Reading the Classics discussion

Cindy wrote: "Melissah wrote: "I'm almost finished with The Ladies' Paradise by Emile Zola. I'm also reading Orlando by Virginia Woolf and The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. And for fun I'm reading The Princ..."
I had never heard of The Blind Assassin and am ignorant of Margaret Atwood, but I checked a summary and it sounds extraordinary. Here are the genre and keywords:
Genre Novel (659 pp.)
Keywords Abortion, Aging, Children, Colonialism, Communication, Family Relationships, Freedom, Grief, Homicide, Human Worth, Illness and the Family, Individuality, Loneliness, Love, Marital Discord, Memory, Narrative as Method, Parenthood, Power Relations, Sexuality, Society, Suicide, Survival, Time, Women's Health
Amazing!

Tom wrote: "Cindy wrote: "Melissah wrote: "I'm almost finished with The Ladies' Paradise by Emile Zola. I'm also reading Orlando by Virginia Woolf and The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. And for fun I'm rea..."

Atwood's novels are excellent. Many deal with dystopian societies. The Handmaid's Tale is a great look at this theme. I hope you pick one up and enjoy it!!

Today I started The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens. I can't help but feel there is something missing. Maybe because I know the book was never truly finished, maybe because I've been reading a lot of fantasy and am bored by the shift in pace...I don't know, but it just isn't grabbing my attention.

Hello, I just finished W. Somerset Maugham "Collected short stories" - the book I highly recommend. Every short story is a little jewell, sparkling, beautifully written and witty. So many neat and clever sentences to quote afterwards... And by the way - the book will be soon available in booke.co

I just started Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. After about 100 pages in I find that I want to like this book much more than I actually do like it. Having said that... I also felt that way one third into A Picture of Dorian Grey, Howards End, Tender is the Night and The Sun Also Rises. I think maybe it is the comedy that is holding me back with Catch 22. I feel like my pace is all goofed up. Although the book reads pretty quick, I find myself going over passages again to relate to the intended humor. I find myself, like Yossarian trying to find a way out of a mission, looking for a reason to put the book down.

Grazyna, I acquired a hardback set with slipcover of Maugham's stories a couple months ago. Can't wait to start working through them.

I'm currently reading The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (which is excellent! Never thought I'd be enjoying a nonfiction this much), Code Name Verity, and my chick lit Wedding Night (the new Sophie Kinsella). I just finished A Certain Slant of Light, which was an interesting read.

Alana wrote: "Finally finished Emma... it has never taken me that long to get through an Austen before. Definitely not my favorite, though it wasn't terrible. Three stars. (3 1/2)

http://www.goodreads.com/revie..."

See, it took me forever to get through Pride and Prejudice, but Emma I was able to breeze through. I should re-read it because it's been several years.

I am currently about 200 pages into Les Misérables. While the length is a bit daunting, it is a surprisingly simple read. I recently read The Scarlet Letter, which I found rather challenging, although beautiful. Les Mis is proving an interesting read, and I am willing myself to finish it, because that's an accomplishment in its own right, and I really want to see how different it is from the recent 2012 film (which I absolutely loved)

Roisín wrote: "Hey,

Just joined :)

I just finished Emma (after originally starting it when I was 16 I never got past p.45, eventually started over this year) and loved it so much! Favourite Jane Austen so far!..."

I recently finished Emma too & this was my first Jane Austen. I had a hard start (first two chapters), but once I got going I LOVED it - 5-stars! I am excited to read Pride & Prejudice next.

I am currently reading Rebecca and can't put it down!! I never saw a movie so I am going in fresh, but am dying to see the 1939 Alfred Hitchcock version when I finish!

Christopher wrote: "I'm reading Eyeless in Gaza by Aldous Huxley and Moby Dick by Melville. I forgot how much I love Moby Dick."

I just recently finished Moby Dick, and I agree with you, I loved it too!

Just finished Dorian Gray .Strange but fascinating book...

Martha wrote: "Roisín wrote: "Hey,

Just joined :)

I just finished Emma (after originally starting it when I was 16 I never got past p.45, eventually started over this year) and loved it so much! Favourite Jane..."

I just recently read Rebecca and really enjoyed it as well. I also watched the Hitchcock film afterward and thought that it was well done, although the themes are definitely toned down and some of the plot elements are changed slightly so that they aren't so "shocking." I'm currently reading Emma and am having a difficult time getting through it, but I'm hoping it will become better as I go along! :-)

I'm currently reading a life of Vita Sackville-West and it's absolutely fascinating - much better than any of her own writings. I can highly recommend by Victoria Glendinning - it's just unputdownable.

Just starting Ovid's Metamorphoses for a discussion group. It's fascinating how closely his description of creation matches up with what modern science tells us.

This month I'm reading Things Fall Apart. I avoided reading it for years because I didn't think I'd be interested in the subject matter, but the story is so emotional and painful. It is truly a great novel. I'm also reading A Void, Stoner, Murder in the Dark: Short Fictions and Prose Poems, and Dusk and Other Stories. I will probably abandon half of these and begin half a dozen others lol. Oh the woes of having too many books to read :)

Me & my daughter are taking the characters from the movie League of Extraordinary Gentlemen & reading their stories.

from Wikipedia: A film adaptation was released in 2003, also by the name The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The film stars Sean Connery, who plays Allan Quatermain, and features Captain Nemo, Mina Harker, Rodney Skinner aka An Invisible Man (the rights could not be secured to The Invisible Man), Dr. Jekyll/Edward Hyde, Dorian Gray, and U.S. Secret Service agent Tom Sawyer (Gray and Sawyer were not in the comics, although a painting of a young man holding a cane with "Dorian Gray" printed under it appears on the cover of Volume I). Several characters, including Sawyer and a British constable in the opening chapter, explicitly connect the Fantom with the Phantom from The Phantom of the Opera. After the Fantom's real identity is revealed, the Phantom is explained as being his model.

Allan Quatermain: the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines (to read);
Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (to read);
Mina Harker: Dracula (read);
Rodney Skinner aka the invisible man: The Invisible Man (read);
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (read);
Dorian Gray: The Picture of Dorian Gray (read);
Tom Sawyer: Tom Sawyer (to read);
Professor Moriarty: Sherlock Holmes (to read); and
Fantom: Phantom of the Opera (currently reading).

Hi, I am new to the group.

I am currently reading by Jasper Fforde and by Katherine Mansfield. I don't know how I feel about 'The Eyre Affair' yet but Mansfield's writing is beautiful.

I finished "This Side of Paradise" by Fitzgerald and "The Red Badge of Courage" by Crane, and now I'm almost finished with "Les Miserables." (Less than 200 pages to go!) I've been reading over a hundred pages a day; seeing as the pages are fairly large, not too bad, dontcha think? 8'm loving it. Seriously.

Recently finished Lolita by Nabokov, The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway, Things Fall Apart by Achebe, and am currently reading Catch-22 by Heller. All great books!

Kelly wrote: "Hi, I am new to the group.

I am currently reading by Jasper Fforde and by Katherine Mansfield. I don't know ..."

I was thinking of reading The Eyre Affair. Look forward to reading what you think of it.

I am currently reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. You just can't go wrong with Jane Austen.

I just finished reading The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult. For those of you who read contemporary fiction, I would recommend it to those who have teenagers. Here's what I thought of it for those who are interested. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Jennifer, I'm glad I'm not the only one who goes back through previously read books and revives the threads. It's fun remembering these previous reads! And you're right... can't go wrong with Austen :)

Alana, I was happy to see that you had recently posted on the Mansfield Park thread and that you too revive old threads. It's good to know what people thought when they were reading the book even if they read it months before me.

Carlos wrote: "Things Fall Apart by Achebe, "

I have this on hold at the library and it should be in soon. I read of a challenge (not sure where I found it) to readHeart of Darkness, watch Apocolypse Now, then read Things Fall Apart. I finished the first 2 parts of the challenge, and am now ready for the final part.

I usually have several books going at once, but this time I might have overextended myself. I'm thinking of putting one or more on hold.

I'm reading:
The Age of Innocence for this group.
One Hundred Years of Solitude
In the Shadow of the Banyan

and listening to Great Expectations

I'm having a break from reading Les Mis (Im half way through). I have just finished reading the whole Nikki Heat series by Richard Castle. If you've seen the TV show Castle, they're a real treat, and they're good even if you haven't seen it. Relatively simple reads, but enjoyable.

I have just started Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. We're studying it in English Lit in September, so I thought I'd get it read. I've read his book 'A Handful of Dust' which I really enjoyed, and this is also proving a very interesting read!

I just finished Anna Karenina and Wuthering Heights myself. I've started to read Ovid's Metamorphoses and Isaac Asimov's The Complete Robot. I'm not sure what the classics community thinks about scifi, but I'm enjoying Asimov's world. I spent most of my high school years reading old Star Trek novels from the 80s, so this is right up my alley! :)

Can't speak for the classics community, but I love science fiction. Asimov's robot stories are classic science fiction, at any rate!

Just started reading The Monk,a Gothic classic.

Henry wrote: "Just started reading The Monk,a Gothic classic."

Please let us know how you like it. I have that one on my TBR list but have been dragging my feet starting it.

I will,Kathy..It's one of the big four Gothic classics of 18th Century British Literature. Joining Vathek and The Castle of Otranto,which I've read.The Monk,that I'm reading now.Soon the last one, The Mysteries of Udolpho. I've all four at home.

Henry wrote: "I will,Kathy..It's one of the big four Gothic classics of 18th Century British Literature. Joining Vathek and The Castle of Otranto,which I've read.The Monk,that I'm reading now.Soon the last one, ..."

I will have to add the other three to my list. I love finding new (to me!) books which open up a totally different genre of reading than I am used to. I may have found some new favorite books. Thanks for the suggestions!

A warning Kathy,Vathek is a very strange book.Some people didn't like it.I did.You can read my reviews of the first two books mentioned if you want.

I've recently read The Devil's Arithmetic by Yolen, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston, and am currently reading Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis.

I just started reading Wuthering heights by Emily Bronte.

Just started The Book Thief (I know, "finally!" right?) I'm a bit confused so far, but I'm intrigued. We shall see.

I've heard that's very good.

The Book Thief is great once you get into it. Be prepared to cry.

tysephine wrote: "The Book Thief is great once you get into it. Be prepared to cry."

Considering the setting, I expect at least a little of that. I didn't know a thing about the book before starting, it, except that everyone says how great it is. I didn't realize how long it is, but I'm doing the audio and the narrator is pretty fast and a lot of the writing is really spaced out, so I don't think it will be too bad. I've read a lot of really long books lately, not sure how that happened.

currently reading The Red Badge of Courage and Other Stories and I have The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, Volume III: The Novels. After enjoying The Picture of Dorian Gray.

I just finished Mansfield Park and am reading some contemporary fiction before returning to the classics. Maybe someone can help me pick my next classic. Should I go for The Grapes of Wrath, Persuasion, or Gone with the Wind. Help.

Jennifer wrote: "I just finished Mansfield Park and am reading some contemporary fiction before returning to the classics. Maybe someone can help me pick my next classic. Should I go for The Grapes of Wrath, Persua..."

Any or all of the above, I recommend all of them. Guess it depends which side of the pond or historical era you want: Civil War, same time period but in England, or Great Depression. Grapes of Wrath is going to be heaviest as far as content (though GWTW is longest in pages) and Persuasion is fairly light reading. Pick whatever you're in the mood for... or whichever one you missed in a previous group read, if you want some discussion to go along with it :)

Thanks Alana. I want to read them all, but I waste so much time figuring out what I am in the mood for. LOL. I think that I may do Grapes of Wrath or Gone With The Wind, since I just read Jane Austen. I still have another week or so to decide.

I think you'll be pleased no matter which one you pick. Personally, I want to re-read GWTW but it is rather long and I just don't have the time right now. It's an excellent book though and fairly easy reading. I think the first time I read it I did it in two days.

Then GWTW it will be. Thank you. Saves me a lot of indecision.

Alana, did you eat or sleep at all? That takes some serious dedication!

GWTW is a really fast, enjoyable read despite the intimidating size. Enjoy it, it is hands down my favorite book. Scarlett is headstrong, selfish and my hero.

tysephine wrote: "Alana, did you eat or sleep at all? That takes some serious dedication!"

I was in high school on summer break, I believe. I had free time and really enjoyed the book :) And yes, it really is a fast read, though long. It's easy writing, but very rich.

let the summer of Faulkner begin! I'm starting with The Sound and the Fury.