There they sit the great tomes of classical literature taunting you with their length & difficulty as you ask: which books are the most important & why
- & whats actually any good? Why does most writing about the classics have words like seminal or oeuvre in it? What does postmodernism mean? Can I get away with just reading the introduction? Now you can enjoy the classics without fear. This survival kit will guide you painlessly through the Western literary canon century by century: from Ancient Greek drama to the modern novel via Beowulf Chaucer Shakespeare Romantic poetry Tolstoy & Proust. There are entertaining plot summaries unpretentious definitions of literary movements & fresh insights into authors lives. With each work assigned ratings from 1 to 10 on Importance Accessibility & Fun youll discover whats really worth bothering with & what you can safely discard without guilt. This book will make the things youve read clearer inspire you to tackle the ones youve always meant to & make you sound far cleverer than you really are.