Project #3: Baroness Orczy :The Scarlet Pimpernel

True confession: I didn't make it very far into The Last of the Mohicans before I got really bored and busy and frustrated. But since last August, I have managed to read Treasure Island and the first half of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea aloud to my sixth graders. So I have been enjoying classics with my sixth grade class, even though the plan set forth on TBC hasn't worked out so well. Our next read aloud book will be The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. This book is set during the French Revolution (18th century), when French peasants were beheading aristocrats (upper class) as fast as they could with "Madame la Guillotine" before they might make it out of Paris. The Scarlet Pimpernel is a mysterious Englishman who manages to sneek gobs of wealthy aristocrats out of Paris right under the military's nose, saving their lives.

I'm excited about a project that I can do with my students, because I know I will complete it. Read along with us and share your thoughts and perhaps I'll share some of theirs.

Project #2: James Fenimore Cooper:The Last of the Mohicans

Well, this blog has already managed to reaffirm three deep convictions.

1.I'm too busy to read classics for pleasure.

2.So is everybody else.

3.Those rare people that aren't too busy are probably too lazy.

So, instead of getting discouraged and erasing this blog, I'm just going to start picking classics that are extremely entertaining (and were turned into amazing movies :)

With that in mind, The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, is our next project in the Tattered Book Club. If you have read it, please let us know what you thought. If you'd like to read along, get a copy. I'm shooting to have it done by mid-November, so we can move to a Christmas classic over the holidays.

Happy reading and special thanks for all your insights and comments!!! The wisdom expressed is hard to describe.

Goodwill Hunting

Hello lovers of Classic literature! This summer, I've perfected a new "game," which is great for people with too much time on their hands (like teachers with the summer off) and who are affected by our increasingly consumeristic culture.

I like to call it Goodwill Hunting and its good times had by all. A while back, I stumbled upon a Goodwill in downtown Colorado Springs with a massive section of books. They have even organized them into specific sections. I'm not sure exactly what that means about the residents of CS, but my guess is lots of people are either moving or dying with lots of books they can't take with them. Their loss, my gain.

I love searching through the classics section and find gold nuggets. I found brand new editions of Oliver Twist, The Scarlet Letter, The Last of the Mohicans, The Three Musketeers, Anna Karenina, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and several others. And all these are about $.50 a piece. I leave with a bag of the greatest literary works throughout history, with a big grin on my face as I hand the lady a $5 and she gives me change!

To make the game even better, if that's possible, about 3 of the 6 Goodwill's in Colorado Springs have great sections with lots of new stuff flowing in all the time. The only possible problem will Goodwill Hunting is when I move from Colorado, I might be taking alot of these books and Goodwill Donating them right back. But at least they spent some quality time on my shelf and I could stamp them "This Book Belongs to Andrew Hess."

I don't know how the Goodwill market is in your corner of the globe, but you should probably check it out. You might save yourself some major cheddar and find some books you never knew you were always searching for...

Project #1: Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales

We start our discussion with Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Good translations (Penguin's translation by Nevill Coghill is my favorite) make this a very enjoyable read and good place to start. Our plan is to read over the next three months (April, May and June) and discuss different aspects we come across along the way.

General Outline

Generally, Chaucer allows his readers to observe the pilgrimage of 29 random persons from Southwark, a suburb of London, to Canterbury. Along the way, the group tells stories to pass the time. The prologue at the beginning is long, but gives important information about each of the travelers. It might be helpful to read (or reread) sections of the prologue about specific characters before reading that character's story.

Questions to Explore

What are the literary pleasures of the passage?
Which character do you enjoy the most?
Which story do you enjoy the most?


Happy Reading!

Quotes on Reading Classic Literature

"...the best argument for the classics is the classics themselves. If the great classics of Western imagination and ideas are really what we believe them to be - and what they have shown themselves to be - they have their own authority and speak best for themselves."
~Os Guinness


"...we all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books...The only palliative is to keep the clean breeze of the centuries blowing through out minds, and this can be done only by reading old books."
~CS Lewis


"In a time when our current culture is increasingly secular in its aims, one of the most important resources Christians possess is this large treasure trove of works that have already been assimilated by readers and commentators in the nearly two thousand years of Western Christendom."
~Loise Cowen


"It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones."
~CS Lewis


"In a word, our whole civilization, our freedom, our progress, our homes, our religion, rest solidly upon ideals for their foundation. Nothing but an ideal ever endures upon earth. It is therefore impossible to overestimate the practical importance of literature, which preserves these ideals from fathers to sons, while men, cities, governments, civilizations, vanish from the face of the earth."
~William Long


"Great Literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree."
~Ezra Pound


"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill."
~Barbara W. Tuchman


"While thought exists, words are alive and literature becomes an escape, not from, but into living."
~Cyril Connolly

A Guide for the Road

This blog is committed to the continual grazing in the green, green fields of these classic works. But we'd be lying to claim we came to this conviction on our own. We have come to the classics by invitation alone and have been so pleasantly surprised by all there is to see and explore in them, we wanted to create an environment to share our gleanings.

An Invitation to the Classics: A Guide to Books You've Always Wanted to Read has been a breath of fresh air in a world of literary smog. I don't know why our formal educations never instilled such curiosity and desire to dive into the greatest books ever written. Perhaps, our ignorant youths were to blame, but whatever the reason, we are glad to be enlightened now. Invitation to the Classics is a book that explores the "masterworks" and the individuals who wrote them. The combilnation of biography and synopsis is a great introduction and means of drawing us in.

We are excited to stir up conversations around dinner tables and in coffee shops across the country. If just one person gets turned on to a timeless book, our blog has served its purpose well. Look for honest reflections from a broad range of academic and vocational backgrounds. We are not experts on literature per se, but are interested in living well, thinking good thoughts and placing proper affections. May our words be helpful and enjoyable and extend the invitation on to you as well.