⋆.ೃ࿔࿐ྂfaith & fantasy⋆.ೃ࿔࿐ྂ discussion

Discuss classics here! Enjoy!

The last classic I tried to read was the Palliser series. I gave up on the 2nd book, Phineas Finn.
That was because I thought the characters in book one would be given major roles in book 2. I was wrong.
Also, I thought the author was being really sneaky and padded his flimsy story with political stuff. Really disappointed with that.

Anyone likes Middlemarch? I tried to read it, but it was so dry. It was not boring, but was close to be so. I DNFed it.

I read Can You Forgive Her? last year, but it was a tedious read. My FIL loves character development and thought I would love Trollope. I do not. He compared his writing to Jane Austen, but other than Sense and Sensibility, I fine Austen much more to-the-point. I don't mind long books, but I want it to keep my attention. I did finally learn to appreciate Can You Forgive Her, but I did not love the journey. I have Phineas Finn on my tbr, but probably will not ever get to it. ;D

Sharon wrote: "I read Can You Forgive Her? last year, but it was a tedious read. My FIL loves character development and thought I would love Trollope. I do not. He compared his writing to Jane Auste..."

CyFH was a sexist but interesting book for me. I gave it 4 stars. Phineas Finn reprised the themes of subjectivity in human weakness but I had to give up on it because see above.

Jane Austen is a superhuman literary genius compared to most of the Regency/Victorian authors. Her books are fascinating! I LOVE reading Austen's books, except for Mansfield Park, which was depressingly loutish.

Luffy wrote: "Jane Austen is a superhuman literary genius compared to most of the Regency/Victorian authors. Her books are fascinating! I LOVE reading Austen's books, except for Mansfield Park, whic..."

Yes, Austen was amazing! I don't love each of her books--I did not love S&S, and I dnf'd Northanger Abby. My favorite is P&P, Emma is next, but I think Mansfield Park and Persuasion are tied in 3rd place. I did not love how MP ended--seemed like Austen got tired of the story and just threw together the ending to be done.

Sharon wrote: "Luffy wrote: "Jane Austen is a superhuman literary genius compared to most of the Regency/Victorian authors. Her books are fascinating! I LOVE reading Austen's books, except for [book:Mansfield Par..."

I did not rate P&P when I first read it. Then we had to read it for an English class. It was only after reading it carefully that I became afraid of Jane Austen (the same way Harry Potter became afraid of Dumbledore when the latter had knocked the fake Moody unconscious - in book 4). ;)

Luffy wrote: "Sharon wrote: "Luffy wrote: "Jane Austen is a superhuman literary genius compared to most of the Regency/Victorian authors. Her books are fascinating! I LOVE reading Austen's books, except for [boo..."

😂😂😂

@Luffy, first off, that was the best analogy I've heard in a good long while. secondly, I LOVE Jane Austen! Emma is probably my favorite, followed by Pride and Prejudice. However, I thing Northanger Abby has the swooniest hero, plus the satire is perfection, and I laugh out loud every time I read it. I like Persuasion, but I think it is a little slow, and best best part doesn't come until the very, very end, so that was a bit disappointing. I didn't love the plot of Sense and Sensibility, and I feel there is a lot of stuff that didn't really work for me, but there are a couple things that I really liked. Mansfield Park is an interesting read, but I have a feeling it will be my least read Austen Novel throughout my life.

Mary-Therese wrote: "@Luffy, first off, that was the best analogy I've heard in a good long while. secondly, I LOVE Jane Austen! Emma is probably my favorite, followed by Pride and Prejudice. However, I thing Northange..."

Thanks, Mary-Therese! Austen herself said that Fanny Price is the heroine that most resembled her. That, I find bewildering. I have heard a lot about the 'Juvenilia' stories of Austen but I haven't yet got my mitts on one such item. The last time I read a Jane Austen book was Lady Susan. I suppose it is a side note? Not part of her official catalogue? Fewer people mention it. I gave Lady Susan 4 stars.

What do you all think is the best edition of Les Miserables to buy? :)

Stephen wrote: "What do you all think is the best edition of Les Miserables to buy? :)"

An abridged edition.🤦‍♀️

😅

Oh no, Sharon. I have way too much pride to read an abridged edition 😌

Stephen wrote: "Oh no, Sharon. I have way too much pride to read an abridged edition 😌"

So did I. Until Les Mis.

Sharon wrote: "Stephen wrote: "Oh no, Sharon. I have way too much pride to read an abridged edition 😌"

So did I. Until Les Mis."

Actually, maybe I still have too much pride as I have not yet decided to switch to the abridged....😅

Same! I love Peguin Classics because they have notes 🥰 Sometimes they lead to spoilers 😓 But they also help with explaining and translating if there are different languages in the text. I have Les Mis, but I haven't read it yet.

I also read Wordsworth editions and they have the same features, maybe even more clearly than Penguin and also lighter imo 😅 The only thing I don't like about Wordsworth is their covers don't keep well. They chip.

Not like paint chipping. More like, "Why is my book cover fading to white?" Kind of chipping. Aaand the picture choice for the covers could be better 😅

I'm referring entirely to papberbacks though.

Hey! sorry I thought I had responded to this! lol

anyway, Stephen, I read the Signent(?) classics version, and it was pretty good, but I've read excerpts from the Julie Rose translation, and I think that one my be just a tad more readable.

@Elijah I just checked out Signet Classics 😲 Those covers are so creative 🥰 I've never seen Signet Classics before. They don't sell them where I live (Zambia). We only have Penguin and Wordsworth.

I'm really sorry about the lack of translation. It would be nice to have a wider selection of international works. If bigger publishers would do them, people would get a look into so many other worlds of classical literature.

You make me think of how many other Classics, the world is yet to enjoy.

I don't really read a lot of Zambian non fiction 😅 Sorry I can't recommend anything.

As for our fiction work... there's only one that they teach in school literature and that is Uneasy Yoke by Kachinga Sichizya. That is the only classic that I have ever known.

I think this is because our culture is built on word of mouth. Most stories and proverbs have been passed down from parents to children.

Although there are many people who have written about the struggle to attain freedom and our first president Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, who only died two years ago. Oh, yes! And David Livingstone! I'm sure books on what David Livingstone did in Zambia must be more accessible.

I'm sorry I can't be of much help. There's not much that I've heard of 😣 Zambia is made up of many tribes and Classic literature is not often discussed.

You're welcome 😊 I'll do my best to answer anything you might be curious about. Feel free to ask 👍🏽

I read his Romeo and Juliet and thought it was alright… very weird and super fast paced

I also have read a midsummer night’s dream and thought it was pretty good!!

I’m gonna read a few others like the tempest, hamlet, the pelican or smth like that, and the merchant of Venice because I have all of those sitting on my shelf lol

It’s been years since I read Shakespeare. My first read by him was Macbeth that I read for school. I absolutely loved it and decided English class wasn’t so bad after all. However, I tried another of his not long after that (cannot remember which one), and couldn’t get into it.

I enjoyed As You Like It but most of the others I read were just bleh to me.

I just realized this discussion even existed. LOL

My favorite classics are "A Tale of Two Cities", and "Ivanhoe". (Ivanhoe feels like a fantasy read so if you want a classic "fantasy" try it. :) )

Some lesser known classics that I love are "Erling the Bold" and "The Madman and the Pirate" both by R. M. Ballantine (Both have Christian messages.)

And for a YA "feel" Classic that I enjoyed for the most part, try "The Black Arrow" by Robert Louis Stevenson. It was a fast moving read with young characters, clean romantic elements (they are betrothed but don't know it for a while and even when the know it, they don't do more than embrace and maybe kiss once? Then they get married. For 98% of the book, the main character is untroubled by any of his actions and the transformation is a sentence long, so character development is sort of lacking, but it was still a fun read.

Ooo, Ivanhoe. I've heard of it but I've never looked into it.

Does anyone here listen to the Literary Life podcast?

No sorry

Audrey wrote: "Does anyone here listen to the Literary Life podcast?"

I've seen it I think but I don't listen to podcasts much, so no. Is it good?

Yes, it's sooo good. I don't even know how precisely to explain it. They talk about classics and how to read them because we, as moderns, have lost our ability to read the wonderful classics correctly. Those stories are having a great conversation amongst themselves. And they talk about different pieces of literature and other topics like the importance of detective fiction or why translation matters, just to name a couple. It's not smth I'd give a kid to listen to for their free time because they need to just hear the stories, perhaps write narrations about 'em, but they don't need to be told that Aslan is an image of Jesus. They need to figure it out themselves, no matter how long it takes.

I'll have to check it out!