The Filipino Group discussion

So, classics. Everyone, at some point, has said, "I want to read more classic books." Some of us may have succeeded in this, some (like me) are still working on it, some are failing, some have given up.

Let's use this thread to talk about those classic books. What have you read, why you want to read them, and is it hard or easy? If you're planning to read a classic book but don't know where to start, we can get recommendations here, too. :)

For those classic lovers, tell us your secret (if you have a secret? :D)! What's your favorite classic book and why? :)

P.S. Oh, and I bet we'll be asking, "What makes a book a classic?" here, so yes, feel free to answer that question, too. :)

What makes a book a classic?
I think a book is a classic when it resonates with people even after a century. Classics still evoke emotion and feelings even though they contain a different manner of speech and lifestyle compared with the one we have now.

Classics I'd like to read:
I don't know if they are considered as classics but I'd like to read Arthurian legends. I recently bought a couple of Agatha Christie's works so I'm looking forward to reading those too. Jules Verne, Charles Dickens too. I'd also like to read The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. I started Inferno by Dante Aligheri a long time ago but I haven't had a chance to finish it so I'm going to pick it up again one of these days.

Classics I really loved:
This is going to be a short list since I haven't read that many. This list includes Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

I like some. But of all the classics I've read (not much), I've been struggling to finish Dicken's The Great Expectations. I like the story but honestly I feel stupid with all its old English and slangs and the glossary at the back which I always check . The reason why I refuse to give up is because I like Pip.

I've read only a handful of classics so I'm just going to talk about the first two pieces of classic works I've read: L Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.

These are my favorites for different reasons: The Wizard of Oz because when I read at a very young age, I didn't even realize that it was a classic. All I cared about then was that I was drawn into Oz' world, and I loved the adventures of Dorothy, Tinman, Scarecrow and the Lion. This book also sparked my love for reading, so it has a special place in my heart.

As for Little Women, I loved the March sisters! I loved their different personalities, and how much they, in turn, loved one another despite those differences. My favorite would be, of course, Jo March. :)

Finally, what makes a classic? For me a classic is a work that transcends time -- something which is relative, so I wouldn't ascribe a range or a period -- and tackles issues or topics that are relevant, no matter what day or age. :)

What is a classic?

A classic is:

A book that you will find in a typical Ivy League university reading list (like the Harvard Classics). Quite hard core and not very accessible to ordinary mortals.

Something you have been told to read by all-knowing English teachers.

A book that you want to avoid because the language is more complicated and the characters seem to speak and behave in a way so different from today.

A book that you have re-read again and again and still love because it resonates in you. It has a certain universal appeal because it integrates themes that are understood by readers from a wide range of backgrounds and levels of experience. If one takes this definition, one can argue that Matilda is a classic, plus the fact that her reading list is a veritable feast of the classics :)

Classics I Love

East of Eden – the book that started my reading life. I discovered this in one of those Reader's Digest Condensed Books (Spring Selections Vol. III) and because it only contained a few chapters I had to look for the unabridged version. All of Steinbeck’s prior works are practice for this work. This book introduced me to my favourite Hebrew word timshel.

“But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.”

To Kill a Mockingbird – all the more precious because it is Harper Lee’s only published work.
Jane Austen, in order of preference – Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice,Sense and Sensibility, Emma
Jane Eyre
Les Miserables – despite Victor Hugo’s tendency to talk A LOT.
The Secret Garden
The Old Man and the Sea

Classics I Am Reading Now

The Count of Monte Cristo – really enjoying this one.

Classics I'd like to read

William Shakespeare (I’ve only read the required tragedies in school---Julius Caesar, Hamlet)
The Russian greats (Dostoyevski, Tolstoy)
Thomas Hardy’s works
The Histories by Herodotus (I recently acquired a copy)
James Joyce

The Secret to Reading the Classics

You have to let your brain get used to the language, and this is especially true with Austen and her liberal use of archaic phrases (upon my word, by the bye, etc.). I think audiobooks are quite helpful in this case; you’ll have an idea how each phrase was said and what tone was used. For the French authors, one has to know the historical context of their work to appreciate what they are saying. This is especially true for The Count of Monte Cristo, because the story is full of political intrigue surrounding Napoleon Bonaparte and his supporters.

What have you read?

-I'm limiting my answers to books published before 1900:

Candide by Voltaire
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Noli Me Tangere by Jose Rizal
Hunger by Knut Hamsun (my favorite book!)
Mysteries Knut Hamsun
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Why you want to read them?

-When I started reading voraciously, I decided to go with the "classics" and the "critically acclaimed" because I felt that there are so many books to read and so short a life. I felt that I should go with these kinds of books because they wouldn't be such for nothing, right? It also helped that my first novel ever is To Kill a Mockingbird. I instantly fell for the classics with that book (I have to admit that I had a Danielle Steel phase after Mockingbird because of the love scenes that titillated my teenage hormones).

And oh, I want to read them because I'm a smart-ass, hahaha.

And is it hard or easy?

-It depends. I find Austen an easy read because she's so funny (and you have to give it to her for being a female writer during her time). I suspect that Dickens's language will have a similar feel, although I think they tackle different issues.

Now, Faulkner (The Sound and the Fure) and Woolf (To the Lighthouse) are hard work (and any modernist writer for this matter, e.g., Joyce), but the rewards are so worth it. I feel that these two will become members of my favorite writers, but I just can't claim it yet. Someday. :)

I think the hard and the easy part is a matter of taste. But believe me, there are a lot of classics out there that are surprisingly easy to read and love. Two of them are Jane Eyre and Frankenstein.

Tell us your secret.

-It's not really a secret, but just don't get intimidated. If you're having issues with the language, just let it flow. If you're having issues with what's going on, a little Google search will help to give you background on the historical context. If you're still having issues, well, just be patient. Hehe.

And oh, embrace the book and open your mind. :)

What's your favorite classic book and why?

-Kailangan ko pa bang sagutin ulit ito? Hahaha! Anyway, it's Hunger by Knut Hamsun. Basta. Naibook push ko na ito kung kani-kanino (Monique, Lynai, Bennard (I think?), and Emir (I imagine?).

What makes a book a classic?

-I echo the previous definitions: a book that transcends time. A book that will endure changes. A book that will always have a universal appeal.

Ahm, how about Shakespeare?

Classics?

the 1st books that comes to my mind when we talk about classic are Shakespeare's books. They are the kind of books that are time less. Just like the books of Dickens, Virgil, Hugo, Andersen, Grimm, Verne and Austen. They are the Kind of books that can be recommended,and they transcends tru time. It caries history, at the same times, opens up the eyes of those how are wondering about the past. The Classic tales of magic and love, adventure and horror, myth and sturuggles. They are the kind that books reports are based on...remember those times guy?


My reading fix started when i read Ivanhoe. I think you guys knew that story. Why i read that? it was about knights and castles. During my high school days, i love that setting. then after wards, i read Black Beauty. During my HS days, those were the days wheni was so into classics. I wanted to read almost all of the classic books that i can get my hands into, i had like Twenty thousand leauges under the sea, Aeinid, then Odessey. Cleopatra. Sadly, i didnt read PNP by Austen, during those times, clasical victorian love story didnt appeal to me. and up to now, i still havent read it.

what books i want to read?

Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys(Yah they are classics.)
Shakespeare

so far ayan plang ang trip ko basahin...

The only Shakespeare which I thoroughly enjoyed is The Taming of the Shrew because I played Katarina in our highschool play and I love love love our costumes.

The only classic novel I enjoyed was "Inferno" by Dante Alighieri. Going to read the rest of The Divine Comedy when I have a chance.

By Fyodor Dostoyevsky

White Nights
Dream of a Ridiculous Man
Notes from Underground
Crime and Punishment
The Possessed
The Idiot
The Gambler
The Pushkin Speech




From Albert Camus

The Stranger
The Fall
Youthful Writings



From Henry Miller

Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricorn
Black Spring
World of Sex
The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder



From Kurt Vonnegut

Timequake
Mother Night
The Breakfast of Champions
Slaughterhouse 5



Others

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Farehenhet 451 by Ray Bradbury
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
A Wrinkle in Time
The Old man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Great Gatsby

A classic is a book that qualified for immortality.

I only read classics when there`s nothing to read anymore >_<

Top of my head, the ones I really love are these:

A Room with a View
Wuthering Heights (the mark of the weirdness of my taste in books)
The Importance of being Earnest
Pride and Prejudice
Great Expectations
Paradise Lost
Inferno
The Odyssey
Count of Monte Cristo

What have you read?
Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye, The Little Prince, Iliad, Odyssey, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Why you want to read them
Well, the first two titles were gifted to me so I sort of had to read them, the next two were lying around the house and I had nothing else to read then, the next three were part of school work, the last one I bought, because the synopsis interested me.

Is is hard or easy?
Definitely hard. The language is the hardest to get used to. Save for The Little Prince which may not count because it is a children's classic, and it was short and wasn’t too taxing. I did not love it the first time I read it but when I reread it, now that I am older, I immensely enjoyed it. Iliad and Odyssey too, I enjoyed back in high school. Greek Myth is always fun. Pride and Prejudice too was a great read. I enjoyed the characters and I always love romance that starts with a little hate. But it is difficult to get through the old English type of language.

What makes a book a classic?
I agree with the ones mentioned above, speaks a truth, stands the test of time, has universal appeal. Question: I am curious though, if there ever were titles (either in your opinion or of mass opinion)that meet all the definitions, but then somehow, are not considered classics?

Regarding Shakespeare
I started to flip through the first few pages of Much Ado About Nothing, and boy there were quite many doths, thees, and wherefores. And I had to re-read quite a few dialogues and strain my brain really hard to get the gist of what the characters were saying. So I took a break from it. (It did help that imagined Benedict as David Tennant and Catherine Tate as Beatrice which got me through a good while. Hihi.) I will pick up where I left off someday. Or maybe I should get one of those No Fear Shakespeare books.

Classics. It's a genre I'd love to delve more into, although thanks to my fickle nature, I tend to be distracted by other fluffy and non-fluffy things. Still, I love it because it’s, well, classic.


What makes a book a classic?
(view spoiler)[
Personally, I think it has something to do with the age a book has been written (I’m guessing 1900s or earlier). Still, I sometimes get confused, because there have been times a 1900+ book is also sometimes called a “classic”. (E.g. The Old Man & The Sea, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Chronicles of Narnia) Maybe I should shift my time period.

I guess it also has something to do with the acceptance of the majority as the book that has been able to sway, entertain and change the literature playing field.

*Not a lit major, so this is just speculation :) My basis for the “1900s” definition is actually based on my GR book stats for publication year xD -> http://www.goodreads.com/review/pub_y...
(hide spoiler)]

What have you read? / Why you want to read them?
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If I recall correctly, my first ever classic book (and, I believe, the first book I’ve ever read) is Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. I devoured the pages devoted to the lives of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, and reread that book over and over again. (My first copy has long been gone, though.) I was soon introduced to The Chronicles of Narnia, What Katy Did and Anne of Green Gables. I loved them all.

I guess that’s the start to my reading life, and, at an early age, it has been inculcated in me that classics aren’t so bad.

(My guess is that a number of readers have a disdain for the classics section, since it was introduced to them as “required readings” and the like. I was lucky to have first read and enjoyed a couple of classical books!)

Through the years, I’ve been reading classics books on and off, but have tended to go for the Filipiniana section, especially while I was in college.

Fast forward to when I was dusting off my late grandfather’s shelves (a year or so ago), and found a book by Clifton Fadiman. It was a book called The Lifetime Reading Plan. My eyes were opened to the number of great classic books at my disposal that I have yet to read! From then on, I’ve been checking that book for good reads. (My latest have-read book from a recommend there would be Ivan Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons.)

Notably, I also stumbled across Librivox.org, a site where you can download loads of free audiobooks. (The budget-conscious part of me squealed, you see. FREE AUDIOBOOKS!)

I’ve read some of the popular ones, including Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (a discussion of which I moderated here at TFG last year! Fun times), The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling, Middlemarch, Verne’s A Mysterious Island, Doestoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Melville’s The Whale (Moby-Dick), among others. I still constantly feel that I have yet to really have read enough, though :)
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Is it hard or easy [to read classics]?
(view spoiler)[
Segue: I sometimes think about this question when I look at Filipiniana shelves. I have a feeling that most people will veer away from the Filipiniana shelf because they think it’s “hard”. I suppose it’s because what we know of the Filipiniana genre would include Sionil Jose, Nick Joaquin, and other writers of the Filipino language to write “difficult stories”.

As I’ve earlier mentioned, I personally believe that “classics” is just the tag that “old” books have been stamped on. Just because they’re old doesn’t exactly mean they’re hard to read. I think it’s more of how a book – whether classic or not – should be easy or not for you to read. Just because it was written in the 1900s doesn’t mean it’s any less entertaining today, nor does it mean that a good love story then may not be a good love story now.

An anti-example: if you found it hard to read 50 Shades of Grey, you may find it hard to read something like The Life and Amours of the Beautiful and Dashing Kate Percival (an classic adult erotica book that I feel pales in comparison to its other erotica counterparts of its day). (view spoiler)[Pro-tip: Read that of Fanny Hill instead ;) (hide spoiler)]

IF there IS anything difficult about the classics, however, it’s the vocabulary. You’d have thunk that today’s vocab would be better, what with the better education system, right? ;) Don’t even TRY to look at the very first edition Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, for example, if you haven’t gone through a couple of other “simpler” classics books; your head might just explode, or you might just flip the book because of its so-called “grammatical errors”. E.G.: (view spoiler)[
'Wepyng and waylyng, care and oother sorwe
I knowe ynogh, on even and a-morwe,'
Quod the Marchant, 'and so doon oother mo
That wedded been

Also known as:

Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrow
I know enough, in the evening and in the morning,'
said the Merchant, 'and so does many another
who has been married.'

Yeah, and that’s just ONE stanza. Imagine reading all 83 manuscripts!

(It’s actually fascinating how language has changed since then, what with all the Great Vowel Shifts and all that :D)
(hide spoiler)]

So yes, tread carefully among the classics, bearing in tow your dictionary. Oh, and of course get used to people acting in old-school ways – they ARE old-school :D
(hide spoiler)]

What is your secret?
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My curiosity, open-mindedness, and having Wikipedia and my ready dictionary at hand :)
(hide spoiler)]

What's your favorite classic book and why?

Among them: Middlemarch, Vanity Fair, Crime & Punishment, A Tale of Two Cities.

Why? I love books that make me think :) I’d have added a Fitzgerald (I love Beautiful and Damned!), but I feel he’s a different kind of favorite for me – I love how his works drip of lovely, lovely sarcasm :D


Recommendations?

I don’t think I can recommend a good book for everyone to start off with, so here are some what-ifs:

If into romance: try Austen (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility...)

If into young adult (female?): try Anne of Green Gables, What Katy Did, Little Women

If into funnies: I love Fitzgerald for his sarcasm. I heard Tristam Shandy’s pretty funny too. (view spoiler)[Though I found it difficult to read when I skimmed over the first few pages. (hide spoiler)] Oh! The Diary of A Nobody is amusing.

If into fantasy/sci-fi: try Verne. VERNE all the way! There’s also H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine :)

If into mystery: SHERLOCK HOLMES

If into old-school adventures and war stories: The Iliad, The Odyssey

If into MANLY READS (read: TESTOSTERONE): The Call of The Wild, Robinson Crusoe - both highly recomMENded

If into thought-provoking / issue-ridden: try Frankenstein, Crime & Punishment, A Tale of Two Cities, Anna Karenina

If into long books with good storylines: A History of Tom Jones, A Foundling; Middlemarch; The Brothers Karamazov; Anna Karenina

If into depressing/annoying: Wuthering Heights, Madame Bovary

Haven’t read much, but I hope you find these palatable :)

I used to have this goal of reading ten classics every year, but the most I've read in a year is 5. So I kept it at that, because I realized that I take my time to read classic books.

My favorites:
* A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
* Daddy Long-legs by Jean Webster
* Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
* Persuasion by Jane Austen

My "secret" is more of committing to read the book every day. I find this especially useful for Austen books, because it takes me a while before I can immerse in the language. The first time I tried to read Pride and Prejudice, I have to go back to the start twice because I missed reading it for a week. Heh.

I find watching a movie version helps, too. Except you'll get spoiled and probably not want to read the book. Or yes, like what DC said, Wikipedia is your friend. :)

As for what makes a book a classic...yep, books that transcend time. Which means that sometimes there are books that can be considered a classic even if we don't really think of them as that, yet. Maybe in the future generations?

I have a shallower (and perhaps a simpler) definition for shelving purposes, though: I sometimes consider a book a classic when I can get it for free because it has become public domain. It's also why I have so many classics on my TBR because I can get them for free now. :)

nik wrote: "A classic is a book that qualified for immortality."

If that's the case, it would be quite the debate to find those that merit that immortality, since we each find different genres entertaining :)


Beatrice wrote: "The only classic novel I enjoyed was "Inferno" by Dante Alighieri. Going to read the rest of The Divine Comedy when I have a chance."

I love that your name's Beatrice, and then you mentioned Dante's Inferno :D


Ranee wrote: "Ahm, how about Shakespeare?"

Shakespeare is interesting, though if you're not used to the language (of love), it can turn you off. Great reading though, if you like reading plays :)

His sonnets are good too, though romanticky.


Tina wrote: "I have a shallower (and perhaps a simpler) definition for shelving purposes, though: I sometimes consider a book a classic when I can get it for free because it has become public domain. It's also why I have so many classics on my TBR because I can get them for free now. :) "

Oh, yes, that's why I've been reading more classics, too. Not all classics are free, but there sure are a lot of free ones :) I like reading audiobooks off Librivox.org, since they're public domain :D



(Just backread this thread. I love all the recommends! I'll get to them when my fluttering mind suddenly decides to go for them, thanks! :D)

"David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens is not only my favorite classic but overall my favorite book. It's not perfect, I know, I'm aware of all its flaws, and yet I couldn't care less. The reason? It's the strong connection I've established with the narrator and protagonist, David, whose voice was given life by Dickens' mastery of the language.

hey guys, I'd like to recommend a classic that no one seems to notice. . If you've read and liked Age of Innocence or any Henry James novel, then you'll probably like this one.

Raphael, I have that saga, but it's not yet calling me. I found The Age of Innocence ho-hum mostly because I'm annoyed by the problems of the rich. Henry James, I will read him soon. Colm Toibin's The Master made me very interested in the works of the writer.

DC wrote: "Oh, yes, that's why I've been reading more classics, too. Not all classics are free, but there sure are a lot of free ones :) I like reading audiobooks off Librivox.org, since they're public domain :D"

Oooh, I have never tried listening to a classic. I should try that sometime and see if it helps. I think some people (Aaron?) read P&P last year with audiobooks?

Oh and speaking of P&P (because I remembered the live stream we did last year for the BBC version), I now ask this. Most classic books have movie/TV show versions. Do you watch it first before you read it, or vice versa? And if you really like a classic, will you read/watch modern/futuristic retellings?

A classic is a book that endures the changes in civilization while continuously impacting the lives of the people who read it. It is so widely read that it becomes the standard of what ought to be and not ought to be. To put it simply, these are unbeatable books, forever alive.

Here are my favorite classics:
a. Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle- Enigmatic power of deduction, Sherlock!
b. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens- made me cry
c. Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster- amusing
d. Anything of Roald Dahl- Roald Dahl's dead but his novels are still my favorites up to this day
e. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien- I wish I could go to Middle Earth and visit The Shire.

I am currently reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and I admit that I really have a hard time getting the hang of the too archaic sentence structuring.*sighs*

And I have a question for you guys: In your opinion, what contemporary books would qualify as classics in the long run?

For me, it would be:
a. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman
b. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

CHARLOTTE:

And I have a question for you guys: In your opinion, what contemporary books would qualify as classics in the long run?

You might want to check out GQ’s list of modern classics of the last thirteen years :)

Ycel wrote: "CHARLOTTE:

And I have a question for you guys: In your opinion, what contemporary books would qualify as classics in the long run?

You might want to check out GQ’s list of modern classics of the ..."

YCEL: I only read Gilead among those in the list. Boo to me.