Just An Email Away

If you’ve ever taken a gander at the Great Books lists and thought with trepidation, “Oh, my,” then this article is for you. It’s true, Liberty Common’s Great Books lists are extensive and arguably intimidating. But they don’t have to be. The greatest joy of a librarian’s job is to assist readers in finding the perfect book – both on and off the Great Books lists. Both Mrs. Hockel and I are quite literally an email away. We want parents to feel comfortable reaching out to us if there is ever a time when you and your student are at an impasse when it comes to the next great read to tackle. Rarely do we receive these kinds of queries — we’d love to change that. As the keepers of the Great Books lists, we are familiar with just about every title. I, myself, have read many of the titles on our Great Books lists from my time as a Liberty student. To this day, my all-time favorites include Alcott’s Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom, along with Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo. I might have a first edition or two on proud display in my home library. 

 

I’ll never forget when my upper-school English instructor, Ms. Bridge, handed me the Penguin Classics edition of Alexandre Dumas’ masterpiece The Count of Monte Cristo. “You’ll love it,” she said. “It’s got true love, betrayal, revenge…everything a fifteen-year-old could want.” At just over 1,000 pages, this epic story of adventure and redemption certainly was everything an avid fifteen-year-old reader could want–and then some. Did I ask for the abridged version? Indeed. Did Ms. Bridge acquiesce? Indeed she did not, and I will be forever grateful. From Dumas, I learned the power of description; four paragraphs to describe a garden? I felt like I was actually there, sunshine warming my face, waxy green leaves brushing against my fingers. From his hero, the determined and driven Edmond Dantes, I learned to shout at the world, “Do your worst! For I will do mine,” when faced with certain adversity. 

 

Had I not had an educator who recognized the value in a freshman girl obsessed with N’Sync reading 1,000 pages of this 19th-century masterpiece, I would have missed out on something truly good, beautiful, and true. I think of a conversation between Edmond and his fellow prisoner, mentor, and teacher, Abbe Faria, when they are both incarcerated in the infamous island fortress of Chateau d’If:

 

“What would not have accomplished if you had been free?” Abbe Faria asks the younger Edmond. While in prison, Faria has taught Edmond how to read, write, and fight, among many other things. His question is a pivotal moment for Edmond, who had entered Chateau d’If as an illiterate, ignorant, naive boy. 

 

“Possibly nothing at all,” the jaded, more mature Edmond answers truthfully. “The overflow of my brain would probably, in a state of freedom, have evaporated in a thousand follies; misfortune is needed to bring to light the treasures of the human intellect.”

 

My short-lived obsession with the chart-topping boy band was one “of a thousand follies” I faced as a young girl on the cusp of an internet-driven age. Had I not had access to the Great Books list and all the beautiful stories it offered, I might not have had the opportunity to discover my own “treasures of the human intellect.” As Mrs. Hoyer, Aristotle Assistant Principal, has been known to declare, “Only an irritated oyster produces a pearl.” 

 

Reading off of the Great Books lists can sometimes seem like an irritation, an inconvenience. But it is through inconvenience and struggle and irritation we walk away with pearls of wisdom. Like myself in 2006, you don’t have to struggle alone. I had Ms. Bridge. The LCS community has two librarians eager, willing, and ready to help you and your students find Great Books that will reveal your own “treasures of the human intellect.” All you have to do is email. 

 

If your student is interested in history, G.A. Henty is the author for them. If you’re a reader who loves animals and fantasy, then why not give the Redwall series a try? Say you’re someone who gravitates toward the nonsensical and silly. Well, look no further than Roald Dahl. No matter your reading level, no matter your particular interests, there is something on the Great Books lists to entice everyone. “Mrs. Gowing’s/Mrs. Hockel’s Great Book Challenge” is a fun questionnaire we often have students fill out when they’re searching for a Great Book. With questions like, “Do you like poetry?” and “Are you a Harry Potter fan? Circle ‘yes’ or ‘no.” This fun questionnaire is sure to result in a book off the Great Books lists to quickly become a family favorite. 

 

 

Please don’t hesitate to email Paige Gowing at pgowing@libertycommon.org or Kristen Hockel at khockel@libertycommon.org for more information and various recommendations.