Thereisnoendtothemakingofbooks.Nordoesthereseemtobeanyendtothemakingoflistsof鈥済reatbooks.鈥Therehavealwaysbeenmorebooksthananyonecouldread.Andastheyhavemultipliedthroughthecenturies,moreandmoreblue-ribbonlistshavehadtobemade.
Nomatterhowlongyourlife,youwill,atbest,beabletoreadonlyafewbooksofallthathavebeenwritten,andthefewyoudoreadshouldincludethebest.Youcanrejoiceinthefactthatthenumberofsuchisrelativelysmall.
Thelistingofthebestbooksisasoldasreadingandwriting.TheteachersandlibrariansofancientAlexandriadidit.QuintiliandiditforRomaneducation,selecting,ashesaid,bothancientandmodernclassics.IntheRenaissance,suchleadersoftherevivaloflearningasMontaigneandErasmusmadelistsofthebookstheyread.
Itistobeexpectedthattheselectionswillchangewillthetimes.Yetthereisasurprisinguniformityinthelistswhichrepresentthebestchoicesofanyperiod.Ineveryage,thelistmakersincludebothancientandmodernbooksintheirselections,andtheyalwayswonderwhetherthemodernsareuptothegreatbooksofthepast.
WhatarethesignsbywhichwemayrecognizeagreatbookThesixIwillmentionmaynotbeallthereare,buttheyaretheonesI'vefoundmostusefulinexplainingmychoicesovertheyears.
Greatbooksareprobablythemostwidelyread.Theyarenotbestsellersforayearortwo.Theyareenduringbestsellers.GONEWITHTHEWINDhashadrelativelyfewreaderscomparedtotheplaysofShakespeareorDONQUIXOTE.ItwouldbereasonabletoestimatethatHomer'sliadhsbeenreadbyatleast25,000,000peopleinthelast3000years.
Agreatbookneednotevenbeabestsellerinitsownday.Itmaytaketimeforittoaccumulateitsultimateaudience.TheastronomerKepler,whoseworkontheplanetarymotionsisnowaclassic,isreportedtohavesaidofhisbookthat鈥渋tmaywaitacenturyforareader,asGodhaswaited6000yearsforanobserver.鈥
Greatbooksarepopular,notpedantic.Theyarenotwrittenbyspecialistsaboutspecialtiesforspecialists.Whethertheybephilosophyorscience,orhistoryorpoetry,theytreatofhuman,notacademicproblems.Theyarewrittenformen,notprofessors.Toreadatextbookforadvancedstudents,youhavetoreadanelementarytextbookfirst.Butthegreatbookscanbeconsideredelementaryinthesensethattheytreattheelementsofanysubjectmatter.Theyarenotrelatedtooneanotherasaseriesoftextbooks,gradedindifficultyorinthetechnicalityoftheproblemswithwhichtheydeal.
Thereisonekindofpriorreading,however,whichdoeshelpyoutoreadagreatbook,andthatistheothergreatbookstheauthorhimselfread.LetmeillustratethispointbytakingEuclid'selementsofGeometryandNewton'sMathematicalPrinciplesofNaturalPhilosophy.Euclidrequiresnopriorstudyofmathematics.Hisbookisgenerallyanintroductiontogeometry,andtobasicarithmeticaswell.ThesamecannotbesaidforNewton,becauseNewtonusesmathematicsinthesolutionofphysicalproblems.HisstyleshowshowdeeplyhewasinfluencedbyEuclid'streatmentofrationandproportions.Hisbookis,therefore,notreadilyintelligible,eventoscientists,unlessEuclidhasbeenreadbefore.
Iamnotsayingthatgreatscientificbookscanbereadwithouteffort.Iamsayingthatiftheyarereadinanhistoricalorder,theeffortisrewarded.JustasEuclidilluminatesNewtonandGalileo,sotheyinturnhelptomakeEinsteinintelligible.Thepointappliestophilosophicalbooksaswell.
Greatbooksarealwayscontemporary.Incontrast,thebookswecall鈥渃ontemporary鈥becausetheyarecurrentlypopular,lastonlyforayearortwo,ortenatthemost.Youprobablycannotrecallthenamesofmanyearlierbestsellers,andyouprobablywouldnotbeinterestedinreadingthem.Butthegreatbooksareneveroutmodedbythemovementofthoughtortheshiftingwindsofdoctrineandopinion.
Peopleregardthe鈥渃lassics鈥asthegreathas-beens,thegreatbooksofothertimes.鈥淥urtimesaredifferent,鈥theysay.Onthecontrary,thegreatbooksarenotdustyremainsforscholarstoinvestigate,theyare,rather,themostpotentcivilizingforcesintheworldtoday.
Thefundamentalhumanproblemsremainthesameinallages.AnyonewhoreadsthespeechesofDemosthenesandthelettersofCicero,ortheessaysofBaconandMontaigne,willfindhowconstantisthepreoccupationofmenwithhappinessandjustice,withvirtueandtruthandevenwithstabilityandchangeitself.Wemayacceleratethemotionsoflife,butwecannotseemtochangetheroutesthatareavailabletoitsgoals.
Greatbooksarethemostreadable.Theywillnotletyoudownifyoutrytoreadthemwell.Theyhavemoreideasperpagethanmostbookshaveintheirentirety.Thatiswhyyoucanreadagreatbookoverandoveragainandneverexhaustitscontents.
Theycanbereadatmanydifferentlevelsofunderstanding,aswellaswithagreatdiversityofinterpretations.ObviousexamplesareGULLIVER'STRAVELS,ROBINSONCRUSOEandtheODYSSEY.Childrencanreadthemwithenjoyment,butfailtofindthereinallthebeautyandsignificancewhichdelightanadultmind.
Greatbooksarethemostinstructive.Thisfollowsfromthefactthattheyareoriginalcommunications;theycontainwhatcannotbefounditotherbooks.Whetheryouultimatelyagreeordisagreewithwhattheysay,thesearetheprimaryteachersofmankind;theyhavemadethebasiccontributionstohumanthought.
Itisalmostunnecessarytoaddthatthegreatbooksarethemostinfluentialbooks.Inthetraditionoflearning,theyhavebeenmostdiscussedbyreaderswhohavealsobeenwriters.Thesearethebooksaboutwhichtherearemanyotherbooks---countlessand,forthemostpart,forgotten.
Greatbooksdealwiththepersistentlyunsolvedproblemsofhumanlife.Therearegenuinemysteriesintheworldthatmarkthelimitsofhumanknowingandthinking.Inquirynotonlybeginswithwonder,butusuallyendswithitalso.Greatmindsacknowledgemysterieshonestly.Wisdomisfortifiednotdestroyed,byunderstandingitslimitations.
Itisourprivilege,asreaders,tobelongtothelargerbrotherhoodofmanwhichrecognizesnonationalboundaries.Idonotknowhowtoescapefromthestrait-jacketofpoliticalnationalism.Idoknowhowwebecomefriendsofthehumanspiritinallitsmanifestations,regardlessoftimeandplace.Itisbyreadingthegreatbooks.