Classic Classics discussion
What Have You Read? Or Currently Reading?
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Christina
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Feb 21, 2014 06:35AM
Hi! In this discussion we can talk about books we have read and books we are currently reading. Hopefully this can help us get to know each other and our book preferences. Maybe even lead us into reading books/genres we might not have considered previously.
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I guess I can go first. I am currently reading a non-classic: Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card. I recently finished his Ender series and moved on to the Bean series. But I do make sure to include a classic every other book. In the past two months I have read: Astrophil and Stella, Sea Wolf by Jack London, The Art of War, House of Seven Gables, Oliver Twist, and the curious incident of the dog in the night-time - not a "classic" but I think it's really good.
I don't have a preference for Classics except I'm not the biggest fan of early 1800's. Otherwise I just have a bunch of classics I have purchased over the years.
Hi, I'm almost finished with Wives and Daughters - I enjoy(-ed) it very much!. For this year I've made a challenge to read more classics. Among which (almost) all of the books by Jane Austen (after seeing the movies for dozens of times, it is about time I read her books). So in january I've read Persuasion. I also read this year: The Little Friend, The Cuckoo's Calling, Oh, That I Had Wings, The Inn at Rose Harbor, Mrs. Dalloway and No Name. I found Mrs. Dalloway in a way very beautiful written, but very difficult to digest... I loved No Name - that was a really pleasant surprise - I had never read anything by Wilkie Collins before (I always thought he was a woman ;)...). The Little Friend and The Inn at Rose Harbor I have read in dutch (I'm from the Netherlands), the others in English. I loved the Cuckoo's Calling as well - I'm really looking forward to J.K. Rowlings next book!I'm also a huge fan of Ken Follett's Historical novels and all the books by Isabel Allende. I haven't read her latest yet - I'm gonna ask it for my birthday (which is in june, so I have to wait a bit more...).
About Jules Verne's 80 days: I have read it in comic book-version, but never the real thing. I'm looking forward to it!
Nice to meet you all! Have fun reading!
Elsbeth wrote: "Hi, I'm almost finished with Wives and Daughters - I enjoy(-ed) it very much!. For this year I've made a challenge to read more classics. Among which (almost) all of the books by Jane..."I read Mrs. Dalloway last year and it was great. I love Woolf's writing style - it reminds me of Faulkner (another author I enjoy). Their books are like puzzles, the reader has to pay close attention and there are so many great themes that run throughout the books. However, they are also books that once finished a light read or two is in order. :) Have you read To the Lighthouse by Woolf? I enjoyed that book too.
I haven't even heard of The Cuckoo's Calling, is it good? I loved Harry Potter, and this is the first time I have heard of her writing a different series so I'm interested to get feedback, please. :)
Christina wrote: "Elsbeth wrote: "Hi, I'm almost finished with Wives and Daughters - I enjoy(-ed) it very much!. For this year I've made a challenge to read more classics. Among which (almost) all of t..."I agree with you on Mrs. Dalloway - very beautiful, but after that you want something 'lighter'.
I loved The Cuckoo's Calling very much. I hope it will be a serie. The head-characters are very nice, I think: a private detective with some personal problems (just broke up with his girlfriend, sleeps in his office and has hardly any money) and his temporary assistent who loves this work (a childhood dream come true). And the case they work on: a young very famous model who apparently kills herself; and all those around her.
I also loved J.K. Rowlings other adult book The Casual Vacancy - I still think a lot about it, especially some of its main characters.
And of course Harry Potter is great! I was so disappointed after I read the last one - I didn't want to say goodbye to Harry, Hermoine, the Weasleys and the other great characters.
I'll try To the Lighthouse, I have already downloaded it.
Sometimes I wish I could read faster - there are so many wonderful books I want to read!!!
I just saw that in june there will be another book by J.K. Rowling (or Robert Galbraith)! The sequel to The Cuckoo's Calling, namely: The Silkworm! Yes!!! I can't wait! Another book I can ask for my birthday ;)...!
Elsbeth, I agree!!! There either needs to be more hours in a day OR I need to be able to speed read! It would also be nice if I had an abundance of money to buy books... hehe. Thanks for your thoughts on The Cuckoo's Calling :)
I find I have that problem a lot - getting sad when a series ends...I want to know how the rest of their life goes, dangit! heh.
Mod
I'm really looking forward to JK Rowlings new book ;only 4 more month until the release of her new book :D
Hi! After reading a short children's book
- in Scottish(!), I'm now reading something by the author of Tarzan:
. I never read anything like that before (an adventure story set in space), but I have to say I really enjoy it! Maybe I wouldn't like it so much when I actually could see the Martians (because they have about 4 legs and 4 arms or something like that)...But it is a very exciting tale.
Maybe I'll even read one or more of its sequels (there are 11 in total...).
Christina wrote: "Elsbeth wrote: "Hi, I'm almost finished with Wives and Daughters - I enjoy(-ed) it very much!. For this year I've made a challenge to read more classics. Among which (almost) all of t..."I guess I'll just have to read
, because I just did a test about what classical author is your soul-mate - and mine was Virginia Woolf... Oh dear: wasn't she depressed and didn't she kill herself...?If you want to try it:
Sorry, I just can't get the link copied. When you go to the discussion about 'What are you currently reading' on the '19th Century Epic Romance' book club, you can click it on one of the newest comments.
Hi! I am currently reading a farewell to arms by Ernest Hemingway. I have read way to many classic books to list however i will say some of my favorites books and authors.Books:
to kill a mockingbird, Anna Karenina, great expectations, any Sherlock Holmes book
Authors:
Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, Kurt Vonnegut, Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway
I thought I'd read some historical novels by Arthur Canon Doyle, so I'm now reading:
. I just finished reading
- a Sherlock Holmes. I enjoyed it very much; the first part was typical Sherlock Holmes, the second part seemed at first a totally different story, which made it very interesting!
I'm a bit of a newbie here so I hope you don't mind if I join in your discussion - I love reading a wide range of classic literature. I'm a huge fan of James Joyce and I'd probably have to admit that Ulysses is my favourite novel.
Kate wrote: "I'm a bit of a newbie here so I hope you don't mind if I join in your discussion - I love reading a wide range of classic literature. I'm a huge fan of James Joyce and I'd probably have to admit th..."Hi Kate, well, I'm relativly new too (apparantly I became a member of Goodreads in 2012 and just forgot it. I rediscovered it las month).
I never read anything by James Joyce, what are his books like?
well it's true that they are kind of off the wall. I didn't tackle Ulysses until I was in my mid-twenties because I'd heard that it's the kind of book you have to wait for. And when I first read it I wasn't sure what to make of it. But then I read it again and suddenly things started to fall into place - the way he wants to catalogue an entire day, his use of different forms of prose style to reflect different thought patterns. I think I've read it five times now and every time I find things I never realised before.As for his other work, the first thing I read by Joyce was A Portrait of the Artist. And I absolutely loved it, simply because few writers get inside their characters' heads in the way Joyce does. I could feel Stephen's development, his bouts of youthful arrogance, his personal struggles with religion and nationalism so clearly.
I did read Finnegans Wake - once! - but to be honest that was more pain than pleasure ;)
What kind of novels do you enjoy, Elsbeth? I'd love some recommendations.
Kate :)
I love reading historical novels. One of my favourite author is German
, Rebecca Gablé. It was a bit weird at first, because I read her books in German (try to keep that language up, because I don't speak it often; there are a lot of German students in my home town, but they mostly adress you in English, so I get a bit out of practice...) and most of them are about England! So I read about people talking English or French, in German (and my native tongue is Dutch) ;)... But I love her books. I'll ask her latest for my birthday (in june) - her first book on German history... I also love the books by
, Isabel Allende (I'm also asking her latest novel; Ripper for my birthday),
, Joanne Harris, the historical novels by
, Ken Follett and
, J.K. Rowling and
, Robert Galbraith ;) - her next book will be published in june, so one more for my birthday....).Lately I read a lot of classics. I read all the books from
, The Brontë Sisters (about 20 years ago) and this year I decided I should read all the books by
, Jane Austen, because I've seen so many movies from her books. I already read Persuasion and loved it! But now I've started Emma for the hundreth time, but I just can't finish it (I don't like the main character and for me that makes me so very hard to keep reading...).I read No Name and Wives and Daughters last month and I loved both books. It was my first by Wilkie Collins and I would love to read more! I had already read another by Elizabeth Gaskell, so I already knew I liked her style.
I also tried some classics which I never would dream of reading and quite enjoyed it; like
and
. So I'm broadening my horizon... ;).I'll put
, James Joyce on my to read list...
I love Wuthering Heights! It's another of my favourite classics - so passionate. To my shame I haven't read any of Allende's works - and I feel I really should. And Rebecca Gable sounds interesting - I should definitely check out her writing. Thanks for the rec!
When I was about 18, my uncle and aunt gave me Of Love and Shadows - in dutch for my birthday. I loved it so much, I bought all her other books as well (over the years). But you have to like her style of writing. My mother and a friend of mine also love to read, but I don't think they ever read one of Isabel Allende's books...
Hello! First day on Goodreads and I am loving it! I'm always looking for new books to read and wanted to join a group that will challenge me to not just pick up the latest novel off the shelf. I enjoy reading classics but don't get to them as much as I would like. My two favorites are Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre. I just finished The Razor's Edge and really enjoyed it though it did take me a little bit to get into the story. I adore reading and am a vehemently against e-readers. There's nothing more wonderful than the feeling of a solid book in your hands. With that being said, due to storage issues I utilize my local library multiple times through the month and am excited to get some new books on the hold shelf!
I have to agree, Wuthering Heights is an amazingly written book! have any of you read a farewell to arms? I just finished it and it was beautiful, the love story and how it was interwoven within the back drop of the war was just so elegantly written. It was AMAZING
So, another update. I just finished
(in dutch). Really beautiful love story. A modern Romeo and Juliet!I started
, but there are so many facts in it (about the Amazon, the animals around it, the length of the river etc.), that I wanted to read something else. So I've started
, which I'm reading for a group read (for the 1700-1939 book club). It has about 700 pages, so it will take awhile... Well, it is not april yet, so time enough before we start our next book. Looks like it will be
(that is if the votes don't change much). I'm really curious about that book (I still want to read the others as well, but I think this will be a good choice).Have fun reading, everyone!
Mod
Mazz wrote: "I'm currently reading Alice in Wonderland and it's a cool crazy story . I love it :)"Oh, that is also on my to read list. I'll try it soon.
Mazz wrote: "I'm currently reading Alice in Wonderland and it's a cool crazy story . I love it :)"I read that a few years ago and was surprised how much I liked it! I went into thinking it would be an alright YA book, but it was great!
Has anyone read Crime and Punishment? I am reading that at the beginning of April, and was wondering if anyone could warm me up to it :)
I am currently reading "If on a Winters Night a Traveler" by Italo Calvino, and "Murder in the Cathedral" by T.S. Eliot. If anyone has similar tastes feel free to share!
Tutt wrote: "I am currently reading "If on a Winters Night a Traveler" by Italo Calvino, and "Murder in the Cathedral" by T.S. Eliot. If anyone has similar tastes feel free to share!"No, I don't know those books, but they sound interesting, especially Murder in the Cathedral.
Christina wrote: "Has anyone read Crime and Punishment? I am reading that at the beginning of April, and was wondering if anyone could warm me up to it :)"No, I haven't read Crime and Punishment, but I will start reading another by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, namely The Idiot. I'm really curious about whether I will like it!
By the way, Tutt and Christina; did you already vote on our poll, for our next group read?
I didn't vote because I don't have those books. I don't really have a good income right now, so I can't buy books when I want to anymore. :( All I have are the books I bought used a year ago...
Christina wrote: "I didn't vote because I don't have those books. I don't really have a good income right now, so I can't buy books when I want to anymore. :( All I have are the books I bought used a year ago..."Ah! I understand! And by the sound of it you don't have an ereader? I do - and so I can download them all for free (that's one of the wonderful things about ereaders...). Maybe, for next month, you can make a poll with some of the books you have? Or maybe even for april as well, so we can do 2 reads at the same time (or choose between the 2)? What do you all think?
Mod
Elsbeth wrote: "Christina wrote: "I didn't vote because I don't have those books. I don't really have a good income right now, so I can't buy books when I want to anymore. :( All I have are the books I bought used..."I can make a list of books I have...how do I make a poll? or do I just post my list on here?
Oh, and no, I don't have an ereader. A. I can't afford one, and B. I am kinda against them because I love having a book in my hands and then being able to put them on the shelf...
Mazz wrote: "hi christina, i wanted to add that you can read them online on online-literature.com for free"Thanks for the info! Not sure I could read an entire book off my computer, but it's definitely something to keep in mind. I appreciate you mentioning it :)
It is a screen play, but a good read still. Though I would start with "Cocktail Party" if I were going to read Eliot. And I will vote, thanks for the heads up.
Christina wrote: "Elsbeth wrote: "Christina wrote: "I didn't vote because I don't have those books. I don't really have a good income right now, so I can't buy books when I want to anymore. :( All I have are the boo..."It's very easy to make a poll (I hadn't done it before either): just click 'polls' and than 'create a poll' (which is also on the right, just below 'polls' etc.). Give the poll a name, add some books and sent everyone an invitation to vote...
I understand your argument against an ereader. I too love having a real book in my hands. But my bookcase became too full (all those beautiful books had to move to the attic...). So my husband 'forbid' me to buy more (well, I had to agree with him; we should move to a small castle where we could have such a beautiful old-fashioned library to put all my books ;) - and since we don't have the money for that, I just bought an ereader...). Now I read a lot of classics, because they are for free, cheap 'magazine'-like books and ask for my birthday the books which I really, really want to have (like the new one by Isabel Allende and Robert Galbraith (=J.K. Rowling)...).
I didn't know that website (with the books free online) either. I am not sure whether I could read a whole book online, either, but it is good to know!
I'm also a member of the bookgroup '23 Short Classics' in which we read really short classics (like the name says ;)). I already downloaded 21 of them. But 1 I couldn't download for free and 1 I could only find readable online. So I'll probably try that one online (it is a short one, so worth a try).
Hi everyone! I'm very excited to have joined your group. I love exploring books that have been designated as classics or books that have shown up on many "must-read" lists.I am currently wrapping up On The Road by Jack Kerouac and Jane Austen's Emma. I am somewhat of a chronic book jumper. I tend to start many books simultaneously. I'm hoping that joining a book club will help me commit and see each novel through since there are open discussions involved. Just to get an idea of my tastes, my favorites include To Kill a Mockingbird, The Bell Jar, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
I also enjoy physical books but when I don't have the funds or am too busy to visit the library, I'll try to find it online. I will definitely have to check out online-literature.com. I normally just use Google Play or the Kindle PC app to download free books. I have also stumbled across the Project Gutenberg site (www.gutenberg.org) and am using it to read our current month selection The Time Machine.
Happy reading!
Mailee wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm very excited to have joined your group. I love exploring books that have been designated as classics or books that have shown up on many "must-read" lists.I am currently wrappin..."
Hi Mailee, welcome to our little group! I hope you'll enjoy it!
When you have any group-read suggestions, feel free to make them!
Yes, there are a lot of sites where you can download classics for free, like:
www.girlebooks.com (books written by 'girls')
www.manybooks.com
www.feedbooks.com (I think most of the free downloadable books at Goodreads come from this site)
www.epubbud.com
www.archive.org
and loads more, but I usually can find the book I'm looking for on one of these (or gutenberg) sites.
That's one of the great things about reading classics: free downloadable! And most are just great to read!
I'm currently reading:
The Idiot, which is my first Russian classic. So far (I've read 1 of the 4 parts) I really enjoy it! The 'Idiot' is a really likeable character!
And I just finished: Moscow City, which the author offered for free on this site (I got it via the link on the Short & Sweet Treat book group). It was a really nice thriller with a lot of action (great to read between all the classics...). And the funny thing was: The Idiot was mentioned in it!
So I know it is really early, but I created a poll with books I felt were more... "likely" to be better out of my collection... If no one likes my books, that is totally OK, and maybe I can join in on a group read later in the year :)
Elsbeth wrote: "Mailee wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm very excited to have joined your group. I love exploring books that have been designated as classics or books that have shown up on many "must-read" lists.I am cu..."
I am currently reading Crime and Punishment...and if I liked this book I was going to look into getting The Idiot later in the year... Please let me know if you like it. So far in Crime and Punishment, I am unsure if I like the psychological detail, but it's still early :)
I'm currently reading The Hound of the Baskervilles. The last time I read it I was in my teens. Forgotten what a genius Conan-Doyle was!
Kate wrote: "I'm currently reading The Hound of the Baskervilles. The last time I read it I was in my teens. Forgotten what a genius Conan-Doyle was!"Yay! That is good news. I have the complete works for Sherlock Holmes and its good to know it is liked. I haven't started reading it yet - crazy huge!
They're all fantastic - It's so long since I read it and I was just amazed at how modern Conan Doyle's prose sounds and how charismatic Holmes is. I'd start with The Hound of The Baskervilles - it really is his masterpiece.
Kate wrote: "They're all fantastic - It's so long since I read it and I was just amazed at how modern Conan Doyle's prose sounds and how charismatic Holmes is. I'd start with The Hound of The Baskervilles - it ..."Last month I read The Hound of the Baskervilles and A Study in Scarlet. Both great books. I was surprised by that last one: part 2 of that books seems at first a totally different book!
I'm planning to read all the Sherlock Holmes books these next 3 months for a quarterly challenge (finish those series)... So maybe one of them would make a good group-read (or side-read)?
Yesterday I started The Moonstone. I recently read No Name, also by Wilkie Collins, which I really loved! And so far I love this book as well. So if any of you haven't read a book by Wilkie Collins yet, I can really recommend that!!!
By the way: about free ebook downloads. I've found a site where you can download books for free which are not that old:www.storycartel.com
For that you are expected to give your 'honest review', because new authors give you their books in exchange for it.
I think any of the longer Holmes stories would be great for a group read. Especially given the recent rise in interest in these works through the BBC contemporary re-write. In fact I decided to give The Hound of the Baskervilles a re-read as my students picked it for a seminar discussion. Now I'm glad they did :)
I've been thinking... What would you say if we would do a sort of 3-monthly (or something like that) side read with all the Sherlock Holmes books & stories? So everyone can see for him/herself if and when and which of the books he/she would like to read and we could discuss them here..?These are all 9 Sherlock Holmes books:
A Study in Scarlet
The Sign of Four
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Valley of Fear
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
His Last Bow
The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
Would any of you be interested in that?
Elsbeth wrote: "I've been thinking... What would you say if we would do a sort of 3-monthly (or something like that) side read with all the Sherlock Holmes books & stories? So everyone can see for him/herself if a..."If you guys do this later in the year - I would totally be down for this! Unfortunately I have chosen to read the Game of thrones books and I still have to finish the "Best of Jack London" - which is ginormous too...
Christina wrote: "Elsbeth wrote: "I've been thinking... What would you say if we would do a sort of 3-monthly (or something like that) side read with all the Sherlock Holmes books & stories? So everyone can see for ..."That's fine by me - I just cancelled my 'finish those series'-challenge; it was a bit too much for me. So I'd love to to that later this year, with whoever would want to join!
Hi,This is my first group I've joined on Goodreads so forgive me if it's too late to discuss Around the World in Eighty Days. I recently finished it for the first time. I really enjoyed it,and was a little surprised! I thought it moved right along for the most part, and not nearly as wordy as some classics I have tried to read(sorry). I will certainly read more of his stories.
Classic Classics
Books mentioned in this topic
The Valley of Fear (other topics)The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (other topics)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (other topics)
A Study in Scarlet (other topics)
The Sign of Four (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Wilkie Collins (other topics)Fyodor Dostoevsky (other topics)
Rebecca Gablé (other topics)
Isabel Allende (other topics)
Joanne Harris (other topics)
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