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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
A majestic sweep over 500 years of Western Civilization. Barzun charts the rises and falls of the West in the arts, philosophy, politics, literature, and science. His writing is lively and conversational, a must for a book of this size.
He largely avoids moralizing and presents the passing centuries in their own context and shows how judgements of the past by the present are often ill-considered and unfair.
He is the least compassionate for our most recent century, and concludes that the 20th has seen the decline of the West since the early 1900's. The book thus ends on a bit of melancholy.
I started slogging through this book in undergrad, and never quite finished it, although I keep meaning to go back to it. I like Jacques Barzun but he's best read in small, digestible doses.
A lucid, engaging, clear-eyed survey of 500 years of Western Cultural history, and a convincing indictment of our current decadent state.
Also a jumping-off point for much further reading: throughout the text Barzun gives suggestions for deeper exposure, as well as shedding light on figures of cultural significance who deserve further acquaintance. Added at least 50 books to my to-read list based on my reading here.
Not a beginner's introduction, but definitely a valuable guide, as Barzun draws attention to the currents that have driven all of the major themes and movements of Western history: secularization and emancipation being the most potent.
Also a jumping-off point for much further reading: throughout the text Barzun gives suggestions for deeper exposure, as well as shedding light on figures of cultural significance who deserve further acquaintance. Added at least 50 books to my to-read list based on my reading here.
Not a beginner's introduction, but definitely a valuable guide, as Barzun draws attention to the currents that have driven all of the major themes and movements of Western history: secularization and emancipation being the most potent.
During the May 68 uprising in France, a phrase that was written on a wall somewhere read: "Professors, you make us grow old." That moment in history is one of my favorites to read about, but the above quote never totally clicked with me. Now that I've read this book by Jacques Barzun, a stuffy liberal studies professor, I totally get it.
Seriously, this guy has such a wettie for western civ. Also, he thinks "decadence" is an insult, wtf? My favorite part was his comparing the (at the time) recent influx of privilege politics into the academy to the Inquisition. Or, even better, maybe it was the European witchhunts, I don't remember. Either way...totally bro, you're such a victim.
Seriously, this guy has such a wettie for western civ. Also, he thinks "decadence" is an insult, wtf? My favorite part was his comparing the (at the time) recent influx of privilege politics into the academy to the Inquisition. Or, even better, maybe it was the European witchhunts, I don't remember. Either way...totally bro, you're such a victim.
challenging
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Very comprehensive, very illuminating, took me a long time to finish. I collected a bunch of quotes that I really enjoyed reading...
"Perform the acts of faith and faith will come", by Ignatius of Loyola
"Science has cut Man down to size and broken his pride: Copernicus removed him from the center of the universe; Darwin reduced him to the status of animal; and Jung dethroned his intellect and put instinct in its place"
"The importance attached to Time in the West is a distinctive trait: Swift’s Gulliver looks at his watch so often that his hosts the Brobdingnagians think he is consulting his god"
"As Goethe’s Faust says at the start of his adventure, ‘In the beginning was not the Word, but the Act.’ The Word—an abstraction—comes after"
"Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson rank with Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, and it is hard to think of a third partnership of equal renown. Indeed, in a fundamental sense they are the same pair, bent on a similar quest but in a different costume, 300 years apart"
"Finding oneself is a misnomer. A self is not found but made"
"Perform the acts of faith and faith will come", by Ignatius of Loyola
"Science has cut Man down to size and broken his pride: Copernicus removed him from the center of the universe; Darwin reduced him to the status of animal; and Jung dethroned his intellect and put instinct in its place"
"The importance attached to Time in the West is a distinctive trait: Swift’s Gulliver looks at his watch so often that his hosts the Brobdingnagians think he is consulting his god"
"As Goethe’s Faust says at the start of his adventure, ‘In the beginning was not the Word, but the Act.’ The Word—an abstraction—comes after"
"Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson rank with Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, and it is hard to think of a third partnership of equal renown. Indeed, in a fundamental sense they are the same pair, bent on a similar quest but in a different costume, 300 years apart"
"Finding oneself is a misnomer. A self is not found but made"
A masterful cross section of cultural developments over the last five hundred years. Large in scale, without skimping on detail overly much, this book displays a lifetime of experiencing and thinking about culture in it's widest application. If the book had ended at the 19th century I would have given this book a five star rating. The very end of the book and it's bitter condemnation of anything that has been done, thought and grown since 1920 stings and feels unreal. The tendency to reject this view as the the anger of an old man who felt out of place is easy, but after the quality of the work delivered over the previous hundreds of pages it cannot be that simple. The possiblity that Barzun had a point remains there perhaps even likely, though it cannot be observed from the vantage point of my mind at this time.
informative
inspiring
There are intellectual giants and there are delicious wordsmiths and there are crafty storytellers. And then there's Barzun, who encompasses all.
informative
reflective
fast-paced