Quite frankly, Osso, i don't give a rat's ass what you read or why.
The author of the thread wanted to discuss "classic" novels. That pretty much leaves out anything obscure or written within the last 50 years.
most classics for me have been in the fantasy genre
dracula
frankenstein
the alice books by carroll
rather than read a historical novel, i prefer actual history
so i have read pepys diaries (well actualy listened to them, along with seutonius - the twelve ceasars and soon thucydides - history of the peloponnesian war.)
somebody mentioned a day in the life of ivan denisovich, which i thoroughly enjoyed, but liked the gulag archipeligo even more
Setanta wrote:Green Witch wrote:I really liked Emile Zola's "Nana". I first read it as a teenager after seeing a PBS version and got hooked on his series about earthy French workers.
The Zola series to which you refer is the Rougon/Macquart series, which entails, i believe, 20 novels. I've read about half, in French, which is not easy to do, since
Germinal and
Nana are about the only ones you can find, in French or English, in American book stores. Great stuff, and i suspect his work deserves the title classic, because it continues to sell on it's own merits.
The Mill on the Floss is undoubtedly the worst Victorian novel which remains in print, which is saying a lot, given that so much of Anthony Trollope's work is still available.
I sure I've read 6 of the Zola books in English (my French could barely get me through "The Little Prince"). My grandfather had bound editions that probably dated from the late 1920's. The editions took up a whole shelf, so 20 sounds right. I think Penguin classics also had a number of them in translation. They might not all be considered classics, but I agree that Zola has held up well over time.
Setanta, I knew you were being humorous. I know you have read the classics. That is obvious and I envy that. I was playing at my non-existent intellectual literary prowess.
But now genially belittled I will not again attempt to sit at your table.
Setanta wrote:Quite frankly, Osso, i don't give a rat's ass what you read or why.
The author of the thread wanted to discuss "classic" novels. That pretty much leaves out anything obscure or written within the last 50 years.
May the bird of paradise peck at your toes.
Amigo wrote:Nobody has mentioned Catcher in the rye
. I think it is grossly overrated
Damn ! That's two things we agree on !
I am guessing Material Girl would be glad to hear from me on serious books.
She can speak for herself.
As it happens, I'm not such a Salinger fan either.
georgeob1 wrote:Amigo wrote:Nobody has mentioned Catcher in the rye
. I think it is grossly overrated
Damn ! That's two things we agree on !
We can't be the only two people that think so about this book.
That is kind of odd considering how strongly we dissagree elsewhere.
Oh well, good company is good company.
Right ossobuco
ossobuco wrote:As it happens, I'm not such a Salinger fan either.
Who the hell made this book popular?
and then I read a book that I swear should be a classic and "capoot", nothing.
So, as far as I can isolate it, this is the post of mine that so angered Setanta.
From my point of view, I was musing, as usual.
I'm guessing it was taken otherwise.
"I'm not going to argue with you on timelessness, Set. I'll write down the names to check out. This is fun for all of us to furl in the air what is classic or not. None of us will be around to tell if Trumbo or Trevor made a grade."
Might have been the grade of paper.
How did I offend? Do we need to be attacked for posts on books?
I can tell that I violated Set's view of classic. He puts it on to the original poster, Material Girl, who is genuinely curious.
Can not I or anyone else suggest classics????? Shall we have instruction time?
I hope you deign to tickle yourself in the foot, but if not, in the food.
I plead guilty to listing books that are too recent to be considered classics. No excuse. I got carried away thinking about good books.
I have to stop and think about what a classic is. Is it simply a book that has stood the test of time? Mebbe. This will require further thought.
instruction time??????
O.K.
Instructions: Have fun talking about great old books.
Hows that.
Ossobuco, If you could give Materialgirl three classic books to read on a deserted island what would they be?
That's a nice challenge, amigo.
I'll write my own list, but not until tomorrow.
These might be too recent to be included as "classics" but Golding's Lord of the Flies and Keyes' Flowers for Algernon popped into my head, as I was reading this thread, as books worth having. It's been many years since I read them, but the themes, characters and narratives crop up quite often...
... or that might just be indicative of the mood I'm in.
Then again, once you've read Homer and Shakespeare, everything else is simply derivative. :wink:
I have indiscriminately read all classics that I could find in the libraries in my town - by Hardy (Like him), D.H. Lawrence (I like him - no one mentioned him?), Dickens (okay), Oscar Wilde (Liked him a lot). Jane austen (boring), Emily Bronte (didnt like wuthering heights).
I couldn't finish any joseph conrad book. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World put me to sleep....
Although I'm young, my definition of classic may be awry/outdated (or too British-oriented) - I don't consider Salinger's books classic simply because he's more recent than Hardy or Dickens....That way. I'd say catch-22 is certainly a classic...
Crap, I have'nt read lord of the flys either.
How can catch 22 not be a classic?
Waits
for
lightening bolt
to set me straight.
I'm not a big reader but was on a John Steinbeck roll a few years ago. Read a lot of his short stories. Tortilla Flats,Cannery Row, The Pearl, Of Mice and Men...Grapes of Wrath I couldn't quite get past the 1st half of the book. Maybe I'll pick it up again and try to take it from where I left off.
Tried to read Homer with my daughter as a school assignment, I just couldn't do it.
ossobuco wrote:How can catch 22 not be a classic?.
If it doesnt have a hard-bound cover withits title written in gold letters - it isn't a classic.
:wink:
