Somehow, I missed Weekly Geeks last week. Dang. Oh, well. I'm here this week, and I'm a big fan of the Classics.
In the third Weekly Geeks of 2009, let's have fun with the classics. For our purposes, I'm defining a classic as anything written over 100 years ago and still in print.
How do you feel about classic literature? Are you intimidated by it? Love it? Not sure because you never actually tried it? Don't get why anyone reads anything else? Which classics, if any, have you truly loved? Which would you recommend for someone who has very little experience reading older books?
I used to be intimidated by The Classics. I don't know why either. I guess maybe it was all so unfamiliar. The language, the customs, the times. Just not anything I thought I could get used to....but I was wrong.
One day (before I joined a "Classics" Book Club), I decided I was reading too much garbage. So I went on a Classics Kick. The first book I picked up was the Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. What a fantastic book!! Witty and fun...full of adventure. Everything a book should be.
My favorite classics are all tales of adventure: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo to name just two. Both are huge tomes, but such wonderful stories!!
I've never been a big Romance reader, but I did love Jane Erye by Charlotte Bronte and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. And I thought Persuasion by Jane Austin was fantastic as well.
One final Classic.....another one that I consider a favorite....The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Timeless tale, full of wit and adventure. Creepy to boot. Can't go wrong!
A few I've hated.....anything by Henry James and Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence....YUK! But those are all personal opinions. To each his own, right?
Happy Weekly Geeking!!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Weekly Geeks....The Classics Edition
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15 comments:
lovely post, Stephanie! I like how you were afraid at first. When I picked up Middlemarch, I had to take a deep breath - it was my first classic, other than Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, read for fun, not for university. And, I loved it. So now I'm curious to get to others I've been meaning to read. I love how you admit to the ones you don't like - that made me laugh! to each his (or her!) own, is right :-) ....
I missed last weeks as well!
I haven't read any of the ones that you listed in your post! Got to save some good ones for later...right?
what? no dickens?? tsk tsk lol
I really love classics as well, but no matter how many I've read, I always have to work my self up to the task of reading them. I don't care for James either! I haven't read any Lawrence.
I loved The Count of Monte Cristo too. It was my first with the group. I wondered what I was getting into when I saw the size of the book, but I am so glad I read it.
I've been wanting to read some of these for awhile now. Especially The Picture of Dorian Gray. It sounds like a great read :)
I have read many of the classics. The nice thing about them is that they are truly inclusive of all genres, Sherlock Holmes (mystery), War of the Worlds (science fiction), Dracula (horror), Frankenstein (horror) and many others represented the best of their day in all the different types of writing.
Yay for the classics! I find myself in the very weird position of having read two classics out of my first three books of the 2009 (Wizard of Oz and Daisy Miller). I slacked a bit on the classics last year, but I hope to bump things up again this time around. We'll see how it goes! Great choices for your list.
Sons and Lovers put me off D.H. Lawrence forever, I think. I thought he was such a jerk when I read it. I can't even remember why, now! I was 18, I think, so I might feel differently now.
I thought you might "fling" Dorian Gray in there ;)
I love action classics too (though Monte Cristo was MUCH better than Musketeers...). I really ought to read Dorian Gray.
Chris - I always "fling" Dorian Gray in whenever I can!!
Have you ever read The Three Musketeers? Really great, I bet you'd like that one.
I've only read one short story by James which I did like but would like to check out more of his stuff just to see.
thanks you for sharing your favorite classics. I love some of the same ones you do...though I did like Sons and Lovers...
I just picked up The Count of Monte Cristo, so I'm glad to hear all this high praise of it!
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