Classics for Beginners discussion

I'm currently reading Persuasion. Trying to take it nice and slow but I can't wait to get to "the letter".

I am currently reading Little Dorrit and Casting the Runes and Other Ghost Stories. Little Dorrit is a large book of almost 1,000 pages that is taking me several months to finish. :( Casting the Runes are Victorian ghost stories that I am reading for a challenge.

So, I got totally enthralled with this fantasy series-The game of Thrones books. Five books in a couple of months. Now I am going back to The Woman in White. A great one for October!

Desiree wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "I'm currently reading Persuasion. Trying to take it nice and slow but I can't wait to get to "the letter"."

Oh, I read that one a few months ago. Did you like it?"

I'm still working on it but yes I do like it. Hopefully I'll finish it by next month.

Kristine wrote: "So, I got totally enthralled with this fantasy series-The game of Thrones books. Five books in a couple of months. Now I am going back to The Woman in White. A great one for October!"

Loved the A Game of Thrones series!

Diana wrote: "Nicolle wrote: "I've heard Wuthering Heights is an amazing book by lots of people and some people I know hate it...think I will have to make up my own mind."

I quit halfway through it...."


That happened to me also. Everybody kept telling me it was an amazing book, some said the best by the Bronte sisters so I finally gave it a rest and I tried, I read the first 110 something pages but it wasn't working for me, at all.

I just read A Modest Proposal which is a short pamphlet with a satirical twist. It only takes ten minutes to read and I advise you all to read it as it is ridiculously witty and sinical. I'm sure you could find a copy of it online.

Think this is a link:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1080

Ok, it doesn't take long to read it's about 12 pages long!

I'm currently reading The Exploits of Brigadier Gerardby Arthur Conan Doyleand I'm finding it very entertaining.

Not a classic, but a work of literary fiction that may appeal to the members of this group.

Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
4****

This is a fine work of literary fiction centering on a young girl coming of age in 1950’s rural South, and fighting the label of “trash” attached to her.

Ruth Anne’s grandmother insists that the “illegitimate” banner across the bottom of her birth certificate makes no difference; Bone (as Ruth Ann is nicknamed) is still part of the Boatwright clan, who are tight-knit despite their drinking, fighting and womanizing. But Bone’s mother, Anney, is mortified and determined to legitimize her daughter. When Anney marries Glen, the son of a well-to-do dairyman, it seems her life is set on the right path. However, Glen begins to take out his own frustrations and disappointments on Bone. Anney, unaware of the extent of the abuse, stands by her man, leaving Bone to find her own way.

There are moments of brilliant writing in this work. I was particularly grateful for occasional laugh-out-loud passages. Allison does a fine job of “showing” us the characters, rather than telling us what they are like. This is an emotionally wrenching read; some of the scenes are just horrific.

TessaBookConcierge wrote: "Not a classic, but a work of literary fiction that may appeal to the members of this group. Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison 4**** This is a fine work of literary fiction centerin..."

I agree. It's been a while since I read Bastard Out of Carolina, but I remember it being excellent.

If you want something that is full of Thurber(ian) humor, but is pre-thurber, then this is it.

The Exploits of Brigadier Gerardby Arthur Conan Doyle.

Very sly, humor. A fun read with a lot of action told in a victorian narrative style.

Just read Pinocchioand it was pretty good. I would've loved reading it as a child.

Finished Rebecca, I loved it...

Now I am reading Don Quixote, and it is supper funny

Rebecca is one of my favs! I want to see the film, have you seen it?

I didn't know there was a film...I don't know if I want to see it though I loved the book so much that I don't want to have that ruined

Nicolle wrote: "Rebecca is one of my favs! I want to see the film, have you seen it?"

Yep, I have the film, and I think you would enjoy it Nicole. Hitchcock directed, and starred Laurence Olivier so you have two of the best before you even consider Joan Fontaine's outstanding performance as the 2nd Mrs de Winter.

I've just finished Persuasion --I didn't like it much at first, but loved it when Wentworth gets jealous, now I'm reading The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and I love it. I'm so desperate to finish it!

Jimmy wrote: "Nicolle wrote: "Rebecca is one of my favs! I want to see the film, have you seen it?"

Yep, I have the film, and I think you would enjoy it Nicole. Hitchcock directed, and starred Laurence Olivie..."

I will deffinatly watch it.

Let me know Nicolle what it is like....

Ok

Ok, the day has come to face my biggest book-fear: classic romantic literature. Pride and Prejudice I've challenged myself (as part of a challenge on another group), to read books I never thought I would, so, here it is, Pride and Prejudice, my biggest challenge! I always thought it would be boring and slow (no offence, guys) but, on the other hand, it's a book I always wanted to say I've read. So... Here I go! Wish me luck!

Otl1987 wrote: "Ok, the day has come to face my biggest book-fear: classic romantic literature. Pride and Prejudice I've challenged myself (as part of a challenge on another group), to read books I nev..."

Do it! I tackled it this year and it's really good!

Otl1987 wrote: "Ok, the day has come to face my biggest book-fear: classic romantic literature. Pride and Prejudice I've challenged myself (as part of a challenge on another group), to read books I nev..."

Good luck! Though you certainly won't need it, it is a fine book.

Emily Bronte -Wuthering Heights

I'm currently reading:

Swann's way - Marcel Proust
The Red and the Black - Stendhal

Enjoying the first and not so much the second...

I just finished Pride and Prejudice. I loved it.

Oh, I'm reading Pride and Prejudice right now too! It's great and very funny.

Minie wrote: "I just finished Pride and Prejudice. I loved it."

Camelia wrote: "Oh, I'm reading Pride and Prejudice right now too! It's great and very funny."


That's my favorite Jane Austen.

Reading Hamlet.

I am currently working on Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and am sort of enjoying it but having a bit of trouble getting fully into it.

I am working on finishing Les Misérables. It has been a more difficult read for me.

I've got: Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Scarlet Letter waiting to be read.

Jonathan wrote: "I've got: Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Scarlet Letter waiting to be read."

Great selection Jonathan...

I'm really looking forward to reading Christmas Carol.

Me too, I am quite excited. I just hope it arrives from the library in time, as I expect that many people reserve it at this time of year.

I am trying to grin and bear my way through Don Quixote....not going so well....

Teri-lynn wrote: "I am trying to grin and bear my way through Don Quixote....not going so well...."

Yes, there is a part about mid-way that gets slow for awhile. Sorry....it gets better.

I'm reading Bleak House and enjoying it so far. If it goes pretty fast I'll try Our Mutual Friend. Another group is doing a comparison read of 2 Dickens books, but I'm still trying to finish up one more challenge I set this year.

Re: Rebecca film - the version with Olivier and Fontaine is the best version I believe, but there is a newer version as well with Charles Dance, Emilia Fox and Diana Rigg as Mrs. Danvers. I haven't seen it yet.

My challenge is what to read first: Dorian Gray or The Scarlett Letter... Dorian Gray it is!

Good choice, Jonathan.

Martha wrote: "I'm reading Bleak House and enjoying it so far. If it goes pretty fast I'll try Our Mutual Friend. Another group is doing a comparison read of 2 Dickens books, but I'm sti..."

By coincidence, I bought a copy of Bleak House just yesterday, and because I like to pair up books to compare & contrast and was thinking of Our Mutual Friend... Definitely on the cards now.

Started A Christmas Carol last night.....'tis the season!!!!!

I started Bleak House today

Vikki wrote: "I started Bleak House today"

Good luck, it's my favourite Dickens novel!

I can see already why it would be a favorite. It is quite good. Imagine some of those cliffhangers he has and having to wait a month for the next episode to come out!! I'm almost 1/5 into it and it's quite good. I find I have to read some parts more than once to figure out what he is saying. But it's worth it.

I've just finished The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner and really enjoyed it.

A Christmas Memory - Truman Capote
5*****

I've had this book for ages and I read it every December on my birthday. Happy Birthday to Me!

This autobiographical story is based on Capote’s own childhood, living with relatives in Alabama. It’s a memory of the innocence of childhood and the anticipation of something special. It is a wonderful, touching story of family love and respect, and also a story of loneliness and want.

One crisp November morning 7-year-old Buddy hears his cousin Sook (whom he calls Friend) declare, “It’s fruitcake weather!” With that pronouncement, the two set off on their annual campaign to bake dozens of fruitcakes for “friends.” Sook is an elderly woman with a child’s mind, and she and Buddy are constant companions (and each other’s only friend). It is during the Great Depression and times are hard. It takes them all year to save the pennies, nickels, dimes for their Fruitcake Fund, and the other relatives in their household look upon them with derision. Still, nothing can dampen their spirits as they bake and mail the fruitcakes, hunt deep into the woods for the perfect Christmas tree, make the ornaments and decorations that will make it look “good enough to eat!”

Capote was a gloriously talented writer and he is at his best here. The reader feels the anticipation of a child, smells the piney woods, shivers in the crisp morning, and is comforted in the warmth of love.

I leave you with one quote from the story. Sook and Buddy are enjoying the outdoors and she has a revelation …
“You know what I’ve always thought?” she asks in a tone of discovery, and not smiling at me but a point beyond. “I’ve always thought a body would have to be sick and dying before they saw the Lord. And I imagined that when He came it would be like looking at the Baptist window: pretty as colored glass with the sun pouring through, such a shine you don’t know it’s getting dark. And it’s been a comfort: to think of that shine taking away all the spooky feeling. But I’ll wager it never happens. I’ll wager at the very end a body realizes the Lord has already shown Himself. That things as they are” – her hand circles in a gesture that gathers clouds and kites and grass and Queenie pawing earth over her bone – “just what they’ve always seen, was seeing Him. As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes.”

Happy Birthday!! :)