Seth Lerer

8. The Life and Writings of Geoffrey Chaucer (The Great Courses) by Seth Lerer
published: 2013 (?)
format: 6:10 audible audiobook
acquired: audible unlimited listened: Jan 25 – Feb 1
rating: 4
genre/style: Lectures theme: Chaucer
locations: 14th century England
about the author: A Distinguished Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego, born in Brooklyn, 1955.

Seth Lerer is notable expert on Chaucer, cited, for example, by [[Marion Turner]] in a recent biography of Chaucer. This is a nice fast-paced entertaining overview. He gets to the heart of Chaucer without getting sidetracked by details. He reads Chaucer out loud in a very charming accent, which might be worth listening by itself, and he teaches the listener how to read Chaucer out loud. He stays big picture and selective. So don't expect much depth. I would liked to have learned a little more about Chaucer's contemporary poets and how his writing accent fit in with the different English dialects of the time. (Turner touches on this). But these are beyond the scope. I did get a sense of his language, and his themes, and that was terrific.

Also, I really enjoyed listening to Lerer. Recommended.

2023
https://www.librarything.com/topic/348551#8066945… (meer)

I read this book as the main text for my History of Children's Literature class for my master's class. This is definitely a Euro-centric text without really acknowledging that, and sometimes Lerer's discussions of racism and colonialism are definitely clunky and cringeworthy. Also, although often enlightening and the area of the author's expertise, either the first chapters were written more circuitously or it took a while to get used to his writing style. I definitely enjoyed the back half of the book a lot more. Lerer is a professional philologist, and he filters his history through that lens (what the "reader's history" part of the title means), but overall a broad and enlightening introduction to Western children's literature.… (meer)

Lowest rating I've ever given to a Great Courses program. Now this, granted, is strictly an audiobook and not a video (even if it runs in the GC video player), but that's not the point. First of all, it's too short – just twelve half-hour lectures (a mere six hours) for the greatest poet. And too much of it is taken up with the lecturer's reading from the poetry. One ought to assume that anyone interested in Milton would at least take the effort to read the poetry oneself.

Contrast this with the superb GC course on Augustine's Confessions, which is substantially longer but, more importantly, consists of commentary and not primarily textual reading.

There are some good moments in this Milton course, primarily the instructor's close readings (in the style of explications de texte) as well as some references to particular imagery (e.g., hand-holding in Paradise Lost). But overall, just read the poetry for yourself and then go to some of the criticism. You might try the Norton Critical Edition for a good sampler.… (meer)

An excellent scholarly work on the subject. This book traces the idea of childhood through Western history (Ancient Greece to now) via selected literature read by those children. Engagingly written, it is a serious work and not to be confused with an encyclopedia or nostalgia for your favorite book. Mostly this book was like carrot cake: tremendously exciting before you start, a bit more carroty than you had imagined, but plenty of frosting and quite satisfying overall. Would be five stars on its own, but 4 for general readership (it does require a specific interest).… (meer)