Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Following on from the discussion on the Benjamin Button thread. Does anyone have thoughts about The Once and Future King? I'm unsure whether to try it, as I'm not a fan of fantasy at all, but I do like mythology and the sound of a character living backwards.

Oh! I have to respond to this. The Once and Future King is one of my favorite books. I read it the first time when I was pretty young, and it made a strong impression.

I also don't usually read fantasy. I would say this is different. It is funny, a little bit like the way that Don Quixote is funny, with a sort of heaviness to it. On the other hand, you could say it is lightly philosophical.

I hope I haven't turned you off to it with my botched attempt to explain it. :-)

I would say read the first few chapters and if the voice captures you, you'll love it. Plan on reading just the first book, The Sword in the Stone. Most people like that best I think. You'll get lots of Merlyn and his backwards life. Then you can go on to the other books only if you want to.

I have to read this again. I just pulled it off the shelf and am having a hard time stopping at the first lines: On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays it was Court Hand and Summulae Logicales, while the rest of the week it was the Organon, Repetition and Astrology. The governess was always getting muddled with her astrolabe, and when she got specially muddled she would take it out of the Wart by rapping his knuckles.

Who can resist that?

Oh that's high praise Kathleen! I might see if my library has the first book. Thanks :)

Well you probably don't need telling that I love it too =)
For me, though, the later books are more memorable and important. They are where White shows his gift for deep psychology, and they are less fantastical altogether: people are being people, it doesn't really matter whether it's over a quest for Holy Grail or some more realistic object.

I'd also note that the plot outline is said to be based on Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table, so it doesn't include any significant changes of who and what Arthur, Guinevere, Morgaine, Lancelot, Mordred were. They all take up their appointed places, and what White is interested in is how and why they came to be there.

I'll look forward to your thoughts!

Hi there, I liked The Once and Future King, Le Morte D'Arthur has a reputation of being much dryer than TOaFK. So be prepared.:)

I haven't read Le Morte d'Arthur yet, I'd like to one day, but it's further down my list of interests. It's good to know that this book follows the same legends of King Arthur and his court. Is it a modern retelling, or a new story inspired by those characters?

I've checked my library and they have copies of The Once and Future King, so I've reserved a copy. I can try the first 20-30 pages to see if I like it and go from there.

Thanks everyone :)

Can someone recall in which play a pair of skis had such an important role, something with an inspector I believe, maybe an Agatha Christie play?

The Sittaford Mystery?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sit...

That's what comes up when I google "Agatha christie play skis"

Wiki says the skis prove that (view spoiler)[the suspect skied to the victims house, which ruins his alibi of spending that time walking there. (hide spoiler)]

One of the stories in The Labours of Hercules (The Erymanthian Boar) involves being snowed in at a ski resort, but I don't remember skis themselves being important.

Got it, it's the Mousetrap, where the Inspector's skis are hidden.

Thank you for your input! I've looked for it for a whole month! It got me to buy An Inspector Calls and The Real Inspector Hound, no skis, but real good!

I was just reading about that play a few hours ago. I'm not sure it's available in print. Agatha Christie's grandson owns the copyright (I think she gave it to him as a birthday present or something like that) and I got the impression he limits the number of performances and hasn't let it be published.

Well I personally own a copy of this edition: The Mousetrap and Other Plays, and as its title suggests it does include that one.

Good evening!

I picked up The Greek Way/The Roman Way, 2 Vols in 1 by Edith Hamilton (1867-1963) at a library book sale a few years ago. The omnibus of the two books, originally published in 1930 and 1932, respectively, was published in 1986. While the omnibus itself would not be considered a classic, are the two books it contains considered classics?

Jim

Jim wrote: "Good evening!

I picked up The Greek Way/The Roman Way, 2 Vols in 1 by Edith Hamilton (1867-1963) at a library book sale a few years ago. The omnibus of the two books..."

Yes I'd definitely consider them classics.

I am reading The Brothers Karamazov and noticed that it only has one discussion tread with spoilers for the full book. I am not going to open that before I have finished the book.

The discussion for Moby-Dick has four. I like that better. Can we have that for The Brothers Karamazov as well?

J_BlueFlower wrote: "...The discussion for Moby-Dick has four. I like that better. Can we have that for The Brothers Karamazov as well? ..."

Actually Moby-Dick or, The Whale had many more than four discussion threads. May I suggest that in the spoiler threads that people indicate what chapter (or up to what point) they have read so people can have an idea if they have read that far along or not. Also -- one can use spoiler tags in a spoiler thread also.

Is Nicholas Sparks' book, The Lucky One, a classic?

Sarah wrote: "Is Nicholas Sparks' book, The Lucky One, a classic?"

I think that was published in 2008, which for the purposes of our group is too modern. Our new school classics are for books published between 1900-1999. Hope that helps :)

So a classic is basically determined on how back the date it was published goes? That makes so much more sense.

You might be interested in this thread where we discussed what makes a classic https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hi! I'd appreciate suggestions anyone would have about online reading companion resources for classics. Right now I'm reading The Brothers Karamazov and I know I'm missing a lot without some kind of guide. A lot of the "guides" I've found are simply plot and character summaries for people trying to avoid reading the book.

I'm looking for explanations of (many) things that are going over my head because I'm an American reading a Russian classic. Also, deeper meanings and connections that I may be missing that make these novels classics.

The thing with many of those online notes sites is that they'll usually summarize the chapters first, then provide analysis after the summary. You do have to scroll through the "do my homework for me!" stuff to get to the stuff you personally want to read.


I've used Sparknotes on occasion. They're not always accurate and some of their analysis seems to be a bit of a stretch, especially when they get into symbolism, etc. but they're one of the sources I check out if I think I'm missing something. They do often include notes on cultural and historical details.

The other famous/reputable one is Cliffs Notes but I find Sparknotes is easier to skim for just the tidbits I'm curious or confused about without having to read the whole thing.

You can try both and see which you prefer.

The other thing I've found helpful is to get a really good modern edition. Footnotes can be useful in explaining things that aren't necessarily obvious to those of another time/culture. It just depends on the edition and editor as to what exactly they footnote.

Or, critical editions often have essays after the book if you're into lit crit.

Age of book and nomination:

To be eligible for nomination a book must be first published in 1999 or before. When the group started that meant that the book must have been published at least 10 years and 11 months ago. Now it is almost 18 years.

Is there any plan to move the limit? Like for instance the book must be at least 15 years old?

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Age of book and nomination:

To be eligible for nomination a book must be first published in 1999 or before. When the group started that meant that the book must have been published at least 10 yea..."

We did move the limit, when the club started the date was 1985.

In June 2014 a poll was conducted as to the published age of a group book. The winning stopping point was 1999. All of our books must be published prior to the year 2000.

It was felt that we should focus on books of age (classics) rather than more modern contemporary books, or speculate about what may become a future classic. There is no plan to change the age limit. Some people thing no book should be excluded and others think 1999 doesn't go back far enough.

I think our group is pretty liberal minded as to the books allowed. Other than age 1999 or earlier, and two category reads that have page requirements, short and long, most all books are accepted. Books are nominated by the group, not picked by moderators, and then voted on by the group. The winning books end up as monthly reads and are placed on our group bookshelf.

Thank you for explaining.

Katy wrote: "J_BlueFlower wrote: "Age of book and nomination:

To be eligible for nomination a book must be first published in 1999 or before. When the group started that meant that the book must have been publ..."

Bob wrote: "In June 2014 a poll was conducted as to the published age of a group book. The winning stopping point was 1999. All of our books must be published prior to the year 2000.

It was felt that we shoul..."

this group is very liberal too in its discussion of all things classic.
And 1999 is the right limit I think.

Does anyone know why I am suddenly not allowed to post a new topic (tried to post my plans for the women's quest challenge) until I have verified my email? And how do I do that?

Sorry, I don't know what is happening Zoe.

Zoe wrote: "Does anyone know why I am suddenly not allowed to post a new topic (tried to post my plans for the women's quest challenge) until I have verified my email? And how do I do that?"

Zoe you should report the problems you're experiencing with Goodreads Feedback. They'd be able to help you immediately. If you aren't a member, join. They are a wealth of knowledge.

Loretta wrote: "Zoe wrote: "Does anyone know why I am suddenly not allowed to post a new topic (tried to post my plans for the women's quest challenge) until I have verified my email? And how do I do that?"

Zoe y..."

Thanks I'll do that.

Zoe wrote: "Loretta wrote: "Zoe wrote: "Does anyone know why I am suddenly not allowed to post a new topic (tried to post my plans for the women's quest challenge) until I have verified my email? And how do I ..."

Great! Trust me, they can help! :)

Zoe...it is somewhere in your profile. Verify your email in the profile settings. Then you will also have to go to your e-mail account and confirm it. Something like that. It happened to me.

Thanks Tammy, I found it. It took a while for me to get it to actually send an email, but now it is fixed. :)

And thanks to everyone else who tried to help.

Suggestion:

In case of poll tie the book by the author who has the least books on the group shelf automatically wins. There are two advantages: This increases diversity and it decreases administration, as some extra polls can be avoided.

I'm really hoping we don't end up with another poll tie on the run offs! We'll have to think of something if it does, thanks for your suggestion :)

Squire wrote: "The Penguin Classics edition is well-annotated with an excellent intro: Moby-Dick; or, The Whale. It's the well-worn copy I have on my bookshelf (it's been read 4 times).

There's no ..."

Agree! I have only read it once, but would love to curl up with it again soon! One of my top 5 favorites!

In case of a tie, can we read both? There is enough interest, that I am sure there will be enough people interested in both books. The author with less books on the shelf doesn't necessarily work because some members have joined later than others and might not have been in the group when previous books by the authors were read.

reading all tied books may lead to some interesting tactical vote-changing near the end of a poll to engineer two, three or more(!) tied for first place!! ;o)

Makes more work for the moderators. Tie breaker is the way to go. It's always worked and at this point, why change if it's not broken?!

There seems to be two issues being discussed here, a tie on the original poll, and a tie on a tie breaker poll.

I think in terms of the first poll, a tie breaker is the way to go. There's often a dozen or more choices per poll, so it seems more fair to do a run-off rather than another method.

We already have so many group reads every month that reading an extra book every time there's a tie doesn't sound that appealing to me. I already have trouble keeping up some months. I know I don't have to read everything the group does, but most month I at least try to.

For a tie on the runoff polls - well, that's something we'll have to decide when/if it happens. Whether it be something that is mentioned here (least read author, read both, etc) or some other method. I hope it never happens, though!

I agree wholeheartedly Melanti. Tie breaker is the way to go when there's a tie in the initial poll.

Reading an extra book also doesn't appeal to me. We, as a group, read a lot of books each month, more than most groups here on Goodreads. I always try to read what books are picked each month, especially if they appeal to me.

As far as tie in the tie-breaker poll, I think it should be the moderator's discretion to pick the book. End of tie.

Can anyone point the way to a good annotated and unabridged version of A Tale of Two Cities? I plan to join in the March group read and would like to fully understand the historical and cultural background of the story as I read along.

Thank you!

I plan to borrow the audio book of The Mill on the Floss on Hoopla before next month's group read. I have a choice of three narrators, and I wondered if anyone has an opinion on them. They are Wanda McCaddon, Nadia May, and Laura Paton. Has anyone listened to these ladies on this or other audio books? I can't listen to 20 hours of a poor narration.

I've listened to Nadia May narrate other books and was very happy with her. Can you listen to a sample on Hoopla? I don't know how it works. If you have access to Audible (you don't need an active account) they have all of those narrations. You can listen to five minute previews of each, to see which suits you best.

Pink wrote: "I've listened to Nadia May narrate other books and was very happy with her. Can you listen to a sample on Hoopla? I don't know how it works. If you have access to Audible (you don't need an active ..."

I can't listen to a sample on Hoopla, but I have done so in the past on Audible. I will listen to these samples but sometimes the samples are not long enough for me to accurately determine if I will not like a narrator. For instance, how a narrator reads a character of the opposite sex can be irritating.

Yes I agree with you that you can't always tell how grating a narrator can become. I haven't listened to the other two you mention, but never have problems with Nadia May. Although I guess it is down to personal preference.

Who has read 120 Days of Sodom? (sorry on mobile app and can't link) Probably my only bucket list item is to read the 1001 book list but I seriously wonder if the personal cost is worth it on this book. Would love to hear from those that have read it.

Laurie wrote: "I plan to borrow the audio book of The Mill on the Floss on Hoopla before next month's group read. I have a choice of three narrators, and I wondered if anyone has an opinion on them. They are Wand..."

I just finished the book listening to Laura Paton. She did a great job, I enjoy the way she told the story with her accent. Mine was from Audible. I hope you enjoy when you get to it. :)

Sherri wrote: "Laurie wrote: "I plan to borrow the audio book of The Mill on the Floss on Hoopla before next month's group read. I have a choice of three narrators, and I wondered if anyone has an opinion on them..."

Sherri and Pink, thanks for the recommendations. I listened to the samples on Audible and I have decided to listen to the one narrated by Laura Paton. All three narrators seemed good, so I don't think I could go wrong with any of them.