The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had

Surrounded by more books than ever, readers today are frequently daunted by the classics they have left unread. The Well-Educated Mind, debunking our own inferiority complexes, is a wonderful resource for anyone wishing to explore and develop the mind's capacity to read and comprehend the "greatest hits" in fiction, autobiography, history, poetry, and drama.

Far from tossing readers into the swarming sea of classics and demanding that they swim, this book offers brief, entertaining histories of five literary genres, accompanied by detailed instructions on how to read each type. The annotated lists at the close of each chapter—ranging from Cervantes to A. S. Byatt, Herodotus to Paul Gilroy—preview recommended reading and encourage readers to make vital connections between ancient traditions and contemporary writing.

Based on the same classical method as Bauer's terrifically successful The Well-Trained Mind, The Well-Educated Mind provides not only a thorough grounding in the classics but also a widely applicable foundation for self-education.

Now, FINALLY, thanks to this book, I am learning how to read a book and analyze it using the 3 stages of the Trivium (grammar stage, logic stage, rhetoric stage) -- Classical Education. My friend and I are having a ball learing how to do this, taking notes, analyzing things logically, asking questions and discussing the finer points that the author makes.

For anyone who is homeschooling (as my friend and I are), or for anyone who feels like their understanding of fine literature is lacking, this book is wonderful!! I highly recommend it! It has an easily readable style, (not dry as wood chips like some books I have attempted), has a sprinkling of humor here and there, and best of all, it respects that fact that the majority of people who would be reading it are busy adults with PLENTY to do each day, and is therefore not demanding; it only requires 30 min. of reading a day 4 times a week, thus making an allowance for those days that "life" happens to you.

Side note: between my friend and I, the oldest homeschool child we have is approximately 7th grade. Therefore, we did not begin by reading the books that the author recommends. We chose classical literature that was closer to the level that the oldest child was reading and books that we knew we would have our children read on their own at some point. We both plan to use what we learn from this book to help show our own children how to read and evaluate good literature.


An O.K. starting place   June 20, 2005
 156 out of 250 found this review helpful

One day in a bookstore I came across both this book and Baur's "The Well-Trained Mind," and looked through both of them. Later I went to the library and pulled this book off the shelf to get a better idea.

First of all, Baur is firmly entrenched in the classical education homeschool movement, and her religious bias is conservative Christian. That's not made too terribly clear, since this book is, after all, published by a large non-religious publishing house, W.W. Norton. You can find subtle clues to her bias every once in awhile, particularly in some of the books she includes (like Pilgrim's Progress or Surprised by Joy. Both considered classics in the Christian world, but might not make most non-Christian's required reading lists)

She does talk down to her readers, and she seems to assume that her audience is those same homeschooling stay-at-home moms who use the method she puts forth in her earlier book, which is mostly based on the Great Books. She does give good tips on starting slowly and taking notes. She also includes mostly Dead White Men in her lists, not surprising if you've looked at her other books.

What I like about this book is that instead of giving a massive list of books you MUST READ, in order, from Gilgamesh to Fitzgerald. She breaks it up by genre, so you could, for instance, read a selection of classic novels from the beginning (Don Quixote) to today (A.S. Byatt's Possession -- I was surprised she chose something so contemporary).

If you're looking to start a reading plan for yourself, this book is a good starting place for getting ideas of what to read. I wouldn't spend money on it -- just camp out at the library or bookstore with a pen and paper and take some notes. If you want a more serious treatment of reading, look at Alder's How to Read a Book.


not for the independent thinker   April 20, 2005
 66 out of 222 found this review helpful

I read through the first half of the book and was raring to go- ready to purchase my first book from the "great list". I couldn't decide whether to go with the Novel list or the History list, so decided to check them out in person first before making my decision.

Much to my dismay the first selections (Bauer insists you read them in order) within either of these genres (Don Quixote and The Histories by Heroditus) are HUGE!! My heart sank almost immediately, but I was detemined to try it.

I sat down with both in the store and read the first few pages. Then, a light went off. It dawned on me that I had no desire whatsoever to A - spend the money on these books B - read them.

My life has progressed such that I am no longer in school and forced to read what I am not inclined to. That's one of the great things about growing up - I can read whatever I want to.

For me, the time I would have spent on these books would be more enjoyable reading about a new hobby or learning about world religions or learning a foreign language, or pretty much anything else. Even, G-d forbid, reading a Tom Clancy novel (which Bauer conveys are beneath her).

This is an interesting concept, but the idea of limiting what you read and what order you read them is suffocating. There were some good tips on retaining what you read and she encourages you to keep learning even if you are out of school. I advocate that, certainly, but I'm an adult and my time is so crunched, the time I spend reading should be fulfilling and enjoyable, not something to dread.


Classical Education for Dummies   May 13, 2004
 63 out of 91 found this review helpful

I bought this book based upon the glowing reviews I read on this site and upon a recommendation from a friend. I have to say I was dissapointed - I think I was expecting more of a scholarly work on how to read the classics I missed in college. I was inspired to do this after reading "Great Books"by David Denby.

I think this book is probably ok for those who haven't had an extensive education or exposure to university-level literature courses because it doesn't assume either of these. But if you have, I think you will be sadly disappointed at the simplistic advice given on how to read and take notes (really!) and an abbreviated Cliff Notes type of synopsis of the works recommended, which makes me wonder about the depth of knowledge the author had regarding these works in the first place.

At any rate, if you are really looking for intellectual depth in pursuing your classical education, I would recommend "How to Read a Book" by Van Doren paired with "The Great Ideas: A Lexicon of Western Thought" by Mortimer Adler (this has actual thought-provoking essays on great works). And read Denby's book for inspiration.