Classic Literature

[readyeddy?]

I've been (over the past few years) attempting to pepper my reading with the classics. Every now and then, when it's time for a new book to read I pick a literary classic and try to see if I agree with the decision to list it as a classic.
When I was young I read my share. I voluntarily read "Tom Sawyer" and Huck Finn" and walked away satisfied. Ditto "The Call of the Wild" and "White Fang".
For school, I had to read books like "The Red Badge of Courage", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "A Tale of Two Cities", and "Romeo and Juliet". I even remember a passage in "Romeo and Juliet" that didn't quite make sense to me and that the Eighth grade English teacher couldn't clear up.

I'm not surprised though, as he was a former bully who lucked into his teaching position and couldn't quite overcome his bullying ways once he had a good job. He had a reputation for roughing up students, which is easy to do when you're close to 300 lbs and your students are preteens.

I digress.

So in recent years I've read various novels that I've always considered classic literature, such as:

Moby Dick, man this was a chore. He kept describing the life of a whaler which was fine but he sometimes went into way too much detail. it seemed like it took forever to get to any of the good stuff. I'm also convinced that Queeqeeg and Ishmael were a lot more then just good friends.
But what really dragged it down was his insistence that whales were fish, despite the fact that scientists had determined whales were mammals 100 years earlier. The fact that the author claimed whales were fish in a time period they should have known better. He spent a lot of time on junk facts in this book.
I couldn't help but root for Moby Dick throughout the book but I was damn glad when I finished.

Prior to that I have read "Of Mice and Men" and loved the book I really need to read more John Steinbeck, I've also read such books as "The Great Gatsby"and "The Sun also Rises" neither of which really got me stoked.

[Hatut Zeraze]

Hey! I'm like you!

I've been essentially doing the same thing for a long time. I was a bit too much of a lazy slug in high school to take AP English classes, so I ended up skating out of a lot of classic literature in my formal education. In the 20+ years since, I've been working on making that up. It is something I consciously try to do.

Some things I noted:

I enjoyed Moby Dick more than you did. I kind of dig all the whaling details; they really got me into the setting.

I love Doestoyevsky. His books are long and detailed, but in the end, I always feel like I got something worthwhile out of it.

I decided that not all classics are worth the time they take away from my life. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce was the most painfully boring piece of art I have ever encountered. I stopped reading it (about 80% of the way through it) when I realized that I was making myself read it. I was denying myself the opportunity to read books that looked interesting until I could finish this one book that was simply mind-numbing torture. I will readily concede that the book's message is something my barren mind and soul are simply not elevated enough to appreciate. Fine. I accept my limitations. What I will not accept, though, is any further intrusion of this book into my consciousness. Ugh. Rant concluded.

[Maniac_nmt]

The Illiad is still my all time favorite literary work. I've read and re-read multiple translations probably 12 or 13 times (I first read it in 6th grade, and have loved it ever since).

Beowulf is a close favorite, and like the Illiad I've read it into the double digits (multiple translations as well).

Ivanhoe I've read twice, and it's a GREAT book too.

Also I can recommend, The Neiblungleid, Song of Roland, and El Cid as throughly enjoyable classics. Along with a non fiction classic literary work; Caeser: Conquest of Gaul.

[JGonspy]

If I weren't so preoccupied with reading for school, I would definitely try to fit in far more classics into my reading schedule. Of the few I've read recently, Great Expectations and The Divine Comedy were the ones that stood out the most.

While I don't regret reading books I would never have checked out instead of the classics I've always been curious about, it's still a bit sad to know of so many other great works that I've yet to read.

[readyeddy?]

I read the Iliad and the Odyssey way back when I was in the Eighth grade. I read some version of the Beowulf poem sometime later but I don't remember when. I also read an interesting novel told from Grendel's point of view. I'll have to check Wikipedia and see if it tells me the author's name, I want to say John Gardener but I'm not sure that's right.

Has anyone ever read the Aeneid?

[Kalel21]

I read The Count of Monte Cristo during my mission trip to Sudan last May. Loved it. A great story with great characters.

Jumping over to England--I love most of Dickens' stuff (though I never could get through Nickolas Nickleby). I re-read A Christmas Carol every December and The Tale of Two Cities is enthralling everytime I re-read it.

The translation of Beowulf by Seamus Haney is superb.

Moving to America--Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is my favorite of his works--though Of Mice and Men runs a close second. GoW really catches all aspects of human nature perfectly--greed and generosity; selfishness and self-sacrifice. The last chapter is the best novel ending ever.

[EmperorNorton]

I'm currently reading Samuel Richardson's 'Clarissa, or The History of a Young Lady'.
Definately a classic, but one that should be avoided.
Granted, the price/performance ratio is superb. For the cost of two cinema tickets you get 75 hours worth of reading, but still the length of the novel borders on being rude.
I like it better than Richardson's 'Pamela', though. Still, too many "Oh noes, my vartue!" sequences.

[AlienFlanders]

An interesting website for to visit is Gutenberg.org, I have found quite a large selection of old classics, some quite fascinating reading available there for download.

[Kalel21]

If anyone likes the audio book route, librivox.org (http://librivox.org/) has free downloads of the classics, read by volunteers.

[Amora's_best_friend]

I'm reading Aeneid Book VI in Latin at the moment.

Feels the most fun, like venturing into the underworld.

[readyeddy?]

There's six of them?

[Amora's_best_friend]

There's six of them?

There's 12 books. :p


The first six concern Aeneas' journey from Troy to Italy, and the latter six are about various wars in Italy.


Despite being an epic which took 17 years to write, I actually think it's too short. I mean, it's incredibely fast moving, so much is crammed in.

Cererbus, which I thought was a massive part of the underworld story, only gets about 4 lines in the Aeneid; they just throw him some magical cheese and walk over his body.

[Prof. Aragorn]

1984.

'Nuff said.

I would also count Watchmen as classic literature.

Also, am I alone in liking The Old Man and the Sea?

Oh, can't forget Dracula.

[Darkseid Sr.]

Personally, anything written by Alexandre Dumas is an instant classic for me.

[MattPetersen]

I always try to throw a classic into the mix when I read. I may read to modern books then fetch a classic from the library or bookstore (I try to buy books so I have enough to lend my children when my wife and I start to have them).
Recently I read Pride and Prejudice and I enjoyed it. I did not think I would, but I did!

A few that I enjoy the most are:

Sherlock Holmes
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Count of Monte Cristo
Three Musketeers
Captain Blood
A Christmas Carol
Tom Sawyer
Huckleberry Finn
Treasure Island
Of Mice and Men
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby (hated reading it in High school but LOVED it when I read it again in college)



In the case of Gatsby, there are so many I need to reread because I hated them when I was younger but due to more of a life experience now, I may see them for what they were intended to be and enjoy them.


Now the ONE classic I HATED with a passion and will NEVER EVER pick up again would be "Portrait of a Lady". It was BORING!! I remember reading this in High School and HATING IT, I read it again for a lit class in college and HATED it. The professor brought the movie in for us to watch and 5 minutes into the movie SHE had to turn it off because it was so boring for her as well (which leads me to wonder if she actually read the book.....or why assign us such a boring piece in the first place?).

[CarlosMucha]

A Christmas Carol?

were I can read the original version??

[EmperorNorton]

A Christmas Carol?

were I can read the original version??
Aside from any library, here (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm).

[Amora's_best_friend]

I'm reading Pride And Prejudice atm.

It's kinda meh so far.

[hail_eris]

If anyone's interested in Greek and Roman classics, I can't recommend theoi.com (http://www.library.theoi.com/) heartily enough. All the classical translations (frequently side-by-side with the original Greek or Latin), preserving the proper line and chapter breaks, with links to alternate translations (where they're available). It's one of the best non-subscription lit sites out there.

[Truffle Shuffle]

I read Pride and Prejudice about every two to three years. Love it. I'm sure it's something females enjoy more than males ABF.

[CarlosMucha]

I read Pride and Prejudice about every two to three years. Love it. I'm sure it's something females enjoy more than males ABF.


I never read of watch that movie.

I'm scared of what women do on that movie.

I can stand women liberation in the modern World but see that in anything from that times it's just too sad (and uncredible) for me. :(

But I really LOVE and enjoy too much "Little woman"!!!

all the woman from that movie cry soo much!

and it's a movie with Winona Rider!!

[readyeddy?]

I read Pride and Prejudice about every two to three years. Love it. I'm sure it's something females enjoy more than males ABF.
I almost bought a copy of Jane Eyre today, but I would be reading it at work on breaks around coworkers and I'm not sure I'm up for the snide remarks I'd probably get.

I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a copy of the Dialogues of Plato also.

[Darth Sabre]

I am in the process of building a library, which will include some classics. So far I have:

1984
Animal Farm
Of Mice and Men
The Outsiders
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Oliver Twist
A Christmas Carol
Roots


Some others I want to add:

Moby Dick
Treasure Island
Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde
Mary Shelly's Frankenstein
Bram Stoker's Dracula
War of the Worlds
The Invisible Man
The Time Machine
Tom Sawyer
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Three Musketeers

[Maniac_nmt]

If you are willing to include non fiction/possible non fiction I would also highly recommend:

The Heimskringla
The Icelandic Sagas

There is some quasi mystical stuff in them, but by and large they are history.

[Gargantua]

I went through the "gotta go back and reread the classics I missed in school" stage. Still do try to read a classic a couple times a year at least. While I agree that some of them could have stayed unread, I am glad I went back and read some of them. I love Dickens, I've read all but one of his novels.

In the action adventure line, I've Stephenson and Dumas have both endured for a reason, and HG Wells and Jules Verne too. Some others authors that are less well known these days but well worth looking up are Rafael Sabatini (Scaramouche, Captain Blood), Baroness Orczy (Scarlet Pimpernel) and Anthony Hope (Prisoner of Zenda)

Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone is delightful, and the Woman in White's pretty good too. Only just recently read Jane Eyre for the first time and enjoyed it. Likewise To Kill a Mockingbird.

Still haven't attempted Moby Dick. Lengthy descriptions of whaling don't excite me. What is it with 19th century authors feeling the need to show their erudition by inserting long passages on digressions? It's like they just want to prove that they've done their research. Anyone who's read War & Peace or Les Miserables knows what I mean. Did Victor Hugo really need to put in a 60 page description of the Battle of Waterloo in Les MIserables, with all the historical details, just to show how one of the characters showed up afterwards to loot the bodies? Wouldn't five pages haves sufficed? I mean, I like history, and I might very likely take a book on Waterloo off the shelf and read it happily, but I'm just not sure I need it in my fiction. At least not to that extent.

[Darth Sabre]

I've recently picked up some political philosophy books, including Aristotal' s Politics and Nichomachean Ethics, Cicero's The Republic and The Laws, John Locke's Two Teatsies of Government, Plato's Republic, and Machiavelli's The Prince. All classic literautre in their respective genre.

[wintremute]

I'm partial to Thomas Hardy, specifically
Return of the Native
Far From the Madding Crowd
Tess of the D'Urbervilles

[lensnart]

I almost bought a copy of Jane Eyre today, but I would be reading it at work on breaks around coworkers and I'm not sure I'm up for the snide remarks I'd probably get.

I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a copy of the Dialogues of Plato also.

As far as classic philosophy goes Plato can't be beat, for reading enjoyment. The Republic is of course the classic and for good reason, but if you are picking up Plato for the first time it is best to start at the start, the early dialogues staring Socrates are actually very enjoyable page turners.

Some other Classics I would highly recommend:

Down and out in London and Paris - George Orwell
(Fantastic memoir of his years working the worst jobs he could find in france and living on the streets in England, just to see how it was)

The Old Man and The Sea
(An incredibly quick read that you can't out down, I actually read it twice in one day once)

Catcher In The Rye and Nine Stories - JD Salinger
(Both are amazing reads as is my personal favourite the lesser known Raise high The Roofbeams Carpenters. I find myself totally enthralled everytime I pick up any of his work).

On The Road - Jack Kerouc
(It is impossible to read this book and not ride the rails across the country. Also check out Dharma Bums by him it is equally as good)

A Portrait Of The Artist As a Young Man - James Joyce
(I saw this got a bad review on this thread earlier but personally I love this book. It is a very honest story by one of the worlds greatest minds).

The Picture Of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde
(A very short read that is beautifully written).

Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
(another short one, it takes some interesting chances and is a very deep book for being so thin).

A Confederacy Of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
(As heartbreaking as it is hilarious).

The Grapes Of Wrath
(If you liked of mice and men you will like this).

Also read Frankenstein and Dracula if you haven't they both live up to the hype.

If you read and like any of these and want something else along the same lines PM me, I read a lot and love recommending stuff, as you may have noticed.

[lensnart]

I am in the process of building a library, which will include some classics. So far I have:

1984
Animal Farm
Of Mice and Men
The Outsiders
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Oliver Twist
A Christmas Carol
Roots


Some others I want to add:

Moby Dick
Treasure Island
Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde
Mary Shelly's Frankenstein
Bram Stoker's Dracula
War of the Worlds
The Invisible Man
The Time Machine
Tom Sawyer
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Three Musketeers

Good list. I heartily second all of those.
Except maybe the last two, I could never get into Dumas.

[Maniac_nmt]

The Prince is a great book.

It's often misaligned as the book of evil, but it's really just a practical look at things. All he's really doing is laying out what will happen with each choice you make. Then you can pick the one you like best or can feel most morally comfortable with.

Strangely enough, I read it for my World History class in college, and not in any of my English classes.

[EmperorNorton]

The Prince is a great book.

It's often misaligned as the book of evil, but it's really just a practical look at things. All he's really doing is laying out what will happen with each choice you make. Then you can pick the one you like best or can feel most morally comfortable with.

Strangely enough, I read it for my World History class in college, and not in any of my English classes.

While I agree that Il Principe is realistic rather than evil, historically speaking that characterisation has some merit, as Machiavelli's work was seen as a contrast to the works of Aristoteles, which were seen as ethically superior (but rarely consistently executed).

Why is it strange not to read The Prince in an English class, though? It is Italian after all.

[Maniac_nmt]

Why is it strange not to read The Prince in an English class, though? It is Italian after all.

For us, in High School or College, English is a literature class.

For instance, I read Russian works, or Greek works in English class (in addition to classic English literature).

I think it is a highly important piece of Western literature, which is what our 'English' classes like to focus on for our reading material.

Although many did seem preoccupied with 'Christ' figures, or esoteric (i.e. not there) symbology.

[EmperorNorton]

Here you would read German literature in a German class, English literature in an English class etc.
That usually means you won't get to read any Russian works, for example.
Can't say that's a bad thing, though, as I usually hated everything I had to read in school.

[Amora's_best_friend]

I'm reading Wuthering Heights at the moment, just so I can call myself a proper Kate Bush fan.

[Maniac_nmt]

Here you would read German literature in a German class, English literature in an English class etc.

See, that would make sense. Which, as it is English, we all know can't happen. It'd be down right rotten if our phonetics or grammar rules made a lick of sense.

[Kalel21]

For anyone who likes to occasionally go the audio book route, the guy who reads "Moby Dick" at www.librivox.org (where you can download books for free) does a really good job. I'm about halfway through it right now.

[readyeddy?]

I'm getting ready to read "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoyefsky.

Anybody think I'll regret this?

[Gargantua]

Sorry, can't help you. Never attempted that one.

[Hatut Zeraze]

I'm getting ready to read "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoyefsky.

Anybody think I'll regret this?

I like that book. I think you made a good choice. Yeah, its a bit thick at times, but if you go in knowing that, ready to be patient, then I think you will like it.

[Gargantua]

Okay, so every couple of years I try to read Don Quixote and I've never managed to get very far. I'm of a mind to try again, but I'm concerned I'll fail again. It's not that long books intimidate me. Or old ones. They don't. And I can enjoy the humor and the characters. I suspect what defeats me is the picaresque nature of the book. 700+ pages of Don Quixote moving from one short incident to another without any real overarching plot to unify them and give them direction just fails to hold my interest for that long.

I feel bad, because this is supposed to be one of the "great books" and Don Quixote one of the great characters in literature. Can anyone offer any encouragement or advice?

[AlienFlanders]

Try it as a talking book.

Don Quixote part 1 (http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.php?title=don+quixote&author=&status=all&action=Search)

[Gargantua]

Hm, I don't really do audio books much, but I may give a chapter or two a try, see what it's like. Thanks.

[Gargantua]

I'm reading Pride And Prejudice atm.

It's kinda meh so far.

I'ts much better now that they've put the original zombie parts back in.

[DocDoom187]

I hate Jane Austen.

I know, I'm not allowed to say that as a Literary Elitist Snob, but I hate Jane Austen.

Damn feminists.

[JGonspy]

I hate Jane Austen.

I know, I'm not allowed to say that as a Literary Elitist Snob, but I hate Jane Austen.

Damn feminists.

I know, right? It's not like women had it bad in the late 18th century. Weren't they allowed to walk around their local estates with a male escort? What more do they want? :p

[DocDoom187]

They were given fire to cook with and water to clean with. What more could they possibly ask for?

[noregretz]

Stay away from anything by James Fenmore Cooper. I had to do a theme from a list selected by the Teacher when I was a senior in high school. Cooper was on the list with the theme title of "The Noble Savage". I'm thinking: COOL...Last of the Mohicans & what not? This'll be fun!

Let's just say thank God for Cliff Notes.

On the plus side, I've lost track of how many times I've re-read Dracula. It's my all time favorite.

Is it too early to call "Lord of the Rings" a "classic"?

[Gargantua]

Is it too early to call "Lord of the Rings" a "classic"?

Heavens no. It absolutely is. I did read Last of the Mohicans years ago during my "go back and read the classics I missed during school" phase. I didn't think it was that bad. On the other hand, it didn't exactly inspire me to go and read any of his other books either.

[llyrghmnghyll]

I love Dashell Hammett. How The Holmes canon gets included in Literature, but he doesn't is simply criminal. Red Harvest is the best study of crime at all levels of society I've ever come across.

[BigSoph]

Classics I have read and enjoyed
Les Miserables (even the parts where Hugo goes off on tangents totally unrelated to the story but are fascinating reads on their own)
Man in the Iron Mask
Three Musketeers (This one was awesome - they should make a movie of it...)
Notes from the Underground
War of the Worlds (Again, pure awesome sauce. Potential good movie from this...)
edit: How could I forget Burroughs' Tarzan!

Classics I have read and somewhat enjoyed
Dracula (Sorry, but the letters back and forth between the two women? BORING! The final hunt is awesome! Mr. Harker's visit to Castle Drac is good but, damn, that man is an idiot)
The Odyssey (love the story but I guess the version I read was a little tedious)
Journey to the Centre of the Earth (great narrative but, cripes, the narrator is just SO whiny)

Classics I have read and enjoyed
Frankenstein (okay, the last few chapters are good but yeesh...)

Books that should be classics but are just a little too young still
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (it is interesting that the book is more of a POV of Big Chief, whereas the movie, although good, cannot and could not depict his POV insanity)
Catch 22
Name a George Orwell book. Just name one. Any of 'em. I would just say "BAM! Great book!"
All Quite on the Western Front (I ALMOST felt sympathy for the German army!)
The Ticket that Exploded (interestingly, when you read this, it makes no sense. It is hard to follow, having been written in a bizarre style but, when you piut it down and have time to think, he has managed to do something brilliant. But I could really do without Burroughs 'episodes' and predilections to Mexican boys... seriously)

[Kalel21]

I sympathize with how annoying the narrator in Journey to the Center of the Earth is. It's the only one of his best-known works that I don't love.

I'm reading 20 Years After, the sequel to The Three Musketeers. It's one of the few Dumas books I haven't read in the past. It's not quite as good at The 3 Musk., but it's still a lot of fun.

[EmperorNorton]

I'd definitely call All Quiet on the Western Front a classic.
And of course it's not meant to incite sympathy for the German army, but rather with the poor bastards fighting a brutal and pointless war.

*cue No Man's Land (Green Fields of France) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYnxLSwQSeI)

[readyeddy?]

I just finished reading "Dubliners", the short story collection by James Joyce. Some of the stories moved me and others didn't.

[readyeddy?]

The Sea Wolf by Jack London. It's probably been forty years since I last read a Jack London book. I don't know why I waited so long to read this one. What a character Wolf Larsen is.

[Maniac_nmt]

The Anabasis of Cyrus is a really great read. Xenophon details the story of 10,000 greeks who marched to war in Persia. Their pay is killed in battle, and they have to make a fighting retreat through Asia back to Greece.

Xenophon could get dry and boring, but instead gives you a very great human take on what occured. It is an incredible feat of soldiering to march that far with hostile enemys constantly doging you. To make it back to Greece with so many men was nothing short of miraculous.