Challenges from Exploding Steamboats discussion

I was thinking either The Mysteries of Udolpho or Paul Clifford. What other old gems should I consider?

I recently read Frankenstein which is well and truly over 100 years older than me. Didn't enjoy it though.

This is a tough one for me; "classics" are one of the main reason I rethought my literature major. :/

Xanthi wrote: "I recently read Frankenstein which is well and truly over 100 years older than me. Didn't enjoy it though."

I read it a couple years ago and I didn't enjoy it either. It was alright but I expected so much more.

I loved Frankenstein, but mostly because I liked the sociology and psychology of it and wasn't into the concept of horror or sci-fi too much. I loaned it to a friend and she hated it.

I did notice that Goodreads has lists from specific decades which included some books that fit this prompt which I own but haven't read. That was a helpful resource.

I think I have a copy of Frankenstein around here, so maybe I will do that. I find it interesting to see the early origins of fantasy and science fiction.

20 000 Leagues under the sea by Jules Verne was published in its original French 100 years before I was born. The English version two years later. I think this counts, so I plan to read it.

Xanthi wrote: "20 000 Leagues under the sea by Jules Verne was published in its original French 100 years before I was born. The English version two years later. I think this counts, so I plan to read it."

I recently downloaded Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, but I just don't think I'm up for it right now. And it would probably take me all year to get through. So maybe it will fit a prompt in some challenge next year.

That is another one I'd liek to read. I am currebtly watching the BBC series The Musketeers and enjoying it. Just found a BBC full cast audiobook of that story, at a 2nd hand book sale. Looking forward to listening to it. :)

Xanthi wrote: "That is another one I'd liek to read. I am currebtly watching the BBC series The Musketeers and enjoying it. Just found a BBC full cast audiobook of that story, at a 2nd hand book sale. Looking for..."

Cool!

Crossed this one off the list with Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

I have just completed Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney. The original was written around 1200 in Iceland, the translation I read was published in 1978. I visited Orkney in July, and this was mentioned several times. It covers more than 200 years of Orkney earls and other people of note. It was truly a violent time, with a lot of backstabbing and then reconciliation. The actual text is 200 pages, so there isn't a lot of detail. Some of the names are rather amusing, like Thorarin Bag-Nose. And sometimes someone is no longer important to the storyteller, so they simply write something like, "He did nothing more of importance, so that's all." There is a fair amount of, "He ran into the room, hit x over the head with his sword/axe, splitting x's head in two down to his shoulders, then ran away," too. It is interesting to see how connected Orkney was to Norway, the Hebrides, Ireland, and how often the Orcadians went raiding in these places, plus various parts of Scotland and England. Later on, as Christianity became more important, they even made pilgrimages to the Holy Land and raided all the way there. These raids were called Viking trips.

Herculine Barbin: Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth-century French Hermaphrodite This translation was originally published in 1978, but the memoirs themselves are from the mid-1800s, so I’m counting it.

Now that I think on it, my reread of Beowulf would also count.

My friend Tina came through for me at the last minute with The King of the Golden River; Or, The Black Brothers: A Legend of Stiria. She even let me hide in her library during the NYE party.