I find that like most people I am painfully uninformed about the fiction that is considered most important by the three piece suit professor types. I like to be informed about things, and I really like to catch references to characters and events in conversation and in other entertainment.
I’d like to become familiar with the plots, settings, and themes of the great works I haven’t read, but i don’t actually have time to read them. Also most of them are very hard to read today, for me anyway.
So I need some help. First of all, I’d love suggestions as to which books or plays I should pursue. Which ones have had the biggest impact on our culture? Which ones pioneered something? Which ones are most commonly referenced or parodied?
Next I’d need to know where I can get good overviews. I don’t really want the depth and length of a full cliff notes volume, but I don’t exactly want a simple synopsis either. It’s an abstract line I know, but I’m not incredibly picky. I don’t mind going to the library, but internet resources are definitely preferred. And hopefully I’ll find something that interests me enough that I will actually want to read the book.
The answer to nearly every point you raise is Shakespeare. No writer has impacted the English language and literature in general like the Bard, it’s not even close.
Certainly, if you’re looking to catch references and be informed as you say then a rough knowledge of Shakey is required. I’ve not read a great deal, but I find you pick up the stories just because they are so pervasive in our culture. I’ve not read King Lear, Macbeth or Hamlet but know the gist of the plays (I’ve seen Hamlet a couple of times on stage). Characters like Brutus (Julius Caesar), Romeo and Juliet, Falstaff etc are icons in literature - it’s sort of fruitless to try and sum up their relevance because its so enormous.
The good thing is that there has to be 1000 square miles of books written about the plays - overviews, primers, analysis etc. I don’t have any specific recommendations but I am sure other posters can make some.
Classic novels in 5 minutes a day. Get cultured on your coffee break. They don’t have a huge selection, but when you’re spreading Beowulf out over 3 weeks you’re not going to burn through the catalog in a hurry.
Anglo Saxon literature in general. The Bard was unique but there were other unique geniuses that influenced other literatures more. For us it’s the “one handed man from Lepanto”.
Dante, Homer, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Ibsen, etc they are all part of the canon for a reason.
This is, by no means, and indictment agains Shak. He was great, and very influencial.
If you go to a library with a decent collection (such as your city’s central branch, or a college library), you’ll get a better sense of what works have the most cultural influence on the West, simply by their physical presence, and that of writings about them. Because the shelves are organized by author, you can see which works (and which literary criticisms) are most requested and read. The internet is flighty and susceptible to idiosyncratic fancy.
In any case, you’re not very likely to become “familiar” with any kind of literature simply by asking a bunch of random people on a message board to give you recommendations. Choose what works and authors interest you most, find out how they were influenced, and whom they influenced. It’s not a systematic form of inquiry; just follow your guts. Nobody has a totally comprehensive familiarity of all the “classics,” however you define them.
I’ve been cramming for a big test, and the best one-stop resource I’ve found for an overview of the Canon is SparkNotes Literature 101: it gives you 5-10 pages on each of 250 or so significant works.
Good suggestions all, I’m well on my way to knowing more stuff!
For the record, I have nothing against books, I actually love the things. I have a few hundred myself, and there have been periods of my life when I’ve practically lived in the library. So I read a lot, it’s just that 95% of it is non-fiction. I like books and I like storytelling, just not necessarily together (there are a few key exceptions). Ultimately I’d just rather read about a novel than to read the darn thing itself…Guess I’m weird that way.