Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Great information for all of us!

Are we circling the Earth with all the Classics in Translation novels we are reading?

Have you added more Countries than you ever thought you would?

How I feel, Lesle while reading through all these translations in novels that the countries, the distances, the boundaries, the differences are slowly but surely diminishing. There's just one person telling a story, the writer and just a reader/listening to his or her narrative. I keep forgetting to differentiate between the fiction and non-fiction. For me the feeling that goes into telling that account is almost real every time. This is one of the reasons why I am not a fan of the fantasy and science fiction as the genre.

Interesting point Rachana, its good to talk about things as I had not looked at it that way. It does seem to blend after a time.

I have always struggled with Sci-Fi reads not able to get past the point of not reality.

Wow Rafael, I think we are traveling around quite nicely!

Indeed, Lesle. We really are.

How are we doing Traveling the World with Rafael's World Challenge??

Have you expanded your travels through a Classic Read?
What Classic travel have you enjoyed the most?

Ah I did this last year :)

Has anyone been keeping track of their Diversity in the Countries that you are reading this year?

Have you expanded your Classics in Translation?

I started around August so not many, but I expect to have more this year.

The Classics from not the norm Countries are wonderfully written and not sure why they are not more popular here (USA) than they are.

I belong to another goodreads group where the goal is to read books from all over the world, but many are not classics. Our classics in translation thread is a good resource for me, but some books are harder to find than others.

I agree with you on this Rosemaire and if you do find something they are truly expensive if your trying to purchase a book. I know I have looked at Portuguese Authors and the used book could start out at $30 something. So I have found myself breaking down and purchasing in Translation books in paperback.

I just wish that they were more easily available in either Library or purchasing form.

I find that some books are much cheaper in the ebook version, but others are still too expensive. It's sometimes a matter of luck. I am glad that I live in a city with a huge library system, but even then I can't access certain books unless I want to go to the reference library and read them there. (Which is not happening!)

I know! Our State Library will send books to our Local Library but you are correct you have to read them there and that is uncomfortable for me for reading.

Rosemarie wrote: "I belong to another goodreads group where the goal is to read books from all over the world, but many are not classics. Our classics in translation thread is a good resource for me, but some books ..."

I'm part of a group for this on Good Reads too - i have read so many unique stories by being part of this group. I do not think it is just the US that only thinks of their own history / culture though. I've spent time in many countries and found wherever i've been, it seems the locals are more comfortable to read/listen to / watch things that relate to home. It seems to be human nature and that's OK too if that's what makes someone happy.

This. Is. An. Amazing. Booklist.

I look forward to diving into it more deeply.

Rafael is our Bookshelf Master!
He does an excellent job. It is very behind the scenes for him and probably most do not realize what work he does.

On the Group's home page where the book covers are listed each month is Rafael's handy work!

He organized our Groups Bookshelves and it is a great reference. I use it to figure what books I want on my wish list to purchase :)

Lesle wrote: "Rafael is our Bookshelf Master!
He does an excellent job. It is very behind the scenes for him and probably most do not realize what work he does.

On the Group's home page where the book covers a..."

Ownnnn! :)

Thank you Rafael!

You're welcome!

Phew! I went through the whole thing.

1. I count 93

2. 10-Not much but I've read the best, The Count of Monte Cristo and Les Miserables. The rest are Jules Verne. I hope to read all of the Extraordinary Voyages.

3. 31-Mostly Tolkien, Wells, and Shakespeare.

4. 41

5. Lo siento, just Don Quixote. I think Latin America should be separate from Spain and Portugal though.

6. 8-I really like Dostoyevsky.

7. 2-Pinocchio and The Divine Comedy Lol that's quite a range. I plan to read The Decameron this year.

8. 7-I think. Three are Kafka.

9. 3-But two are only single fairy tales. I'll read all of Hans Christian Anderson this year. I think all of the Icelandic Sagas should be on there. I've read a few of them and I'd like to read them all but it's hard to get a lot of them in English.

10. Only R.U.R.

11. 5 from the shelf. Some suggestions: Journey to the West(complete), Outlaws of the Marsh, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Vol. 1 of 2, Dream of the Red Chamber, The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei: Vol. One: The Gathering(only comes in five volumes in English), The Analects of Confucious, The Art of War, The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu

12. None

13. None. I want to read The Arabian Nights soon.

14. None. I'd suggest The Kebra Negast, with 15 original illustrations from Ethiopia and The Egyptian Book of the Dead.

15. None.

16. None.

Rafael from Book Nerds comments:

5. Lo siento, just Don Quixote. I think Latin America should be separate from Spain and Portugal though.

Maybe something we should look at?

Book Nerd
Still looks like a great accomplishment to me?

Do not forget this is really an On-Going Challenge too!

Update your comments as you progress around the world with our new Author reads this year!!

Best wishes to all for our diversity in reading!

Updated for 2023
In two years, I've added 124 classics. I suspect some of these must have been additions to the shelf, I can't imagine I've read that many in two years.

2021.........................................2023
1. 123 Total read........................247
2. 5 French.......................................9
3. 51 English..................................84
4. 93 US........................................107
5. 0 Latin America/Spain..............2
6. 6 Russian......................................9
7. 0 Italian.........................................1
8. 6 German....................................10
9. 1 Nordic/Scandanavian.............1
10. 0 Eastern Europe .....................2
11. 0 Asian classics..........................2
12. 5 Canadian..................................6
13. 0 Middle and Near East...........0
14. 1 African......................................4
14. 5 Oceana.....................................5
15. 0 Basque......................................0
16. 0 Greek........................................5

Liane wrote: "Whew! Huh, that math doesn't work..."

You are probably correct Liane.
What a great accomplishment and goal moving forward!

Traveling will make things even more fun to reach more reads of diversity.

1 - Total: 103
2 - French: 15
3 - English: 32
4 - American: 52
5 - Latin America: 3
6 - Russian: 20
7 - Italian: 4
8 - German: 14
9 - Scandinavian: 4
10 - Eastern Europe: 8
11 - Asian: 2
12 - Canadian: 1
13 - Middle and Near East: 0
14 - African: 3
14 - Oceania: 0
15 - Shelf G: 4

That is pretty diverse Armin! Keep going!

Thank you, but I noticed that on the Oceania shelf you don't any classics in the Bookshelf :)

I am not sure Armin but they might be broken down into their own Countries as I know Australia is part of that and it is listed under:

d01-australian-classics (17)

Thanks Lesle, I somehow missed it then.
But it still doesn't change my status for Oceania :D

Armin wrote: "Thanks Lesle, I somehow missed it then.
But it still doesn't change my status for Oceania :D"

No you are right about that. Hopefully Rafael will see and adjust when he can.

Actually all the Oceania countries are listed under "d"

I could not locate the Oceania shelf. Can you help me with that Armin?

I don't see the Oceania either, but there is the Australian shelf now:

d01-australian-classics (17)
d01-colleen-mccullough (1)
d01-elizabeth-von-arnim (1)
d01-elyne-mitchell (2)
d01-henry-lawson (3)
d01-joan-lindsay (1)
d01-miles-franklin (1)
d01-morris-west (1)
d01-p-l-travers (1)
d01-paul-brickhill (2)
d01-thomas-keneally (1)
d02-cook-islander-classics (1)
d02-tom-davis (1)
d03-dorothy-eden (1)
d03-hone-tuwhare (1)
d03-katherine-mansfield (1)
d03-new-zealander-classics (4)
d03-ngaio-marsh (1)
d04-micronesian-classics (0)
d05-fijian-classics (0)
d06-i-kiribati-classics (0)
d07-marshallese-classics (0)
d08-nauruan-classics (0)
d09-palauan-classics (0)
d10-papua-new-guinean-classics (0)
d11-samoan-classics (0)
d12-solomon-islander-classics (0)
d13-tongan-classics (0)
d14-tuvaluan-classics (0)
d15-ni-vanuatu-classics (0)
d16-niuean-classics (0)

Armin wrote: "I don't see the Oceania either, but there is ..."

These are the 14 Countries in the Oceania area
1 Australia
2 Papua New Guinea
3 New Zealand
4 Fiji
5 Solomon Islands
6 Micronesia
7 Vanuatu
8 Samoa
9 Kiribati
10 Tonga
11 Marshall Islands
12 Palau
13 Tuvalu
14 Nauru

Which if you look closely they are all listed in the "d" section. Australia just starts it all followed by Cook Islander, New Zealand thru Niuean Classics at d16. They are in the list above you copied over. Each Country states "classics" at the end.

Hope this helps.

Lesle wrote: "These are the 14 Countries in the Oceania area"

Yes, I figured Lesle.
Thanks :)

No problem. I missed it at first too!

Book Nerd wrote: "Phew! I went through the whole thing. 1. I count 93..."

Book Nerd have you read any more on your list? You only have a few left!!??

Armin wrote: "1 - Total: 69
2 - French: 13
3 - English: 17
4 - American: 38
5 - Latin America: 3
6 - Russian: 11
7 - Italian: 0
8 - German: 7
9 - Scandinavian: 3
10 - Eastern Europe: 3
11 - Asian: 1
12 - Canadia..."

Wow you are updating! Great job. I just now noticed. I peak in every so often to see if we are still keeping up with this on-going challenge.

Liane wrote: "Whew! I went through this whole list - though the alpha section was quite challenging to flip back and forth. I've a goal of more broad global reading this year, with the hope of some actual travel..."

Liane look for Rosemarie's thread for next year I think she might have plans that will help with your list!

Interesting. I have made some good progress this year, but welcome more suggestions.

From the read: Only 19 omg!
French: 1
British: 7
United States: 5
Latin America: 6
Russian: 4
Italian: 0
German: 2
Scandinavian: 0
Eastern Europe: 0
Asian: 1
Canadian: 2
Middle and Near East: Currently reading 1
African: 0
Oceania: 0

I originally went through the shelves to see how many I read on January 29, 2018. Going through again today, here are my number read after more than 4 1/2 years of reading with the wonderful people in the Never to Late to Read Classics Goodreads group.

Most of the books I read since 2018 are classics from the U.S. and Great Britain, but I'm glad to have added authors from around the world.

From the "Read" shelf: 318 (52 in 2018)

Shelf #1 (French literature): 7 (3 in 2018)

Shelf #2 (England/UK/Scotland/Ireland): 128 (42 in 2018)

Shelf #3 (US): 120 (53 in 2018)

Shelf #4 (Brazil/Columbia/Mexico/Portugal/Spain): 7 (1 in 2018)

Shelf #5 (Russia): 10 (2 in 2018)

Shelf #6 (Italy): 4 (0 in 2018)

Shelf #7 (austrian, belgian, dutch, german and swiss): 13 (5 in 2018)

Shelf #8 (Scandinavia): 8 (2 in 2018)

Shelf #9 (Hungary, Poland, etc.): 6 (0 in 2018)

Shelves a1, a2, a3 (Japan, India, Bengali) - 1 (0 in 2018)

Shelf b1 (Canada): 10 (5 in 2018)

Shelves c1-c6 (Africa) - 2 (1 in 2018)

Shelf d1 - d3 (Australia and New Zealand): - 9 (1 in 2018)

Shelf e1 and e2 (Greek and Roman classics): 5 (3 in 2018)

Shelf f: still none

Kathy what a great accomplishment and variety of countries 📘📕

I will have to check out your read shelf for some ideas! Thank you!

We love and enjoy having you with us Kathy!

Thank you , Lesle!

With Rosemarie's "Authors from Around the World" have you remembered to update your On-Going Challenge here? Do not forget John's Buddy Read as well!

Kathy wrote: "I originally went through the shelves to see how many I read on January 29, 2018. Going through again today, here are my number read after more than 4 1/2 years of reading with the wonderful people..."

That must feel awesome. I have never done this and you have inspired me to look back on my shelf and see how I have "un-purposely" traveled around the world.

I really need to work on my diversity. I think I am lacking in that area this year for sure and maybe last.

Rosemarie's thread is very helpful with this challenge and John's Buddy Reads!!

Rafael has 16 questions for us to help with finding out how much we use our groups bookshelf and the diverse Authors we can indulge in.

How many different Countries have you been to?
Do you need to claim a new comment spot to keep track?
Like me? Need to update my list!

Let us update our new exploration of the world Authors and their Classics from 2023 so we can start fresh for 2024!

How many different Countries have you been to just this year?
Have you claimed a new comment spot for 2024 to keep track?

Let us make this coming year the best traveling year ever!!

Check out Rafael's 2024 Bookshelf Bingo Challenge to see how many new Countries we can work in:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...