the revenge of the percy jackson kids

at least they know what the odyssey is

When it comes to discussing a “canon” or “canonical works,” usually one is doing one of two things:

• saying you have a list that is, in some sense, the best of the best;

• saying you have a list of things one ought to have read to be an educated person, either in general or in a specific area.

The lists you produce for each type of book will probably have a substantial amount of overlap. Still, they are not the same thing. It is worth differentiating them because the second definition, circular as it gets, is useful for explaining what people ought to be taught and not left to find on their own.

To give an example: suppose you think Mary Shelley’s Matilda is a novel that is much, much superior to Frankenstein. If you had to go before some weird high council of curricula, let’s say it’s a bunch of Martians who want to be caught up to speed, it would still be crazy…