The Gang of Five
Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => The Arts => Attic Treasures => Topic started by: Saft on March 09, 2009, 04:06:36 PM
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Does anyone else read the Classics?
If so what?
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What do you define as classics? Oliver Twist, Tom Sawyer. The Count of Monte Cristo? Les Miserables?
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Yes exactly that. I should have been more clear, sorry Nick.
I have read:
Oliver Twist
Pride and Prejuduce (Had to for school)
Dracula
Illiad an Odyseey
and a couple of others.
I've also got (bought last week from a book fair on Saturday): Les Miserables and Moby Dick, so I look forward to reading them.
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"From the heart of hell, I stab at thee!" - Captain Ahab :lol:
I've read all of books I've mentioned in my last post,. plus all 3 of Dante's Divine Comedy..
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Out of curiosity; what is Les Miserables like?
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I've some as a kid, some I have not.
I've read quite a few, but not all.
h.g. wells, jules verne, Tom sawyer, huckleberry fin, and some others I may have forgotten.
Listened to Dracula on audiobook I had checked out years ago, dont' recall if I ever read it or not.
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I've read oliver twist last summer. Was definitly interesting :)
Not sure if I have read any other book like that, might have, but I usually forget stuff like that.
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it is outstanding Saft, one of the great workds of literature. it was a huge bestseller in France and in America during the Civil War. it is a story about one man's redemption, from being a convict and outcast, to finding love and family, and peace..
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Sounds fantastic, I can't wait to begin reading it. Thank you Nick.
Other classics I've read are;
The Jungle Book
The Lost world
Sherlock Holmes (which for some reason are listed as classics...)
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Rudyard Kipling, I forgot about him. I read some of his books.
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I've read all of the Sherlock holmes books, my favorite is the Case of the Red-Headed League and the Mary Rusell spinoffs are excellent, The BeeKeepers Apprenctice is my favorite.
Other Favorites of mine are
Around the world in 80 days
David Copperfield
A Christmas Carol(naturally)
Anything by JRR Tolkien
Alice in Wonderland
The Merlin trilogy by Mary Stewart
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Many of the classics you can now download free through project gutenberg since they are public domain, though not all of them.
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I suppose everyone will have an own definition of what a classic is. Mark Twain put it quite nicely:
"Something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read."
As for books I read which I would label classics and which I did read (apart from all those Shakespeare plays) here are those I can think of right now:
The Little Prince
The Neverending Story
1984
Illiad
Odyssey
A large number of modern language editions of Greek, Roman, North, French, English, Germanic, etc. mythology
Most of the Leatherstockings books (The last of the Mohicans etc.)
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Treasure Island
Ivanhoe
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings
1001 Night
All quiet on the western front
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Around the World in Eighty Days
The Blockade Runners
Momo
Ben Hur
Dr. Jekill and Mr. Hyde
Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn
The Three Musketeers
Robin Hood
Fahrenheit 451
There are many more books which would be called classics over here, but I doubt many of you would have heard of them as they didn't make the leap into the English speaking cultural consciousness (especially books by Karl May for example).
True to Mark Twain's statement there are really several classics I always meant to read, but never got around to.
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By classics, it's meant those books that made it on the top 100 novels of all time. For me a classic is what has withstood the test of time and always gives insight to the human condition. OK, some classics I've read from junior high on:
Every major Dickens novel
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
Silas Marner
Odyssey
Illiad
All Shakespeare's major plays in high school -- and even more in college
To Kill a Mockingbird
Every novel & short story Mark Twain wrote
Lord of the Flies, 1984, Brave New World, Fahernheit 451, Lord of the Rings...
And the list goes on and on... There was lots of classic non-fiction I read from 8th grade all the way through college and grad school, but far too numerous to list here. FWIW I prefer non-fic over fiction, but I'll always read a good book for fun -- if it's good! :lol:
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Apart from what we read the question what a classic is is really quite interesting. What makes a book a classic? The quality of the book in which respect? How old does a book have to be to be a classic (e.g. I don't think many would nowadays call any Harry Potter book a classic, but I'm quite sure that some day they will). Is fame of the book or the author required to make a book a classic?
I read some books which may be labeled classics but which seemed so utterly boring, and pointless, and bare of real substance to me that I did not include them on the list above famous authors or not.
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A Classic is something that stands the test of time and becomes ingrained into the culture. This can happen quicly -"instant " or 'New' classic, or it can take a long time. Uncle Tom's Cabin took decades before it was accepted as a true classic, but it showed the inhumanity of slavery and the ceulty of slaveowners..
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I currently read the Aeneid... in Latin! It's for school but it's still damn cool. And in English.
I have read:
Gulliver's Travels
Midsummer Night's Dream
Christmas Carol
Journey to the Center of the Earth
1984
Animal Farm
Brave New World
Most of the these were for school but I loved them anyways. And to be honest, I started 1984 on my own.
What I did start on my own: Gulliver's Travels, Animal Farm, Don Quixote
Bear in mind I have read much more than what is listed.
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Of Course, and thats true of everyone posting in this thread..Trying to list everything wpould take hours if not days..
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Watchmen made Time Magazine's "Best 100 Novels Since 1920" list. Would that make it a classic? If so, I've read it.
Not counting school,
Taming of the Shrew, Siddartha, Moby Dick, Death of a Salesman, 1984 (read it for school also, but I'd read it previously in 7th grade), Englewood Entropy, and Oedipus trilogy. I'm not counting school assignments or Great Illustrated Classics; both would seriously increase this post length.
Of all these books, I think the overall best book was Siddartha, by Herman Hesse. It's short, but it taught me there can be true redemption through embracing nature. It's a novel for the ages.
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I currently read the Aeneid... in Latin! It's for school but it's still damn cool. And in English.
Which language? Latin or English?
I had to read it too in Latin at school.
Did a presentation on one of the chapters too, but the presentation was in German (we hardly ever actually spoke Latin it school, it was merely translating all the time).
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Another one of my favorites is Milton's Paradise Lost..
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I guess I could name some more
Catcher in the rye
To kill a mocking bird
The secret Garden
The neverending story
The hobbit
Loads of greek myths
Robin Hood
There was this other one but I cant get on it now.
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Adding more:
To Kill a mocking bird
The neverending story
Anything by Tolkien
Robin Hood
Treasure Island
Kidnapped
Animal Farm
Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, Midsumer's night's dream.
Goodnight Mr Tom
The Silver Sword
I haven't actually read 'The Secret Garden' but I've seen the BBC television 'drama' version.
Edit I'm rather curious so; Would anyone count Roald Dahl as classics?
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Yes, I would , under "children's classics'. THe Bfg, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, all those qualify.
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So I qualify for them too.
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I loved Roald Dahl's books as a kid.
I've also read Macbeth(and played) and midsummer's nightdream.
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what is your favorite Dahl book Saft?
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I read some of the books done by the author who did charlie and the chocolate factory.
The ones I can remember I read are, Charlie and the Choclate factory, the great glass elevator, I think the other titles were the fantastic mr fox and the 4th one had the name Danny in the title I think.
I listened to paradise lost ages ago on an audio cassette I had checked out.
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Dahl started work on a third Charlie book."Charlie at the White House" but never finished it.. and that book was called "Danny the Champion of the World"
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As for Shakespeare works I must admit that I did not read them on my own accord :p but there are some which I certainly don't regret to have read. Last years final oral exam in Anglistics was mainly about Shakespeare.
The works of him I read are
Julius Caesar
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummernight's Dream
The Taming of the Shrew
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Twelfth Night, or what you will
Comedy of Errors
Measure for Measure
The Merchant of Venice
Much Ado about Nothing
Richard II
Henry IV, part 1
Henry IV, part 2
Henry V
Henry VI, part 1
Henry VI, part 2
Henry VI, part 3
Richard III
Curiously I never read Hamlet or Macbeth even though they are among the most famous of his works.
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I've read some of those, my favorite was Hamlet..
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Once one figures out the who is who in a world in which everybody's first name is Henry, Richard, or Edward and in which at the same time people may be referred to by four different names Shakespeare's histories are quite interesting. His Richard III. may not be historically accurate, but one of the most impressife villains ever in literature.
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His histories were more about entertainment than historical accuracy...he was not above connectings James the 1st to the line of kings spoken of in Macbeth.
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I agree with the fact that Shakespeare's 'Histories' were more about entertainment than historical accuracy. That's why, I tend to avoid them (with the exception of Macbeth).
If I remember; one of the scenes of Richard III was never played infront/during Queen Elizabeth I's reign because she feared that her throne would be stolen from her. (That was a simple wording, one thing about a cold is that I tend to loose certain wordings....)
As to my favourite Road Dahl, that's difficult. I enjoyed: The Fantastic Mr Fox, The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate factory and Matilda.
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The Fantastic Mr. Fox will be made into a film, which is good news..
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That could be interesting, depending on if they stay close to the book or stray from it a lot.
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From what I've read Its going to stick very close to the book..
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So no changing things like, we have to put in a woman with large breasts to give the guy someone to look at, a muscle man to give the women someone to look at, lots of explosions to keep everyone happy, a high body count for the same reason, ect.
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no, this is ultimately a children's story, where good truimphs over evil, abnd those who do bad things get punished.. particularly bratty children.
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unlike rl where it is often the opposite.
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Yes, which is one reason why people love these books..
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unlike the majority who prefer things as I said before.
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There is always a place for well-written stories, unlike the usual "blockbusters, which contain lots of expolsions, scantily clad women, and virtuallly no plot to speak off.
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Sounds great Nick. Any idea when it is released?
What does rl mean?
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rl is short for "real life" as for when its coming out, I think next year, but I'm not certain..
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Thank you Nick, I don't understand these acronyms...
As to when it's coming out, if it's next year that's great.
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Wow, what an impressive list of great reads. OK, how about some classic non-fiction? Same as for fiction, classic non-fic stands the test of time and examines the human condition. One thing stands out: Somehow the non-fic actually changes history, society, and culture. It can even change attitudes towards people and things deemed "different" years ago. While it's heavy on women's and African American studies (Hey I studied sociology, history, and education :lol ), this is a partial list of personally favorite classic non-fiction: :)
The Prince
Up from Slavery
The Souls of Black Folk -- WEB Dubois
David Walker's Appeal (very early abolitionist work)
The Jungle -- Upton Sinclair
The Wealth of Nations
Silent Spring
The Feminine Mystique
Why We Can't Wait -- MLK, Jr.
Autobiography of Malcolm X
Passages - Gail Sheehy
Roots
Working (any book by Studs Terkel is a joy to read)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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I currently read the Aeneid... in Latin! It's for school but it's still damn cool. And in English.
Which language? Latin or English?
I had to read it too in Latin at school.
Did a presentation on one of the chapters too, but the presentation was in German (we hardly ever actually spoke Latin it school, it was merely translating all the time).
Both.
As for non fiction:
Silent Spring
The Hot Zone
The Demon in the Freezer
And some more I can't remember
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I don't know what is a classic, but I've read these few:
Animal Farm
Pride and Prejudice
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The Hobbit
Lord of the Flies
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I've read those:
The Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
The Silmarillion
Watership Down
The Witcher
The Star Diares
Eden
1984
The Three Musketeers
Fahrenheit 451
Animal Farm
Redwall
Aeneid
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I've read Roots. I quite enjoyed it too.
As to Watership down, I've never read the book. Quite frustrating really because I've seen it around.
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Today, I began to read Moby Dick. I'm quite enjoying it. Although I didn't realise it was written as first person narrative.
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That is one of the many books I've not read.
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Moby Dick was made into a Tv movie in 1997, with Patrick Stewart (of 'Star Trek' fame) as Captain Ahab. Gregory Peck, who had played Ahab in a earlier adaptation of the story, played Father Maple in the 97 film, and it was his last film role.
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I'll have to look out for that.
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yes its very well acted. Stewart was trained in Shakespeare..
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You know, I'm beginning to find it rather sad that children today (not all children) no longer read the classics. Or actually read at all.
My therapist has a degree in classical literature, she said that she will lend me many classical classics.
One of them is the Aenid, is that interesting?
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Virgil's Aeneid, a classic. Does she have Beowulf too?
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I'm not sure if she actually has Beowulf.
Although, it wouldn't matter if she did as I've already read it.
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One of them is the Aenid, is that interesting?
It depends. Personally I did not find it quite as interesting than the Illiad and the Odysee, though that may be partly because I read the Aenais in Latin at school. Some parts are quite interesting, but towards the end it got a bit drawn out. Same as the illiad (which traditionally ends with the death of Achill while the later war is told in the Odysee and other saga circles) it ends kind of abruptly though many of the further event could be foreseen. For some reason I found it a bit more difficult to keep track with the names in the Aenais (a problem I never ever had with other sagas even though there were some with many more names involved).
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I prefer the Odyessy myself over the Aenied, although both are classics ..
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I think the one classic novel I liked the most after reading was The War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells.
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I've read 10 Shakespeare plays. The first four were for school, and are bolded.
Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, As You Like It, A Comedy of Errors, and Richard III, not to mention an unknown amount of his sonnets and his will. Richard III was my favorite.
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I've read dozens of classics, including but not limited to:
The Bible
The Odyssey
The Republic
Crito, Meno, Phaedo (trial, imprisonment, and death of Socrates)
Eutyphro (is something good because God commands it, or does God command something because it is good?)
The Laws
Machiavelli's The Prince
The Communist Manifesto (hated it)
Arthur Miller's The Crucible
Parts of the Iliad and the Aeneid.
Romeo and Juliet
Troilus and Cressida
Julius Caesar
Macbeth
Hamlet
Parts of Ovid's Metamorphoses
A Midsummer Night's Dream
The Merchant of Venice
Othello
Henry V
H.G. Wells' The Time Machine
RUR (play which coined the name "robot", and is the influence for every piece of media with insane AIs)
The Twelfth Night
Various Legends of King Arthur, including the Spin-off "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"
The Oedipus plays of Sophocles
The play Medea (it has been twisted by modern interpretations)
The Federalist Papers
Beowulf (easily on the bottom of my list in terms of quality)
The Wealth of Nations
And this is in no particular order.
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I guess the only classic I can think of off the top of my head is one we all know all too well.
A Christmas Carol
Seriously speaking, I'm more into something that's well-written than something like this. Charles Dickens' Ultimate Classic was too vague for my taste. IMO, the many different movie adaptations explain it better.
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Having Read the Man in the Iron Mask which is only the final part of the Musketteers mythology, i find I prefer the Count of Monte Cristo to,, for a number of reason. First the man in the Iron Mask (phillipe) is not even the focus of the book, but rather a character who is not seen again after being imprisomnned by the king, his brother..which occurs not even halfway through the book..