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The Classics
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What is the last classic you read? What is a classic?
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I've been reading what seems to be considered a classic of science-fiction: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin. Much more low-tech than I expected, although I didn't really know what to expect. Quite an interesting story from a sociological point of view.
A friend told me a while back that he had a relative who wished he could forget the details of a book after reading it, so he could re-read it as "new"; I am that person. I can recall whether I liked the book, and perhaps some details, but after a year or so, it's like reading the book from scratch.I mention this as I recently re-read (both times on unabridged audio) The Spoils of Poynton by Henry James. I recall having liked the narration, the strange names Mona Brigstock and Fleda Vetch, and that the widowed mother preferred the latter to the former as a potential daughter-in-law. Period. This second go 'round I had a hard time getting into it at all, until I read a review pointing out that perhaps Mrs Gareth had a right to be bitter; her husband willed away all of their joint assets to their son on his death, not a tangible good for her to retain. Women ... status ... HA! It made more sense thereafter.
I have Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie teetering on the top of Mt. TBR, same deal regarding details (it's tragic, she's betrayed ... how and who, I can't begin to recall).
Currently re-reading To Kill a Mockingbird. It's been too long.
Just finished reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes novella, A Study in Scarlet. Quite interesting. Not what I expected--not as prim and fussy as I'd feared.
Not all Victorian authors were prim and fussy! :-)
I know. I've read others. Nothing prim about Dickens, for example. But some of the productions of Holmes stories have presented Holmes and Watson as such stuffed shirts!
I haven't seen all that many of the movie/TV adaptations --one of my Goodreads friends, for instance, considers Basil Rathbone practically THE definitive incarnation of Holmes, but I've never seen any of those movies. My favorite actor in the role of Holmes is Jeremy Brett, from the many faithful adaptations of Doyle novels and stories on the old PBS Mystery! series. (No stuffed shirt he!)
Absolutely, Werner. Also I think her name was Joan Hall? who played Miss Marple on Mystery. Agatha Christie said she was the closest actor to her real Miss Marple. Altho Helen Hayes was good too as she is in everything.
Syra, the actress you're thinking of was Joan Hickson. I didn't know that Christie had said that, but it doesn't surprise me! Of any of the TV/movie Miss Marple's I've seen, Hickson struck me as by far the closest approximation of the character in the print originals --not just in physical type, but in bearing, mannerisms, and the whole kind of personality that she projected.
Can't really weigh in on Miss Marple; I may have seen a Helen Hayes version, but I'm not sure.Did anyone else see the new PBS Mystery "Sherlock", updated to the 21st century? Definitely different, but I rather liked it.
I don't think I have read a classic this year! I need to go down my list and check.
My book challenge showed a little Longfellow poetry, Brideshead Revisited (is that classic?) and The Canterville Ghost which was so cute.
Alice, I would consider Brideshead Revisited a classic. It's stood the test of time for well over 60 years, I believe.
60 years! I did not realize it was that old. I had meant to read it for ages so glad I finally got around to it. Thanks for letting me know.
It was first published in 1945, making it 66 years old now (older than you and I are! :-) ).
Werner wrote: "It was first published in 1945, making it 66 years old now (older than you and I are! :-) )."
1945, wonder if there is a Listopia for that. Yeppers, and you have a birthday coming up very soon now. I hope it will be pleasant.
1945, wonder if there is a Listopia for that. Yeppers, and you have a birthday coming up very soon now. I hope it will be pleasant.
Thanks, Alice. Things will be hectic here on that day, but at least Rebekah and Tony will be here, rather than in Australia. :-)
The latest classics I have read recently were The Good Earth and Madame Bovary. Both books were tremendous. I think a classic novel is one that stands the test of time in its message and its effect on people. The period in which the novel takes place can be cleared away, and the message applied to another place in time or today. Some classics had the effect to evoke change to the times in which they were published.
The Good Earth!!! Loved that book. Read it in high school and had to make a dyorama(?)from scenes in the book. What fun. Thanks for bringing back a great memory!
Actually, I think many critics use 50 years as a sort of rule of thumb for the test of time. By that standard, we could both apply. :-)
Doesn't being a classic also have to do with the quality of the work not just the age?
Yes, Syra, the quality is crucially important, too; but most people think a certain amount of endurance over time is also necessary before something can acquire "classic" status. In the short run, fads and hype can distort contemporary judgments about quality; the verdict of later generations is less apt to be affected that way.
No, I'm a real classic. hehehe
I agree Werner. I assume the quality of the work is what keeps it out there for so many years.
I assume you were talking about the books.
No, I'm a real classic.
Love it! LOL
I just read Oliver Twist, expecting to like it, but I didn't. I guess there are a lot of Dickens fans out there, since nobody liked my negative review.
I've never read Oliver Twist. I think Nicholas Nickleby is my favorite Dickens book. Right now, I'm re-reading Huckleberry Finn.
Callista, I liked your review, even though I have a different opinion! Thanks for letting us know you'd posted one.My favorite Dickens work is A Christmas Carol; but though I count him as a favorite author, I've yet to read most of his novels. Nicholas Nickleby is one of many that's still on my to-read shelf.
Reggia, my wife and I both liked Huckleberry Finn. I'll be interested in your review, when you finish the book!
Thanks for reading my review, Werner. :)Of the 4 Dickens works I've read, A Christmas Carol is my favourite, too.
They're definitely classics but it might be a good idea to give them their own category anyway. I wish I'd taken the book offered to me yesterday...
Yes. There's a little shop near my job that has a used book section. They're always offering me free books in return for the peanuts and other packing material that I bring them from work. It's a very nice trade. :)
I just finished Anna Karenina. I don't know why I didn't read it, before, as I like 19th century literature. I suppose I was intimidated by the Russian names, which I remember being a nightmare from my attempt to read The Brothers Karamazov years ago.
Attempt is all I have managed with The Brothers Karamazov as well. I don't think it was the Russian names that were difficult, per se, but that so often one character was referred to by several different names. I just couldn't keep up with that but one day I do hope to return to this classic. Anna Karenina is still on my to-read list.Great to have your participation here!
Yes! I remember reading a scene in the Bros K, where a group of, like, four men were sitting in a room, talking. All of a sudden, there was a fifth guy! A name I'd never heard, before! The name didn't appear on the list at the front of the book or in the Cliff's notes list. WTF?!I think it helps to Google for a really good list of names before you read one of these books, just in case your edition doesn't have a good one.
I read and liked The Brothers Karamazov as a teen, though it has some extremely grim parts; but I agree that the Russian names add to the complexity of the 19th prose, and were challenging to me at times (luckily, I can sometimes get into challenges! :-) ). A key idea to remember (and I learned this and other points inductively from writers like Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn) is that every Russian has a first, last and middle name; the middle name is always a patronymic. (That is, something like Alexei Fyodorovitch Karamazov, Fyodorovitch meaning "son of Fyodor.") The polite or formal form of address is to call the person by his/her first and middle name (if you watched Gorbachev and Yeltsin on CNN after the August coup, talking to each other in the Russian legislature, you heard this in the translation). The first names generally also have diminutive or affectionate forms that are used among family and friends, and these are not always obvious to English speakers, though they are to Russians; for instance, Alyosha is the affectionate form of Alexei. (We have the same thing in English; a Russian speaker probably wouldn't naturally recognize Jack as the affectionate form of John, for instance.)
Over on the thread relating to Charly's "12 in 12" classics challenge, we agreed that Daphne Du Maurier's Jamaica Inn is at least arguably a classic. A couple of days ago, I finished reading it, and really liked it, as I'd expected to do; so yes, it did meet my expectations. My full review is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... .
This past weekend, I finished my long-awaited (by me) read of The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I have to admit that it didn't meet my personal expectations, and was actually rather disappointing. If anyone's interested, my full review is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... .
I believe the most recent classic that I read was The Master and Margarita, which I absolutely adored, I could read that one over and over again.
The last classic I read was Peter Pan and it didn't at all reach my expectations. I can see why I didn't read it as a kid.
Helena wrote: "I believe the most recent classic that I read was The Master and Margarita, which I absolutely adored, I could read that one over and over again."Oh, that book! I got halfway and then foolishly started other books. I remember finding it very funny. As soon as I'm done with The Brothers Karamazov (one day!) I will get back to The Master and Margarita.
I started Brothers -- once. One day I shall return to it but armed with a list of characters along with their 'aliases'.
Earlier this week, I finished reading Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (first published in 1934). Would others agree that this could be called a "classic," at least within the mystery genre? It's certainly a well-known and much translated work, which has been frequently adapted for movies and TV (and even radio).
Thanks, Charly! I've added it to our "250 Classics Challenge" list.
My wife and I progressively read through the Bible cover to cover over a period of time (roughly a chapter a day), and then start again whenever we finish. When we finish our current read (we're in I Corinthians right now), I'll have to add that to the Classics Challenge thread!
I don't know if it's the best classic I've ever read, but based on the number of times I've read it, and I'm not a fan of this author as a whole, is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. One of the classics I read that I did NOT enjoy (well, with the exception of one scene) was Don Quixote.
I rated Pride and Prejudice as a five-star read; but then, I'm an unabashed Janeite. :-) Never read Don Quixote nor even seen the stage versions, though!
Charly wrote: "I wasn't overwhelmed by Pride and Prejudice and in truth have not read Don Quixote although I have seen it as a play a number of times."My youngest brother loved the book Don Quixote. I think I'd prefer a well done play or movie, but am most likely to laugh at some of the dialogue done well than the slapstick parts of it.
Gordon Lightfoot did an album called Don Quixote with a song about it (or part of it is about Don Quixote) but I would never have related that song to the book until I found it later on.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Murder on the Orient Express (other topics)The Master and Margarita (other topics)
The Three Musketeers (other topics)
Jamaica Inn (other topics)
Nicholas Nickleby (other topics)
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Yes, I can see how this pleasant read would be a "welcome diversion". :)