Although I would say that the world of Great Books does seem crowded with a lot of quote compilers, list makers, and self-help gurus (just like everything else).
Main Street is on my shelf unread. Will give it a go!
I went back to get my MA in the humanities in my 30s, basically because I felt under educated (granted, I went looking for education in the academy, which might undermine your point), and you always provide the best justifications for my desire to read famous books -- though people always want me to justify the decision to go back to school for them, and I don't think, "so I can fulfill my social role as a shabby genteel" is going to convince them more than my current blank stare. But it won't hurt to try it out!
Lewis is in the Library of America, for what its worth, so he made the closest thing to an official American canon.
This is the article I needed to read.
Although I would say that the world of Great Books does seem crowded with a lot of quote compilers, list makers, and self-help gurus (just like everything else).
Main Street is on my shelf unread. Will give it a go!
I went back to get my MA in the humanities in my 30s, basically because I felt under educated (granted, I went looking for education in the academy, which might undermine your point), and you always provide the best justifications for my desire to read famous books -- though people always want me to justify the decision to go back to school for them, and I don't think, "so I can fulfill my social role as a shabby genteel" is going to convince them more than my current blank stare. But it won't hurt to try it out!