Literary Classics

[Heil Grammatik]

@Heil Grammatik: It's been a while since I've read Catcher in the Rye, but I agree with you on the writing style. Otherwise, I really like how the protagonist is portrayed as the antihero, and how he captures the essence of teen rebellion, angst, and all that good stuff.

That must've been what I liked about it, then xD

Today I started reading this book called One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. I doubt most people here have heard of it. I don't fully understand what it's about yet (the book doesn't have a proper blurb for some reason. Probably because its dust jacket's missing. Frickin' school library), but so far it seems to have something to do with a guy called Shukhov who's stuck in a Stalinist work camp in Siberia for reasons that haven't been explained yet. It seems quite interesting so far even though I've only read up to page thirteen (don't blame me, the text is really small and my friend kept pestering me while I was trying to read it xD) and, as I've said, I don't fully understand what's going on.

 

[+[ b r u t a l ]+]

^ I've heard of it. ;B

It's high time I start reading The Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

And The Count of Monte Cristo was mindblowing. All 508 pages of it.

French literature is so deep and fascinating. <33

Oh yes, and Twelfth Night was very good also.

 

[OldSchoolTama]

^ I know, Victor Hugo is amazing.

@Heil Grammatik: You're right, I've never heard of that one! It sounds really interesting though. I'm gonna have to give that one a go sometime.

 

[+[ b r u t a l ]+]

^ I haven't heard of that. O8

World War-esque things are so interesting though, I might try that.

I'm planning to read Emma next, actually.

 

[OldSchoolTama]

^ Yeah, it's not a very well-known classic, but if you do like wartime novels, I would recommend this one. The movie was pretty good too if you'd rather watch the movie than read the book. I just happened to see the movie before reading the book because it was one of our activities in school one day, back in middle school, before I started getting into the classics. Emma is a good one! Read the book in high school and then saw the movie later (the one with Gweneth Paltrow ). I forgot to mention that I bought Sense and Sensibility while I was at the bookstore too. Jane Austen is pretty awesome. I'm so excited about reading all my books this summer! Besides being a big Tamagotchi and Bath and Body Works (hehe) collector, I'm slowly building up my classics collection (along with other books that I like) so that when I have a home of my own, I could have a room dedicated to these books, shelves and shelves of books in my own private library. :furawatchi:

 

[+[ b r u t a l ]+]

^ With all those books, it sounds like you'll have a very busy summer !

I've heard Emma is rather good too.

It'll be my second time reading it after a span of a few years.

The Black Tulip isn't very well known but it was a really fascinating read.

It's one of the only Dumas books I know of that is centered almost completely outside of France.

 

[XxLe FantomexX]

hmm...lots of books I have not read yet...but I will! One of my alltime favorites is The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux....best book in the world! Kindof confuzing at first, but it gets better...if you get a good translation...the Beir (beihr??) and Leonard Wolf editions are some really good ones...I also am a fan of Edgar Allen Poe...he was Amazing! Wuthering Heights seems interesting...I will have to check it out sometime..

 

[ice mountain]

Ugh! Little Women was so melodramatic! Spare me!

I lovelovelovelove reading classics.

I don't care much for Hemingway, and most of Orwell makes me sick. Nineteen Eighty-Four was excellent, but I was surprised at the amount of sex in that book.

If it's a classic, I'll pretty much enjoy it. Haha.

 

[OldSchoolTama]

@+[ b r u t a l ]+: Yep, definitely a busy summer and looking forward to it too! Oh, and I recently found Emma at the local library, so I was pretty happy about that. Oh, and I'm seriously lacking in Dumas books in my collection, so I'm going to have to fix that. I'll try out The Black Tulip!

@XxLe FantomexX: You know, I've only seen the movie so far and liked it. Is the movie true to the book, in your opinion? Guess I should find out for myself too! I love the music from Phantom of the Opera. Not only do I love singing the music, but it brings back fond memories of when I was in the advanced orchestra in high school. We performed a medley of a lot of the music from Phantom.

@ice mountain: I agree about Hemingway to a certain degree. He has a very distinct and understated writing style. I liked The Old Man and the Sea but never got the chance to read his war novels. Not sure about Orwell because I haven't read many of his works, but Animal Farm has got to be one of my favorites.

 

[OldSchoolTama]

I recently picked up The Call of the Wild and White Fang, by Jack London. Probably will dive into those soon. How's your guys' summer reading going?

 

[MissInnocent]

Quite liked Little Woman, because of how much I could (slightly) relate to the characters. Also just finished reading Anne of Green Gables; best classic book ever. Okay, maybe not ever ever, but you know what I mean.

More-

~ the railway children ('bout halfway through)

~ the secret garden (Just started)

~ Harry Potter (Finished)

~ A Little Princess (Finished and lov'd it)

I'm sure I have a load more classic books stacked in my big bookshelf and the whole series of Lord of the Rings somewhere, but... Meh.

 

[//Shooting S T A R S]

I just finished reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

It was a little slow in the beginning, but overall, it was really good.

 

[B e t h y <3]

I just finished the Great Gatsby. It wasn't as good as everyone says it was. I found it long and tiring. Except for the part where Tom and Jay fought over Daisy. That was interesting.

 

[Ripcurl]

I have read The Scarlett Letter, The Crucible, The Known World, The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, and many others. I have just started Beowulf recently as well. ^o^b

 

[Ripcurl]

I recently picked up The Call of the Wild and White Fang, by Jack London. Probably will dive into those soon. How's your guys' summer reading going?

Oh, White Fang is amazing. Probably one of the best books I have ever read. I definitely recommend it.

 

[OldSchoolTama]

Oh, White Fang is amazing. Probably one of the best books I have ever read. I definitely recommend it.

Oh, that's good to know! Makes me look forward to reading it even more.

My quest to build a library full of classics in my future home is coming along very nicely, hehe. I just picked up a few more from my library's bookstore: Siddhartha, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and As I Lay Dying. I've started Siddhartha.

 

[//Shooting S T A R S]

~ Harry Potter (Finished)

Harry Potter isn't a classic. the latest one is only 2 years old.

 

[SilentButterflies]

Anything by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens is amazing and classical, just because the writers are so well known and their writing style so different from that of today's times.

 

[OldSchoolTama]

Harry Potter isn't a classic. the latest one is only 2 years old.

Alas, it is true, no matter how awesome we think the books are. Maybe in a couple hundred years or something, the Harry Potter books might be considered to be classics, who knows?

Anything by Jane Austen or Charles Dickens is amazing and classical, just because the writers are so well known and their writing style so different from that of today's times.

My favorite by Dickens is A Tale of Two Cities and my favorite by Austen is Pride and Prejudice. I definitely agree that these authors (along with many other classics authors) are pretty amazing.

 

[.:SnazzyPizazz:.]

Yes Pride and Prejudice is definitely one of my favorites by Jane as well as Sense and Sensibility. I've started to read The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. Have you read them? I have to say I'm struggling trying to understand the language a bit.