Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
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Please Introduce Yourself
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Katy, Quarterly Long Reads
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Jun 24, 2015 08:34AM
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Hi, I'm Kris. I live in Minnesota. I love to read and enjoy many genres. I have been wanting to increase my reading of the classics but never have anyone to discuss them with. No one in my family or circle of friends has any interest in reading them. I picked up The Plague to join in on the monthly read but haven't started it yet...baby steps, I guess. Looking forward to July's reads.
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Don't worry about being behind on a read -- we keep the discussion threads open so you can join in at any time. Hope you enjoy July's reads.
Hey :)I am Lily from Estonia. Although my native language is Estonian, I read books mostly in English.
There are many books on my "to-read" shelf but there is often not enough time to read. I was looking for a book club because I believe it encourages people to pick up at least some of those great pieces of literature and finish it on time. Perhaps this indirect motivation (“everyone else is doing so well… on what page are you?”) helps me, too. I am eager to try. :)
I like that "Catching up on Classics" reads several books at the same time (long read, contemporary, old school + it is cool that you revisit your bookshelf). Both your current and upcoming reads were good choices.
To sum up, I am happy to be here and look forward to several discussions (book-chats).
All the best,
Lily
Lily wrote: "Hey :)I am Lily from Estonia. Although my native language is Estonian, I read books mostly in English.
There are many books on my "to-read" shelf but there is often not enough time to read. I wa..."
Glad to see you Lily! I just joined too, and pretty much for the same reason. I'm so excited to start The Princess Bride and East of Eden - both have been on my "to read" list for too long!
Welcome Kris and Lily, glad you've both joined :) Kris, I've only read 88 pages of The Plague but I just can't get into it. I'll give it until the end of the month and if I haven't finished by then, I'll leave it. There's no pressure to read any of the books, just join in when you can.
Lily, I joined this group for the same reasons, to encourage me to pick up the classics I already own and find some new ones too. I think it's good to have a few group options every month, as we all have different tastes. This way we can usually find at least one book that interests us.
Laura, I loved The Princess Bride and I'm really looking forward to starting Don Quixote next month.
Kris wrote: "Hi, I'm Kris. I live in Minnesota. I love to read and enjoy many genres. I have been wanting to increase my reading of the classics but never have anyone to discuss them with. No one in my famil..."Good to see you Kris! I had a hard time finding any kind of book club here, much less one that focuses on the classics... I'm excited!
Hello, Lily. There are a few Finns here, too, so I guess we Baltic Finns are now quite well represented, considering our size. :-)
Hello, I am Parthy from India, working as a software engineer. I prefer to read classics, Modern lit., Russian Lit., Greek and Roman Philosophy, etc... I started reading recently and hence I haven't read many books. There are not so many here in my family or friends circle who loves classics. Hence, I am looking forward to discuss and get help if I get stuck somewhere. Few of my favorite books are Lolita, Dracula, Crime and Punishment, Of mice and men, The sound and the fury, etc..Thanks for letting me join :D
Happy Reading!! Cheers!!
Hi friends, I am Mani from India. I have a keen interest in literature. I m 31 year old unmarried working man. I m really excited to join this group :)
Hi everyone! I am Ritwik.
When it comes to classics, I have inclinations towards Russian literature but I am yet to broaden my horizon and explore Victorian and Gothic-era classics.
I hope to involve myself in healthy bookish discussions here in this group. There is nothing better than reading along and sharing nuanced perspectives.
Kathy, thank you for the warm welcome!
Cheers!
Welcome Parthiban, Mani and Ritwik, I hope you enjoy our group and join in with some of our book discussions :) You've reminded me that I really must read some more Russian classics. I have a few on my shelf, but always seem to put them off.
Love Russian Lit. Still have to take on War and Peace. Tried once. Couldn't keep track of all the characters.
Pink, they always make for a rewarding read!Michelle, they make us struggle don't they! At times the characters have double names and are called differently by different persons depending on their relationship. I haven't read War & Peace. The sheer size of it scares me.
War and Peace is on my shelf and it's one of my books for the Old and New Classics challenge this year. I'm thinking of reading it this Autumn.
Hi! I'm Corrina (Corr"in"a). I live in South Carolina. I am 34. I have been married for 10 years and have a 6 year old son. I wasn't as into reading when I was in school, so I missed the pleasure of reading a lot of classics. I am really excited to be a part of this group and read these wonderful books. I love to read just about everything. I read YA, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Christian Fiction and Non-Fiction, Historical Fiction, and Mystery. I also love comic books and graphic novels. I am part of a few groups on Goodreads so I can have a variety of books to read each month. I am so excited to add this one to my list!
I'm not intimidated by the size. I read large novels frequently. I want to find a family tree or an info graphic that lays out all the characters so I can just refer to it when I get confused. There's got to be something like that out there somewhere. Lol
Hi Corrina, welcome to the group. I wasn't into reading classics at school either, but I've been trying to make up for that over the past couple of years. I hope you find some classic books that interest you in our group. New group reads will start in a couple of days, so I hope you'll join in :)Michelle, I did the same thing with Middlemarch, referring to a character map until I got the hang of things. Of course War and Peace will be even worse for keeping track of who's who, so I'll be using a family tree map too.
Hi, my name is Isha and I am 10 years old. I love reading and talking about books. I hope to find out about great classics to read from here. Thanks.
Hi everyone! My name is Noelle. I have never really utilized the groups here on Goodreads so this will be a new experience. I am really interested in reading classics because I know that they will have literary merit and will make me think. If I am going to devote my time to reading, I want it to be something worthwild- classics give me that. As a 17 year old it is hard to find others who share that same sentiment. I hope to be involved in the discussions here and be motivated to explore even more classics. At the moment I am just finishing up Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.
Pink, Are you aware of any family tree maps or character maps for war and Peace?
Michelle, I found a couple of character maps from Wiki, but nothing else really. Simple family tree
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_and...
Detailed family tree
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_and...
Also, I checked our previous discussions of War and Peace, as it was a past group read and found this thread that might be helpful about background, author and translations. There is some character discussion but no spoilers about the plot
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
We have a whole folder for Tolstoy is you want to browse some more https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Welcome Isha, I think you might be are youngest group member. I hope you enjoy reading and find some suggestions for classics. Noelle, I'm glad you've decided to join in with our group. I think discussing classics can really help with our understanding and enjoyment, especially if you don't have friends or family in your real life to discuss these books with (I don't know anyone who reads the same books as me).
I hope you'll find time to join in, July book discussions and nominations for September start tomorrow :)
Hello! My name's Liz and I currently live in New Jersey. I love to read and also love interacting with other people who love to read, so this group seems wonderful! Looking forward to reading with you all :)
Hi Liz, welcome to the group. I look forward to chatting with you more in our book discussions :)
Hi Everyone,My name is Annie. I live in New Mexico but am frequently traveling. My other hobbies other than reading are writing, drawing, painting, and falling into tv/movie binges (always looking for a good story).
I read a lot of different things; classics, of course, mystery/thriller, religion/spiritual, true crime, horror, psychology fiction and non-fiction, and others.
I look forward to taking part in some discussions here.
Welcome Annie, your hobbies sound varied, whereas mine probably extend to reading, gardening and occasional tv binges! I hope you enjoy our group, jump into any discussions that interest you :)
Good morning!I'm Jim from New Jersey, and I read all kinds of books, from classics to fiction, mystery, travel, sports, and nonfiction. I enjoy spectator sports, travel, computer games (especially bingo on Facebook), and dining out. I don't have a favorite author, but I just finished The Innocents Abroad (June 27, 2015) and Si-cology 1: Tales and Wisdom from Duck Dynasty’s Favorite Uncle (June 29, 2015), and am continuing a book that I started in 2014 and had abandoned, Little Women.
Jim
Hello,I'm Friso, citizen of the Netherlands. I was browsing goodreads to see if there were any interesting groups and this one sparked my interest. With Don Quichote on the reading list, I knew immediately what I was going to read this holiday (after Dostoyevski's 'The Idiot').
Aside from reading classics, I tend to enjoy myself in current (Dutch) literature and fantasy to take a break from the heavier booklifting. Other things I tend to do is studying (Business & IT for those interested), playing chess, playing hockey, building websites, hiking and all the general hanging out with friends things.
Lets go read some classics!
PS why does my spell checker suggest Quiche for Quichote and Dostoevsky for Dostoyevski? It's not that literate I fear..
Jim wrote: "Good morning!I'm Jim from New Jersey, and I read all kinds of books, from classics to fiction, mystery, travel, sports, and nonfiction. I enjoy spectator sports, travel, computer games (especial..."
Welcome to the group, Jim! Since our Old School group read for July is Little Women, I hope you will jump in to our discussion. Glad you've joined us!
Friso wrote: "Hello,I'm Friso, citizen of the Netherlands. I was browsing goodreads to see if there were any interesting groups and this one sparked my interest. With Don Quichote on the reading list, I knew i..."
Hello Friso, and welcome to the group! I also enjoy hiking, but I haven't been able to do nearly enough of it recently. I hope you enjoy our group!
Welcome Jim and Friso, I'm glad you've joined our group and hope you'll join in with our July group reads that have just started. Jim, better luck this time with Little Women, maybe it will help to discuss your thoughts with the group? (I read it all a few years ago, but didn't care for it much at all, but I'm keeping quiet about that for now!)
Friso, I'm not sure about the spell checker, but I know that I'd normally spell Don Quixote with an x in place of ch, so that might be an English translation thing? I've seen different spellings of Dostoyevsky, this is how I'd spell it, but again I think it depends on your country as to which is most used.
Friso wrote: "Hello,I'm Friso, citizen of the Netherlands. I was browsing goodreads to see if there were any interesting groups and this one sparked my interest. With Don Quichote on the reading list, I knew i..."
Hi Frisco,
I am a fan of Dostoevsky. I started reading The Idiotbut go side-tracked. Thanks for the reminding me!
Christine wrote: "Hello Friso, and welcome to the group! I also enjoy hiking, but I haven't been able to do nearly enough of it recently. I hope you enjoy our group!"Haha, I know that feel. Never enough time for the slower hobbies it seems. At least I get my reading done! Thanks for your welcome.
Annie wrote: "Hi Frisco,
I am a fan of Dostoevsky. I started reading The Idiotbut go side-tracked. Thanks for the reminding me!"
Awesome! My grandma just gifted me the copy I have, a great addition to all the books I already 'stole' from her house: Dostoyevski, Kafka, Gonstjarov and Poesjkin all collecting dust for about 30 years in the attic; my grandpa used to read them.
Mod
Hi everyone, Happy 4th of July!My name is Loretta and I live in New Jersey. My goal every summer is to read classics. I start off strong but then another book catches my eye and the classic is put off to the side. I'm hoping this group will keep me on track of my goal. Here's hoping!
Hi Loretta, I have the same problem with other books catching my eye, for me it's library books, rather than books I already own. I've stopped borrowing for a while now so I can get through my backlog of books. I hope you find some classic books that captivate you this summer, perhaps you should try a different period, or genre. There is such a range of classic literature out there and not just old musty ones. Or you could pick some classic short stories that you can get through quicker. I know some of those Victorian novels are huge and off-putting just to look at!
Hi everyone, I'm pretty new on here but I knew I had to join a classics group! I'd say I read around one a month if I can. Currently reading In Search of Lost Time and just finished Vol. 2, but that TOOK me about a month to read!Pretty big fan of the Russians like others in this thread. Tolstoy is just a hero. Thinking of giving Dead Souls a go soon. Has anyone here read it?
Hi Matthew, well done on finishing volume 2 of Proust, I think a month for each volume is quite good going. Are you enjoying it?I haven't read Dead Souls so can't offer any insight I'm afraid.
Enjoying is maybe not the right word. There are parts which are very beautiful, but overall the first two volumes digress at extreme length and are very dense. Yet, it's hard to ignore the work's immense value. There's really nothing else like it, be it sheer scale or such an intimate look at memory. So for those reasons I'm looking forward to continuing with it.
Mod
Dead Souls has been on my TBR list for a very long time. I hope to get to it eventually.
Matthew wrote: "Enjoying is maybe not the right word. There are parts which are very beautiful, but overall the first two volumes digress at extreme length and are very dense. Yet, it's hard to ignore the work's i..."Those sound like the reasons I'm scared of attempting it.
Hi all, I just joined myself to this group, thank you.
I also am a member of AAB, All About Books and The Roundtable.
I would like to learn more about Classics, so you could say I'm a beginner but I am drawn mostly to Victorian/British classic authors, 'Austen/Dickens (favourite)/some Shakespeare, some George Eliot but have not yet tried (a little scared of)the Russian classics. Otherwise I like most genres aside from YA/Science Fiction and ChicLit - no vampires for me either!
Mod
Hope you join us in reading our selections.
Hi Janice, glad to have you join us :) I'm becoming more of a fan of Victorian literature as well, after thinking that I'd hate it. I loved Middlemarch but haven't read any other Eliot yet. I've only made baby steps with Russian lit too, yet to tackle any of the longer books by the Russian big guns!
Thank you Kathy and Pink, Pink, just so that you know I always read your posts, I think our styles are quite similar
Kathy, you are the Long Read Classics Mod, so I don't know how many of your reads you'll see me post on as I suspect you take care of the long Russian reads that I am so afraid of HEEHEE!!!
I was just reading the postings on 'Little Women" and I'm quite surprised at most of the responses, I thought EVERYONE had read this classic and I know Middlemarch is attached somehow, I own it but not yet read it.
But thank you for welcoming me, I'm quite interested in reading more Classics. great group!
Hello everyone! New to the group, I live in Indiana and the classics have been my go-to genre for as long as I can remember. I guess I prefer to let readers from over the years weed out trash so I'm not left slogging through it.Noelle mentioned in her post that it's hard for her to find people who enjoy reading classics, and I feel like I'm in the same boat to some degree. I can't understand why people don't enjoy them more! But I'm glad to find like-minded people here. Feel free to add me as a friend, I enjoy seeing what others are reading so I can find more books for my tbr list.
Along with classics I enjoy MG, some YA, history, biography and memoir. Really a little bit of everything.
I listen to a lot of audiobooks (I'm able to listen while I work, which is a huge plus) and I also enjoy crocheting, traveling when I get the chance, and the occasionally TV binge.
Thanks for the kind welcome, Kathy. I'm Val from a speck of a small town in middle Tennessee where I live with my hubby of almost 35 years. We have two sons and two daughters who are grown, and now are in the process of loving on two quite grand daughters. When I'm not busy being their Ya Ya, I love to read, knit, garden, and cook. Classics are a rediscovered passion of mine after tutoring home educated students in literature for several years. My current reading wish is to finish all Shakespeare's collected plays and poetry. Did I mention that some folks think that sounds like a real yawn fest? I'm weird like that, and I'm old enough that I am okay with a little weirdness. Thanks for allowing me to hop into your classics group!
Good Morning all. I am Masoom and I love classical books.
I am a coder basically and spent much time in understanding ALGOLS. Rest goes to read Classics that reflects the hierarchy that once followed in the Kingdoms and their tug-of-war for the throne.
I love classics because it can give you an insight of the feelings that the author produces in the unique way applied to that era.
I look forward to catch up the classics. I'm new to GoodReads, and I'm so happy to have found this group! :)
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