Old Books, New Readers discussion
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Which classics are you reading now?
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Eric
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Jan 02, 2018 04:40PM
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The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror.
Young Werther was one of my favourites in highschool, I owened the copy and used to read parts of it all the time. I lost it a long time ago, and am thinking of re-reading it as an adult. I remember that I also liked The Lady of the Camellias - they both seemed very romantic at the time.
Currently I m not reading any classic, still waiting to see if there will be a January book in the Group...
Zeljka wrote: I m not reading any classic, still waiting to see if there will be a January book in the Group"Seems to have stopped after War and Peace. Waiting myself.
Reader Extraordinaire wrote: "The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror."Great story.
Zeljka wrote: "Young Werther was one of my favourites in highschool, I owened the copy and used to read parts of it all the time. I lost it a long time ago, and am thinking of re-reading it as an adult. I rememb..."
Did you read it in the original German? I'm afraid I"m not fluent. I'm reading an English translation.
Linda, my copy was in Croatian, unfortunatelly my German is rather weak, not good enough for reading a book...
There's a website where you can sign up to receive Werther's letters once a day in your email, just as if he's writing to you. Apparently a lot of people have done this and gotten deeply involved, writing back to him with advice. ("Werther, my man, she's just not that into you!")
Brenda wrote: "There's a website where you can sign up to receive Werther's letters once a day in your email, just as if he's writing to you. Apparently a lot of people have done this and gotten deeply involved, ..."Amazing! Thank you. I just finished the novel. Now I know what Sturm und Drang means. Very intense style of writing.
Linda R, wrote: "Reader Extraordinaire wrote: "The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Other Tales of Terror."Great story."
Really enjoying it so far. I think I might read Dracula next.
Dracula is a severely underestimated novel. Stoker makes brilliant use of the narrative techniques (multiple perspectives and types of documentation) pioneered by Wilkie Collins in The Woman in White and Emily Brontë in Wuthering Heights.
Patrick wrote: "Dracula is a severely underestimated novel. Stoker makes brilliant use of the narrative techniques (multiple perspectives and types of documentation) pioneered by Wilkie Collins in The Woman in Whi..."Actually, Samuel Richardson pioneered this form of epistolary novel in the 1740's with "Pamela," long before Wilkie Collins or Emily Bronte. For what it is worth, I find that kind of novel very confining, simply because the writer often has to sacrifice character and sometimes plot to achieve the immediacy of the action. As a reader, I am asked to give up those elements in favor of reading the novel as a newspaper article or articles.
Having said that, I agree that Dracula has a unique blend of journal entries, newspaper accounts, and scientific field notes that never drags it down, and give it a lot of immediacy from many perspectives. I go into this structure in my review.
I am well aware of Richardson and the tradition of the epistolary novel. (In fact, I just finished re-reading Pamela, which was great fun.) But Wuthering Heights and The Woman in White combine different perspectives with different methods of delivery (not just letters, but diaries, other documents, third-party storytelling, etc.). That's why I made those specific comparisons. As you note, Dracula makes ample use of those methods. I don't think the style is more or less confining than any other; every manner of telling a story puts some things in and leaves other things out.
Patrick wrote: "I am well aware of Richardson and the tradition of the epistolary novel. (In fact, I just finished re-reading Pamela, which was great fun.) But Wuthering Heights and The Woman in White combine diff..."It is a matter of having the reader choose what he or she wants to sacrifice, and for what. I give up character very reluctantly, and I will sacrifice plot only rarely. Huckleberry Finn, for example, is a "down the road" structure that appears to sacrifice both elements. But a very strong moral tone emerges as the fate of Jim, and what friendship with him means, finally comes into focus,
The Woman in White accomplishes some of the same things, but with the important exception that Collins' support for women's rights in marriage arises almost immediately. It takes a lugubrious and heavily overwritten path to that moral, but it is quite evident.
I have a similar complaint about Wuthering Heights, but it at least is saved by a powerful love story and a well-grounded sense of place in the brutal heath country.
Of the three novels you mentioned, Dracula is my favorite, simply because I can whole-heartedly root for the villain because I know the odds are against him. The epistolary form works extremely well in this novel for that reason, even though a monster like him being afraid of a cracker is beyond silly.
Don Quixote - ongoing. I've managed to get to Part II after some time with Part I. It's one of my favourites. The Yale lectures (Open Yale Courses - Span 300) have been very helpful.
Amelina wrote: "Don Quixote - ongoing. I've managed to get to Part II after some time with Part I. It's one of my favourites. The Yale lectures (Open Yale Courses - Span 300) have been very helpful."I followed the Yale lecture course when I read Don Quixote. Only way I got through it with sense.
I just finished Part One of Don Quixote in the Edith Grossman translation and am about to start Part Two.
I just finished Lord of the Flies. I absolutely loved it. Here is a link to my review. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am almost finished with the first volume of an 1884 "triple-decker", The Chronicles Of Castle Cloyne by Margaret Brew. It is a grand Irish novel with a wide social scope, encompassing the lives of both tenants and landlords. I am enjoying the book greatly and think that anyone who responds to Victorian fiction would do so also. All three volumes are available at the Biblioboard app and at the Internet Archive (not at Project Gutenberg yet).This is the sort of novel that has been lost to literary history, but which may be rediscovered now through modern technologies.
Patrick wrote: "I am almost finished with the first volume of an 1884 "triple-decker", The Chronicles Of Castle Cloyne by Margaret Brew. It is a grand Irish novel with a wide social scope, encompass..."Thanks for the post. Will look into it.
I think you would like this novel. It is extremely readable and interesting.
The Water Babies and its so far so good :)
This year, I've decided to read through some series novels. I've started the Narnia books and am reading them in the order in which C.S. Lewis intended them to be read. Since I recently read The LWW with a group, that one is under my belt already. I'm currently on The Magician's Nephew. Several years ago, I listened to them on audio books. Next comes the Leatherstocking Tales by James Fenimore Cooper, beginning with The Deerslayer. I've read The Last of the Mochicans but, as with the Narnia Chronicles, I want to read them in order.
I've read The Deerslayer and The Last of the Mohicans, loved them both. I keep meaning to get around to the other three. I also greatly enjoyed the two other Cooper novels that I've read, The Spy and Wyandotte.
Patrick wrote: "I've read The Deerslayer and The Last of the Mohicans, loved them both. I keep meaning to get around to the other three. I also greatly enjoyed the two other Cooper novels that I've read, [book:The..."Thanks for chiming in, Patrick. Every time I see these titles, including "The Spy," I think of when my sisters and brother and I played the card game Authors when we were kids. Yes, I'm old.
I'm actually rereading Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian I just love that book. It's so interesting and fun and also has its emotional moments. It's an all in one book.
For me, it is now Ovid's Metamorphoses. It is my first shot at epic poetry since the Iliad.
Tim wrote: "The Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley"I have always wanted to read this, since I am interested in classic children's literature. So I just downloaded it from Project Gutenberg.
Patrick wrote: "Tim wrote: "The Water Babies, by Charles Kingsley"I have always wanted to read this, since I am interested in classic children's literature. So I just downloaded it from Project Gutenberg."
I really enjoyed it! Five stars!
Paula wrote: "Patrick wrote: "I've read The Deerslayer and The Last of the Mohicans, loved them both. I keep meaning to get around to the other three. I also greatly enjoyed the two other Cooper novels that I've..."YES! "Authors" is one of my favorite games. I haven't played it since I was a kid, when I played with my grandpa, dad, and siblings. So fun, especially for a book nerd. I'll definitely be making my kids play with me with they are old enough. :)
I just finished "Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster" And its going to my list of top 10 books. I really really really [and many more reallies :) ] like that book.
Good morning!Read Les Misérables (originally published in 1862) by Victor Hugo (1802-85) from January 1-February 22, 2018, which I thought was a great story of penance, redemption, love and betrayal, although the tangents, or rants, on which Hugo flies were a bit off-putting.It took until my fourth try to finish the Fall River Press/Barnes and Noble hardcover that crams 1,463 pages of the mass market paperback into 908 pages of tiny print.
Also read the fifth Max Brand (born Frederick Faust, 1892-1944) western, Free-Range Lanning (1921) from February 23-26, 2018; and am near the end of All Quiet on the Western Front (1931) by Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970).
Jim
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
Jim wrote: "Good morning!am near the end of All Quiet on the Western Front (1931) by Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970).
.."
I really enjoyed that book more than I had expected to. Translations don't always work that way but Remarque came through loud and clear in my version. How did you feel about the story?
Reading Part 2 of Henry VI by Shakespeare
. It's a lesser rated play than some others of his but I am enjoying it more since I read Alison Weir's book The Wars of The Roses
. Gave me more of a historical background that was familiar to Shakespeare's audience but that I was unaware of. I'm enjoying Shakespeare's language, if not his historical accuracy.
Tim wrote: "Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein"Great book. Read it twice. First time in my 20's and 30 years later. My perspective had changed and I enjoyed it more the second time.
Linda R, wrote: "Reading Part 2 of Henry VI by Shakespeare. It's a lesser rated play than some others of his but I am enjoying it more since I read Alison Weir's book The War..."I love Alison Weir and The War of the Roses was a great book. I have read it a while ago. I should read the Henries from Shakespeare.
Tim wrote: "Equal Rites, by Terry Pratchett"Well if that counts -
I am a huge Pratchett fan. My Litsy reading group is reading through all his works, from the beginning. While this is not the order I would recommend to new Pratchett readers, it is fun to read the early works if you are a fan. We had The Carpet People, The Dark Side of the Sun, and Strata. None of them are great, but you can see a fledling genius in the making. We are starting on Discworld now, with The Colour of Magic. Which is the worst in the series, but hey, I warned them.
Equal Rites on the other hand is pretty good already, and my all time favorite, Granny Weatherwax, makes her first appearance in it.
I am have finished American Gods - amazing, a bit new to be a true classic, but one could make a case for it.Recently finished Dune. Amazing, and definitely a true classic.
I have started A Vindication of the Rights of Woman - this is a seminal work, but it is old and it will take me a while.
Marta wrote: "Tim wrote: "Equal Rites, by Terry Pratchett"Well if that counts -
I am a huge Pratchett fan. My Litsy reading group is reading through all his works, from the beginning. While this is not the ord..."
Yes, old Granny Weatherwax was quite a character.
Anna Karenina, I am on mission to read Russian classics .
Jacob's Hands, by Aldous Huxley and Christopher Isherwood
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