Self Education

If I have been semi-silent on Blogger lately, it's because I have been spending every spare moment reading Don Quixote! A friend recently asked me to join her and another friend in reading and discussing the classics, using Bauer's The Well Educated Mind as our guide. I was thrilled to be a part of this because there are so many classics that I still haven't read and it's going to be so much more fun doing it with friends!

I especially appreciate Bauer's approach to the classics, reading chronologically within each genre. She lists five genre's in her book: novels, autobiography and memoir, history, drama, and poetry. She writes about how to approach the great books, and has an introduction to approaching each genre specifically.

We met this last week to discuss Don Quixote, which is considered the first novel (the first work of fiction about the individual). We spent probably an hour and a half talking just about the book, and then some more time just chit-chatting. I am really excited about this endeavor!

Reading Don Quixote (picture by Meredith):