Three influential books, books our majors should read before they commence …*(a freebie, and not one of my main three) a Bible
1. Jaynes, Julian. The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. [That's Jaynes on the left and Yozzo on the right. ]
3. Eliade, Mircea. Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return. [That's Eliade on the right.]
I read Eliade's The Sacred and the Profane last semester for my final paper in myth--I have to say after reading that, I would jump into Cosmos and History with gusto. :)
ReplyDeleteI read The Little Prince long ago, and though I have not read the Bible cover to cover, I have read a healthy chunk of it. I must confess, though, that I had never heard of Eliade and Jaynes.
ReplyDeleteSo, Amanda, what did you learn from The Sacred and the Profane? Would you mind giving a taste to those of us who are unfamiliar with Eliade's work?
This is a very old conversation on here.. but I would wonder why would you say that everyone should "read" a bible before their commencement?
ReplyDeleteI have read the book cover to cover (actually more than once) and don't find that this is an important thing to have tackled before one had graduated college. Although, I would agree that *if* one was going to suggest it that it should be suggested that you read more then one version of it. Definitely the Syrian-Coptic which is considered *THE* most authoritative and complete version in the world. :)
Personally, I think that the bible is like any other book--take what is useful and leave the rest. It is a book that is filled with multiple meanings to myraid people and as such--it would be better suited to a parochial school than a secular one.
For me, I would put a Truman Capote novel on the same shelf and probably read the Capote novel before the bible novel. :) but then again, that's just me. ;)
As someone who didn't read any version of the Bible prior to graduating, I can say that everyone interested in literature should for two reasons. First, without the spiritual context gained from reading the Bible, readers aren't as able to recognize, interpret, and remark on Christian symbols in literary analysis. Such symbols and context are a rich source of information. The second good reason to read the Bible is that is a good read, certainly classic literature by any standard, full of poetry and drama. I wish I had read it sooner.
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