"Great Books" in the News

Should Linsay Lohen be cast as Natasha Rostov in a new movie version of Tolstoy's War and Peace?

From the article "New Chapter in Great Books Debate"

Literary canon losing ground
For the third time in 21 years, The Siena
Research Institute asked college students and faculty nationwide which of the
"Great Books" they have read. The list of 30 volumes was selected in 1984 by
William Bennett, then chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Survey dates were 1985, 1997 and 2006. Here is a sampling of their findings.
Oscar-nominated films based on a classic tale can boost the books'
popularity among students.
"The Odyssey" and "The Iliad" rose from 43
percent to 59 percent readership from 1985 to 2006. That follows the 2004
release of "Troy," a film adaptation of Homer's epic stories, starring Brad
Pitt.
Readership of "Pride and Prejudice" increased from 14 percent (1985)
to 26 percent (2006). Keira Knightley starred in the 2006 film version of Jane
Austen's story.
Perhaps a new adaptation of Dostoevski's "Crime and
Punishment" starring Keanu Reaves or Tolstoy's "War and Peace" with Lindsay
Lohan could revive interest: Those authors sit at the bottom of the list along
with such luminaries as Aristotle, Machiavelli and de Tocqueville.
Over
time, about half of students say they've read the Bible -- 55 percent in 1985,
50 percent in 2006 -- but faculty members' habits changed dramatically: In 1985,
80 percent recommended it, but only 56 percent in 2006.
Apparently, faculty
members instead chose to recommend that students read Emily Dickinson's poems:
68 percent in 1985, 75 percent in 1997 and 80 percent in 2006.

Read the whole article here:
Siena opens new chapter in Great Books debate