Classics and the Western Canon discussion
Introductions
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Please introduce yourself~
Hey Clari, if you’re interested, my Instagram is @sto.ries_by.t I share almost everything there: reviews, stories, artworks.
What’s the name of your book, I’d love to check it out 😀
Titas wrote: "What’s the name of your book, I’d love to check it out 😀"I unfortunately don't have instagram yet, I do need to get it sorted soon and then will definitely check your work out!
Wow that's very kind of you to offer to read my novel, it's called 'Airy Nothing', if it looks interesting to you, message me and my publisher is open to sending free copies out to people who are able to leave honest reviews. If it's not your cup of tea, don't worry, I know every book can't suit every person :D
Hi! Just joined this group. I've been reading classic works of literature informally and on my own for awhile, and thought it would be nice to join this group.Thanks!
Tom
tom wrote: "Hi! Just joined this group. I've been reading classic works of literature informally and on my own for awhile, and thought it would be nice to join this group. . ."Hi, Tom. Welcome to the group. You are just in time to participate in the second week of our interim read, short freely available public domain works or excerpts read in between our major reads. The interim read is selection from Edith Wharton Ghosts Stories and may be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
We will be opening discussions for our next major read, Dracula by Bram Stoker, on Nov. 3rd. The reading schedule and background topics are posted here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
David wrote: "tom wrote: "Hi! Just joined this group. I've been reading classic works of literature informally and on my own for awhile, and thought it would be nice to join this group. . ."Hi, Tom. Welcome to..."
Thanks, David! Looking forward to it.
Pocket bio: Retired humanities teacher, residing in Tlaxcala, Mexico, with two dogs and six indoor cats. Passionate about literature, history, philosophy, classical music and opera, cinema, and similar subjects. Nostalgic guy. Politically centrist. BA in American Studies from Yale; MAs in English and Education from Boston University. Born in northern New Jersey. Have lived and worked in San Francisco, Chicago, northern Nevada, northeast Wisconsin, South Korea. More detail at Goodreads profile.
Welcome Patrick. We have some good discussions and it sounds like you fit right in. I'm passionate about literature, history and some philosophy as well. At the moment, we're reading Joseph Conrad's Nostromo. Feel free to join in and we'll be having a vote on the next read before too long.
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I have read and adored Nostromo, so I might make a comment or two. I think it is a book for hardcore committed readers, because you have to read SO carefully; I am sure that I read most of the sentences twice.
Patrick wrote: "I have read and adored Nostromo, so I might make a comment or two. I think it is a book for hardcore committed readers, because you have to read SO carefully; I am sure that I read most of the sent..."Hi, Patrick, Welcome to the group. I’m glad to hear you’re another Nostromo fan. We are just starting Book 3 and seem to be at the point where all that careful reading (and discussing) pays off. Please join in if the spirit moves you!
As Aiden says, we will be discussing and voting for our next major read soon. And after Nostromo, there will be an interim read. These are usually short public domain works or selections, which will be announced at that time.
Right now I’m reading the volume that includes Youth, Heart of Darkness, and The End of the Tether. I never got assigned Heart of Darkness in any of my literature classes, imagine! 🤔The Secret Agent is another of my favorites. One of those books where saying ANYTHING is tantamount to a spoiler.
Patrick wrote: "Right now I’m reading the volume that includes Youth, Heart of Darkness, and The End of the Tether. I never got assigned Heart of Darkness in any of my literature classes, imagine! 🤔The Secret Ag..."
That sounds like a great volume of Conrad — I haven’t read The End of the Tether but I loved Youth when I read it a few years ago and Heart of Darkness is one of those literary landmarks. The Secret Agent shows up on lists of Conrad’s great later works and has been on my TBR for quite awhile. Unfortunately, my literary aspirations don’t always fit into the time available ;).
Yes, those three stories were first published in book form together in 1902, so I thought I would read them that way. I’ve finished Youth and am midway through Heart of Darkness.
Patrick wrote: "Yes, those three stories were first published in book form together in 1902, so I thought I would read them that way. I’ve finished Youth and am midway through Heart of Darkness."Enjoy your Conrad reading. I think Nostromo is this group’s first Conrad discussion, but if you want to see what has been read before, you can browse around the site. The discussions remain open for comments, too.
Hey :) I was wondering if anyone here is interested in Christian platonism?
I’m reading St. John Henry Newman and I’m interested in Plotinus and Proclus but I’m having a hard time discerning a clear picture of it all.
I would also like to know more about the Oxford era of Catholicism and also the Dominicans in Oxford.
Please message me on telegram if you’d allow me to annoy you with incessant questions on the above topics
https://t.me/heartspeaksuntoheart
Cleo wrote: "Hey :) I was wondering if anyone here is interested in Christian platonism?
I’m reading St. John Henry Newman and I’m interested in Plotinus and Proclus but I’m having a hard time discerning a c..."
Hi, Cleo, This group has read a variety of Western Canon authors over the years, but I don’t think we’ve ever tackled the authors you mention. All our past discussions are available on the site if you want to look through and see if there are any of interest to you.
Btw, we are nearing the end of Conrad’s Nostromo and have started voting for our next group read. You are welcome to join us. The poll is here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...
Cleo wrote: "Hey :) I was wondering if anyone here is interested in Christian platonism?
I’m reading St. John Henry Newman and I’m interested in Plotinus and Proclus but I’m having a hard time discerning a c..."
Although I haven’t read much of those particular philosophers - Plotinus got mentioned in my History of Philosophy curriculum * - I applaud your interest and hope you will post more on this topic.
* I taught History of Philosophy, in English, at the Tec Prepa high school in Culiacán, Mexico. A required course for graduation, as it SHOULD be; philosophy is ideally introduced at this grade level, although such a thing would never happen in the United States. (Mexico is really very European in many ways.) There was no assigned textbook, so I wrote the entire course myself.
Hi all, I would like to introduce myself. I am retired from a utility. The thing I’ve loved most to do since I retired is some traveling and spending time with family. I have grandsons now almost grown. The first of this year I put aside crafts and focused on reading classics. I am a common reader, and describe myself that way after reading an essay by Virginia Woolf. I am also slow and struggle with focus. Even so, I am enjoying reading very much. I started out this year with Tolstoy and Doestoevsky and have been wanting to read Turgenev.
Hi, I am an Italian living in Berlin and I have read many of the books you chose for this group in the last ten years but I never introduced myself. Now I did and I will wait to comment on something else than Turgenev, because I read it years ago; maybe the Interim Dickinson if I feel brave enough...
Welcome, Marti and Gonza,We are delighted to have you join us. Feel free to jump in with your comments and observations. Our threads remain open so you can jump in any time.
We are currently in Week 2 of Fathers and Sons and welcome your participation.
Hello! My name is Patrick Ryan. “Fathers and Children” is my first read-along. I live outside Philadelphia and I joined the group to commit to reading the classics. I really enjoy The Divine Comedy and some Shakespeare and some Austen, but I really haven’t dived in. I look forward to reading with you all!
Marti, I can relate with the trouble concentrating. I have attention deficit disorder, so I need to read in a quiet environment or I get distracted. When I can, I like to listen to the audiobook and read the book at the same time. Dostoevsky is one of my favorite writers. Never connected with Tolstoy for some reason.Gonza, and all, don't be shy about commenting. All discussion adds to all of our understandings and enjoyment. And the people who post here are a very friendly group. (As evidence, you might notice that half of my posts seem to be rambling nonsense, yet I'm still here. :-)
Peej, what do you know? I live in the Philadelphia suburbs myself. And based on your reading material, I'd say we were raised in the same faith, though it didn't take for me.
Welcome all and enjoy!
Aiden,Good morning! If you mean I was raised within the Catholic Church, that is true, and my faith influences my life profoundly. I seek beauty and truth where ever I can find it, and I understand it as all ultimately pointing back to God and His Son, Jesus Christ.
I look forward to discovering more beautiful novels here!
Hi! My name is Belén and I'm from Argentina. I really love classics and so I've been trying to find an active group to read along with. I stumbled upon this one and your choices seemed pretty interesting. So I thank you all for the opportunity and it's a pleasure to meet you!
Welcome, Belen. You've come to the right place if you enjoy the classics. You'll be among kindred spirits here because we all love the classics. We're glad you found us.
We are currently reading Turgenev's Fathers and Sons . You're welcome to join the discussion any time.
Thank you! I'll see how far I can get.
Note, we have yet to consider any great Argentinian authors. The "Western Canon" is restrictive, no?
We read "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote," by Jorge Luis Borges as an interim read a while back. That's the only one I could find. We might need to consider broadening our selections.
Funny that the last comment posted here relates to Borges since we’ll be reading him (and this story) again in a few weeks
That's right, Susan. And it seems that we were good at the idea of broadening our selections to include authors from other countries. Great!
Howdy everyone, I'm Mark.I'm a factory worker/college student working on a degree in English/creative writing who shares a decent apartment with two banes of my existenc- I mean, cats.
Currently, I'm sitting in the library of my—typically peaceful—midwestern town, fueled only by caffeine and sheer willpower.
Willpower is the bedrock of Stoicism, which is something I've been reading up on for quite some time, in addition to other philosophies.
I'm certain if Aurelius were to have drank an energy drink before writing Meditations, he would have been up all night and the book would be finished by morning, but lack of sleep isn't very stoic at all...
Insofar as the classics go—if we're talking literary classics—I've read the likes of Johann Wolfgang Von Gothe's Faust, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, John Milton's Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, and Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung to name a few.
Right now, I'm reading Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, but I also enjoy the works of authors such as Louis L'Amour, Paulo Coelho, and—in a nod to my childhood—Brian Jaques, among others.
I'm endeavoring to become an author of their caliber too, if I can help it.
Mark wrote: "Howdy everyone, I'm Mark.I'm a factory worker/college student working on a degree in English/creative writing who shares a decent apartment with two banes of my existenc- I mean, cats.
Currentl..."
Welcome, Mark. We're glad you decided to join us.
You caught us in the middle of our Interim Reads. This week we are discussing Yeats' "Sailing to Byzantium," which should be right up your alley since you're a fellow English major. Here is the link to the discussion:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Feel free to jump in any time.
We'll do another poem by Yeats next week. This will be followed by our next major read, Borjes Ficciones, to begin on August 28.
Hi allActually I have a question about which edition of Florio's Montaigne to go for.... what I want is non-messed about original Florio prose without worrying about what Shakespeare took from it. I'm interseted primarily in Florio's prose. There are a lot of old volumes with tiny text — anyone know of any new publications? I'd be happy with a selection to start with rather than the whole lot.
I did look at the NYRB Greenblatt selected, but it looks a bit Shakespeare worhsipping (not saying S shouldn't be worshipped, but as said more keen to read Florio for the sake of his prose)
Anyone know anyone around here who might be able to answer this? Or where else I could post this?
Thanks in advance for answers.
The Florio translation is available in a Modern Library Giant.
Izzy wrote: "Hi! I’m Izzy, a student in Year 11 currently studying Classical Greek as one of my GCSEs, so I am very happy to find a group like this. My favourites have been Euripides’ Medea, and I’m planning on..."Welcome, Izzy!
Izzy wrote: "Hi! I’m Izzy, a student in Year 11 currently studying Classical Greek as one of my GCSEs, so I am very happy to find a group like this. My favourites have been Euripides’ Medea, and I’m planning on..."Hi, Izzy! We’re delighted to have you join us. You’ve come to a good place for discussing classical literature.
We’re currently reading Jorge Luis Borge’s Ficciones and welcome your comments/thoughts any time you want to jump in. Here’s a link to the discussion and schedule: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group.... We’ll be voting on our next read in early October.
Our past discussions are available for browsing and open for comments, too, and include some Dostoevsky novels and classical Greek works, although I’m not sure if we’ve tackled Medea or Hannibal yet.
Hello, I am Justin Leger, a late bloomer on life who constantly makes mistakes and learns from them. Much of my life I was allowed to do nothing and play video games, so I only started working and driving a car in my mid to late twenties; however, about the age of 22 I discovered the existence of the great books in a collection at the town public library in Winter Haven, Florida. Since then, I was not able to find the books anywhere and wanted to read them.I am aspiring to be a computer programmer and have an Associate's degree and am pursuing a Bachelor's degree in computer science. In addition to becoming a computer scientist, I want to improve my financial education as well. However, another goal is to delve into the great books and get a more well-rounded education. Currently I'm 32 years old, turning 33 soon. When I'm elderly, I want to be happy with my self and with my life choices. I will not forget that Oompa Loompa song in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder, where it said that too much TV is bad, and it's better to pick up a book.
I make constant mistakes, like I had $30,000 in savings once and a good paying job with job security, but I made dumb choices and lost all the money and ended up now in credit card debt, unable to afford the bills and it's not a fun time at all. However, I cannot define myself in a bad self-image because that is not who I will always be. What is important is what I do today and making choices that set a good foundation to build off of.
Justin wrote: "Hello, I am Justin Leger, a late bloomer on life who constantly makes mistakes and learns from them. Much of my life I was allowed to do nothing and play video games, so I only started working and ..."Welcome, Justin! We’re glad you decided to join us in discussing the western classics.
We’re currently reading the philosophic, fantastical stories of Jorge Luis Borges’ Ficciones and welcome your thoughts/comments any time you want to jump in. The discussion and schedule are here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/....
Past discussions are also available for browsing and comment. The group has read quite a few of the great books, but there are always more to read ;).
Hi everyone! I'm Hailey. I'm currently finishing up an English major/history minor. I've not read many Western classics yet, just Beowulf and parts of the Canterbury Tales, but I really enjoyed what I did read. Many of the books on my tbr have already been discussed here, and I can't wait to read all your thoughts once I get to those. I see you're reading Borges' Ficciones right now. Looks really captivating! I'll try and catch up if I can, but if I can't, I'll catch you on the next one. Happy to meet you all!
Hailey wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Hailey. I'm currently finishing up an English major/history minor. I've not read many Western classics yet, just Beowulf and parts of the Canterbury Tales, but I really enjoyed wha..."Welcome Hailey! Ficciones is a collection of short stories, which we're doing 2 or 3 per week, so why don't you jump right in with this week's set, which starts on Wednesday?
That actually works out quite well, Roger. Thanks- I’ll do that!
Hailey wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm Hailey. I'm currently finishing up an English major/history minor. I've not read many Western classics yet, just Beowulf and parts of the Canterbury Tales, but I really enjoyed wha..."Hi, Hailey! We’re delighted to have you join us. While the group has read a number of the Western classics, the list of books to read doesn’t seem to get any shorter ;). Old discussions remain open for comment, and the to-be-read list can be seen on the group bookshelf: https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...
As Roger said, please jump in on the Ficciones discussion whenever you like.
The group will be voting on our next read in a few weeks, and that discussion will start in early November.
Hello. I've been lurking and enjoying the book recommendations and reading since Independent People. I'm retired with one of my goals being to read those books that I did not have time for while working. It's a pleasure reading the books chosen and reading the discussions. About me, I live in Kansas City and read a wide variety of books although science fiction/fantasy is a favorite genre. I worked for the US federal government for 36 years primarily in human resources. Now that I'm retired (and have been for 5 years), I indulge in reading and hiking/long walks to enjoy nature and take pictures.
Kay wrote: "Hello. I've been lurking and enjoying the book recommendations and reading since Independent People. I'm retired with one of my goals being to read those books that I did not have time for while wo..."Hi, Kay, We’re delighted to have you join us. Please feel free to jump into the discussions whenever you like. The poll is up for the next major read and will be open for voting through Friday, so there’s still time if you haven’t voted yet: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1.... If you have any questions, please let us know, but since you’ve been reading along for while, I’m guessing you already know that we’re finishing up with Borges this week and will start an interim read next week. Welcome!
Hello. I go by La_Mariane on the internet. English is my second language, and I use goodreads, and other English-"speaking" websites, to stay in practice. Please, if you spot any grammatical error, or awkward turn of phrase, don't hesitate to let me know.I love reading ; sci-fi and fantasy are favourite genres, along with classics.
I plan to read The Portrait of a Lady along with the group, and I'm looking forward to it, because I've read very few American classics. I've bought a translation (hope it's OK) because tackling Henry James in the original English was a bit too intimidating for me. I remember reading "The Turn of the Screw" years ago, and loving it, so I have high hopes for this one.
La_mariane wrote: "Hello. I go by La_Mariane on the internet. English is my second language, and I use goodreads, and other English-"speaking" websites, to stay in practice. Please, if you spot any grammatical error,..."Hi, La_Mariane! We’re delighted to have you join us. This is a good place for folks who love reading and discussing the classics with others. We’re in the middle of an interim read and are trying something different this time by following our reading Othello with a listening to Verdi’s Otello. Then, we’ll start our discussion of “The Portrait of a Lady” on Nov. 13. Please feel free to read in whatever language works best for you. A reading schedule will be posted in the next week.
Susan wrote: "La_mariane wrote: "Hello. I go by La_Mariane on the internet. English is my second language, and I use goodreads, and other English-"speaking" websites, to stay in practice. Please, if you spot any..."Reading Othello alongside listening to the opera sounds so interesting! I'll try and lurk in the comment section ... I might even make the time to pick up the play, now that you've tempted me!
Hello~ I’m Ramata, a 20 year old aspiring law student from SEA. This is my first goodreads group despite being on this platform for 1.5+ years, so I don’t really know what to expect but I’m looking forward to being a part of a group.I’ve always been an avid reader ever since I can remember; the books I read were fiction and fantasy. A few years ago, I discovered internet novels (mostly translated Korean light novels and chinese novels), became obsessed and thus stopped reading ‘actual’ books.
In 2023, my mother gifted me a kindle for my birthday because she knows I love reading but mostly because my eyesight was getting so bad due to the amount of reading I do on my phone. I knew that with the Kindle, I could read even more and that I could go about this benefit in 2 ways: continue reading internet novels (which my mother was convinced was rotting my brain) or read books that were actually beneficial.
So when I finally decided to face the fact that I’m a young adult (emphasis on ‘young’, just because I accept it doesn’t make me like it any better) and have to face the ‘real’ world soon enough, I realised that I barely know anything and that the obvious choice would be the 2nd option ( duh!).
Thus began my journey of reading classics, philosophy, non-fiction, etc. with the aim of (to put it bluntly) becoming smarter. But just because my aim for reading classics isn’t purely for fun doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them. Sure some can be tedious and hard but there are some interesting ones.
I joined this group so that I could perhaps discover some classics that I never heard of and to make my journey a tad easier, if not then at least more enjoyable.
And if you’re thinking that I shouldn’t ‘force’ myself to read, I’m not. I’m not restricting myself from reading fantasy or my online novels (I still do very much read them), I just read them less. ( And I know that reading books is beneficial despite the genre but this argument only works if one isn’t a frequent reader in the first place. I am, so I have to choose carefully what type of book I will invest my time on.)
Classics and the Western Canon
Books mentioned in this topic
Metamorphoses (other topics)Gilgamesh: A New Translation of the Ancient Epic (other topics)
The Portrait of a Lady (other topics)
Ficciones (other topics)
Dracula (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Søren Kierkegaard (other topics)Dorothy L. Sayers (other topics)
John Ciardi (other topics)
Alexis de Tocqueville (other topics)
Dani Shapiro (other topics)
More...
That sounds very intriguing! I love flash fiction. Is there anywhere you share your work, or is it a private thing?
What sort of book covers do you do, your favourite parts from the novel, or just however the mood captures you? I sometimes do an occasional sketch if a book as emotionally touched me.
I write all sorts of genres for myself. My one published book though is a kind of coming of age, finding your true identity, magical realism adventure set in Shakespearean times. If that makes any sense? I find it very hard to describe my own stories :)