Classic Literature that you want to read

Chris P said:

I have Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here on my list.

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I know, right?

I forgot to add that the Magic Mountain made my hair stand on end, but I never got to finishing it as a book about people being catty to each other in a sanitarium doesn't exactly make for cracking action. Plus, I lost my copy and can't find the old-timey translation I like any more. Oh yeah, and any of Thomas Hardy's five most well-known novels are recommended (plus his poetry). Hardy's pessimism can be intense, but there's always a glimmer of transcendentalism underneath it that appeals to me.

Yep, I have a problem with things published either just before I was born or soon after being described as 'classics'

I read a lot of genre classics last year as research for a big project. I had fun rediscovering Verne for example. Wilde's Dorian Gray stands the test of time very well, as does Stevenson's Doctor Jeckyll. I didn't get on so well with Stoker's non-Dracula work though. The Jewel of Seven Stars was turgid and dull.

But on the literary classics side, I also rediscovered a love for the Russians, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky in particular.

Kjbartolotta said:

I forgot to add that the Magic Mountain made my hair stand on end, but I never got to finishing it as a book about people being catty to each other in a sanitarium doesn't exactly make for cracking action.

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I make it a habit to read at least one big major classic novel every year (often more than one), and I like to tackle a writer I haven't read, or read much of. So I'm considering Thomas Mann, and Magic Mountain[.i] would be the obvious choice. But maybe Buddenbrooks. I've just started reading his novella Death in Venice, so I'll see how I like that.

caw

I would likely recommend The Magic Mountain, not that I have anything to say either way about Buddenbrooks.

I own several pieces of classic literature that i haven't read, or need to reread because i don't remember crap about them.

1. Mark Twain Collection - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and Roughing it.
2. Robert Louis Stevenson Collection - Treasure Island, Kidnapped Weir of Heminston, the Master of Ballantrae, The Black Arrow and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
3. Pinocchio
4. Ben Hur
5. Jane Austen - Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice
6. Louisa May Alcott - Little Women

I keep meaning to read 'And then there were none.' Someday I'll manage it.

I picked up Little Women, and I love it. The writing is excellent, and it's such a nice little peek into old fashioned living. Jo is my favorite (and she's a writer!).

I enjoyed Little Women while reading it, although I confess I remeber little about it other than a light, fanciful tone. I started reading Gerladine Brook's March, about the dad's life while he was off to war, but I found it a bit too forced for me. It would have made a much better story on its own without trying to tie in the Little Women.

I want to get through most of Project Gutenberg's online database. They're free and classic! Can't argue with that!

I rarely read classics, but I find myself very interested in Joseph Conrad's Nostromo.

DragonHeart said:

I rarely read classics, but I find myself very interested in Joseph Conrad's Nostromo.

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Nostromo is indeed excellent. I have read a lot of and am a big fan of Conrad. I would recommend further Lord Jim and [/i]Victory[/i], and some shorter works, such as his first short novel Almayer's Folly and An Outcast of the Islands.

Conrad is one of those writers who benefit from some patience on the part of the reader, especially today's reader. Faulkner is another. As is Virginia Woolf. But the rewards of the patience are significant, and all these writers can become addictive.

caw

I also thought Nostromo was one of Conrad's better books.

kaylim said:

To me, reading classic novels is like spinning a roulette wheel because oftentimes the age of the writing shows even if the piece is influential in other ways. Good examples of this for is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

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I actually want to read The Picture of Dorian Gray. But it doesn’t age well you say?

Other classics i’ve been wanting to read are: Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations and The Scarlett Letter.
I also want to finish all the Jane austen novels I once started....

_Melody_ said:

I also want to finish all the Jane austen novels I once started....

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Once you get used to Austen's prose, she's a breeze to read. Don't believe anyone who calls her gentle Jane, meek and mild. More like bitch in a bonnet. Ms Austen takes no prisoners.