Scots College – Learning. For Life.

Book of the Week: The Torchlight List

The Torchlight List : Around the World in 200 Books

by Jim Flynn
Published by Awa Press

Jim Flynn, now a literature professor, really enjoyed reading as a child, and learned that the best way to educate yourself is by reading great works of literature.  Later when he was teaching, he found that many students had very little knowledge outside their immediate area of interest, so he decided to write a tour of the world through books and literature…

This book takes you, in easy sound-bites :-), from early civilisation and science by way of different geographical areas and the human condition, and brings you right up to date with current literature.  

It’s a small book, but its purpose is to get us thinking about what to read, in order to learn more about the world we live in.

The 'Torchlight' reference in the title of the book, is all about reading in bed, under the blankets, by torchlight, because when the author was a boy, children were often not allowed to stay up late to finish a book… so they found another way!

Jim Flynn is Emeritus Professor at the University of Otago, and a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.