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Post by filly on Apr 11, 2010 16:29:24 GMT -5
Ok, so my students at school are reading this and I never had to read it so I did this week. Book I was absolutely boreing. Book II was excellent! Definately a kids book with adult themes but it's read and I enjoyed it. It was painful for the first half though as the story mostly just set up characters and there wasn't really anything exciting in it.
I'm doing well on my list of classics. What books have you never read but always wanted to?
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Post by niaru on Apr 11, 2010 17:56:29 GMT -5
A few years ago I decided to read classic American lit books, which I'd never read, and To Kill... was one. I loved it. You're right that it is slow at the beginning but I really enjoyed the depiction of atmosphere etc.
I also read The Scarlet Letter which was very interesting as well.
I am following these threads with interest to see which American or English "classics" I might enjoy.
I never could get into Dickens, for instance.
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Post by adcooper on Apr 11, 2010 19:37:41 GMT -5
Well, filly, as you may know, I have about 2000 pages to go before I have knocked off the last of Claire and Jamie Fraser. But, yes, I like this idea of filling in the missing books in our lives. If you are reading American classics, how about Huck Finn? I love that book. A German friend once told me he'd read it, translated into German. I cannot fathom how you translate a book like that--it is so American, and how do you translate dialects!
Claire, I've never read Voltaire. Should I?
The courses I had in Greek and Roman history and mythology were...um...a very long time ago, so I may have read and forgotten some, but I am sure that I've only skimmed the Iliad and the Odyssey. I see them at work all the time lately, since there's resurgence of interest in the ancients following the Percy Jackson movie. I should bring one home.
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Post by filly on Apr 12, 2010 17:11:46 GMT -5
Yeah I read many Mark Twain books including both Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Not one of my favorites though. I was thinking of reading Roots next as I never read that book.
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Post by niaru on Apr 12, 2010 18:53:41 GMT -5
Oh! I read Roots! Years ago (and in translation, sadly, as my English was non-existent then). Great book. And then I also watched the TV series they made. In French. Hahaha!
See I haven't read Mark Twain either! Lacking, lacking, lacking.
Ann when you're done with Jamie and Claire you should give Voltaire a try ! Candide, for instance. I love Voltaire. He was so irreverent for his time.
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Post by brassylassy on May 5, 2010 0:24:39 GMT -5
To Killa Mockingbird was a great book, I've always liked it...
other classics... depends on your tastes... I love Jane Austen, Poe is great for winter evenings, you can't go wrong with Shakespeare at any time. (not just R&J...read Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Othello...all good reads)
The original Jungle Book.
Steineck is dry, but interesting.
Iliad and Odyssey...long, but worth it (then go watch O Brother Where Art Thou carefully.....)
for something to really torture your brain, try the original Beowulf in Old English.
there's tons more...have a great read!
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Post by filly on May 5, 2010 1:09:45 GMT -5
I'm currently finishing A Tale of Two Cities and also half way through Lord of the Flies (again, kids reading the second book so I'm reading along with them! lol) and I also want to read Heart of Darkness that some of my students are reading as I've never read that either! So many books, so little time!  |
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Post by brassylassy on May 6, 2010 1:00:14 GMT -5
ok, Heart of Darkness was one of my least favorite of the "required reading" books.... it has to be the LOOOONgest short book in history.
I am currently re-reading 1984 with my 9th grader, and Black beauty with my 3rd grader:-] and sometimes we read Shakespeare aloud in the evenings for fun....
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Post by adcooper on May 6, 2010 8:00:30 GMT -5
Heart of Darkness--ugh. But filly, how cool that you're reading with your students! I agree, it's one of my least favorite required books, right up there with just about anything by DH Lawrence. I was reading Women in Love as an undergrad and was totally bamboozled. So I went to see my professor for help and he gave me an incomprehensible lecture for about 20 minutes that sounded profound but left me thinking I was probably too dumb to go to college since I couldn't make any sense of it. I later learned that he was in the early stages of dementia, which I found very sad (he'd been a leading Shakespeare scholar) but also a relief (I wasn't totally clueless!)
Brassylady, what do you think of Black Beauty, now that you're reading it as an adult? I loved it as a kid, but picked it up again a few years ago and was not so impressed.
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Post by samantha on May 6, 2010 8:18:39 GMT -5
I loved Lord of the Flies  I read it once as a freshman in HS since I was doing my BF's paper on it, and then again junior year I believe. I also love To Kill a Mockingbird- I've probably read it a dozen times. I've never read the second one, I didn't even know there was a second!! I liked the Iliad and the Odyssey as well as Beowulf but they all take a while to get adjusted to the language. I'm kind of going through that with this Kristin Lavransdatter book as well.. I really really dislike Steinbeck. I wouldn't read his stuff again if I was being paid. Heart of Darkness was pretty good. Those are my reviews- sorry I don't have any interesting titles to add! |
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I read it once as a freshman in HS since I was doing my BF's paper on it, and then again junior year I believe.