Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
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Daz's Better Late Than Never Challenge
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Hi Darren, I really like your list and the categories you've chosen. My list of books I am "most surprised at myself that I've never read" would be way to long to fit on this page. ;) Welcome to the group, I hope you find it helpful and inspiring in your journey through this list of books and beyond.
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I read a lot of Sci-Fi/Fantasy (SFF) in my teens/20's, but lost touch with it when I stopped reading around 1990.Having started reading again last year, I really need to catch up on the last 25-30 years worth of stuff, and fortunately the classics list I'm working from (the Guardian's 1000 Novels That Everyone Must Read) is quite well populated with SFF, and is where I got the above 5 titles listed in this challenge. There are also plenty of pre-1990 titles that I was never aware of either, plus I'm re-reading all my old books (which are mostly from 1950 to 1990 - Asimov to Banks!), so I'm enjoying myself going through the whole history of SFF!
Have fun catching up on your SF reading!Very ambitious!
Good luck with your book choices. The only one I've read is Jane Eyre, which I thought was great, but I do have a couple others on my tbr list. I'm not a big sci-fi reader, but I've usually liked the classic science fiction that I've read.
last night started reading the first of my 10 books here - Neal Stephenson's Snow Crashtheoretically I have until the end of March to finish it and still be on schedule for this challenge, so no pressure yet!
Finished Snow Crash last night - thoroughly enjoyed it, very close to 5 Stars in fact, I will do a proper review in the near future...Next Up will be Jane Eyre - first I just need to finish John Dos Passos' Three Soldiers which I am reading as part of my bigger "Crazy 88" Personal Challenge for 2016...
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Oh yay, you have The Trial on your list! I love that book :)
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Next Up will be Jane Eyre - first I j..."
Now I've got to read Snow Crash soon. It is one of my "I can't believe I haven't read it" books.
And I loved Jane Eyre too.
right!Jane Eyre starts today!
also, I will be reading Hyperion in April for a different book group...
Darren wrote: "right!Jane Eyre starts today!
also, I will be reading Hyperion in April for a different book group..."
Jane Eyre has always been one of my favorites!
Mod
Welcome to the challenge.
Finished Jane Eyre yesterday my reviewbasically, the "middle half" was 4 Stars, but in its entirety I dropped it to 3.5 and have to round down to 3
meanwhile, by curious coincidence I've just started 2 off this list - The Trial and Hyperion...
Yeah, first time I read it (and only time so far), that's as much as I could rate it too. But I'm keen to re-read it though!
With all this talk about it, I'm so keen on reading The Trial! Hopefully soon.
Also, interesting list Darren! Quite a few titles I'm not familiar with, but may check out. I've been thinking of reading One Hundred Years of Solitude and Don Quixote ... perhaps toward the end of the year, if either titles are still on our list, happy to buddy read!
With all this talk about it, I'm so keen on reading The Trial! Hopefully soon.
Also, interesting list Darren! Quite a few titles I'm not familiar with, but may check out. I've been thinking of reading One Hundred Years of Solitude and Don Quixote ... perhaps toward the end of the year, if either titles are still on our list, happy to buddy read!
Darren wrote: "Finished Jane Eyre yesterday my reviewbasically, the "middle half" was 4 Stars, but in its entirety I dropped it to 3.5 and have to round down to 3
meanwhile, by curious coincidence I've just sta..."
Interesting review, Darren. I'll be reading Jane later this year and appreciate the heads up!
Darren wrote: "Finished Jane Eyre yesterday my reviewbasically, the "middle half" was 4 Stars, but in its entirety I dropped it to 3.5 and have to round down to 3
meanwhile, by curious coincidence I've just sta..."
I can see why you'd enjoy the middle section more than the beginning or end. Good luck with your next choices, I hope they're going okay.
I have crash landed on Hyperion!not enjoying it
not actually a novel as such, rather 6 short stories
the first 2 were OK but 3rd and 4th have not held me at all
it doesn't help that the writing style is very flat, which is ok only as long as the background/plot/characters are involving enough
seriously doubt I'll finish it...
Oh dear, well you have been flying along with your reading choices lately, so it was probably time for a crash with something. On to the next...
as penance for my first abandonment, I immediately boshed in an Amazon order for 3 books on my list:The Trial (so I can read it again in different translation!)
The Stars My Destination (so I can have a next sci-fi waiting)
The Shining (cos need to invoke a reserve!)
Darren, I like your excuse for ordering yourself some more books! You'll have to update us on how you find the different translation of The Trial. I've been thinking quite a bit about the story since I finished, probably because I'm currently reading Guantanamo Diary, which is eerily similar in its essence.
finished The Stars My Destination last nightone of the best sci-fi books I've ever read
fast-moving, overflowing with ideas, engaging characters, superb dialogue
almost beyond belief that it was written in 1955 :oO
it's great that there are 5-Star sci-fi's out there of which I was not previously aware
(Roadside Picnic is another one I've read this year)
Ever Onwards...! :oD
I know! I read Solaris this year and I was like, my god, sci-fi can be so good! I also very much enjoyed Ancillary Justice a few months ago! I'm eager to check yours, I never heard of it!
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Interested in seeing your thoughts on the Alfred Bester novel, currently on my TBR pile ! My challenge like yours comprises, 50% SF, and given our similar ages I am also catching up on Asimov's and others from my earlier years after a break in both serious reading but especially SF.
I will therefore follow your thoughts with interest. The Demolished Man next ??
Hi Adrian :o)The Demolished Man will have to wait its turn!
next 5 re-reads will be Neuromancer, Rendezvous with Rama, The Player of Games, A Scanner Darkly and Stranger in a Strange Land
next 5 new-to-me will be The Death of Grass, The Invincible, Riddley Walker, Excession and Revelation Space
I'm reading the Invincible as well, it's good so far ;)
I became aware of The Invincible when reading the wikipedia entry for "Grey Goo" which I was surprised to find wasn't coined as a term until 1986, yet The Invincible was written in 1964!!it took me a while to track down a copy of the book (in English!) though - they're like hens' teeth!
Mod
one of the best sci-fi books I've ever read..."
I'm taking your word for it and adding it to my TBR list.
this challenge is looking a little bit neglected, so will spruce it up!I did finish The Unbearable Lightness of Being (well written/entertaining book, but somewhat unsatisfying as a novel) - 4 Stars
I am postponing 100 Years Of Solitude til January, so theoretically I should invoke my remaining reserve which is Don Quixote, but I feel I should fill the 1950-1974 slot more accurately, so am invoking the next MEGA title on my radar that lies in that quarter-century, which is... (drum roll)... Lolita!
Hope you enjoy Lolita, it's one of my favourites :)
I am looking forward to The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Darren, and I'm curious what you meant about it being unsatisfying as a novel?
Darren, I really, really enjoyed "Lolita," but it's a controversial book.
anyhoo... my main 2016 challenge has crashed/burned spectacularly...so I have switched focus to this one - Revelation Space and Lolita are in progress and I plan to prioritise the other 3 too...
(grits_teeth_smiley)
DNF'd Lolita (don't want to talk about it).but did finish other 3:
The Shining - 2-Star: as-expected best-sellery hodge-podge
The Rainbow - 2-Star: inconsequential, uneven and overwrought
Riddley Walker - 4-Star: unusual and intriguing
so, overall managed 9 out of 10 contracted, with the 10th (100 Years Of Solitude) postponed only til January as a Group Read, so neeearly managed this challenge
technically a FAIL though :o(
Oh....I won't ask...on to the new year...
OK, I finished 100 Years Of Solitude yesterday, so only 17 days late with this challenge! ;o)Pink - I know it seems strange for me not to want to discuss a book on a site specifically designed for er... discussing books! but I feel that this is likely to be very much a one-off - I promise not to make a habit of it!
No problem at all Darren! I would have been curious as it's one of my favourite books, but of course I can appreciate you not wanting to discuss it! I think I might have mentioned elsewhere already, but I'm planning on reading more of DH Lawrence this year, so I'm apprehensive after seeing your 2 star rating! I loved Lady Chatterley's Lover, so it might be a case of clashing tastes on his books, or perhaps The Rainbow just isn't as good. I really should crack on with some of my author challenges this year, it'll be February soon!
yeah... Rainbow was another one like 100 Years... which HAD NO PLOT (grrrr!) it was people getting born, growing up, falling in love, getting married (mostly), having children, growing old, dying... along with their children getting born, growing up... (you see where I'm going here)and very little unusual/interesting/dramatic happening to anybody...
David Copperfield was like that too, although at least Dickens' characterisation raises it up a bit
Hmm yes I see what you mean. I'm currently reading Proust, so I can relate to NOTHING ever happening with the plot. This can be okay, but I suppose it depends on the book/ writing/ character development etc. I hope your next book is better!
I'm reading H2G2 atm (for the nth time) - the earth has been demolished, the president of the galaxy has stolen an experimental spaceship, the two main characters have hitched a ride on an alien spacecraft, had poetry read to them and been expelled into space via an airlock, and I'm only 30% throughaaahhhhh.... :o)
It's been a while since I read that one and only once, enjoy!
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
Books mentioned in this topic
Riddley Walker (other topics)The Rainbow (other topics)
The Shining (other topics)
Lolita (other topics)
Revelation Space (other topics)
More...
Classics will be 5 "most surprised at myself that I've never read":
pre-1900: Jane Eyre- Finished. ***1900-1924: The Rainbow (DH Lawrence)- Finished. **1925-1949: The Trial (Kafka)- Finished. *****1950-1974: One Hundred Years of Solitude- Postponed.1975-1999: The Unbearable Lightness of Being- Finished. ****Own-Choice 5 will be "catching up on Sci-Fi that I missed":
The Stars My Destination (Alfred Bester, 1955)- Finished. *****Riddley Walker (Russell Hoban, 1980)- Finished. ****Hyperion (Dan Simmons, 1989)- Abandoned.Snow Crash (Neal Stephenson, 1992)- Finished. ****Revelation Space (Alastair Reynolds, 2000)- Finished. ****2 Alternatives will be books I really ought to read but can't get up proper enthusiasm:
The Shining (Stephen King, 1977)- Finished. **Don Quixote