Now that the kids are almost out of school, I was thinking I might like to read some classic books during the summer. So...I'm looking for suggestions. Now, I want ones that are enjoyable to read, not the horrible ones you remember hating in high school english. To give you an idea of what I'm looking for, I'm listing a few things that I'm already considering reading, and a few of the things I wouldn't consider.
Things I'm considering:
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
To Kill a Mockingbird
Sense and Sensibility
The Great Gatsby
Things I never want to read again:
The Grapes of Wrath
The Good Earth
Native Son
So, please comment with suggested reading material for me.
13 comments:
The Scarlett Pimpernel
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
1984
Lord of the Flies
Little Women
Wuthering Heights
The Count of Monte Cristo
Gone with the Wind
Sense and Sensibility is terrible, have you read it before?
Nope, haven't read it. Liked the movie though.
Maybe I'll skip that one. Or do a 25 page trial run.
Pride and Prejudice
The Importance of Being Earnest
Macbeth (ooh, meaty)
I second Lord of the flies
Also, look on other people's Shelfari pages and see what they've read.
Looking at my shelves, the only one I see that I would actually recommend is Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand. It is not that long - it is actually a play, but much better than any movie that has been made from it. It was originally in French, but the translation must have been skilled because the language is delightfully rich.
My reading list so far this summer isn't quite so ambitious, but interesting. It includes: "I am a Mother" by Jane Clayson Johnson; People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture" by Terry Givens (I feel like I'm talking to Jacob when I read it); "The Survivor Personality" by Al Siebert; and "Plates of Gold: The Book of Mormon Comes Forth" by Matthew B Brown. You can tell how many of these I found at Deseret Book or the BYU Alumni magazine!
Good lists. Jane Eyre comes to mind.
Have you considered "The Law," a complete synopsis by Barbazon? Because *I* am reading now and luh-hu-hu-ving it.
Books are one of my things but I don't read fiction much. Are you only considering fiction? I just read what has been one of my favorite books ever which was The Distang Mirror: The calamitous fourteenth century.
It was all of the cool stuff about the middle ages told in the form of a biography of Eguerand de Coucy.
But that probably sounds a bit boring, like fiction is to me. I agree that Sense and Sensibility is pretty dull, and it is pretty much just like the movie anyway.
Tess of d'Urbervilles is agonizing.
If you are interested in the classic works, I would give some of Shakespeare's plays a go. Henry VIII is one I read recently that was good and most people don't know much about it.
And if you have never read Les Miserables, the book by Hugo, it is pretty good, but you'll want to skip the chapters that go way to in depth into monastic orders.
Sorry distant mirror. Also sorry if there are double posts I am not sure what's going on.
Stewing more on the question I think I would add the fairy tales of Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. These are fairly interesting culturally and are in small bites so if you don't like one you can move on.
And I think one of the reasons behind wanting to read the classics for me would be because they form the base for a lot of common ground. Otherwise it is pretty hard to get into some of them from an enjoyment perspective, at least for me, but after four years as an English major where I had read most of those and a lot others was that I really hate literature.
But I think it will be useful to have read it esp when my kids are in high school and stuff.
This is Mary: I've just read a couple good books that are not "classics" but I really enjoyed them:
The Red Tent: fiction/historical about the life of Dinah from the bible. It's a really good read and immerses you into the lifes of Leah/Rachel the concubines and all of the house of Jacob SUPER INTERESTING.
Charms for the Easy life: Turn of the century novel about 3 generations of strong women. You'd like it I think.
goodreads.com has great info on both of these books so you can check them out. Let me know what you end up reading when I see you in a few weeks!
I'll second the recommendation for goodreads.com
Catch 22.
Post a Comment