A New Education

Book critic Maureen Corrigan recently reviewed Susan Sontag's private journals-Reborn: Journals and Notebooks, 1947-1963. The journals detail Sontag's intense intellectual curiosity, voracious appetite for reading, and earnest desire to know and understand the world. Sontag's thirst, if not single-minded desire to obtain knowledge is rare and refreshing -- and without a doubt a model to aspire to. People who are well-learned are either well read or well traveled. Being that I do not currently have the financial means to be the latter, I am dedicating 2009 to intentionally pursuing the prior. I decided to start with the classics. I make know apologies for not being enraptured with Of Mice and Men and enthralled by Grindel in high school. However, as a person seeking to understand the world around them it is important to revisit these classic texts, with the perspective and intellectual agility that comes with adulthood. my More importantly, I believe this project will serve me well in beating husband in Jeopardy and solving the Washington Post Sunday Crossword.

Our society has never been interested in the promotion of its public intellectuals. It often seems, more devoted to promoting the spectacle that is American Idol and highlighting the antics of Brittany Spears. However, with the election of our new highly cerebral president--smart is the new sexy. Moreover, civility, good writing, and aptness of speech are also en vogue. I am challenged with this new prevailing spirit of personal responsibility to really pursue knowledge. This blog will be all about my pursuit for a "new education"-- a devotion to being a reader, a thinker, and a writer. My public library will serve as my ivory tower for now.

The first book in this project will be Wuthering Heights: "One of the masterpieces of English romanticism, this is a novel of Heathcliff and Catherine, love and revenge."