Daniel Boorstin and Jacques Barzun

I'm thinking of embarking on a long reading journey and looking for advice.

I always see Daniel Boorstin's trilogy at the bookstore and it's always intrigued me. These are The Discoverers, The Seekers, and The Creators. I'm thinking of reading these three and the following that with Jacques Barzun's From Dawn to Decadence.

Has anyone read all four of these? Does Barzun make a good follow-up companion to Boorstin?

I find Boorstein's writing somewhat ponderous, but lots of people like him.

I too got bogged down with him and never finished The Discoverers.

Have you taken a close look at Barzun? Although the thesis excites, only someone who is already very well versed in the past 5 centures will appreciate it's obscurantism.

No, I haven't looked at Barzun too closely, but I assumed some of what you say. That's why I'm wondering if Boorstin would be a good primer to get me ready for Barzun.

It's all a moot point now anyway. I just learned we're having twins and I'm not sure I'll have time to embark on something like this anytime soon!

Congratulations, then!

Mazel tov!

I own the three by Boorstein, and I have only gotten partway through The Discoverers. They just haven't jelled for me, and I very rarely give up on a book. Maybe Garp83 is right and it's a matter of style -- it's a matter of something, that's for sure. I keep looking at then, but never picking them back up.

Hardly a series of rousing endorsements here. Maybe I forego this completely.

Too bad, I read The Discoverers and found it amazingly interesting and informarive. Diffficult was The Golden Bough and The History of Capitalism.

I read Boorstin back at university days and I found that they were a good read for me at the time. I found VBoorstin to be quite informative but in a way that lets the reader to access the information. I would be one to encourage you to purchase the series.I have the trilogy so I might go dip into them and give you a more recent view of the work. I have read Barzun as well but I found it to be a work you have to pay close attention to the writing. If I read it as well I might be off line for awhile.

I've gone back and opened "The Colonial Experiance" This volume is very worth being bought for the chapters "City Upon the Hill" (New England) and "the Tranplanters`(Virginians). Both chapters are a great read, espially as a Canadian with United Empire Loyalist stock.)

I have all four of the above. The Barzun breathes erudition: he was what, in his 90s when he wrote it? A lifetime of scholarly pursuit in that book. But still, I found it a fascinating dessert -- something to take a few bites of now and then. Hard to imagine reading it straight through. And something about the Boorstin -- nothing wrong with it, a lot of fascinating information, but I've read them sporadically. They are nice to own though! ;)

I recommend both, esp. Boorstin's Americans trilogy and Barzun's From Dawn to Decadence.

I've read The Discoverers and The Seekers. I enjoyed them both very much. If you have your doubts, though, I recommend a trial run with the books from the local library.