Classics of American Literature

By: Arnold Weinstein, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Arnold Weinstein

Length: 43 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

To truly understand the United States of America, you must explore its literary tradition. Now, in this grand collection of 84 fascinating lectures, you'll get the chance to finally become familiar with America's true literary masterpieces (some you may already be familiar with, others you have yet to discover).

Professor Weinstein has crafted these lectures to explain why some works become classics while others do not, why some "immortal" works fade from our attention completely, and even why some contemporary works now being ignored or snubbed by critics may be considered immortal one day. One memorable work at a time, you'll see how each of these masterpieces shares the uncompromising uniqueness that invariably marks the entire American literary canon.

From Sleepy Hollow to The Great Gatsby and beyond, you'll journey through more than two centuries of the best writers America has yet produced, bringing out the beauty of their language, the excitement of their stories, and the value in what they say about life, power, love, adventure, and what it means, in every sense, to be American. You'll explore the roles of self-reliance and the "self-made man" in the evolution of American literature; the evolution of the American ghost story, from Poe and Hawthorne to James and Morrison; the epic strain in American literature, from Melville and Whitman to Faulkner and Ellison; the perspectives on nature revealed in poets Whitman, Dickinson, Frost, and Eliot; the tenets of Modernism in the work of Eliot, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner; the contributions of O'Neill, Miller, and Williams to American theater; and much more.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©1998 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1998 The Great Courses

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The lecturer seems to frequently lose his train of thought. I thought the material to be very opinion based, where I was looking for factual information . Also the professor is obsessed with sex or thinks every writer is.

FAKE!! this book isn't REALLY available

Would you try another book from The Great Courses and/or Professor Arnold Weinstein?

Not from this con

What was most disappointing about The Great Courses’s story?

You can't download it and the first part is one big ad

Classics of American Literatures

This is a series of 84 classroom lectures on American Classic Books. I did not always agreed with the teacher but it did teach me more about the American mindset and why those books were written.

fascinating

Great Professor and interesting lectures. I got a real sense of the scope and themes in this survey of American Literature. My BA in English Literature more focused on history of Literature from England.

Exceptional scholarship

I had “read” several of the featured novels in the lectures. Professor Weinstein’s lectures kindly demonstrated that I was merely “acquainted” with these novels. His insights and the connection and context he provided brilliantly illuminated the contributions of these works to telling the story of the American ethos.

One of the best.

This is a series for people who don't know the America Classics and want to listen to a great overview and explanation from an amazing professor who could be a professional narrator.

Freud Would Have Been Proud

This lecturer had some very odd pronunciations of common words which distracted me from his message. He seemed to find sexual innuendo in every piece of literature to the point that after a while I just lost interest.

Classic what?

This should properly be titled "Classic Authors, Poets and Playwrights of American Literature" since that is the focus. The Professor points out that many of the writings he examines are little known or unknown works that he picked to help highlight the people. Even when he sets a lecture on a specific work it is usually viewed through the lens of what it shows about the writer. The irony is that when he does actually deal with a text there is good stuff but its more like 4-8 hours not 43 hours.

Production/performance is very uneven. First of all Great Courses, I know who you are, I know what the course is. I don't need to be told about you every 10 lectures nor do I need the introduction to the course to be repeated with it.

This is recorded with an audience which I can live with, some people do better with one but I have to listen to every dropped object, rustled paper, stirring soul because the Prof has a habit of dropping his voice to a whisper at odd intervals (or turning away from the mics, I'm not sure) so the volume has to be turned way up, and you still aren't able to make out what he says. Is this a classroom device to bring the students to the front?

The speaking is uneven. Lecture after lecture will go fine then he's suddenly using a bunch of fill words (uh, um, etc) and repeating syllables (it it it, th th th, etc) its not a stammer but more like he's lost the train of thought and is searching for words. Its jarring since its either completely absent or all in. Other times I want to get him a glass of water for the coughing or dryness of throat. Was this an early course and Great Courses hadn't learned about being able to retake, pause, edit and so on?

From a personal quirk the many mispronunciations are endearing. Having grown up doing far more reading than talking I too often mispronounce words. You don't often realize the commonness of the problem since those who have this problem are rarely caught speaking.

Never read the classics in the past

Decided to read the classics that I didn't when I was younger. These lectures were very helpful in understanding the books and helped me choose which classics I will now add to my listening list.

A great introduction to American Lit

It took me a while to get through this one because I listened to each one of the books Weinstein presented (or, in the case of the plays, watched them) and then listened to the lectures about it. Weinstein is very knowledgeable and has a smooth lecture style that will hook you. As a result of this study, I learned a lot, grew as a person, and had fun doing it. This is one of the best things I’ve done this year.