Incomparable AudiOverview of American Literature

If you love reading or wish you'd taken that American Lit course in college or paid attention when you did, this is a great opportunity to explore and learn in over 43 hours of a conversational look by Ivy League (Brown) professor Arnold Weinstein at American literature going back to Ben Franklin's Autobiography and up to Toni Morrison's "Beloved." The course covers not only narratives (novels novellas and short stories), but also poetry by Whitman, Frost, Eliot and Dickinson (over 11 hours), plays by Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams (about 4 1/2 hours) and essays/memoirs by Emerson and Thoreau (about 4 1/2 hours). In the area of narratives, Professor Weinstein quite thoroughly examines in over 23 hours of courses, in addition to Ben Franklin and Morrison, the works of Washington Irving, Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Twain, Henry James, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, Steinbeck, Ellison and a few others.

If you haven't read a lot of these materials, don't be dissuaded from taking the plunge into this fabulous exploration of America through literature. I hadn't read many of the works, particularly the shorter ones, yet Professor Weinstein inspired me to read a lot of them. His teaching method doesn't require you to have read them to enjoy and learn from the course. Significantly too, the Professor doesn't stick solely to the works typically associated with a particular author. For example, he spent some time studying lesser known works by Melville ("Benito Cereno"), Hemingway ("Garden of Eden") and Twain ("Pudd'nhead Wilson"). And, perhaps the best thing about this audio course is that, if you aren't interested in an author/poet/playwright/essayist, you can skip that lecture *with impunity*.

I cannot recommend this course highly enough to anyone who loves lit, but never had a chance or took the time to study it. For me, this course was worth several credits and more.

75 people found this helpful

A thorough and perceptive overview

I find myself enjoying all the Great Courses audio programs on topics that interest me. This one, on Classics of American Literature, is an extensive and thorough overview of some of the greatest works ever written. The speaker offers a perceptive, informative analysis of each work, sometimes offering as many as three sessions on a single work, examining it from a variety of angles. It is tremendously engaging and an excellent value.

15 people found this helpful

Classic what?

This should properly be titled "Classic Authors, Poets and Playwrights of American Literature" since that is the focus. The Professor points out that many of the writings he examines are little known or unknown works that he picked to help highlight the people. Even when he sets a lecture on a specific work it is usually viewed through the lens of what it shows about the writer. The irony is that when he does actually deal with a text there is good stuff but its more like 4-8 hours not 43 hours.

Production/performance is very uneven. First of all Great Courses, I know who you are, I know what the course is. I don't need to be told about you every 10 lectures nor do I need the introduction to the course to be repeated with it.

This is recorded with an audience which I can live with, some people do better with one but I have to listen to every dropped object, rustled paper, stirring soul because the Prof has a habit of dropping his voice to a whisper at odd intervals (or turning away from the mics, I'm not sure) so the volume has to be turned way up, and you still aren't able to make out what he says. Is this a classroom device to bring the students to the front?

The speaking is uneven. Lecture after lecture will go fine then he's suddenly using a bunch of fill words (uh, um, etc) and repeating syllables (it it it, th th th, etc) its not a stammer but more like he's lost the train of thought and is searching for words. Its jarring since its either completely absent or all in. Other times I want to get him a glass of water for the coughing or dryness of throat. Was this an early course and Great Courses hadn't learned about being able to retake, pause, edit and so on?

From a personal quirk the many mispronunciations are endearing. Having grown up doing far more reading than talking I too often mispronounce words. You don't often realize the commonness of the problem since those who have this problem are rarely caught speaking.

8 people found this helpful

Great lectures, no track listing

What made the experience of listening to Classics of American Literature the most enjoyable?

I learned a lot and I'm a teacher so this helps.

What other book might you compare Classics of American Literature to and why?

Other lectures in the series.

What about Professor Arnold Weinstein’s performance did you like?

Very clear, like being in the front row of the class.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, but I teach specific books and this is great for educating myself.

Any additional comments?

There's no way to know which tracks correspond to which books/stories! Very frustrating.

33 people found this helpful

Surprisingly disappointed

Any additional comments?

I was really looking forward to listening to Classics of American Literature yet I find myself rather disappointed. The content is interesting but I feel that the lecturer spent too many lectures on individual authors and texts. For example, I love Poe but I did not really feel having three lectures over him and his works was needed. The same goes for Hemingway and Steinbeck who earned five and six lectures respectively. I enjoy these authors but feel there were many authors and works left out of the course as a result of spending so much time with the same individuals. Overall, the content was interesting but I would have liked more variety.

27 people found this helpful

Prof Weinstein pushes his perspective on the books

Would you try another book from The Great Courses and/or Professor Arnold Weinstein?

.

Any additional comments?

Professor Weinstein is learned and entertaining, but he tends to be a bit tone-deaf to the transcendent or spiritual themes and authors. He doesn't seem able to follow an author to the spiritual heights. He always wants to deflate the symbols of transcendence with a kind of materialist reductionism. He's not an angry atheist type who wants to insult everything spiritual, but religious themes of Uncle Tom's Cabin for instance seem closed to him as if he is numb to ecstatic moral moments that lay the Truth bare before a reader. When discussing the moment of death in an Emily Dickenson poem, he insists that the poet is noting how people "bring out their myths" to cope with the loss. Reading the poem without that reduction gives no such impression. For me, the professor flattened the very high spiritual peaks of American literature. I hesitate to recommend this program.

21 people found this helpful

Never read the classics in the past

Decided to read the classics that I didn't when I was younger. These lectures were very helpful in understanding the books and helped me choose which classics I will now add to my listening list.

3 people found this helpful

not about the books it's more about the authors

What would have made Classics of American Literature better?

actually talking about the books.

What character would you cut from Classics of American Literature?

Professor Arnold Weinstein

Any additional comments?

I picked this course up hoping to get some insight on the stories, the reaction they had on people of the time and the reasons that these particular stories were considered classics. What I got instead was a professor droning on and on about the authors. It's less about literature and more of a bad history class. I say bad history because while I would love to hear about the authors, the way the professor here presents the material is boring and made me want to drive rusty spoons in my ears to make him stop.

Lucky for me I found the pause button before I found the spoons.

15 people found this helpful

without reference, art loses itself

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Those who are interested in art simply for art's sake with minimal thoughtfulness put forth.

What was most disappointing about The Great Courses’s story?

Prof. Weinstein specifically points out that he isn't interested in the history around these stories. Without a reference point, a great deal of the meaning is lost. During the lecture on Rip Van Winkle in New York, and the changes that take place while he's sleeping, speaking about the radical changes to life in NY with the Erie Canal at the same time as that story would speak VOLUMES about the story itself. There's a circular argument in Emerson wherein Shakespeare is still alive within us, and then he goes on to argue that a live dog is worth more than a dead lion. There are intellectual failures throughout the course.

Removing context from a story and then pretending that one can truly evaluate the story is a lie.

What didn’t you like about Professor Arnold Weinstein’s performance?

The analyses done on these stories is shallow and short-sighted. This is the level of work I got in my high school classes, without the value of any deeper discussion. It's not worthy of the several other Great Courses which I've experienced.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Deep disappointment. This is a university level course steeped in closed-mindedness. At the university level, I want to know how several people experienced these novels, and I want the analysis to discuss the world in which the stories are written. The world of the author matters.

Any additional comments?

This is the twelfth course I've listened to through the Great Courses. Most are excellent. If you share the viewpoints of the author, you'll probably enjoy this one. If you listen to the first 2-3 lectures and, like me, want to argue with the air - stop listening, it won't get any better.

38 people found this helpful

Excellent

50 plus years ago I finally completed all the liberal arts requirements (modern European history, religion, foreign language, English, etc.) and filled the last 2 years of college with nothing but math, physics, and chemistry. Being a slow reader and basically not too bright, I knew those required courses were valuable but not for me. Listening to these lectures confirms that I am still not too bright; however, being able to hear the details, complexity, and genius involved in the selected works (without worrying about looking like an idiot in class, or having to earn a good grade) was most enjoyable.

An odd style point of Dr. Weinstein occurs at the conclusion of most lectures. After 30 minutes of making many points and coherent argument, he ends almost without a conclusion. He seems to fade away like a rock song for which no one could write an ending.

1 person found this helpful