture on George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London". In particular, explore how this book blurred the lines between literature and journalism and foreshadowed the New Journalism style of Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, and others.

29 min

03: Cisneros's "The House on Mango Street"

Stories about growing up have long been a part of literature - and one that Professor Voth considers to be frequently overlooked is Sandra Cisneros's "The House on Mango Street". Here, delve into some of this collection's most important stories and the ways they reflect powerful themes and ideas about maturation.

29 min

04: Warren's "All the King's Men"

Discover why Robert Penn Warren's "All the King's Men" stands in the shadow of some of Joseph Conrad's canonical novels. Pay particular attention to the book's engaging narrator, Jack Burden; its broken chronology that jumps backward and forward; and its stirring views on justice, politics, and the dangers of digging up the past.

31 min

05: Kushner's "Angels in America"

Learn how you can get just as much from reading Tony Kushner's epic play, "Angels in America", as you can from reading the works of Bertolt Brecht. Professor Voth helps you navigate the plot and themes of this masterpiece, which explores everything from Reagan-era America and homosexuality to Mormonism and the end of Communism.

34 min

06: Didion's "Slouching towards Bethlehem"

What do the essays in Joan Didion's "Slouching towards Bethlehem" have in common with more classic examples from writers like Montaigne and E. B. White? How do their styles and subject matter tap into the "atomization" of California in the 1960s? And why should you consider reading this work in lieu of Charles Dickens's Sketches by Boz?

31 min

07: Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita"

Make better sense of the narrative complexities of Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita", a fantastical novel that depicts the confrontation between Soviet state control and a visionary individual. Also, see how this Russian masterpiece looks when read in the shadow of one of its most important inspirations: Goethe's Faust.

31 min

08: Zusak's "The Book Thief"

Move to the second part of the course, which considers important works from genres that traditionally fall outside of literary canons. Professor Voth shows how Markus Zusak's "The Book Thief" - in its unusual point of view, its World War II Germany setting, and its lack of sentimentality is more than just a young adult novel.

30 min

09: James's "Death of an Expert Witness"

P. D. James undoubtedly expanded the scope and reach of the detective novel genre, letting it offer many of the same pleasures and insights we get from traditional literary fiction. See her skills at work in one of her most popular books, "Death of an Expert Witness."

29 min

10: Le Carré's "The Spy Who Came In from the Cold"

What P.D. James did for the detective novel, John le Carré did for the spy novel with "The Spy Who Came In from the Cold." Despite the fact that his characters are conceived in terms of the roles they play in the plot, le Carré manages to turn this thrilling tale of espionage into a stirring commentary on cold war era values.

31 min

11: Moore and Gibbons's "Watchmen"

Uncover the literary strengths of graphic novels with this look at Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's revolutionary work, "Watchmen". This realistic look at the world of superheroes, you'll find, is capable of dealing with the same challenging ideas that you'd expect from a more canonical work of literature.

32 min

12: Skeptics and Tigers; Martel's "Life of Pi"

How does Yann Martel's "Life of Pi" make the case for the literary merits of the blockbuster bestseller? End the course by exploring this question, then stepping back and reevaluating the merits of treating nontraditional literary works with as much importance as those in the canon.

32 min

Overview Course No. 2112

Hamlet. Moby-Dick. War and Peace. Ulysses. These works of literature have been singled out as essential parts of a well-read individual's reading list. The only problem: The "Great Books" can be daunting, intimidating, and oftentimes nearly impossible to get through. The truth of the matter is that there is so much more to literature than these giants of the Western canon. In fact, you can get the same pleasures, satisfactions, and insights from books that have yet to be considered "great." Books that are shorter, more accessible, and less dependent on classical references and difficult language. Books that, in the opinion of popular Great Courses Professor Grant L. Voth of Monterey Peninsula College, "allow you to connect with them without quite so many layers of resistance to work through."

When you take this skeptical approach to the "Great Books," you open yourself up to works that are just as engaging, just as enjoyable, and - most important - just as insightful about great human themes and ideas as anything you'd encounter on a college-level reading list. Professor Voth's course, The Skeptic's Guide to the Great Books, is your opportunity to discover new literary adventures that make worthy substitutes to works from the Western literary canon. In these 12 highly rewarding lectures, you'll get an introduction to 12 works that redefine what great literature is and how it can reveal startling truths about life - all without being such a chore to read.

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About

Dr. Grant L. Voth

No idea of any single culture will ever capture the entire human sense of god, or creation, or the hero; and to get a more complete human picture, we have to look at the myths of many cultures.

ALMA MATER

Purdue University

INSTITUTION

Monterey Peninsula College

Dr. Grant L. Voth, is Professor Emeritus at Monterey Peninsula College. After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Greek, he received his Master of Arts degree in English Education from St. Thomas College and his doctorate in English from Purdue University. Professor Voth was the Monterey Peninsula Students' Association Teacher of the Year and the recipient of the first Allen Griffin Award for Excellence in Teaching in Monterey County. Professor Voth is the author of more than 30 articles and books on subjects ranging from Shakespeare to Edward Gibbon to modern American fiction, including the official study guides for 26 of the plays in the BBC Television Shakespeare project. He created a series of mediated courses in literature and interdisciplinary studies, one of which won a Special Merit Award from the Western Educational Society for Telecommunication. Professor Voth's other Great Courses include A Day's Read, The History of World Literature, Myth in Human History, and The Skeptic's Guide to the Great Books.

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