443 - Kale Zelden - There’s Still Time to Read the Great Books

Kale Zelden is a literature teacher and writer and in this video he joins me to discuss reading, the "Great books", and what it means to recover the reading tradition in a modern context. We talk about how to encounter old texts, what reading can contribute to our lives, and how to approach authors like Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare without reducing them to modern assumptions. We also explore the limits of the novel, modernism, postmodernism, irony, and the essential rediscovery of the epic.YouTube version: https://youtu.be/9zps7RIov44Kale’s Substack, The Underneath: https://kalezelden.substack.com/Join us at the Symbolic World Summit | May 14-16 | Ohio | Keynote speakers: Jonathan Pageau, Fr. Josiah Trenham, Mary Harrington, Dcn. Seraphim Rohlin, Kale Zelden, Annie Crawford, and Heather PollingtonBuy your tickets: https://symbolicworldsummit.com/ Learn more about Pavel Shchelin's phenomenal course on Plutarch, Live now: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/courses/plutarch-symbolism-in-historyTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Coming up01:07 - Intro music01:32 - Introduction02:09 - The state of education07:30 - First of all10:47 - The power of analogy13:11 - Select your curriculum21:05 - What is canon?33:24 - What are we moving towards39:20 - Allegory43:47 - What is modernism?47:50 - Great books program53:24 - What is the epic?BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS DISCUSSION:00:04:45 Augustine — Confessions — Spiritual autobiography, early Christian thought Plato — Dialogues — Philosophy of truth, justice, knowledge Aristotle — (various works) — Ethics, logic, metaphysics Church Fathers — (various writings) — Foundations of Christian theology00:06:20 Anne Rice — (novels) — Modern popular fiction Shakespeare — (general works) — Foundational drama Beowulf — Anonymous — Old English epic poem00:06:49 Plato — Dialogues — Rediscovered philosophical texts00:07:32 Shakespeare — Hamlet — Tragedy of revenge and doubt Dante — Divine Comedy — Vision of Hell, Purgatory, Heaven Chaucer — Canterbury Tales — Medieval storytelling Mary Shelley — Frankenstein — Creation and responsibility Milton — Paradise Lost — Epic of the Fall00:13:55 Kerouac — On the Road — Modern freedom and experience Camus — (e.g. The Stranger) — Existential philosophy00:14:31 Homer — Iliad, Odyssey — Foundational epics Plato — Apology, Republic — Justice and philosophy Shakespeare —Romeo and Juliet — Tragic loveJulius Caesar — Politics and betrayalMacbeth — Ambition and guiltA Midsummer Night’s Dream — Comedy and illusionKing Lear — Suffering and authorityHamlet — Existential tragedyThe Tempest — Reconciliation00:16:21 Dostoevsky — Crime and Punishment — Guilt and redemption Dostoevsky — The Brothers Karamazov — Faith and morality00:21:31 Voyage of St. Brendan — Medieval Christian voyage Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius — Apocalyptic text The Golden Legend — Jacobus de Voragine — Saints’ lives00:21:58 Cervantes — Don Quixote — Satire of chivalry, early novel00:22:51 Jane Austen — Pride and Prejudice — Social psychology00:23:59 Milton — Paradise Lost — (revisited, epic psychology)00:26:11 Faulkner — (novels) — Fragmented modern storytelling00:33:41 C.S. Lewis — On Stories — Defense of story over psychology C.S. Lewis — Abolition of Man — Critique of modern values C.S. Lewis — Miracles — Defense of the supernatural00:37:05 Sondheim — Into the Woods — Modern fairy tale deconstruction00:38:55 Rabelais — Gargantua and Pantagruel — Satirical, playful text00:44:06 Melville — Moby-Dick — Epic-scale novel Hemingway — The Sun Also Rises — Modern disillusionment00:49:42 Ovid — Metamorphoses — Mythic transformations00:46:13 (thinkers mentioned) Lyotard — Postmodern philosophy Derrida — Deconstruction Heidegger — Phenomenology00:53:14 Virgil — Aeneid — Roman epic Bible — (Moses narrative) — Epic of calling and suffering🔓 Become a patron to support us and unlock exclusive monthly symbolism content: https://thesymbolicworld.com/subscribe💻 Website and blog: http://www.thesymbolicworld.com🔗 Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jonathanpageau  🎧 Listen to and review The Symbolic World podcast:-Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0gI8bUwPtT3gkduHqNh6M5-Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-symbolic-world/id1386867488 Our website designers: https://www.resonancehq.io/ My intro was arranged and recorded by Matthew Wilkinson: https://matthewwilkinson.net/