Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
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Melanti's Classics Challenge 2015
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Loved Crime and Punishment. Had to use sparknotes to keep all the characters straight in One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Here's my reasons for all of these books: Books by authors I like:
The French Lieutenant's Woman - I really liked The Magus and The Collector
Eva Luna - TBR book, I loved House of the Spirits and The Island Beneath the Sea
The Temple Of My Familiar - TBR book, I really enjoyed The Color Purple and Posessing the Secret of Joy
The Ground Beneath Her Feet - TBR book, I loved Midnight's Children and Haron and the Sea of Stories and really liked Satanic Verses.
Books I've been meaning to read for awhile:
One Hundred Years of Solitude - TBR book, I generally love magical realism, so it'd be nice to read what started it all.
The Count of Monte Cristo - A real-life friend just finished this and loved it
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - The only Bronte sister I haven't yet read.
Journey to the End of the Night - Vonnegut lists this book as an influence. Vonnegut's "so it goes" is supposedly the verbal equivalent of Céline's ellipses.
Native Son - TBR book, very timely, and would be a great lead-in to The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge which is also on my TBR.
Crime and Punishment - TBR book, I started this during the recent group read and what little I read, I liked. But it just required too much concentration to read in bits and pieces. Plus, I need to read this to understand Nabokov's Despair.
Anna Karenina - I need to read more Russian Lit to understand Nabokov's Despair.
Dead Souls - I need to read more Russian Lit to understand Nabokov's Despair.
Alternates:
Kim - I just picked up an audiobook of this done by a narrator I've really enjoyed in the past.
Orlando - This just sounds like a lot of fun.
Books from the previous list:
(view spoiler)
Ha, I know what you mean about not reading your list of challenge books, I'm just the same. If there's something I'm supposed to be reading, you can be sure I'll be reading something else instead. I like the look of all your choices, but I haven't read any of them!
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Swapping out a book in case anyone cares... Vonnegut talked about a couple of authors/books in his essays and I had forgotten which one was which. One was Louis-Ferdinand Céline, which he named as an influence on his style (elipsees = "so it goes"). Then there was Invisible Man, which he discussed in terms of a story that would have been cut short if only the main character had found love.
He speaks very favorably in regards to both books and I want to read both, but I think for this challenge I'll go with Céline, not Ellison.
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Count of Monte Cristo,One Hundred Years of Solitude are some of my all time favourites. The French Lieutenant's Woman was so so me. Have not read the others.
Thanks for all the comments everyone! I kind of feel like I need at least one more Russian novel since I'm so deficient in that area (besides Nabokov and Russian sci-fi), but I can't decide what to strike off my list to make room.
Maybe I'll swap The Mysteries of Udolpho for something by Tolstoy? Anna Karenina, perhaps? That would also make it balanced between translated works and English works, too. Though, that's my only book on my list by a female which is kind of pathetic... And now that I'm looking, I see that I only have one book by a minority, which is not cool at all.
Bah. The more I try to make this a balanced list, the further it seems to get from one!
Jalilah wrote: "The French Lieutenant's Woman was so so me. Have not read the others."
I have high hopes for that one. Chris doesn't seem to care for it much and my tastes are generally pretty similar to hers, so I'm glad to know you liked it!
I read Crime and Punishment earlier this year as a grp read w/ this gro.The Count of Monte Cristo and One Hundred Years of Solitude are both included for my bingo challenge.
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Consider swapping Moby-Dick for Anna Karenina. Both have been rated by over 300,000 goodread readers. Moby-Dick is rated at 3.4 stars and Anna Karenina is rated at 3.99. Just a prejudiced thought.
Lol, Bob... You must have hated that book.But your point is taken. Though I swapped out more than just that one book in the interests of diversity.
I'm still not all that happy with the list but it's a slightly better starting place.
Mod
But your point is taken. Though I swapped out more than just that one book in the interests of diversity.
I'm still not all that happy with the list..."
I thought was being discreet. I do like the changes you’ve made and hope you can find the time to still read some of them next year. There is a more diverse balance to this list, something I should consider in the future.
Don't worry Melanti, I have made more changes than I can remember and at the moment my list is elsewhere with too many books. And I am thinking of changing it again. I have a hard time choosing just 14 and making it "work" somehow. I do recommend Anna Karenina, though I don't usually trust the rating completely. (Much over 4 stars and I get suspicious, besides Finns tend to rate books about 0,5 stars lower than other nationalities.)
Bob wrote: "I thought was being discreet. I do like the changes you’ve made and hope you can find the time to still read some of them next year. There is a more diverse balance to this list, something I should consider in the future. ..."You were subtle the first time - at least then it was a question of which of the 3 you mentioned that you disliked. Your list is half female so you at least took that into consideration which is better than my first attempt.
Tytti wrote: "Don't worry Melanti, I have made more changes than I can remember and at the moment my list is elsewhere with too many books. And I am thinking of changing it again. I have a hard time choosing jus..."
I'm just kind of embarrassed that the list was so dominated by white males in the first place! And that I only realized that when I took off the only book by a female. Oh well. At least I noticed before it was too late to update the list.
I still have some tweaking to do, 'cause I don't think it quite "works" yet, but there's still a week or two left.
Well I don't really mind "white" because most of the European classics (and even modern literature) have been written by (mostly) white people for obvious reasons, and there are enough cultures to make it versatile. Also it's a bit difficult to find older (pre-WWII) books from Africa and even Asia. I also seem to read "enough" books from female authors so I'm not that worried. There used to be fewer of them, too. There are a couple of female authors from whom I should read something but the subject matter, though important then and maybe even now, is not exactly enjoyable. I like realism but sometimes it's just too much.
I think my cut-off point for the term "classic" is a bit later than yours, so the scarcity pre-WWII isn't as much of a problem with me though I agree it exists.I'll read books from a variety of authors regardless of what I put on my list but I still want the list itself to have a little diversity.
A couple of years ago I did a fantasy/sci fi reading challenge where one of the categories was a book by a person of color. I thought it would be an easy category to fill until I looked through my TBR and realized that out of hundreds of books I owned, I didn't have a single one that would fit! It was definitely an eye-opener, and ever since then I've tried to at least be aware of the issue even though it's not as pronounced outside the fantasy/sci fi genres.
My cut-off for classics is probably around 1970s, though it depends a little on... things. I guess I tend to group for example African-Americans with other Americans, so it's not really an issue for me, because it's still the same culture, unless the book itself is about race, of course. When it comes to other countries I try to find authors native to those countries, which is actually quite difficult.
Wow, this is an impressive list! Not exactly light reading, any of it. I'm quite awed :) I read Anna K in my teens and remember liking it for the side-story romance, but feeling very annoyed at Anna K's selfishness. But since that's how Tolstoy meant her to be, all the better writing on his part! I do think though, that I would appreciate it more now.
Aleta wrote: "Wow, this is an impressive list! Not exactly light reading, any of it. I'm quite awed :) ..."Thanks! I'm not sure it's entirely feasible for me to finish this version of the list AND keep up with all the group reads, but it is called a "challenge" after all. Luckily, there's no penalty or forfeit for not finishing - other than loosing bragging rights.
Okay, I'm reasonably certain I've got the final version of my list... I'm a bit unsure about Anne Bronte, but at least Bob and I can gang up and try to get it selected as a "Revisit the Shelf" pick sometime this year. Everything else, I'm very enthusiastic about, which is a great sign. I can't wait to get started.
The Count of Monte Cristo is on my list too, and I'm super psyched that it was chosen as the groups 1st quarter long read. I'll be happy to read it with others.great list!
Alissa wrote: "The Count of Monte Cristo is on my list too, and I'm super psyched that it was chosen as the groups 1st quarter long read. I'll be happy to read it with others. "My real-life friend spent the first half of November telling me how great of a book it is - all the while refusing to spoil it for me. And her tastes normally run towards lightweight fiction rather than classics so I figure if SHE couldn't put it down, it's probably going to be fantastic.
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It is one of my all time favorite reads.
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I'll gang up with you and Bob for The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as a group read. I loved Agnes Grey so much, Anne might just be my favourite Bronte sister. Good to hear everyone so keen about The Count of Monte Christo, I've been debating whether I have time for it, but might join in February.
I looked for a no-spoiler post for The Count... but there doesn't seem to be one. Since there's so many people here who've read and liked it, if you read it in English, do you guys know what translation you read? I'm doing research now as to which is the "best" one and most people seem to be recommending the Buss translation since the "standard" 1840s translation cut out some stuff that didn't conform to the Victorian era sensibilites (references to Lesbianism, etc.)
Did you guys read a modern translation or an older translation?
Is there enough of a difference to justify paying the $7 for a modern translation as opposed ot the older free version?
I've been looking up which version of The Count to go with, just reading the kindle sample it seems that Buss is more readable than the other versions, plus I like the fact that he restored it to pre-Victorian morals!
I normally don't mind about archaic language - to a certain extent, but if there's a lot of content taken out and/or altered, that does make a difference!
I usually end up with an old translation that is out of copyright since Project Gutenberg and I are friends :).If I did not use eBooks/Project Gutenberg, I would go with what ever the library has available.
I finished the longest book on my list and (hopefully) the darkest book on my list. It should all be downhill from here. I'm sure I've just jinxed myself, though!I loved The Count of Monte Cristo. I did go with the Buss translation for the simple reason that by the time I was done with the sample, I was too caught up in the story to go check out the other translators. The footnotes explaining the more obscure historical figures and references were a nice bonus. And I found the x-ray feature pretty handy in keeping people straight.
And Bob- I did start other books first but then got distracted by the Count and purposefully held off on finishing the other books just so I could say it was the first book I read in 2015.
The other book was Native Son and I'm still trying to figure out if I like it or hate it. It was such a hard, cringe-worthy book to read, and more parable (Treatise? Essay?) than novel. But there's still a lot of truth to what Wright says despite the progress made during the Civil Rights movement and the 80+ years that have occurred in the meantime.
This might end up being a book that I rate really lowly then spend the whole review talking about what a thought-provoking book it is...
Oh great thoughts about The Count and also about Native Son, they're both books that I want to get to.....eventually!
I would like to read Native Son this year. I've been meaning to forever and haven't gotten around to it. We'll see if can work it in.
Mod
I've (finally) gotten two more books read. First was The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles. He's a great author to go for when you want a bit of ambiguity in your ending. In this one, though, instead of mere ambiguity, he just gives three entirely separate endings. One typical of 1867, one typical of 1967, and another typical of Fowles - meaning that the male main character is an utter ass.
I really like Fowles, though if I'd had it to do over again, I wouldn't have tried to read it at the same time as The Age of Innocence since the ending that's typical of 1867 has some similarities to Wharton's book.
4 Stars for Fowles this time.
I also finished up Louis-Ferdinand Céline's Journey to the End of the Night, which is sort of like Slaughterhouse Five or possibly Catch 22 mixed with Heart of Darkness mixed with Catcher in the Rye mixed with On the Road... With a million curse words and insults woven in everywhere. (Some of his characters are named the French equivalent to "Sergeant Masturbator" or "Father Penis.")
I wasn't a huge fan of this, but I'm impressed by how much of Céline I can recognize in later 20th century authors. He was obviously incredibly influential.
Just 3 stars for Céline, though I admit he deserves more.
Céline has managed to get me back in the mood to finish up The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I just read too much lit with a Victorian era setting in too little time and was a bit overwhelmed, but Céline certainly cleansed my palate! So hopefully I'll have book #5 finished within the next week or two.
Full reviews are linked to in my first post, by the way.
I remember borrowing and reading a bit of The French Lieutenant's Woman as a teenager, I think. I remember having heard of the title (was it considered controversial?) and also that I was puzzled by it for some reason. Maybe because I expected for it to be a controversial book from the Victorian era but it was only ABOUT Victorian times and written in a more modern style, or something... Again one of those books that I wish I had finished, too. There are so many of them. It's a shame there were no GR and I didn't even keep a book journal. I think that would have been easier to start if there had been proper books for it and not just "empty" journal books.
Yeah, it's pretty postmodern. It's set in 1867, but it's narrated by someone from 1967. So it's sort of a commentary on Victorian sensibilities from a late '60's point of view. I'm not sure if it was controversial at the time. I really didn't see much that would be controversial about it today - other than there were three endings and two are equally likely, so maybe people were debating which was the "right" one? I know they made a movie of it at some point, so it had to have been fairly well known.
Maybe it's just that I first thought I was reading a book written in the 19th century. And maybe a part of it was that it's clearly an "adult" subject (and a bit like Lady Chatterley's Lover in some way) and I think I was quite young, also romance novels were never really my thing. So the controversiality might have been just in my own head, like "can I be seen reading this kind of book". Also there were really no Internet or anything where I could have read what it really is about. So in the end it might be better if I read it as an adult. That modern time narration probably was the reason I didn't really get it if I didn't know to expect it.
The French Lieutenant's woman sounds interesting. I don't really know anything about it other than the name. I'm still getting around to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but I'm looking forward to it.
Tytti wrote: "That modern time narration probably was the reason I didn't really get it if I didn't know to expect it. ..."That sounds likely.
Pink wrote: "I'm still getting around to The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but I'm looking forward to it."
I'm liking it. I was thinking it was really, really slow but my edition has less than 400 pages compared to the 500ish pages that many editions have, so there's a lot more reading per page. And I just noticed today that I hit the halfway mark in terms of pages at a bit over 40% through the file, so I must be reading a lot faster than the page numbers and % marker make it seem.
The length of ebooks can be really deceptive sometimes!
Glad you're enjoying it, I'm expecting it to be slow paced, but I'm okay with that...just need to find the right time and mood to read it.
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
Books mentioned in this topic
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (other topics)The Age of Innocence (other topics)
Journey to the End of the Night (other topics)
The French Lieutenant’s Woman (other topics)
The Count of Monte Cristo (other topics)
More...
No themes for me.
This is split evenly between books by authors I already know I like and books that I've been meaning to read for a long time.Old: (2/5 Complete)
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol (1842, 464, n/a)
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 5 Stars!
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë 4 Stars
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866, 591, n/a)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, (1877, 964, n/a)
New: (3/7 Complete)
Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline 3 Stars
Native Son by Richard Wright 2 Stars
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967, 383, n/a)
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles 4 Stars
Eva Luna by Isabel Allende (1987, 320, n/a)
The Temple Of My Familiar by Alice Walker (1989, 416, n/a)
The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie (1999, 576, 28)
Alternates:
Orlando by Virginia Woolf (1928, 273, n/a)
Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901, 402, 12 hrs)
Previous list:
(view spoiler)[
Old School:
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe (1794, 624, ?)
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1844, 1276, n/a)
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville (1851, 556, 21.5 hrs)
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1866, 591, n/a)
The Haunted Hotel by Wilkie Collins (1878, 133, n/a)
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (1895, 461, ?)
New School:
The Trial by Franz Kafka (1925, 160, 8.5 hrs)
Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1932, 468, n/a)
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (1967, 383, n/a)
Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle by Vladimir Nabokov (1969, 267, n/a)
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles (1969, 394, n/a)
Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard (1984, 279, n/a)
Alternates:
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain (1889, 355, 12 hrs)
Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901, 402, 12 hrs)
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