âBreaking Bread With the Deadâ Review: Old Books in a New Class
A professor argues that we should engage with the classics, not only in spite of, but even because of, our moral differences with them. Photo: Getty Images Dec. 9, 2020 6:13 pm ET
Alan Jacobs reports that, though he has been teaching old books to classrooms full of students for many years, lately when he walks into a classroom âfairly regularly the first thing I see is every head bowed before a glowing screen.â Ever-present screen-based entertainment, a 24-hour news cycle and the constant connectivity of social media place us in a constant sensory flux. This is not a hospitable environment for the study of great books, but Mr. Jacobs argues that our current predicament provides even more reason for turning to them: Reading old books promises to lengthen our ânow,â situating and stabilizing us so that we become possessed of more tranquil minds and less