Should have read classics discussion
What else are you reading?
Just started Tom Jones by Henry Fielding - going to be a long read I think....
Nicole wrote: "Just started Tom Jones by Henry Fielding - going to be a long read I think...."Tom Jones is such a great book to read! Enormous, I know, but great and I hope you will enjoy the book as much as I did.
I guess you know Henry Fielding was not only a novelist but also a playwright and this shows in the structure and in some of the scenes of Tom Jones (and adds to the fun) :-)
Josie wrote: "I just started reading A Tale of Two Cities but am finding it difficult to keep going. "Do you have a fairly good knowledge of the French Revolution? I always find it easier to read a book if I can place it historically. Good luck!
I am currently reading Lolita. I have mixed thoughts on this book. At times it is hard to read. The way it is written I have to remind myself he is after a child. Is this book based on a true story/family. I thought I read somewhere that the actual Humbert sent his diary to Nabokov and that is how the book began. I would love to have a discussion on this book and hear others thoughts.
Suzanne wrote: "I've just read Northanger Abbey and didn't enjoy it at all"I had the same response when I read it until I learned that it is supposed to be a parody of the then current Gothic fiction. I think if I had read it with this in mind, I would have found more to appreciate about it. At some point I plan to do a re-read ......... but with my huge list of books, who knows when! :-)
I am reading these in no particular order LOL:The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test-Tom Wolfe
The Temple of My Familiar-Alice Walker
Go Ask Alice-formerly released as by Anonymous, but now released by Beatrice Sparks(don't know if she's related to Nicholas or not).
I bought Alice for my 18 1/2 year old daughter for Christmas, she read it, & insisted that I read it too. I don't know why I never read it before. It kind of reminds me a bit of The Bell Jar. I told my daughter that, & she said she's never read The Bell Jar, so I'm going to check it out of the library for her.
Kathy F wrote: "Currently reading 
by 
Margaret Atwood. A classic dystopian scifi story."How did you like it, Kathy? I finished it last week myself and I think it's very interesting and thought provoking read.
I really liked it. Interesting argument about safety of citizens versus personal freedom. Of course, it was taken to the extreme. However, we also started going in the direction of losing personal freedom for public safety after 9/11. I wish there was a better ending of the book. I hate when I don't know what happens to the protagonist at the end of the story! How did you like it?
I actually got sidetracked from starting "North & South" and got sucked into "Doc Maynard: The Man Who Invented Seattle, by Bill Seidel." It was worth the side trip - very entertaining, informative and humorous book!
Rena wrote: "I actually got sidetracked from starting "North & South" and got sucked into "Doc Maynard: The Man Who Invented Seattle, by Bill Seidel." It was worth the side trip - very entertaining, informativ..."Whoops! It's by Bill Speidel.....
Kathy F wrote: "I really liked it. Interesting argument about safety of citizens versus personal freedom. Of course, it was taken to the extreme. However, we also started going in the direction of losing person..."Great warning against patriarchal cults and religious fundamentalism of any kind. I only hope that M. Atwood's vision of future doesn't prove to be prophetic.
Very compelling read, I couldn't put the book down and finished it in two days.
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..."Great stuff! I have the entire Holmes collection as well, but haven't revisited them for a few years. That may be my next reading adventure. And for me, Jeremy Brett in the BBC series is still the quintessential Holmes (sorry, Basil Rathbone . . .)
Just finished We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Great dystopian novel. First published in 1920s, this book inspired 1984, Brave New World, Anthem, and the whole literary genre of dystopia. Fantastic read.
I just started Winter Garden
by Kristin Hannah
. It's my local book club's February read. And I'm reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard
by J.K. Rowling
. In fact, I need to get it finished tonight so my son can read it and test on it at school Monday. =)
Zuzana wrote: "Just finished We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Great dystopian novel. First published in 1920s, this book inspired 1984, Brave New World, Anthem, and the whole literary genre of dystopia. Fan..."Thanks for the information, Zuzana!! A couple of months ago I read A Canticle for Leibowitz
by Walter M. Miller Jr.
It was the first dystopian novel I've read in a looong time and I've wanted to find some more good recommendations!
Cleo, A Canticle for Leibowitz is on my to-read list thanks to Goodreads recommendations. Did you like it?
Zuzana wrote: "Cleo, A Canticle for Leibowitz is on my to-read list thanks to Goodreads recommendations. Did you like it?"Yes, I REALLY enjoyed it. It's sort of weird (like a good dystopian novel, I guess) but I loved the focus on the church; how it survived into the future and how it's familiar, yet not familiar. You also see how (sadly) as humans, we often don't learn from our mistakes. The book basically covers three different time periods and what I found particularly fascinating was the comparisons between the three, and the commentary (or apparent commentary) on how knowledge passes through the ages. I'd love to hear what you think when you read it!
I also read The Chrysalids
by John Wyndham
It was enjoyable too, but I thought
was better.I put "We" on my to-read list!
Cleo wrote: "Zuzana wrote: "Cleo, A Canticle for Leibowitz is on my to-read list thanks to Goodreads recommendations. Did you like it?"Yes, I REALLY enjoyed it. It's sort of weird (like a good dystopian nove..."
Now I'm looking forward to reading it. The Chrysalids is on my to-read list, too. In fact, I have a whole "dystopia" shelf in My Books section with lots of dystopia,utopia and apoca books on it.
We and 1984 are in many aspects alike. I was surprised how much of the story Orwell "borrowed" from We.
I'm reading The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales. The TV show Grimm is about start airing in Ireland for the 1st time this week. Since is supposed to be based on storylines from the book, I wanted to read it first before I start watching the series.
Conan Doyle's The Lost World. Strange book, not serious reading, of course, but fun relaxation. For serious reading, I'm still reading the Iliad, Trollope's Can You Forgive Her, and Virginia Woolf's essays.
I'm reading Lady Audley's Secret
and am really enjoying it! In between I'm reading A Tale of Two Cities
and The Iliad
and I'm enjoying both of those as well.I discontinued reading The Name of the Rose
. I don't often stop a book in the middle but I was very unimpressed by this one. Too many overused cliches in regards to the characters and the plot.
Mod
and am really enjoying it! In between I'm reading A Tale of Two Cities
and had to stop about halfway, I just lost interest in it also, maybe some other time?
Lisa wrote: "I tried to read The Name of the Rose and had to stop about halfway, I just lost interest in it also, maybe some other time? ..."Ah, thank you for telling me this; I'm not the only one. I made it about 1/3 of the way through. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and I got tired of the old cliches regarding the Catholic church. I think the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters are far superior!
Mod
Ah, thank you for telling me this; I'm not the only on..."
I really enjoy the Brother Cadfael mysteries as well!
Tastes are something that shouldn't be discussed but everything is else fair game... That said, even though I told myself I wasn't going to say anything, i'm sorry but I do have to say I fell off my chair when I read that one of the most respected contemporary literary theoretician, a pioneer in semiotics, intertextuality, metatextuality, a medieval scholar being accused of "Too many overused cliches in regards to the characters and the plot. "
I guess all the teachers who made us, linguistic and literature students in University, study his respected work in literary theory must have been wrong.
I am the first one to say that Eco can be difficult to read, I can easily understand why someone would give up on him, I myself gave up on Foucault's Pendulum but I've read a lot of Eco (especially his literary theory) and will keep reading him and if it's going to comfort any of you, he is not an author I usually recommend and I'm never surprised to hear that someone gave up on him.
I don't mean to gang up on you Cleo because I do value your opinion and you are entitled to one, but I didn't expect to read one day that someone qualified Eco's work of being cliché... I couldn't, for the love of literature, let that go by without saying anything..., that said I'll go back to my silent role.
Cleo wrote: "I'm reading Lady Audley's Secret and am really enjoying it! In between I'm reading A Tale of Two Cities [bookcover:A Tale of T..."
Well, I read Eco's Name of the Rose at 17 and I remember being obsessed with the book. I thought it was brilliant. I might reread it just to find out if my opinion has changed in 13 years.
I am currently reading:Go Down Moses-Faulkner-loving this!
Midnight's Children-Rushdie(I have detested everything I've read of Rushdie's so far, even though this one makes more "sense" than the others I've read have, I'm still having a rough time forcing myself to pick it up & actually READ it)
The Paris Wife)as a free read, just because I've long been fascinated by Hemingway)-McClain
Have on deck to read:
The Dispossessed-LeGuin
The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul-Adams(NOT looking forward to this one, I thought the first Dirk Gently book was stupid, BUT, it's on my challenge list so I might as well get it over with)
Tender is the Night-Fitzgerald
Just finished:
The Bluest Eye-Morrison
The Optimist's Daughter-Welty
Cleo wrote: "I discontinued reading The Name of the Rose..."I'm with you there. For me, it tried too hard to be esoteric and forgot that the first task of the storyteller is to tell a good story.
Cleo wrote: "I think the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters are far superior! "Oh yes, they ARE fun, aren't they?
Vicky wrote: "Tastes are something that shouldn't be discussed... "I don't know why not, as long as it's done with respect for each other's opinions.
But I note that Cleo didn't contend that Eco was using literary cliches, but was using cliches about the Catholic church, which is a quite different thing.
Everyman wrote: "Vicky wrote: "Tastes are something that shouldn't be discussed... "I don't know why not, as long as it's done with respect for each other's opinions.
But I note that Cleo didn't contend that E..."
If you read a few posts before you'll find what I was referring to, her exact words being :" Too many overused cliches in regards to the characters and the plot."
Vicky wrote: "If you read a few posts before you'll find what I was referring to, her exact words being :" Too many overused cliches in regards to the characters and the plot.""
Okay, I see. I had only gone back to "I got tired of the old cliches regarding the Catholic church. "
I do agree to some extent with the cliches about the Catholic church. But we probably won't agree, so ...
Everyman wrote: "I'm with you there. For me, it tried too hard to be esoteric and forgot that the first task of the storyteller is to tell a good story."Everyman wrote: "But I note that Cleo didn't contend that Eco was using literary cliches, but was using cliches about the Catholic church, which is a quite different thing."
Thank you, Everyman, you understood what I was trying to say. Perhaps I should have been more clear. I just got tired of the Catholic/homosexual references, the enlightened character who seems to have an omniscient understanding of everything and is portrayed as almost further "evolved" than everyone else, and a number of other things that I won't mention. To be clear, I'm not a Catholic but I would feel that same about cliches referring to Muslims or Atheists or even perhaps German Shepherds. :-D I find these cliches focus people on incidental circumstances (I don't mean incidental in importance but incidental in occurrence) and we then can miss all the greater value of that group/person.
I thought I was also careful to say this was only my opinion. I emphasized that the book "pushed my buttons (as I seemed to have pushed yours, Vicky :-) ) and even gave the caveat that I had only read 1/3 of the book. By saying this I was hoping that some kind souls would post and perhaps enlighten me as to what I could appreciate about the book, that's all. Vicky, since you enjoy Eco so much it would have been more helpful if you had instead told me what you appreciated about the book. I have to say, everyone in the group has been struggling with it, not just me.
Generally, I never make a firm decision on a book until I've given it a fair chance. For example, I'm really not that fond of Dickens but I'm (happily) reading A Tale of Two Cities (again) with another group and they have helped me to appreciate certain things about him and his writing that, in the past, I had missed.
Thanks for your comment, Zuzana. If you decide to read it again, I'd love to know what you thought of it.
Cleo, I read and enjoyed The Name of the Rose. I also read and enjoy the Brother Cadfael series. Now in my opinion books are only superior or inferior based on who is reading and enjoying them at the time. In other words, you like what you like and don't what you don't. There's not a book out there, however lauded as as pivotal work of great importance etc. that there's not someone who thinks it's insufferable (and I fall fully in the insufferable camp on a few of them).It's been 20+ years since I read The Name of the Rose and to be honest, my memory for plots and such isn't the best. I do distinctly remember reading it as a mystery and nothing more though. As I recall the mystery element in it was quite well done and suspenseful and I think all the trappings around it were used to add to atmosphere.
Personally I think you gave it a good shot, you made it 1/3 of the way through which is usually more patience than I have for a book I'm not liking.
Tatum wrote: "Now in my opinion books are only superior or inferior based on who is reading and enjoying them at the time. "If I'm reading you correctly, I have to disagree. A book can be superior even if at the time I'm reading it I'm not appreciating it. This was true of a number of books that I was assigned to read in high school and college which I have gone back to years later and read with extraordinary enjoyment. They were, in my opinion, superior books even when I wasn't enjoying reading them.
But maybe I misunderstood your point.
I meant that what some people would consider to be a superior work is bound to be considered inferior by someone else who has different tastes.In other words, no one's opinions about what does or does not constitute a good work should be discredited. That's the great thing about reading, we can all read the same book and all take away something different from it, like it or not.
I agree that I have read books in the past and revised my opinions on them when reading them later. I also think sometimes it just depends on your mood at the time and your opinion could differ on a book based on that alone. For instance, if I am in a happy mood, I tend to like to read books that reflect that and are more "light reading" and would probably not enjoy a more serious book as much as I would if I was in a more thinking mood.
Tatum wrote: "I do distinctly remember reading it as a mystery and nothing more though. As I recall the mystery element in it was quite well done and suspenseful and I think all the trappings around it were used to add to atmosphere...."I think it's supposed to have a number of elements interwoven through it: semiotics, philosophy, and a number of others, so I was reading it with more expectation than just a mystery. If I had simply expected a mystery, I think my disappointment would be less. I have since read that Eco is considered a postmodernist, which is probably explains why the tone of the novel rubbed me the wrong way. ;-)
As I get older and realize that I will die before I read all the books I'd like to, I have tended to get more choosy with what I read. That said, I haven't completely written him off.
Tatum wrote: "I meant that what some people would consider to be a superior work is bound to be considered inferior by someone else who has different tastes......"
Just like wine, right? ;-) But there are wines that are really bad and I think that goes for books as well. However, if you are speaking about books that are considered "literary texts", I would agree with you.
In the context of the group I was referring more to "classics" yes. Although since I've joined Goodreads I've found that there are books that I would say are hideously awful and wouldn't give away to my worst enemy that many people have rated 4-5 stars so I suppose it can apply to all books really.
Just finished Trollope An Old Man's Love and posted my review of it.
Visit my book blog. its Sure to appeal to all you bibliophiles. :)http://asolitarypassion.blogspot.com
I've finished reading Songs Of The Humpback Whale last night and it was awful. Today I've started reading All We Know of Heaven by Jacquelyn Mitchard.
From the one-and-only J.K. Rowling
, I'm currently enjoying The Tales of Beedle The Bard!
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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)
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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)
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I have wanted to read that one for quite awhile. Hope that you like it!