Beowulf on the Beach: Beowulf on the Beach: What to Love and What to Skip in Literature's 50 Greatest Hits

by Jack Murnighan

Book Overview

Feel bad about not reading or not enjoying the so-called great books? Don't sweat it, it's not your fault. Did anyone tell you that Anna Karenina is a beach read, that Dickens is hilarious, that the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307409570
• ISBN13: 9780307409577
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Great Fun

This is great fun - it is one of those books that can be picked up and picked at time and again, without the need to read from cover to cover. Students who need to read one of those 'wretched' classic titles will find comfort and assistance here, and even if one disagrees with the author's sentiments (not recommend The Sun Also Rises??), the writing is too charming to keep a reader distressed for long. This volume obviously took a lot of time and effort; it was a brave undertaking and we have to give Murnighan props for even thinking of tackling these books in one volume.

so much fun

I really loved this book. It is so much fun and such a pleasure to read, but there is a serious side to it, too. A friend and I once had a long discussion about the fact that, if you wanted to, you could not come up with a better way to ruin literature for readers than the way it is taught in American high schools and colleges. If that is true, Murnighan is our very own Virgil or Beatrice, our wise and wonderful guide through the literary Inferno that this terrible system makes of these great books. Along the way, with equal parts wit and wisdom, Murnighan rehabilitates these books for us--pointing out the offenders of every kind--and reminds us the point is to like reading, and that means that we, the readers, have the right to judge and choose, and no just to accept what our betters tell us. I promise you'll be a convert. That, and its beautifully written, too.

reactions from an avid non-classics reader

This is a great, hilarious, mind-boggling book. It is funny, intense, and full of insights and ideas. How could anyone read all these tomes, be so delighted by them, and show us how we can enjoy them too? Only someone with a huge intellect and tremendous passion for great literature. It's a wonderful thing when your children impress you, and that is certainly the case here. Although Jack would like this book to push us all to read the originals, too many of us will simply delight in his summaries, love the humor, and act like we know more than we do when we steal the great quotes that he provides and act like we found them ourselves. For my money, the chapter on the Old Testament and the opening sentence on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice are worth more than the cost of the book. And these are only two of the many gems in this lively, entertaining read. Enjoy!

An essential prelude to the classics

Murnighan drains the swamp of any inhibition one may have to delve into these classics. He focuses us on the humor and insights to be derived and provides a fresh scaffold. A definite must read for all college freshman as well as for those now motivated to revisit these literary giants.