Should have read classics discussion
What else are you reading?
Nancy wrote: "Oh, and a forewwarning -- every April I say I'm going to re-read T.S. Eliot's The WasteLand and then I find that April is the cruellest month because I get lost wading through the footnotes and references to anything and everything..."Nancy, If you're interested, we'll be doing an in-depth read of The Waste Land beginning on March 5th and running for six weeks. We'll be using the Norton Critical Edition for additional support. The group is called 'Brain Pain' and you can find it here:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/5...
Finishing up Delta of Venus: Erotica by Anaïs Nin. It read like any good French novel but with much more sex and romance. This was my first exposure to erotica and I'm interested in more so if anyone has any suggestions (especially by Nin's contemporaries) that aren't garbage romance novels with shirtless Fabios on the cover written by lonesome, menopause-d single mothers whose romantic flame has been extinguished, I'd appreciate them.Moving on to Pale Fire and then Transparent Things afterward, both by Vladimir Nabokov.
Mod
Terrin wrote: "Finishing up Delta of Venus: Erotica by Anaïs Nin. It read like any good French novel but with much more sex and romance. This was my first exposure to erotica and I'm interested in more so if anyo..."Anais Nin's partner in crime in Paris was Henry Miller. You might want to try his Tropic of Cancer
Reading the Iliad. Trying to read it in several translations, including Pope, Lattimore, and Butler, and perhaps Fagles.
Currently just over halfway through
as part of a buddy read. Took me a while to get into it but it's looking like it may be worth it after all :)
Mod
Hey, I just finished reading that and thought that it was an amazing story. Could not put it down.
Laura wrote: "I think the pace quickens after the first fifty or so pages of A Tale of Two Cities... I read it a few weeks ago and gave it 5 stars ;)"Lisa wrote: "I have to agree with Laura, it does pick up much later in the book, however I almost needed a spreadsheet for all of the people that was introduced. There was times I had no clue who the people were, but I just kept reading hoping something would jog my memory. "
I finally managed to finish A Tale of Two Cities. You were right. Once all the characters are introduced (after Darnay's first trial) the pace quickens and in the end it was quite a compelling read. Thanks for the encouragement, Laura and Lisa.
Mod
Lisa wrote: "I have to agree with Laura, it d..."
I'm glad that you enjoyed it!
Terrin wrote: "Finishing up Delta of Venus: Erotica by Anaïs Nin. It read like any good French novel but with much more sex and romance. This was my first exposure to erotica and I'm interested in more so if anyo..."Read these in my 20's I think and could not put them down so highly recommended "The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy" is a series of three novels written by American author Anne Rice under the pseudonym of A. N. Roquelaure
Currently reading "David in silence". Very interesting story.
Hi all. Just joined the group. I am interested in reading or learning how to read classics. I am about to start reading A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Wish me luck! Looking forward to some great classic reads from this group.
Welcome! I think you will really enjoy the group. The bookshelf is great for getting some good reading suggestions.
Nilgun wrote: "
:D"Ooh, how is War and Peace going?
Pragya wrote: "Nilgun wrote: " :D"Ooh, how is War and Peace going?"
Hi, Pragya.
Actualy Anna Karenina is one of my favorite, so I decide to read War and peace a long time before. palace relations was always attracted me. certainly the last in is a great story of a telling consideration of a war.
Nilgun wrote: "Hi, Pragya.
Actualy Anna Karenina is one of ..."
Anna Karenina is one of my favorites too. I have the book War and Peace since two years now. Can't bring myself to start reading. Let me know how you are doing with the book as you progress.
I agree the book have nuch paces but don't let you be scared of, the Tolstoys manner of telling is all about the same as the other books from him. It makes easyer with a goup read ;)
Nilgun wrote: "I agree the book have nuch paces but don't let you be scared of, the Tolstoys manner of telling is all about the same as the other books from him. It makes easyer with a goup read ;)"Thank you. Are you reading with a group?
yes I do read it with a German Group, you have maybe see it in my profile I am a three language reader ;)the goup is; http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/5...
Nilgun wrote: "Zuzana wrote: "I'm currently reading Persuasion. I love Austen's style."I love it too."
Last November I read North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell and I found her style similar to Austen's. My mother read Cranford last month (a comedy of manners in a small town in mid-nineteenth century) and she said the same thing. So if you like Jane Austen's books you might enjoy some of Elizabeth Gaskell's novels, too.
Mod
Mod
:D"Ooh, how is War and Peace going?"
Hi, Pragya.
Actualy Anna Karenina is one of ..."
I read this last January with this group and it was great. It took awhile to get all the people figured out but I was so glad that I tackled it. It was my first romp into Russian lit and I can't wait to start Anna Karenina!
Currently reading
for review - it's really rather a good British crime book so far :)Will be reading a LOT more classics this year, slightly daunting in an exciting way :P
I just started reading A Tale of Two Cities but am finding it difficult to keep going. Were these classics really easier to read when we were in school??? Any suggestions. It is one of the true classics and I would love to keep going.
Hmm, Josie, I always found it harder at school - mainly because I hated picking them apart as if we could read the author's mind... but then I'm just awkward like that ;)Could it maybe be because you were reading classics and, if like me, always had a teacher explaining what some of it meant or alluded to that could help me on my way? :)
Josie wrote: "I just started reading A Tale of Two Cities but am finding it difficult to keep going. Were these classics really easier to read when we were in school??? Any suggestions. It is one of the true c..."Keep going it would get easier to understand later on.
Josie wrote: "Hi all. Just joined the group. I am interested in reading or learning how to read classics. I am about to start reading A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Wish me luck! Looking forward t..."I do indeed wish you luck. Personally, I find A Tale of Two Cities one of Dickens's less successful books, but many people love it, so however you feel about it, realize that you're not wrong, but that different people enjoy different books.
If you find Dickens challenging for getting into classic literature, you might want to give a try to some of the somewhat less challenging authors, like Austen, Hardy, Collins, Trollope, and others. Not that Dickens isn't worth reading, he's very much so. But he can be a challenge.
If you're enjoying A Tale of Two Cities, great, stick with it. If you aren't, there's no disgrace in putting it aside for awhile and trying something else.
Josie wrote: "I just started reading A Tale of Two Cities but am finding it difficult to keep going. Were these classics really easier to read when we were in school??? Any suggestions. It is one of the true c..."Josie, I had the same problem with A Tale of Two Cities. But it really gets much easier after all major characters are introduced (at the beginning of the second book, when (view spoiler)). The pace quickens and the plot gets more interesting. In the end I really liked the book.
To start 2012, I'm reading the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle: 4 novels and 56 short stories. I had read a few of the short stories decades ago, but never tackled the whole original canon. The recent movies and the BBC series "Sherlock" (on Netflix) motivated me to start. So far it's been great fun.
Jim wrote: "To start 2012, I'm reading the original Sherlock Holmes stories by Doyle: 4 novels and 56 short stories. I had read a few of the short stories decades ago, but never tackled the whole original can..."That sounds like a fair start to the year :) I ahve the entire Holmes collection too but I can't read them all one after theother... as good as they are they all seem to follow the same pattern and I'd end up getting annoyed at it all :(
I am currently reading
. It is a little mystery, set in Victorian San Fransisco. Am only on chapter 6 but enjoying it as a breather during AK.
I just finished Forgive My Fins by Tera Lynn Childs. It was pretty good, especially if you like fantasy/romance/mermaid stuff. lol
I'm almost done with Nabokov's novella Transparent Things, an extraordinary work of ordinary circumstances. Only Nabokov can present the reader with minutiae or even reveal a major character's death prior to its actually happening and still keep the thread of his narrative sturdy and amusing. I'd read a novel of Nabokov describing the process of paint drying, aging and flaking and it would be a staggering work of genius.
Hayley wrote: "Hmm, Josie, I always found it harder at school - mainly because I hated picking them apart as if we could read the author's mind... but then I'm just awkward like that ;)Could it maybe be because..."
Definitely a possiblity. I will continue on though. Thanks.
Thanks to all for your suggestions. I will continue on with A Tale of Two Cities. Wish me luck!!
Josie wrote: "Thanks to all for your suggestions. I will continue on with A Tale of Two Cities. Wish me luck!!"We do indeed.
I'm halfway through Tess of the D'Urbervilles and I don't remember ever reading anything as depressing as this story.
Zuzana wrote: "I'm halfway through Tess of the D'Urbervilles and I don't remember ever reading anything as depressing as this story."Ah! Have you read any other Thomas Hardy books? He is the most depressing author I know of. I completely sympathize! ;-)
I'm reading:
The Picture of Dorian GrayIt is not uplifting either ..... :-Z I'm only about 1/4 of the way through but am somehow appalled at the glee Sir Henry feels towards destroying a young man's innocence and the zest with which he goes about it. I am so happy to be getting back to the Iliad today. :-)
Suzanne wrote: "I've just started Persuasion, this will be my first ever Jane Austen book that I've read. I'm hoping it's good :)"It is!
Mod
Josie, Good luck with finishing A Tale of Two Cities. The first half of the book was painful for me. I couldn't keep all the characters straight. However, the second half is much better. I will confess that I had to resort to listening to the audiotape and then picked up a kid's version just to get through the darn thing. It does have a great ending!
Mod
Suzanne, that was my first Austen book also. I liked it. I found that getting through Northanger Abbey was more difficult.
Suzanne wrote: "I've just started Persuasion, this will be my first ever Jane Austen book that I've read. I'm hoping it's good :)"I liked Persuasion very much. My only regret was I had seen the movie before so I knew all the plot twists.
I'm reading
and it's 948 pages on my eReader but only 416 in a real book so for every two and a bit I read on here it's only 1 in a real book, tres annoying but I hope the book'll more than make up for it ;D
Cleo wrote: "Ah! Have you read any other Thomas Hardy books? He is the most depressing author I know of. I completely sympathize! ;-) ..."Cleo, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is my first Thomas Hardy book. I am sympathetic to Tess's fate but I can't help but feel that I would like her more if she weren't so passive, so accepting of all the wrongs that happened to her. I have about 40% of the book to go and somehow I doubt that this story has a happy ending.
I finished Dorian Gray only two weeks ago. I find lord Henry clever, witty and charming, but also manipulative, extremely demagogical in his arguments and above all a hypocrite. He persuaded Dorian to lead the kind of life he himself dared only to dream of.
A few days ago, I started reading the first book of "The Three Musketeers". It is probably the best book I've ever read.
Should have read classics
Books mentioned in this topic
Madame Castel's Lodger (other topics)The Mystery of Edwin Drood (other topics)
'Tis (other topics)
Mrs. Dalloway (other topics)
Don Quixote (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jason Mott (other topics)Agatha Christie (other topics)
Wilson Rawls (other topics)
Vicky Kaseorg (other topics)
Karen Kingsbury (other topics)
More...
I do think I like the KJV. It's not Olde English like I thought it would be but the language is a bit different and it adds something to the text.
Oh, and a forewwarning -- every April I say I'm going to re-read T.S. Eliot's The WasteLand and then I find that April is the cruellest month because I get lost wading through the footnotes and references to anything and everything.
Why can't I just sit back and enjoy the language as it passes me by? Why do I have to understand and research every little word and phrase in the poem? Ditto Finnegan's Wake.