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Timeless Classics
hey i read animal farm...its a great book...many describe it as comical....but its essentially a satire...its a gud book u shud definitely read it.!
Sarbani wrote: "hey i read animal farm...its a great book...many describe it as comical....but its essentially a satire...its a gud book u shud definitely read it.!"thanks!
Umang wrote: "Any one has read George Orwell's 1984 or Animal Farm? kindly share ur thoughts!"i loved animal farm! i started reading it and initially thought it was a comedy but it is not.........
it is a really really lovely book and i have read it again and again.....
big brother was interesting to read.......but it left me a bit scared actually..........i could not sleep properly for a few days thinking about room 101.....
but then i had difficulty sleeping for days after seeing the movie....the bone collector.....and a few more instances.....
Sathya wrote: "Which works of Oscar Wilde is considered classics? Have read most of them, but end up losing interest in the midst of it all. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Anna sewell's Black Beauty are t..."
i think.......the picture of dorian gray .....is my favourite....
well......the top spot is shared by.......the importance of being earnest.......
the second one is a comedy......
the first one is tragic but profound.....and so well written......
Rosun wrote: "Reading Homer's The Iliad. I don't know if this one is a "classic" or a "mythology". I am having a problem following up with the sheer number of characters. However the story telling is just spellb..."is it poetry that u are reading?
Suchitra wrote: "The Woman in Whitei adore this book....."
no other wilkie collins fan?
i loved moonstone too!
Umang wrote: "Sherin wrote: "Both are satires about the disintegration of communism.Animal Farm is sad;but hilarious.One of my favourite books.
1984,famous for the 'Big Brother is watching you' phrase has a m..."
Not depressing;I should say it's quite funny at times.
But the underlying theme is leaders exploiting the simple-minded people.It's a satire.
Sherin wrote: "Umang wrote: "Sherin wrote: "Both are satires about the disintegration of communism.Animal Farm is sad;but hilarious.One of my favourite books.
1984,famous for the 'Big Brother is watching you' ..."
more and more reviews have fixed upon my mind to get this book asap!
Suchitra wrote: "Rosun wrote: "Reading Homer's The Iliad. I don't know if this one is a "classic" or a "mythology". I am having a problem following up with the sheer number of characters. However the story telling ..."It's not exactly poetry but the story is told in verses and not in prose. If I may draw the similarity here, it's the same way Hindu mythology (mainly Ramayana and Mahabharata) was written originally.
Sherin wrote: "Umang wrote: "Sherin wrote: "Both are satires about the disintegration of communism.Animal Farm is sad;but hilarious.One of my favourite books.
1984,famous for the 'Big Brother is watching you' ..."
Animal Farm was a treat. Great thoughts delivered thru simple story telling. Satire it is...
What about "I will make you an offer that you cannot refuse." ??
1) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand2) To kill a mocking bird by Harper Lee
3) 1984 by George Orwell
4) Brave new world by Aldous Huxley
The classic thread disappeared with me :(I was reading 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' and abandoned it half-way. Started from where I left it.
Ramayana, Mahabharata, Krishnavatara and so many stories from our epics and Puranas, they have been around for ages and ages:)
Lakshmi wrote: "Ramayana, Mahabharata, Krishnavatara and so many stories from our epics and Puranas, they have been around for ages and ages:)"I think these fall under mythology.. We have a separate to thread for these Lakshmi.. :)
Parikhit wrote: "The classic thread disappeared with me :(I was reading 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' and abandoned it half-way. Started from where I left it."
It's pretty good.
But not an ancient classic like the stuff you usually read :)
My all time favourite classics:Godfather by Mario Puzo
Gone with the wind by Margaret Mitchell
Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen
All three of these books have amazing leading characters.
Pride and Prejudice is a personal favourite. Only that it has earned me both awe and awkward glances; for it supposed to be a book meant for women to read, 19th century Mills and Boon one exclaimed!! Preposterous I say.
Gone with the wind by Margaret Mitchell.I loved Scarlett's courage and stubborness and having a back-bone in the era where women had no voice of their own.Her vices made her truly outstanding at times.
And of course her husband Rhett Butler who loved spoiling her, bearing her tantrums and being with her always despite all the wrongs!
Suchitra wrote: "Sathya wrote: "Which works of Oscar Wilde is considered classics? Have read most of them, but end up losing interest in the midst of it all. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Anna sewell's Bla..."
omg love Oscar Wilde too!! absolutely loved The Importance of Being Earnest it was so funny and brilliantly written!!!! The Picture of Dorian Gray was another masterpiece!!
My classics :Gone With the Wind (I'm determined to have at least a part of Scarlett's nerve, Melanie's kindness and Rhett's overwhelming love)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Fairness like Atticus, and to be wary of our own prejudices)
Wuthering Heights (A wonderfully gothic, creepy tale of unyielding love and violence)
Romeo and Juliet
Reading Lolita in Tehran (A memoir by Iranian-American Azar Nafisi - No idea whether it will be a classic for the rest of the world, but it is my personal classic)
Most guys dismiss Pride&Prejudice as the mother of all Rich boy-poor girl romances.:pIn fact,this was a hot topic in last Bangalore group meet.
I personally believe it's more than a romance novel.
For me,it was more of a social drama,which gives us an idea about the London middle class society of that era.
What do you guys think?
Yes, it is definitely much more than a romance. It is a study of both that era as well as psychology. It's a beautiful novel, with a very apt title...
Ah Sherin, I shouldst be thanking thee for I have been a hapless victim of the man who reads Pride and Prejudice!It definitely is more than romance. It gives an insight into the society then.
My all time favourite classics:1) A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
2) Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
3) Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4) Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
5) The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo
6) Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
7) HMS Ulysses - Alistair MacLean
Read about 3000 lines of Odeyssey, absolutely loved the mythology, amazing stories. Looking forward to reading the whole one day.
Foram wrote: "Read about 3000 lines of Odeyssey, absolutely loved the mythology, amazing stories. Looking forward to reading the whole one day."I got the book recently. Reading the Iliad was a long journey, particularly heavy. Still gathering up enough courage to start with Odyssey.
For tackling 'The Odyssey', it might be a good idea to start with a prose summary next to the poetry in hand, and refer by reading the summary when the poetry isn't clear enough...
'The Portrait of a Lady' - Henry James
The summary may sound clichéd, but it is not so. A masterful narrative of values and emotions. An unforgettable book.
Trying to revive the dead thread of Classics! I have been reading Dubliners. Amazing short stories! Must read all.
Mod
Lolita
The three musketeers
Anna Karenina
2 in the offing:
War & Peace
Three men in a boat.
Mod
(not because I like the main character - yuck)
Same here! I don't know why everybody goes gaga about him!! He creeps me out :D
Suchitra wrote: "Suchitra wrote: "The Woman in Whitei adore this book....."
no other wilkie collins fan?
i loved moonstone too!"
Hi.. I loved the moonstone too, with all its tragedy and romance and thrills... but the pace of the woman in white sort of put me off at about one-thirds of the book..
Parikhit wrote: "Trying to revive the dead thread of Classics! I have been reading Dubliners. Amazing short stories! Must read all."I have read it this year (or last year? I don't remember). It was too depressing for me. I'm no more in the mood for such depressing books.
1984 is disturbing. Animal Farm is very nice.
Parikhit wrote: "Pride and Prejudice is a personal favourite. Only that it has earned me both awe and awkward glances; for it supposed to be a book meant for women to read, 19th century Mills and Boon one exclaimed..."Probably shouldn't say this, but loved the film with Colin Firth in it, even more than I loved the book. Particularly where he goes through the lake, as thousands of other women have also found!
Wuthering Heights, as has already been mentioned, is also one of my very favourite classics.
Also, although it is now many years since I read it, is Crime and Punishment by Dosteysky. It is grim, but really gripping.
Carol wrote: "Parikhit wrote: "Pride and Prejudice is a personal favourite. Only that it has earned me both awe and awkward glances; for it supposed to be a book meant for women to read, 19th century Mills and B..."I loved the movie with Keira Knightley in it! The piano! The locales! Ravishing indeed! Yet to see the Colin Firth version.
Gone With the Wind and Wuthering Heights are my favourite classics. I love Pride and Prejudice and the Sherlock Holmes series as well. The movie adaptations of GWTW and P&P and the BBC Sherlock series were amazing!
So many great classics mentioned here - but I'm surprised that Jane Eyre wasn't featured in the herd (except once)!This has been one of my favoruite classics along with Pride and Prejudice and I'd read an abridged version back in high school - it was the best read that I could've asked of my school. Jane's character is one of the strongest, determined and most courageous female leads to be penned down. Yes, I've read one too many female leads in several chick-lit books, but Jane's been a dream compared to them - her resilience to face pretty much anything that comes her way (and she's faced loads of miseries in her life) is profoundly inspiring to me as a woman.
To those who haven't read this evergreen tale, please do so when you get the time :) You won't regret it, I'm sure.
Mod
I listened to Jane Eyre on audio and loved loved it. I was in the world of Jane for so many days.
Mod
My problem is that I hate taciturn he-man heroes :-P
Indian Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
The Portrait of a Lady (other topics)Animal Farm (other topics)
1984 (other topics)
Wuthering Heights (other topics)
The Phantom of the Opera (other topics)
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Animal Farm is sad;but hilarious.One of my favourite books.
1984,famous for the 'Big Brother is watching you' phrase has a more eerie feel ..."
sad as in depressing or sad as in the plot - duhh types?