Let's Talk Classics

"To Kill a Mockingbird". Is that considered a classic. I love it.

Of Mice and Men. Strangely, I can't STAND Grapes of Wrath, but love that one...

I agree, classics that you decide to read on your own usually seem better than the ones that were "assigned" in school

About a year ago I read "Brideshead Revisited" and I was absolutely enthralled. The writing is so beautiful, and I was totally hooked in the story.

Also: The Sun Also Rises. I really like books from/about the 1920s.

I finished "Lady Chatterley's Lover" by D.H. Lawrence, and enjoyed it, but my favorite by him is "The Rainbow".

And I totally understand about getting into the Classics later, I'm looking forward to reading more soon! I'm looking forward to what other people write down!

Dickens is fabulous, especially some of his lesser-known works. He is a master of creating unique and interesting characters.

Honore de Balzac is another of my favorites.

I like Pearl S. Buck's, The Good Earth. It's a long read but an epic story.

Grapes of Wrath--first time a book ever made me cry. Anything by Thomas Hardy. Dombey and Son by Dickens. Joyce's Dubliners. Lolita. The Secret Agent by Conrad. Good stuff.

I picked up "Main Street" recently by Sinclair Lewis and couldn't put it down! This book which is written in 1920 is about a city woman who got married to a small-town doctor who lived in a small town in Minnesota. She tried so hard to bring culture and change to this village. It was a big struggle for her. She was a gal way ahead of her times. a must read.
I also like Pearl Buck's books alot.
I tried Dicken's and Jane Austin. I find it very hard reading. I need someone to explain it to me. Like "A Tale of Two Cities" loved it when my teacher explained it to us.
I wonder why I can't understand why I find classics so hard to understand. I have no patience for many of them, but I know if I saw the movie or had it explained to me, I would love them.
By the way, I just read "Anna Karena" by Tolstoy. Didn't find it hard to understand. Maybe it has to do with the author! Who knows. What do you think?

The Scarlett Letter

The classics I don't like? Anything by William Faulkner. Much too wordy.

Oh, I forgot about Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. Wow, I could get waaaay carried away too, Karen.

Have you heard of, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" By Dickens...I LOVE it, but be prepared there is no ending, he died before finishing it !!

I love all the Jane Austen books. A couple of summers ago, I read them all back to back. My favorite is "Mansfield Park." I also like Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie." Recently I read "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy and found that good, if not easy reading.

As an adult, I think you bring a lot more to the classics than when I originally read them as a student. It's fun going back and rereading stuff that I remember from school and then see how much richer and more fulfilling it is today.

Yes, Karen, I have read everything Dickens has written. I found it very frustrating to not have the closure of an ending. I'm thinking that there have been authors that have finished the book but I have never read them.