Reading the Classics discussion

Quirks59m wrote: "I'm reading "The Odd Women" by George Gissing. Reading for a 19th Century book club that I belong to - should be a lively discussion about the single ladies."

I want to read that but library books keep getting in the way!

Just starting East of Eden for an in-person book club. Another classic I have never read.

Middlemarch by George Eliot

El pensamiento débil (Vattimo y Rovatti ed)

The sandman volume 10

I'm currently reading the first of Gibbons massive Volumes on the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:
I've also started another excellent Heinlein Book:
And another excellent Murakami book:
And I thought I'd give some H.P. Lovecraft a try for the first time, tis the season after all:
And I'm listening to Bulfinch's Mythology during my commute:

Josh wrote: "I'm currently reading the first of Gibbons massive Volumes on the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:
I've als..."

Did you get Gibbon's ebooks? I have the four volumes on my Nook. I think I got them from Project Gutenberg for free. Maybe.

Also, the group "Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy" is going to read Stranger in a Strange Land for October if you're not a part of that group yet.

I'm just about to start The Eustace Diamonds by Trollope.

Andrew wrote: "The Odyssey. I'm a philistine, I know, but it's my first time reading it. I've read The Iliad twice, and enjoyed it. I'm enjoying all the free QUALITY literature Amazon offers for the Kindle, so I'..."

Andrew, your post inspired me to reread The Odyssey (which I last read in high school many years ago). I am reading the Alexander Pope translation (and referring to the Samuel Butler translation when I get lost!), which translation are you using?

I recommend the Fagles translation. It may be the most recent. I read it after seeing this interview several years ago:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entert...
Regardless of your translation, you may want to check out the interview.
"I think in the case of the Odyssey it's a poem that can hit us, strike chords with us at virtually every age, the kind of wild and wooly yarn from childhood. It's a tale of growing up for adolescents. It's a tale of struggle, an epic poem of struggle and success for our middle years, if we're lucky, if the gods are good. And for our later years, it's always a song of eternal return. It's everything to all people. It's something like the autobiography of the race and most everyone's favorite poem."

I agree with M.C.--the Fagles translation of both The Iliad & The Odyssey is so wonderfully "readable".

Right now, I'm reading the second and third books of the Carlos Ruiz Zafón Cemetery of Forgotten Books trilogy: The Angel's Game and The Prisoner of Heaven.

Just finished The Help and then it'll be Wolf Hall because its finally available from the library.

Since I read the Book of the Month, Cranford, just a few months ago, I didn't want to reread it. Instead I am reading another Gaskell, Wives and Daughters...

The Children of Men.

Leslie wrote: "Since I read the Book of the Month, Cranford, just a few months ago, I didn't want to reread it. Instead I am reading another Gaskell, Wives and Daughters..."

Ha! I didn't want to reread it either since I just read it this summer. Own Wives and Daughters but haven't gotten to it yet.

Allie wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Since I read the Book of the Month, Cranford, just a few months ago, I didn't want to reread it. Instead I am reading another Gaskell, [book:Wives and Daughters|383206..."

I am really enjoying it!

Yay! Another fan for Gaskell :)

This seems to be my winter for George Eliot. Three of my GR book groups are reading her works -- Womens Classic Literature is in the midst of reading Middlemarch, Should have Read Classics starts Silas Marner in December, and Classics and the Western Canon starts Daniel Deronda in January. Which is just fine because I really like her work. These will all be re-readings for me, but that's fine since every book worth reading is worth re-reading.

Too bad Adam Bede isn't on our current poll; I could have made it a foursome!

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Everyman wrote: "This seems to be my winter for George Eliot. Three of my GR book groups are reading her works -- Womens Classic Literature is in the midst of reading Middlemarch, Should have Read Classics starts..."

LOL!

I am struggling with Ivanhoe. I find the outdated dear reader approach a tad bit confusing. Also the phraseology takes some getting used to.

The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan.

Tom wrote: "I am struggling with Ivanhoe. I find the outdated dear reader approach a tad bit confusing. Also the phraseology takes some getting used to."

If you can get used to the writing style, I found that the plot was worth the effort. You might want to refer to SparkNotes...

Nineteen Eighty Four, this is my 2nd attempt, the 1st time I was too scared to finish it (same reason why I couldn't see the film to the end).

Leslie, thank you for the tip on SparkNotes. I'm amazed at how much I have overlooked in my struggles to make sense.

Joy wrote: "David Copperfield, so close to the end I can taste it. Still not sure why its so well loved but at least I can cross it off my list."

I love it for the characters - especially the eccentric ones such as Mr. Micawber and Mr. Dick!

the painted bird

Everyman wrote: "This seems to be my winter for George Eliot. Three of my GR book groups are reading her works -- Womens Classic Literature is in the midst of reading Middlemarch, Should have Read Classics starts..."

I believe Oscar Wilde said that a book wasn't worth reading if you couldn't read it over and over again :)
Those groups sound amazing! Have to look them up now.

Joy wrote: "David Copperfield, so close to the end I can taste it. Still not sure why its so well loved but at least I can cross it off my list."

:( this makes me sad. But good job for sticking with it. I'm struggling with a 700+ pager and it kills me when I don't finish a book once started!

Yay! Agnes is lovely.

I just started Georgette Heyer's April Lady.

I'm 155 pages into Wolf Hall and want to quit :( ugh! I'm sick of awful books!

Allie, I love this quote from Doris Lessing, who we just lost:

“There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag-and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is part of a trend or a movement. Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty-and vise versa. Don’t read a book out of its right time for you.”
― Doris Lessing

Daniel Pennac has published a list of "The Rights of the Reader" that liberated me and still makes me smile, retired English teacher that I am:

“Reader's Bill of Rights

1. The right to not read
2. The right to skip pages
3. The right to not finish
4. The right to reread
5. The right to read anything
6. The right to escapism
7. The right to read anywhere
8. The right to browse
9. The right to read out loud
10. The right to not defend your tastes”

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1929...

Currently I am reading Mary Barton.

Malcolm wrote: "Currently I am reading Mary Barton."

That's on my to-read list - how are you liking it so far?

Anne wrote: "I just started Georgette Heyer's April Lady."

Not one of my favorites but still a fun book.

Leslie wrote: "Anne wrote: "I just started Georgette Heyer's April Lady."

Not one of my favorites but still a fun book."

So far I like it! It reminds me of "The Convenient Marriage" which I really liked!

Leslie wrote: "Malcolm wrote: "Currently I am reading Mary Barton."

That's on my to-read list - how are you liking it so far?"

Really enjoying it. I should start on chapter 10, but I'm procrastinating, reading non-fiction and writing.

I've read all of her shorter works, so I am already a fan of Gaskell's.

Have you read any of her works?

Leslie wrote: "Anne wrote: "I just started Georgette Heyer's April Lady."

Not one of my favorites but still a fun book."

Several decades ago I read The Corinthian, which was a fun romp.

Julia wrote: "Allie, I love this quote from Doris Lessing, who we just lost:

“There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those,..."

I love the readers bill of rights :) as far as the quote, I shudder to think about anything twenty or thirty years from now but I hope I don't get the idea to pick up one of these books I've left undone!

Malcolm wrote: "Leslie wrote: "Anne wrote: "I just started Georgette Heyer's April Lady."

Not one of my favorites but still a fun book."

Several decades ago I read The Corinthian, which was a fun romp."

That's true, it was fun, though I didn't enjoy it as much as her other one!

Allie wrote: "I'm 155 pages into Wolf Hall and want to quit :( ugh! I'm sick of awful books!"

I worked my way through the entire thing with another group. I honestly wish I'd quit after part one and moved on to something else and not wasted the time. It didn't get any better. But a lot of others really liked it. Chances are though, if you're not liking it now, it's not going to change for you. Just my $0.02

I agree, Alana. We resonate with the books that speak to who WE are, so that's going to be different for all of us. Certainly, as Lessing points out, "who we are" can change over time and experiences, but you say it well: "Chances are though, if you're not liking it now, it's not going to change for you."

For me, reading a book is like meeting people; some will become fast friends to be visited often, others will cross our paths one time--and others will not become part of our lives.

Joy, you're no oddity, that's sounds very similar to how my reading habits go. :)

Allie wrote: "I'm 155 pages into Wolf Hall and want to quit :( ugh! I'm sick of awful books!"

So quit! Life's too short to read things you don't want to (unless you're in school and reading for a grade. But otherwise...)

Go read some Trollope. He's never awful.

Joy wrote: "I have seen my tastes change a lot over the years. I've enjoyed books as an adult that I hated as a teen, and I don't enjoy books that I loved in college."

I think that's pretty universal.

Everyman wrote: "Allie wrote: "I'm 155 pages into Wolf Hall and want to quit :( ugh! I'm sick of awful books!"

So quit! Life's too short to read things you don't want to (unless you're in school an..."

Gaga, thanks :) I do love me some Trollope.

That was supposed to be haha...stupid tablet changes my words!

Alana wrote: "Allie wrote: "I'm 155 pages into Wolf Hall and want to quit :( ugh! I'm sick of awful books!"

I worked my way through the entire thing with another group. I honestly wish I'd quit a..."

I believe you :)

@Malcolm -- I just finished Wives and Daughters (I hadn't realized that Gaskell died before finishing it, although she must have been close to done as it is 800 pages and 60 chapters long!), and read North and South & Cranford this past spring.

@Everyman -- Good advice! I think I will make my next classic Phineas Redux :)

Leslie wrote: "@Malcolm -- I just finished Wives and Daughters (I hadn't realized that Gaskell died before finishing it, ..."

I believe it was finished by another author, though she was close to finished before she died.

the satanic verses