Paper & Glam Book Club discussion
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Glam Archives | 2015
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Classics: Shall We or Shall We Not?
I love the idea of reading a classic. I have read very little Hemingway since my background is Brit Lit. I read The Sun Also Rises in college and liked it very much. I would be happy to read it again. Right now I am reading Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. He is one of my favorite authors, but since reading time is limited for members, I would suggest a shorter novel like A Christmas Carol (seasonal!) or Hard Times.
I have been wanting to read some classic sci fi--Ray Bradbury or Isaac Asimov. I don't read sci if very often, but I always enjoy it.
But honestly, I am happy reading what people pick and always enjoy learning about new titles that I might otherwise miss.
I think reading classics are a great idea. Why not broaden the choices? I have been desiring to read more but with teaching, I can never seem to find the time. I would love suggestions as to when everyone else finds time to read!
I LOVE classics and I love variety so I'm 100% interested in adding classics to the mix! :)
Mod
What you think of reading a classic bi-monthly in addition to our regular monthly picks? Classics typically take more time to read and imbibe, so I'm thinking a couple months per book may be a good pace so we can read "hotter" books as well.
As an example,
Vanity Fair January & February
Dante's Inferno March & April
Picture of Dorian Gray May & June
If we get really ambitious, maybe in 2016, we could also pick an author and read him or her through the course of the year. This would allow us to take in the body of work. The drawback to this approach is if an author doesn't resonate for us, it's a long year. Although the authors I'm thinking of are Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Austen, & Dickens.
For example, F Scott Fitzgerald:
This Side of Paradise January-February
The Beautiful & The Damned March-April
The Great Gatsby May-June
Tender Is The Night July-August
The Last TycoonSeptember-November
What are your thoughts?
Other ideas for incorporating classics?
I could not LOVE this idea more!! Classics are harder to read & do take longer so I love the idea of monthly hot reads & bimonthly classics! Perfect balance!!! Also I like doing a variety of classics in 2015 and then author focused in the coming years!! These types of ideas are why you are soooooooo awesome Lisamarie!!! :)
I think the bi-monthly classics is a great idea for 2015. I actually already have Picture of Dorian Gray on my to-read list for next year :)
I like the bimonthly idea, too. I have read most of the British classics but am always happy to reread. I would also enjoy reading more American classics since I have read some but certainly not many, compared to what I have read in Brit Lit. Would anyone like to read some other countries' classics? I have never read Crime and Punishment, for example, or something like The Three Muskateers or The Count of Monte Cristo. I would like to, but also want to be readng shorter books. Grins!
I just joined this group and took a look at the upcoming books to read. I am really excited to get back to reading again. Anyways, I personally would love to read a classic. There is just something that sounds so inviting about them. Perhaps we could read one from F. Scott Fitzgerald?
I wouldn't mind rereading Gatsby and then reading Maureen Corrigan's new book, So We Read On: How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures. Anyone else interested?But I am happy to read Fitzgerald and Hemingway, any titles, to expand my knowledge. Shall we decide on something soon? Or are all the books for 2015 already chosen?
Mod
I'm back and so happy to be home with my books! Home is where the books are ;)
Thanks so much for chiming in on classics this week. While I was away I wondered if bi-monthly is a little ambitious. What are your thoughts on Quarterly Classics? So a classic every three months? If we're set on Bi-monthly, I'll rise to the occasion!
Allyson,
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your idea to read Maureen Corrigan's new book on Gatsby:
She is a GENIUS and I've been dying to read Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading: Finding and Losing Myself in Books
. When we read Fitzgerald, I'd also love to work in Zelda!
.This is why I'm absolutely thrilled with our little group. The first thing I did this morning (after flying in from Chicago at 10 PM) is log on to GoodReads. It's so fun to hear about new books and learn from each other. I didn't even know Maureen Corrigan released a new book on my ALL-TIME FAVORITE book. Where would I be without you?! It's too tragic to contemplate. ;)
Let's absolutely decide on something by Christmas! There are no titles chosen yet. Let's get Gatsby on the list for 2015 along with Dante's Inferno (a.k.a. Part One of The Divine Comedy) late in the year, since Dan Brown's Inferno movie is coming out Christmas Day. Plus A Picture of Dorian Gray because Carrie and I already own it, and I know Brandi is coveting the Penguin Clothbound Classic edition lol.
This is likely my living seasonal obsession alone, but does anyone else think of Gatsby as a fall book? Maybe it's because September marks my return from summer's hot pink chic lit covers to literature and heavier reading, or because in the opening scene "life is starting all over again as the leaves get crisp in the fall," but I'd love to kick fall off with Gatsby. Thoughts? If we're set on opening the year with it, I'm in!
What classics are burning holes in your bookshelves? Cast your votes by Christmas!
Mod
The Paris Wife
Paris Without End: The True Story of Hemingway's First Wife
Hemingway's Girl
The Paris Wife was a good book. I had to rush through it so it would be nice to read again!
Mod
Oh and to clarify, let's decide what classic to read first in 2015 (as in for Jan-March or Jan-Feb) by Christmas, not for the whole year! It looks like the year is fully planned because GoodReads requires a date when I add books to our shelves :)
I am so excited about these postings! Lisamarie, I am totally thrilled that you are both a Gatsby and Corrigan fan! I recommend friending Maureen Corrigan on Facebook because she posts her appearances. She is a very special person, and I am also honored to know her. Some years ago (15 or more), my sister and I took a Smithsonian Associates class on women in detective fiction--and Maureen taught it! We bonded over Dorothy L. Sayers' Gaudy Night. :-)I am certainly open to reading Gatsby come autumn. I think that such feelings ought to be honored. ;-) I always feel like reading the Transcendentalists in the autumn--no doubt because they were from New England, which I associate with autumn, as well as college, so it's a different kind of "new year" for me, but I absolutely operate on that seasonal schedule as well!
I like the classics four times a year. That works well for me beause there are so many current writers whom I have not read.
So, how shall we choose a January book? What if everyone on this list names a book they would like to suggest, and then we take a vote?
Mod
My vote is A Picture of Dorian Gray. Let's take votes for the next week to give everyone a chance to chime in and get the first and second place picks in the schedule! Sound good?
January, February, March
OPEN
April, May, June
OPEN
July, August, September
The Great Gatsby
+Bonus Reads:
So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures by Maureen Corrigan
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald dedicated The Great Gatsby to "Zelda, always." :)
October, November, December
Dante's Inferno
Love that so far Lisamarie!! I do want to read Dorian Gray as well. I planned on reading Vanity Fair in Jan so that's my vote but I'm open to all & any classics!! I also want to read Northanger Abbey by Austen as it's the only one of hers I haven't read!! I'm sure there is plenty of extra reading on Austen! ;)
Mod
Anyone read Vanity Fair?
Any other suggestions?
Vanity Fair is a fantastic book--but very long and detailed. Again, my field (and first passion) is Victorian Literature, so I love long books! I have read Vanity Fair twice but not in over twenty-five years, so I am game for another read!
Mod
"resident literati"-- you made me smile. :-)
As classics go, I am happy with the list so far!!I vote for anything by Jane Austen (one of my favorites author) or anything by the Bronte Sisters.
The Brontes, especially Jane, are top on my list. Austen also. I love them passionately.
Me too! Would love to read Jane Eyee!! Havent read it in a while!!
Jane Eyre is my favorite book, though I love others almost as much. :-) I never tire of it, either.
I know! Arent those books that you can read and re read and re read... Amazing!?;)
Absolutely! And we learn so much when we reread--and notice things we may have missed on an earlier reading. The test of great literature!
"The test of great literature" Love it!!!!!! Thats exactly what I was thinking! Perfect wording!!;)
Mod
Too funny that the test of great literature should come up! Brandi asked why I gave the best book I read all-year (Where She Went) four stars and we got into this same conversation. I can never compare a great young adult read to a work of art I will reread time and time again over the course of my life.
Giving stars to books on Amazon or Goodreads gets tricky. I have a friend who is an author, who depends a lot on people writing reviews. I had never given anything current five stars, saving those for Dickens and the Brontes. But she explained that when I compare a book to Dickens, and give it a star accordingly, as opposed to just "how much did I enjoy this book? Five stars worth?" I was hurting the author. So, I sort of come up with two systems of starring a book - and so, for Goodreads and Amazon, I don't compare books to other books but, rather, decide how much I enjoyed that book on a scale of 1-5.
Mod
That's an excellent point! I do use the five stars rating for current books, but it's probably only once a year I read a book I'd consider five stars. The Opposite of Loneliness and Simple Abundanceare the only books I gave five stars to this year. So 2/24 or 10% is about my five-star ratio/percentage. What about you?
Patty, welcome!!! :)
Back to the classics discussion, it sounds like we want to shelve The Picture of Dorian Gray for another year, and read an Austen or a Bronte. The Picture of Dorian Gray is more of a fall book anyway, as it's a classic gothic read. ;)
Austen and Bronte, I associate with Spring...ahh my seasonal obsession. So which shall it be? I've been dying to read this compilation of Austen's younger writings. I've never read her early work. http://goo.gl/8szPI1
Can anyone recommend good companion books for Austen? I just found this one that is newly released!
Or do we want to do Jane Eyre, maybe follow-up it up with Wide Sargasso Sea?
Other ideas?
Do we want to start 2015 with Vanity Fair?
If we do Austen, let's take a poll to see who has read what and what book people would like to read. I will start.I have read all of Austen's major works (not the juvenalia, though).
If we read an Austen, I am open to any of them--for example, if people haven't read one and want to "catch up" by reading it, then that's fine with me to go along with whatever book. But people need to chime in on which one they would like to read!
PS- I think it's time to pinpoint what we are going to read. Agreed?I suggest that we start with Austen because chronologically she comes before Bronte--not that it matters, but it is one way of approaching our choice.
The Tour Jane Austen would be fun. Claire Tomalin has written a good biography, if we want to go in that direction. Something different and perhaps fun would be to read an Austen spin-off--there are so many! I have read quite a few and could make some suggestions. Or maybe we could read different ones and then share them as a virtual group, what we thought of them and such...?
I think we should do Vanity Fair in Jan-Mar and I'm not sure if there is a companion book out there for it but it's pretty long & our first one so it might be ok if we don't do a companion. Ok I'm going down the rabbit hole for my spring suggestion so just follow me haha. I think for Apr-June we should do Pride & Prejudice! I know a lot of people have already read it but it's fantastic! I think we should do Austen's early work as a companion. The reason I'm suggesting Pride & Prejudice is because I know Paper & Glam likes to do books that are new movies coming out and there is a modern book called Longbourn by Jo Baker about one of the servants in Pride & Prejudice and is being made a movie set to release in 2015. So I was thinking we could do Pride & Prejudice as our classic and Longbourn as our modern in time for a new movie!! What do y'all think?!
I'm also totally down for Gatsby in the fall with companions and Dante's Inferno in the winter!! What do y'all think?!
I read Longbourne a few months ago and liked it very much. I didn't know about the movie. Cool!OK, other votes on which Austen,please!
Mod
Allyson,
Agreed, let's pick a book in the next couple days here.
Love your idea to read chronologically, which would put our Austen/Bronte order like so:
Juvenilia (1787–1793)
Sense and Sensibility (1811)
Pride and Prejudice (1813)
Mansfield Park (1814)
Emma (1815)
Northanger Abbey (1818, posthumous)
Persuasion (1818, posthumous)
Jane Eyre (1847)
Wuthering Heights (1847)
Brandi,
Ahh you know me well!! Just added Longbourn to my wishlist. I can't find a release date for the movie, which likely means there's no distributor quite yet. Great idea!
My vote stands for Austen to take it from the top and start with the Juvenilia. I'd love to see her development as a writer and read chronologically. Vanity Fair was published in 1848, so from a chronological perspective it would make sense to shelf it for now, but I'm open to kicking off the year with it. Vanity Fair is my favorite magazine so I've been wanting to read it's namesake for years.
Other thoughts? Let's pick a book by Monday!
Oh and I should add I'm not even counting my vote because I already put Inferno straight on the list!
So what book should we read January-March?! So far Vanity Fair is the only nominee, unless I missed one?!
And which Austen should we read after that April-June?!
Hi everyone!!Lisamarie of the Austen/ Bromte books I have read all but Juvenilia and Northanger Abey.
But I wouldnt mind re reading one of the others;)
So I am fine with what everyone picks!
A friend recomended Jane Austen's England by, Lesley Adkins.
I have never heard about it and I am not sure if that would be consider a conpanion book?
Have a great weekend everyone!!
Mod
With you there, I've read all but Juvenilia and Persuasion, and it's been so long I'd like to revisit each work again (at some point). :)
Just added Jane Austen's England to my wishlist.
Thanks for the recommendation! Allyson, planted the seed of "companion books" and I ran with it, love the idea of not only rereading our favorite classics but delving deeper with authors who spent their lives studying the work of the greats.
Alright, calling all input, unless we get another vote for January by Monday morning, we're starting with Brandi's Vanity Fair!
Hi Lisamarie!I LOVE the ideas of companion books;)
And I added Jane Austen's England to my wishlist too!!
I am fine with reading Vanity Fair for our Jan/Feb book so count me in!!
Happy Saturdday!
I am still voting for Vanity Fair jan-March and I think the Juvenilia of Jane Austen's is great for the spring! Maybe we could do an Austen each spring and a Fitzgerald each fall and go through their works!! Love the companions as well! The more reading the better! ;)
Oh and not this year but I would love to throw Gone with the Wind in the classics list!! It's my FAVORITE (book not movie)!! ;)
Mod
Sounds like we've got a consensus then. Let's officially read Vanity Fair first! I will start another discussion string to announce it and add it to the shelf.
As for the next read, imma about to upset this apple cart. Far From The Madding Crowd (1874) is coming to theaters May 1st. It looks killer! Watch the preview here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2935476/
Has anyone read it?
Brandi, here is your Clothbound Classic but we may need to find another vendor! http://www.amazon.com/Madding-Clothbo...
How do we feel about reading this after Vanity Fair? I know we're anxious to get to Austen, but I thought a movie might warrant a change of plans! Oh and it's BBC Films, winning!
OMG that movie looks soooooo good and I've never read this book (honestly I have never heard of it). So I'm 100% down for Far from the Maddening Crowd for the spring! We can always do an Austen later or a year of Austen. :)
I would be delighted to read Far a from the Madding Crowd. I read if so long ago that I hardly remember it. There is an older movie if it--I think it is with Julie Christie. I suggest that we also see both films, if we can rent the older one, and then have fun comparing them, too.Hardy is depressing, though. Brilliant but depressing. I have read Jude the Obscure several times and Tess of the D'Urbervilles twice. They are great works of fiction, but Hardy'a view of humanity is dark.
Forgive my typos. Am typing in my phone. ;-)
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Books mentioned in this topic
Me Before You (other topics)Frankenstein (other topics)
Jane Austen's England (other topics)
At Home with Jane Austen (other topics)
Wide Sargasso Sea (other topics)
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There's been some interest in reading classics together. What are your thoughts?
Would you be interested in adding a classic into the mix, perhaps in September? Or would you prefer we stick to recently published fiction and non-fiction?
I personally would love to read Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Are there classics burning a hole in your bookshelf?