How to Eat an Elephant
I’m standing on the edge of a new project, very excited and also wary. A couple of weeks ago the wonderful Ted Gioia published on his Substack (The Honest Broker) the second section of a Humanities Introduction, a year-long reading/listening/viewing plan designed to give a “way in” to serious engagement with literature and history. I had missed the first post but immediately went in search of it.
I found that list, and I was completely inspired. A little overwhelmed but also amazed that here in front of me was a list that at least looked like a good start. I needed to figure out the timing, but that has fallen in to place now, and I’m ready to begin.
Here are my ground rules for myself:
I’m going to do my level best to do each week’s reading in only one week. Other people are doing this at half speed, but I think part of the point will be to take these works in by “big gulps,” rather than pausing to ponder all the individual points. This is a survey, after all. A second reason to power through is because I want to develop my reading stamina. The internet and getting older have done a number on my brain and I’d like to see if I can reclaim it!
I’ll focus on reading the text first, and only read introductions or commentaries as time allows. This project is about dancing WITH the text, not around it.
I’ll use hard copies of the books to the extent possible. I’ll also take notes by hand. In fact, discovering a note-taking system called Antinet was one of the final pieces that fell into place for me to schedule the project at all. I’ll be developing that system while I take notes on all the reading.
I’ll post here at the end of each week. By doing so, I hope to build my accountability (even if only to myself), but also possibly foster some discussion among like-minded readers of Ted’s Substack, and others. If there’s a week where you are familiar with a work, even if you aren’t doing the whole plan, I’d love your comments.
I plan to read on a Sunday-Saturday schedule, posting here every Saturday or Sunday. That might change! I don’t intend to offer a comprehensive summary or anything, just three or four key take-aways from whatever the reading was. Ted’s list includes music and art; I may or may not also comment on it, although I’ll definitely listen and look.
Then I’ll list the next week’s assignment. I think that will be okay with Ted—the first quarter’s list is here but it is for subscribers only. Should you want to subscribe (you definitely should!), you can get access to the full list as well as his commentaries. An Amazon List of the exact editions I’m using is here.
Ted does offer commentaries for some of these works, by the way. I’ll note them in the weeks I see them. They may also be subscriber only. (See? Another reason to subscribe.)
Finally, to get notified of my posts you will need to be a subscriber to my Substack. It’s FREE! I would appreciate help in the comments to minimize the trolls, although that doesn’t seem to be a huge problem (yet) in SubStack.
If you’ve read this far, I’ll tell you a little about myself. Raised in Georgia, my husband and I relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, two years ago. We love it here. We have a home on the marsh in a lovely, friendly neighborhood, we’re members of St. Phillip’s Church downtown, and I just took my first tennis lesson this morning. We have four mostly-grown kids and a lovely daughter-in-law who (I’m very happy to say) keep us busier than we would have expected. We also have a 40m sailboat, Abide, and I have a weekly podcast called Adventure on Deck. I intend to keep up with this project regardless of where we are sailing.
So, next week: Plato’s The Last Days of Socrates and selections from The Republic. Time to start eating the elephant!