Please introduce yourself~ Showing 151-200 of 1,672

[Marie]

Hi. My name is Marie. I'm nurse that's trying to get back to reading literature. I've been stuck in medical/nursing world for so long, I need an outlet. I read a wide range of books, but haven't read a lot of classics, hence the reason I've joined this group. I'm very excited to talk to people about what I'm reading.

[Everyman]

Welcome, Marie. Our next two selections will be excellent books to get back into reading the classics. Look forward to your joining the discussion -- don't be shy!

[Dawn]

Please forgive the tardy introduction -- I crashed the party back at Self-Reliance. I am Dawn from Cincinnati, OH. I work in the computer science field and have read classic fiction for years. It is nice to find a group interested in discussing it. Having an exclusively technical education and profession, I do not bring any literary credentials to the table. I just love well-written books. I am looking forward to branching into other types of classic writings and learning from such a diverse and well-read group. The discussions have been very enlightening so far.

[Everyman]

It seems a bit silly to say welcome to somebody who's been posting as long as you have, but welcome anyhow!

[Andrea]

Caitlin, your introduction is very poetic. But it's a bit sad at the time of year when hammock-sleeping is over for those of us in North America. Unless you put a hammock in the house.

[Joe]

Good evening to all,

I wanted to introduce myself. I currently live on the outskirts of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada with my wife. I am a Graduate Student in the area of Medieval History. We are moving to Edmonton, Alberta next year so I can continue my graduate studies in hopes of attaining a PhD with the hope of teaching at the University level.

I have been trying, for some time, to find a good discussion group where the definition of "classic" isn't "whatever Oprah thinks is a classic". I came across this discussion group, earlier this evening, and have been reluctant, until now, to join up. I have been really struggling to find like-minded people in their interest of reading literature. And since everyone comes from such distinct and unique backgrounds, the insight that everyone can give I am sure is quite amazing. I look forward to joining you on your next book, whether that is Anna Karenina or Middlemarch. I look forward to sharing this intellectual journey with all of you in opening ourselves up to the rich tapestry that history has intertwined within the medium of literature. I have always felt that having a classical education is something enormously worthwhile. That type of education seems to lend to the student a great harvest of riches as that person is able to fully understand where the world has evolved from and where it is evolving towards.

Again, I look forward to discussing the various books with all of you.

[Everyman]

Welcome, Fedorov. Good to have you with us!

I look forward to joining you on your next book, whether that is Anna Karenina or Middlemarch

Yes and yes! Our next book will be AnnaK, followed by Middlemarch. So you get them both.

Meanwhile, keep tuned for the end of Les Miserables and then our lighthearted Christmas interlude.

[Joe]

What is the lighthearted Christmas interlude? Is that the poetry as mentioned in the "interim reading" discussion?

[Everyman]

Fedorov wrote: "What is the lighthearted Christmas interlude? Is that the poetry as mentioned in the "interim reading" discussion?
"

As moderator, I select a brief reading to intersperse between the full readings selected by the group. I haven't announced the Christmas reading yet, but will soon.

[Joe]

Excellent. Look forward to getting involved :)

[Kim]

Hello book lovers,

My name is Kim and I've wanted to read all the classics by the ripe "old" age of 30!! But seeing as time has a sense of humour and is very very quick, I find myself 2 years away from my deadline and far from reading them all. haha So here I am...open to new ideas on these classics as well as any suggestions on new books/authors to read.

Thanks and I look forward to delving into AK soon!

[Everyman]

Welcome, Kim. Ah, to be young again with all these books to look forward to opening for the first time!

OTOH, I have so many good friends on my shelves that I would feel so blessed to know and be able to visit with any time I want to. You have a great future of reading to look forward to.

[Everyman]

Yes, Anna, Anna Karenina is our next major read, starting in January. Our interim read will be announced very soon!

[Bobby]

Hi, everyone ... I'm a manager/marketer/techgeek who has spent the past several years so immersed in RSS, news, technology and information that I've neglected many of the classics surrounding me in my own home. I am thrilled to have discovered the group as I recently built a website (readingthegreats.com) discussing my desire to read the greats before I turn fifty (I'm near-enough to forty now), nice to know there is a community of like-minded people to read and discuss great books. I'm looking forward to the discussion!

[Laurel]

Bobby, I really like your website. The video about Flannery O'Connor is tops, and thanks for the reminder that C.S. Lewis, if he had lived, would have turned 111 yesterday.

[Bobby]

Laurele wrote: "Bobby, I really like your website. The video about Flannery O'Connor is tops, and thanks for the reminder that C.S. Lewis, if he had lived, would have turned 111 yesterday." Thanks, Laurele. We share some favorite authors (Lewis, Cather, Chesterton), I'm looking forward to the group. Appreciate your taking the time to comment about the site, I updated it to include a link to this group. Happy reading!

[Everyman]

Welcome, Bobby. I'll look forward to checking out your website soon.

Meanwhile, settle in and enjoy yourself. If you haven't read Les Miserables, you're probably too late to participate much in the discussion (unless you're a really fast reader!) but feel free to read the posts anyhow to get a feel for how discussions here work. But we'll look for your active participation in our forthcoming short interim read and then in Anna Karenina, being led by Laurel.

[Jen]

Hello All:

Glad to be joining your group. I have been wanting to re and re-read some of the classics for awhile now. I like to mix in something with some girth here and there, but I usually find when I try to do classics on my own I 1) sometimes get discouraged and 2) miss other's perspectives of what the work is really saying or meaning.

You folks have great discussion and planning here and I'm looking forward to trying to keep up.

[Peregrine]

Jen wrote: "Hello All:

Glad to be joining your group. I have been wanting to re and re-read some of the classics for awhile now. I like to mix in something with some girth here and there, but I usually fi..."

Girth, discussion, encouragement, perspectives - we've got it all! Welcome, Jen :-)

[Jen]

Peregrine wrote: "Jen wrote: "Hello All:

Glad to be joining your group. I have been wanting to re and re-read some of the classics for awhile now. I like to mix in something with some girth here and there, but I ..."

Thanks! Glad to be here. And yes, you guys are definitely starting off with girth! :-)

[Everyman]

Jen wrote: "Hello All:

Glad to be joining your group...."

And we're glad to have you with us. What books of "girth" have you read recently?

[Steven]

Hi all,

My name is Steven and I live in Philadelphia, PA. I studied Literature in college and now I write computer programs for a living. I'm always looking for great books to read. Lately I've been working my way through the list of Man Booker prize winners, but I've found some of them to be far from prize winners in my estimation. I'm looking forward to reading some great literature with this group. I haven't ever read Anna Karenina, so I'm looking forward to reading and discussing it with everyone.

[Everyman]

Welcome, Steven.

I grew up in and outside of Philadelphia -- first five years on Hamilton street, then out in Southampton. I know the city well, since my father worked downtown and I went often to the city with him. Give my regards especially to Billy Penn, the Franklin Institute, the Art Museum, and the Reading Terminal Market, which I understand is still there but far different from what it was 50 years ago.

We'll look forward to your participation in the Anna Karenina discussion!

[Jen]

Jen wrote: "Peregrine wrote: "Jen wrote: "Hello All:

Glad to be joining your group. I have been wanting to re and re-read some of the classics for awhile now. I like to mix in something with some girth he..."


Well, I attempted to read Infinite Jest A Novel not too long ago and couldn't finish. The friend that I was reading it with did finish, but it took her about 6 months.

I recently finished The Prince which as you all probably know isn't terribly long, but there sure is a lot of meat to it. After having read it in college a few times, I enjoyed reading it again as an adult and reading it of my own free will. It really spurred my interest in wanting to get into some more reading with substance.

Not that I don't love my current fiction, but the classics have so many angles and so much to discuss.

[Everyman]

Jen wrote: "Not that I don't love my current fiction, but the classics have so many angles and so much to discuss. "

Boy, do they ever!

The Prince is a classic example of how a single book can bend the thinking of a whole society. At the time he wrote, the concept of the divine right of kings was widely accepted, that the ruler was appointed by God and that therefore he or she had an obligation, at least on the surface, to appear to be doing God's bidding. Machiavelli threw into the mix the basic concept that political power is a thing unto itself, that what counts is getting and keeping power, and that anything else is a mere trapping.

[Andrea]

Welcome to all the new members,so exciting to see so many readers out there! I have to say, I'm not sure it's possible to read "all" the classics even in a lifetime, but it's sure fun to try.

[Everyman]

Andrea wrote: "Welcome to all the new members,so exciting to see so many readers out there! I have to say, I'm not sure it's possible to read "all" the classics even in a lifetime, but it's sure fun to try."

That's one important difference between, say, Milton's day and our day. He was in fact able to read everything that was considered of value to read, in English, Latin, Greek, and I believe also French. In our day, so much more has been published (and there are so many more distractions in our lives) that it's no longer possible.

[Laurel]

Everyman wrote: That's one important difference between, say, Milton's day and our day.

Speaking of whom: Happy Birthday, John Milton. If he had lived, he would be 401 today.

[Everyman]

John Lazarus Milton

[Lindz]

Hey everyone !!!!!!

I'm Lindz 28 living in Australia. Getting into a huge Classics kick at the moment. Just finished Northanger Abbey which I loved, and now reading David Copperfield.

[Everyman]

Lindz wrote: "Hey everyone !!!!!!

I'm Lindz 28 living in Australia. Getting into a huge Classics kick at the moment. Just finished Northanger Abbey which I loved, and now reading David Copperfield."

Welcome. You have just about enough time to finish David C and have time to read Anna K with us. Reading about the winters in Russia should be a good antidote to your Australian summer heat!

[Carol]

Welcome Lindz. I also just started reading David Copperfield.

Hi Patrice. It's 17 degrees here. The snow is beautiful but the cold winds I could live without. We're going to venture out very early tomorrow morning, and catch a plane to "warm up" a little in sunny Florida.

[Carol]

Thank you! I'll catch up next week.

[Lindz]

Yeah everyone !!! Thanks so much. Very much summer over here! Reading about cold Russia with Anna Kareninia will be very much a contrast. :)

[Yrinsyde]

... I'm Lindz 28 living in Australia. Getting into a huge Classics kick at the moment. Just finished Northanger Abbey which I loved, and now reading David Copperfield...

Hi Lindz - I'm also an Australian, living in Melbourne. It has been very wet and cool here. What state are you from? - Catherine -

[Lindz]

Living in melbourne also, hunting out the extra blanket :)

[Dale]

Hi all - I'm an unemployed soon-to-be MBA in Manhattan looking for a job and love to read so I thought this would be a great book. Anna Karenina is one of my favorite books of all time, I'm thrilled to read it again. I'm wondering if we'll be going into some young-adult classics of the Western canon: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn comes to mind. Anyway, happy to read/devour all.

[Everyman]

Dale wrote: "Hi all - I'm an unemployed soon-to-be MBA in Manhattan looking for a job and love to read so I thought this would be a great book. Anna Karenina is one of my favorite books of all time, I'm thrill..."

Welcome, Dale!

We haven't considered young-adult classics, but there is a Children's Books group here on Goodreads
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...
and they might be interested in those discussions.

Meanwhile, look forward to having you in the AnnaK discussion. It will be led by our wonderful Laurel, who knows a lot more about Russian literature than I do.

[Sergey]

Hello. I recently joined this group and I would like to introduce myself. I have been surrounded by books since childbirth; mother is an avid reader and I could scarcely escape her passion for the written word. I enjoy an array of literature, of various genres (classics, historical novels, mysteries, etc.).

I live in Florida and by profession I am an accountant. I often find my career choice a bit a bore, but it does help from falling into the chasm of madness so I mustn’t complain too much of it, I suppose. I enjoy an order to things, but also find it a bore to keep it up. It’s a strange contradiction of oneself in self; I can’t help it! I also can’t help buying books; at times it is a rewarding financial loss, and at times a detriment, but secretly I enjoy this obsession whichever way the bottom line leans.

This is my first true attempt to actively participate in a reading group (virtual or otherwise), so please forgive me in advance for any timidness. Thank you.

[Lindz]

Welcome Sergey to the group! What is one of your favourite classics.

[Laurel]

Sergey wrote: "Hello. I recently joined this group and I would like to introduce myself. I have been surrounded by books since childbirth; mother is an avid reader and I could scarcely escape her passion for th..."

Welcome, Sergey! I certainly hope you will be joining us for Anna Karenena. I see that you have it in Russian.

[Sergey]

Lindz wrote: "Welcome Sergey to the group! What is one of your favourite classics."

Thank you, Lindz. That's a loaded questions, really. I've dabbled a bit in classics in my (younger) youth, abandoned it, returned to it and so forth and so on. I would say that Resurrection by Tolstoy would come close to being a favorite; it had a profound affect on me and it was my first Tolstoy, too. Perhaps Les Misérabless by Hugo (I see I was a tad late joining the group, or else I would have enjoyed joining the discussion) and White Nights by Dostoevsky would qualify also. Eh, let's see...The Count of Monte Cristo; A Tale of Two Cities; Frankenstein…that’s just off of the top of my head. What about you?

[Sergey]

Laurele wrote: "Sergey wrote: "Hello. I recently joined this group and I would like to introduce myself. I have been surrounded by books since childbirth; mother is an avid reader and I could scarcely escape her..."

Thanks, Laurele. Yes, I had to hunt down my copy of Anna Karenina so I can join the January reading. Looking forward to it.

[Everyman]

Sergey wrote: "Hello. I recently joined this group and I would like to introduce myself. "

Welcome, Sergey. But please, no timidness! We're all very friendly here, just mosey over to the goodies table, pick up some tea (we have several varieties) and a few cakes or cookies (I especially recommend the seed cake -- it's delicious), settle back in a comfy chair, and get ready to chat about Anna Karenina!

[Andrea]

Welcome Sergey! My favorite brother-in-law is an accountant. His favorite saying, "Accept your present circumstances. Then you can change your life." He thinks accounting is very philosophical and most of people's problems come from refusing to understand money. But, personally, I can see why a person would need literature as a relief.

[Natalie]

Hiya , I'm Natalie . I've always enjoyed reading . Single living in Michigan and work in customer service . Looking forward to exploring the classics with everyone .

[Everyman]

Welcome, Natalie! In case you haven't gotten far enough in the group to know, our next major read will be Anna Karenina, starting in January and moderated by our superb Laurel.

Look forward to seeing you there. Hope your are surviving all this snow we hear about your area getting.

Where in Michigan are you? My sons-in-law are from the greater Detroit area.

[Andrea]

Hi, Natalie. I live in Michigan, too. I live in East Lansing and teach in Grand Rapids. You are definitely in the right group to help you survive a Michigan winter!

[Rach]

Hello all! I'm new here, and excited to read Anna Karenina with all of you!

I live near Seattle, WA, USA, and work at a church as graphic designer. I do have a BA in Russian Language and Literature, and while I have read lots of Russian lit in the past, this is one I haven't read yet. Yay!

[Peregrine]

Rachel wrote: "Hello all! I'm new here, and excited to read Anna Karenina with all of you!

I live near Seattle, WA, USA, and work at a church as graphic designer. I do have a BA in Russian Language and Literat..."

Hi Rachel! ::waves from Winnipeg::