Life Lessons from the Great Books

Interesting but a bit scattered by Prof. Fears

If you could sum up Life Lessons from the Great Books in three words, what would they be?

Insightful. Entertaining. Scattered.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Life Lessons from the Great Books?

Recounting the story of the Odyssey, he reads his interpretation of the lesson from the book and you get a real feeling that this one struck him just a bit deeper then some of the rest.

Have you listened to any of Professor J. Rufus Fears’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Prof. Fears has done tons of wonderful content for TTC and this one is not an exception.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

His descriptions of the lives of Washington and Lincoln in discussing their farewell and inauguration speeches rekindled a desire to research both.

Any additional comments?

Two minor quibbles: Prof. Fears structures the course as a series of themes, so the books feel a bit disjointed - he'll be talking about Greeks, then suddenly he'll be in early America. It also felt a bit "Western Civ" oriented (So the Tale of the Genji had nothing to teach us?)

But those two criticisms aside, I can happily recommend this series to anyone who likes to hear a very intelligent, thoughful person talking about something they're passionate about.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Excellent series on lessons from the great books

This was a very well performed series of lectures on the great books. The professor would summarize a book in each lecture and then draw some generalities that we can apply to our own lives. Sometimes these lessons seemed a little too general or strained, but overall it was a good exposure to a number of books I wasn't familiar with, and a good refresher on other books I haven't read in years.

The best thing I can say is that it has inspired me to want to read several of the books covered in the series.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great course!

I really appreciate Rufus Fears classical perspective of focusing on the lessons/wisdom to be gained from the history and the classics as opposed to the composition of the stories. His knowledge of history and classical approach provides context to the classics and does more than just provides a "cliff's notes" version of the stories. After this course I was genuinely interested in reading or re-reading several of these classics.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Not that great!

Lots of talking about the books. Lots of reading, or paraphrasing, large swaths of passages from the books. No real lifting of "lessons to be learned". Personally, I would not want to incorporate the themes and ideas of some of these books into my life, but I like most of the stories, as stories -- period. I am continuing to listen to it for ideas about future books to read, but not to learn life lessons. It really does not give you what the title says, but it does make you familiar with the books and future reading possibilities. The only book so far that really gave a palpable life lesson, in my opinion, is the one about Albert Schweitzer. There are, of course, moments in most of the books. One of the worst things – thus far – about these lectures, is that he tells the story of Hamlet WRONG! How can someone get the story of Hamlet wrong!?

A review of the greatest books

This is an awesome review of the greatest books in the world to get the lessons learnt and the philosophy each book wants to reach. What can be better?

Same exceptional style as The Wisdom of History

This course fits nicely with Professor Fears' course The Wisdom of History, which is by far my favorite of The Great Courses. like it, Fears teaches to specific life lessons he draws from the material. I seldom see this approach. Most teachers give you the dry material with little context and no guidance on what lessons to draw from it. He manages to humanize every person he talks about. On top of all this, he possesses the best lecturing style of anyone I have heard.

Exceptional Teacher

Professor Fears is an exceptional teacher, his message is captivating and memorable. The best part of the book is his definition of a great book. "A great book possesses four qualities: 1) It deals with a great theme. 2) It is written in noble language. 3) It speaks across the ages. 4) It speaks to us as individuals." He uses this as a rubric for each book discussed. Audible 20 Review Sweepstakes Entry

one of the best

this is a must read, entertaining and helps you to learn so much about the great books and also this is one of the best narrators in the audible collection

A preacher? Religiosity....

This seemed like a great course. However I couldn't listen beyond Part One.

The professor comes across as a TV evangelical. I have no issue with that, except it isn't scholarly or interesting for me. I've had enough of bible studies. I expected great works of literature to be discussed. Not speeches and gospels. From the start of the series, the professor sets a tone that is too preachy for me to continue. Gospel is definitely an interesting subject, but the interpretation here of John's gospel made me very uncomfortable. If were not Christian, I imagine I would be offended that he pulls a Mel Gibson and makes a point to place blame for Jesus' death on Jewish leaders. There is no life lesson there.


Disappointed.

20 of 47 people found this review helpful