What We Are Reading: Classics

Using a very loose definition of 'classics' here - namely, any book written before 1960. I you like the 'oldies but goodies', this is the place to let us know!

On that extremely loose definition, I'm looking forward to spending a great deal of time here!

Good, Liz! I look forward to seeing what you are reading. You will probably find me about the place as well.

As my goal every year is to read more classics (i.e. more than 1 per year and Austen doesn't count), I think that I'll be following this one to get ideas...

Excellent! I have a feeling this is going to be a very good year...

This thread was made for me as I am trying to catch up on the classics that my woeful public education never provided for. Already on deck for next year:

Persuasion by Jane Austen
Emma by Jane Austen
Light in August by William Falkner
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

That'll do for a start. And Austen does count for me.

My top shelf is dedicated to nothing but. I'll be checking in for sure!

For those who might be interested, there is a group read of Jane Austen's six major works, beginning with Sense and Sensibility beginning in January. The thread may be found here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/104774

I just mooched S&S from someone and it's apparently on it's way to me. I'll try to join in if I can.

#9: Good, Ilana!

I just finished Little Women, a classic that deserves to be buried under a rock and A Christmas Carol which was as good as I'd thought it would be.

What a great thread, Stasia! You are simply awesome. My goal for 2011 is to read/reread more of the classics, so this thread is perfect for me.

A few of us just finished a group read of Middlemarch. I think my next one (classic, not group read) will be American fiction, a reread of one of my favorites, Huckleberry Finn. That's the plan for now, but it could change.

#11: What didn't you like about Little Women? Just curious...

#12: Oooh, I just read Huckleberry Finn for the first time not too long ago and liked it so much more than I thought I would - happy (re)reading!

I have the following classics and are going to work them into my 75 this year:
The Mill on the Floss
Les Miserables
Anna Karenina
The Great Gatsby--I tried to read this once, I think I finished, but didn't understand most of it or can't remember what I read..perhaps it deserves a second attempt, maybe not! It's on the bottom of my pile.

I'm such a big complainer about Little Women I won't bore you all here with my views. My very whiny review is on the books main page. Suffice it to say that I thought the book cautioned girls and women to be subservient, hard working, and self denying - sentiments which, aside from hard working, Alcott didn't share but wrote here to make a book that sold. I'm glad for her that she made money, I just hate how she had to do it.

#15: Fair points, all. Thanks for sharing them!

#15--Joyce, I have a completely different take on Little Women. I think think this is a great story of family sacrifice, which was necessary during the war. Louisa May Alcott was already a writer before she penned Little Women, having written for Atlantic Monthly magazine and also written of her war experiences as a nurse who came down with typhoid fever in Hospital Sketches, among others. Alcott grew up influenced by the likes of Thoreau and Hawthorne, who were her neighbors and oft visitors to the Alcott home. She was encouraged to write and act and incorporated that into her books.

I'm toying with the idea of taking Middlemarch with me on my Christmas / New Year holiday - will I get into it and read it or will it just create "bookmiles"? I will of course take a selection of other books to suit every mood and fancy. I remember the year I absolutely HAD to read P&Pand finally hunted down an open book shop on Dec 27 and bought a copy... while I already had 2 copies miles away at home.

edited to add touchstones - it's been a while since my last post!

I always feel that I should read more classics so this is definitely the thread to get me motivated! I have read a few this year and will hopefully read a bit more next year.

This year I decided that I want to read all of Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart series by order of publication. Some of you may be familiar with Germinal, The Belly of Paris and L'Assommoir among others. I went to French high-school and we studied a couple of them, which gave me a taste for Zola but with 20 books in the series, I doubt I'll attempt to read them all in one go as my mother did one summer.

tess_i_am48, have you read about her father Bronson Alcott, a truly controlling, cult leaderish sort of man who would have been very proud of the sentiments expressed in Little Women? I'll just stop there. I may well read her account of her time working in the hospital, also maybe some of her non moralistic stories, but no more of the children's stuff.

Ilana (smiler69)--I'm reading the Rougon-Macquart series in order too. I'd previously read several of the more famous ones (Germinal, L'Assommoir, Nana, Earth), but decided to read/reread them in order. So far I've gotten through the first 4 volumes. We should check in with each other as we progress. Visible Ghost, another LT member, has started a Group called the Series Challenge for 2011, for those taking on series reads, which you might want to check out.

Joyce & Tess: Have either of you read March? It's Little Women from the father's point of view (and definitely *not* a kid's book). Beautifully written.

I mentioned this earlier in the year and I think there were several people interested, but would anyone like to join me for a group read of Seamus Heaney's version of Beowulf?

>4 archerygirl: Same here archerygirl! And so far I have pulled out none for my 2011 challenges. Better get some from the shelves!

#24 Fliss, I'm still interested in a Beowulf group read: I have Beowulf on my list to read in January*, and I was only this morning trying to remember who had suggested the group read.

*If a group read ends up happening in a different month, I will read it whenever the group read is.

#26 Good good! January's still probably OK for me (well, I'm going to be reading lots of tomes over Christmas, which will probably be unfinished, but Beowulf isn't exactly long, so it'll probably be OK!).

Maybe I should set up a group read thread and then people can suggest when they'd like to start?

ETA: OK, I've set one up here...

scaifea, as much as I hated Little Women, that's how much I loved March. In fact it was the reading of March that made me think I might be able to make it through Little Women without gagging on the name Marmee. I rather imagine had Alcott been writing what she wanted instead of what made money, she would have veered more toward March but focusing on the women. Now that would have been a good book.

Howdy! So I am fairly new to LT and this is the first time that I am doing the 75 in 2011 challenge. I am currently reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on my Kindle while doing cardio at the gym. A good many of the classics are free for the Kindle via Amazon so I have 60 classics waiting patiently in the wings.

I recently finished "Around the World in 80 Days" by Jules Vern......I really enjoyed this book so I downloaded his other works. I also finished "Treasure Island" and did the same. :)

Kate

I'm planning on a slow read of Les Miserables, starting in January and hoping to make it through this time round.

avatiakh, just skip over all the "this street used to be that street and that one was something else". That should cut about 300 pages out. You'll love the rest.

>22 arubabookwoman: I've read Nana maybe 3 times so far in my adult life (one of my all-time favourite books) and thought it was about time I get acquainted with the whole family. I'll be starting on La Fortune des Rougons soon. Not sure how many I'll go through this year, but would be fun to catch up with you!

#23, I think I started March right after reading Little Women, and Jo's Boys as an older teen. If I remember correctly, I didn't care for it.......but I'm game to look it over again when I get through the 3 classics and one novel on my very impatient "to do list."

I just received The Count of Monte-Cristo (book 1) from BookMooch today and would love to fit it in this year.

#21...Joyce, guess Bronson Alcott is up for interpretation. He was unorthodox in his theories of education (for his time, they would be normal now), he was a vegetarian long before it was popular, he practiced TM (as did Hawthorne and others). I see a man who followed his dreams and his passions and did not necessarily support his family to the best of his ability. You say controlling, but From the other perspective, Alcott's unique teaching ideas created an environment which produced two famous daughters in different fields, in a time when women were not commonly encouraged to have independent careers.

Joyce, I know what you mean about the name Marmee. I refused to read this book for many, many years - partly because my mother always called her 'Smarmy' (she totally hated LW) - and partly because my granny was always trying to shove that book down my throat. I never read it and bought it only this year because I figure that it is hight time that I finally read this classic. Haven't read it yet, but will when its turn comes.

I'm looking forward to following this thread. I've decided I need to read more classics in 2011 and need some ideas...

#28 & 36: Ha! Indeed, what is going on with "Marmee"? I mean, really, what is that? Can they just not pronoun the word correctly? Is it a dialect thing I don't know about? I'm completely in the dark on this one.

I've realised that I used to have a great optimism about books, and classics in particular. When I was a teen, I'd pick up just about any Great Book I came across, and I'd like to recapture that adventurous feeling. My efforts late in 2010 with the Aeneid and Brothers Karamzov didn't go all that well, but I'm going to look elsewhere. Tally ho! Avaunt!

Cynara, the Odyssy is much more fun, maybe that would get your attention.

Scaifea, in March Marmee is said to be a nickname for Margaret Marie. Thinking that made me much more able to handle the name when I came across it in Little Women. Smarmy, too good, Fourpawz2.

#40: Ha! You'd think I'd remember that, having just recently read that book. Sigh.

Oh, and you're near to giving me fits, claiming that the Odyssey is more fun than the Aeneid. This Latinist can't take that kind of talk! ;)

No one would ever accuse me of being a Latinist. My Latin teacher liked me so much in high school that she kept giving me very undeserved grades. My final semester was A--. Good ol' Mrs. Sheaffer. She was so supportive, I probably should have got a D. At any rate, I did so much more enjoy The Odyssey than the Iliad. Oops, I never even read the Aeneid, sorry, hanging my head in shame.

I liked The Odyssey too! Can't remember if I read the Aeneid :)

#42 & 43: There's an easy way to remedy that: get yourselves a copy of Stanley Lombardo's translation and have at it! (His is the best out there right now.)

Joyce: If everyone were a Latinist, I'd be out of job, so it's all good. :)

Going to a small rural school, the only foreign language available was Spanish. I took 4 years of it, studied at the Univ. of Mexico City for 6 months and then clepped out of it in college, recieving 20 hours of credit for doing nothing. That being said, being a history major, Spanish did me absolutely no good. In fact, that is one of the reasons that I did not go on and attempt a PhD, because I needed a reading knowledge of Latin or Greek. At age 5)(*)(*#)(#*) something, I (I can't say the word) had no desire to spend years studying the language.

#40 - I adore the Odyssey, and get along fine with the Aeneid. I was encouraged that Fagles had come out with an Aeneid translation, but I still can't quite get the point. I had a fascinating conversation with a teacher of Latin that got me to see some new sides to it, but I'm still not what you'd call a fan.

Hey all, I will definately be in here this year. I think I am going to start off the year with Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels.
I think I will be reading a lot of classics this year.

#14: I tried reading Anna Karenina a couple summers back and actually made it almost halfway through. Then life got in the way and I never went back to it. Maybe when I get on another Russian lit kick I'll try again.

I haven't decided which classics I'm going to read this year, but maybe I'll try to clear a couple off the shelf, like Bhagavad Gita or 1001 Arabian Nights. I'm also participating in a speculative fiction challenge and there are a lot speculative fiction books that are classics that I have not read yet.

#48, I found that I could only read1001 Arabian Nights a story at a time. All the stories seemed strangely the same to me and if I kept it to one a day, then I wasn't confused.

Hey, it worked for Scheherazade. :)

49: That is probably a better approach than reading all the stories in two or three sittings. What I'll probably do is read 1001 Arabian Nights bit by bit while I'm reading other stuff. May take six months or so. And that's ok. :)

It seems to me that I would belong mostly in this thread and in non-fiction. But the proof of the pudding will be in the reading.

Robert

Scaifea, I'm about 2/3 of the way through Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable, a great dea of which seems to be crib notes for The Iliad, The Odyssy and The Aenid. Now I see why you like The Aenid, it's definitely as interesting as The Odyssy. I may have to graduate to it from the Cliff Notes. I hadn't realized they were thinking about metempsychosis in those days. It kind of foreshadowed Dante, didn't it? That little bit of knowledge was a nice Christmas present to me.

#48: I read The Bhagavad Gita early this year and thought it was absolutely beautiful.

I am reading The Count of Monte Cristo in January - I will be a reread, but it's been about 10 years.

I am also reading Persuasion by Jane Austen. It's an ebook so it's the one I fall back on when caught somewhere without a book. I am enjoying it so it won't languish, like some ebooks do.

#53: Indeed, Dante didn't make Vergil his Guide for nothin'...

It's good to know that you can teach this old dog a thing or two. I didn't know why Virgil was his guide. It's kind of like that tv commercial, I wonder what else I don't know. It's amazing how ignorant one can find oneself to be.

I was given The Mill on the Floss for Christmas, and The Brothers Karamazov has been burning a hole in my shelf for years. In fact, it was listed as "essential reading" on my very first reading list of my undergraduate degree. I got my Masters degree two weeks ago and I still haven't read it. Perhaps not so essential after all... but certainly time I showed willing and gave it a go.

#58--I also have The Mill on the Floss and The Brothers Karamazov in my TBR pile. I'm almost 60 years old, have 2 masters degrees and so far have survived and done quite well without reading these two books. What does this mean? Congrats btw on your masters!

#36, #38, and others.....

I play in an online euchre league, with real people in real time. My nic in the league is schoolmarm and the Brits commented on how those words are not used in Great Britain. However, we did discuss "marm." They told me that "marm" and even "marmee" is a familiar name for the queen. I know Alcott wasn't British so I'm sure it's purely coincidental.

We read The Count of Monte Cristo back in the 10th grade. It was enjoyable then, and I re-read several years later. I think I enjoyed it even more the second time. I'm sure I'll read it again at some point. I do hope to work in a few classics into this year's reading although I have such a huge TBR pile that I'm not sure which ones will make it.

I donʻt LIKE: I LOVE:

1526::Odyssey

11862::Aeneid

9497494::Caesarʻs 82751::Bellum Civile/ 82751::Civil War

8862440::Lucanʻs " " " " (aka 82751::Pharsalia

1006526::Poema de Mio Cid (Old Spanish, anon.)

38404::Paradise Lost (Well, Books I and Ii anyway)

Shakespeareʻs 10318::Twelfth Night

" 9497494::Julius Caesar

" Othello

" Hamlet

Jonsonʻs 24812::The Alchemist

Coleridgeʻs 8118372::The Rime of the Ancient mariner
and 149903::Kubla Khan

Dickensʻs 7489::David Copperfield
and 2215::Oliver Twist

Tolstoyʻs 995::War and Peace

1729243::Hugoʻs 19485::Les Miserables

Kataevʻs 2176796::The Embezzlers

27044::The Greeks and the Irrational

Joyceʻs 8520::Ulysses

Evansʻs 1515939::Nothing to Pay

Lowellʻs Lord Wearyʻs Castle

L. Perkinsʻs "The Elders of Puʻuwaina" (short story)

Tutuolaʻs The Palm Wine Drinkard

Achebeʻs 43327::No Longer at Ease

G.* Higginsʻs 262002::The Friends of Eddie Coyle
The Diggerʻs Game
and Coganʻs Trade

This list is incomplete, but does have pretty good selections from
the first 4 decades of my reading.

*With all due respect to Jack Higgins, I hope no one thinks
that "my" Higgins was Jack.

Re-reading a collection of plays by my favourite playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan called The School for Scandal and Other Plays.

Reading Hattige; or, The Amours Of The King Of Tamaran, published in 1676, translated into English 1680.

Three of my current reads seem to fall under this category:

I Promessi Sposi (aka The Betrothed): Two lovers are trying, against myriad odds, to get married. I'm about halfway through this one so far and enjoying it, despite all the contemporary political references that are flying right over my head.
Le Morte D'Arthur: Again, about halfway through this one and really liking it, but it's taking me a long time because I just can't read his language very fast at all.
Jude the Obscure: Not very far into this one yet, so I'm not too sure what it's about. So far Jude is a you man from a very small English village who dreams of attending university and moving on to bigger and brighter things. However, he's just met a girl and I get the feeling that his aspirations may change (or be changed for him) very soon...

I've just made a second start on Les Miserables and will be very happy if I finish this, I'm going to read slowly and give myself the next 3 months. Last year I read 40 pages and put it to one side and never went back.

I'm reading my first ebook on my mobile phone when caught away from home without a book. I've chosen The Portrait of Dorian Gray which I've not read before. Too soon to know if I'm liking it. There's that very Wildean tendency for some characters to speak as if they are expecting their provocative words to be repeated as quotable aphorisms.

#67 I've just bought Peter Ackroyd's new book which is a retelling of Malory's Morte D'arthur. I am hoping to read it with my edition of Malory alongside to see how much he has changed it. He spoke in a radio interview recently about Malory's wonderful prose style, but then admitted he has changed it quite a bit to remove some of the circumlocutions and repetitions etc.

Just started Vivia; or, The Secret Of Power by E.D.E.N. Southworth, from 1857. Too soon to say what it's about, but I'm already struck by the extravagance of the language. It's my first Southworth novel (she wrote over 60!), so I don't know if that's typical or not.

I'm not sure it qualifies as a classic under any definition except the one in Post #1, but I'm currently reading Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. So far, I'm quite enjoying it, although I could do with a British slang dictionary from the period as a companion reference. :)

>71 rosalita: Definitely a classic!

BJ and I are reading The Guermantes Way by Marcel Proust - Book #3 in the In Search of Lost Time series. The group read thread is listed on the group home page, if anyone wants to join us!

We just started and are enjoying it so far.

Last year I read quite a few classics and I have always loved the classics though there are some that are just simply beyond me such as: The Odyssy, The Illiad, Moby Dick, though I was finally able to complete it after about 9 attempts. But I read for the first time and greatly enjoyed: Les Miserables, The Count of Monte Cristo (one of my top 10 for 2010), The Three Muskateers, A Light in August, As I Lay Dying and several others.
I am so happy that I stumbled onto this thread. Encouragement is always to be appreciated.
I am starting the New Year off with Emma for my R/L B/C and Sense and Sensibility for the "Austenathon" here on the 75 gig. Also I am reading South Riding although I don't know if that one is a classic but it sure is a door stopper.
Thank you Stacia for setting this up.
P.S.: the plan is that I will be back in Texas sometime in 2011 so will give you a buzz if it happens. My tab this time. LOL!~!

I hope you make it down this way, Belva!

I just finished The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli.

I'm hoping to make my way through a good chunk of books that qualify for this challenge this year, particularly with the number of freebies I can get on my Nook. *waves to the group* Happy reading!

#69 Genny: I'll have to check out Ackroyd's book - thanks for the tip!

#78 You're welcome!

#47: I finished the Palliser novels last year and loved them, particularly The Eustace Diamonds. I have the Barsetshire series on my Kindle, waiting to go, and I'd like to read at least a couple of them this year, and also The Way We Live Now.

But I've decided I also want to read (or at least try to read) Samuel Richardson's Clarissa. I've downloaded it from Project Gutenberg, where it's nine volumes long, and so far I have only looked nervously at the first one. I wonder whether I should get a hard copy (or Kindle copy) with footnotes, but it's hard to judge which would be best. The amazon reviews seem to be the same for every single version they have, so I don't think they've matched them to specific editions, which isn't helpful.

#80 I hope you enjoy the Barsetshire novels. I've read all of them (and love them), but none of the Palliser ones so perhaps I should make a start on those...

>80 susanj67:. Clarissa--OMG, that's one of my favorite books. I have the Penguin edition right here, and in typical Penguin Books fashion, the font is very, very small. Even so, this one is 1499 pages. In school we read the abridged edition, mainly because I think all of us would have refused to even try to tackle the unabridged in one semester. I've always wanted to read the unabridged, which has been sitting on my shelf for over 10 years. This is just me, but if I had to vote for Kindle or not-Kindle for this book, I would vote for not. There are lots of characters in this book, and I would want to be able to flip around in the book, check the notes, etc., which--maybe it's just me--but I have a hard time doing on my Kindle. Whatever you decide, I would say, Enjoy the book! And also, if you are really put off by the length (and who wouldn't be) the abridged edition is really very good.

I want to read more American classics this year, so I'm working on a list that will be either new reads or re-reads. There are certain works that I had to read that I hated, so they won't appear here, of course. The list includes the ridiculous and the sublime, and it's in no particular order. It's also of no particular political persuasion and is not PC. Banned book? It should never happen. Here's a start:

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller (OK, technically it was published in 1961, but--close enough)

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. Seriously, if you haven't encountered this one, it's really a must-read.

Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Another book that doesn't meet the "1960" rule. OK, I'm bad with rules.

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. I have sort of a love/hate relationship with Faulkner.

The Bostonians by Henry James.

From Here to Eternity by James Jones.

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Call of the Wild by Jack London.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. (1963) This was Plath's only novel.

Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter.

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

Native Son by Richard Wright.

I left off Willa Cather: Death Comes for the Archbishop is hugely worthwhile; my experience is that most people haven't read anything of hers. The Professor's House and Saphira and the Slave Girl are also good. I left off O Pioneers! and My Antonia, because if people have read anything of hers, it tends to be one of those.

Lots of good titles on your list, Becky!
--BJ

Plus, let me second Angela on the read of The Guermantes Way. Anyone is welcome to join us.

#82 - labwriter, thanks for looking up the Penguin version! I've just had a "look inside" it on amazon, and I think you're right about the hard copy, not least because Kindle footnotes drive me crackers, clicking back and forth, while in the hard copy they seem to just be at the bottom of the page, which would be easier. OK, it's definitely going on my list for 2011!

That's a great list, Becky. I may join you in one or two of them that are also on my shelves.

You might want to revisit some of the books forced on you during school - sometimes they improve marketly with age - ours, of course!

Becky, that's an interesting list. Idaho participates in the National Endowment for the Arts "Big Read" program and this year everyone's reading Jack London's Call of the Wild so I may try and read that one soon. All I really remember is that I read it as a child but unfortunately nothing much about what it was like.

>86 ffortsa:. Well, good point, except that I was a non-traditional (read: "older")student going back to school, an English major, and even though I read a lot of authors that I really enjoyed, some of the books on the "must read" classics list just did and do leave me cold--things like (oh dear, well, here goes nothing) The Great Gatsby, almost any Hemingway novel (some of his short stories are OK), Moby Dick (well, lots of people feel that way), most of John Steinbeck (although he wasn't "in" when I was studying American lit)--you get the drift. And of course this is just the American stuff. I could do the same thing with an English lit list.

I notice that I left Willa Cather off of the to-read list. From her I would add The Professor's House and Death Comes for the Archbishop. Oh, and Saphira and the Slave Girl is another one of my favorites of hers.

>87 phebj:. Call of the Wild would be a re-read for me, except that I probably read it about 45 years ago or so (yikes--ha), so I can't say I remember all that much about it, except that I'd like to read it again. My son read it when he was in jr. high; I almost read it then, but didn't.

I've just started Beowulf for the group read, and also Trollope's The Small House at Allington.

#67 Amber, I had never heard of I Promessi Sposi, but it sounds interesting. I'll be interested to hear your verdict on that when you've finished it.

Scaifea, you said, regarding Jude the Obscure However, he's just met a girl and I get the feeling that his aspirations may change (or be changed for him) very soon... My chuckle for the day.

#92: So glad to have been of service! :)

#91: Well, don't hold your breath - this one's been pretty slow going for me, which is not saying anything against the book, but a remark about my spare reading time these days. The holidays - yeesh!

ETA: I *am*, however, enjoying it quite a bit so far. The stuff flying over my head isn't hindering the goodness of the underlying story.

I finally finished my fiction read, so it's time for a new one. In the interests of meeting one of my reading goals for 2011, I'm going to read some American classic lit this year, and so the first one is going to be--what else?--a re-read of Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I guess it was Hemingway who said, "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn."

I finished my first classic of the year. Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. I definitely will be reading more from her and a quick summary is over at my thread.

>95 labwriter: Huck Finn is my SO's favorite book of all time. I had a hard time rereading it a few years ago, but tried again this past year and really liked it. I'd give you some insights I got, but I don't want to provide any spoilers. I'll just look forward to your comments.

I spent the week leading up to the January 1 compiling a list of classics I intend to read with a friend this year. First up was The Turn of the Screw (which I very much enjoyed, though I'm still waiting for my friend to finish it so I'm allowed to discuss!); next we're starting Brideshead Revisited. I might crack that one this weekend, if I don't get caught up in something else before then.

EDIT: Here's our proposed list, in no particular order:

The Age of Innocence - Wharton
Maurice - Forster
Emma - Austen
Candide - Voltaire
Tale of Two Cities - Dickens
Pygmalion - Shaw
Mrs Dalloway - Woolf
The Sound and the Fury - Faulkner
Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoyevsky
The Count of Monte Cristo - Dumas
Lolita - Nabokov
The Turn of the Screw - James
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Kesey
Brideshead Revisited - Waugh
The House of Seven Gables - Hawthorne
Jude the Obscure - Hardy
Sister Carrie - Dreiser
The Stranger - Camus
A Doll's House - Ibsen
Rabbit, Run - Updike
Brighton Rock - Greene
Main Street - Lewis
The Adventures of Augie March - Bellow

28> Oh, The Turn of the Screw is one of my favorite books. One of many favorite books.

I just finished Sister Carrie myself, after staying up until 4am last night because the second half of the book was so unputdownable. (I'm sorry, Firefox spellcheck, but that is a word when discussing books.)

I didn't really have much of an idea of what it was about, other than that I expected to like it from comments I'd heard, and it's true! I'm still not really sure what it's about, except that everyone seems to be so unhappy in the end, and yet they were striving so hard for what they thought would make them happy throughout the book. I'll leave more comments in my own thread, rather than spoil.

I'm very glad I got the Norton Critical Edition, too. It's been interesting to read the newspaper items that inspired the big thing that happens midway through the story, and also the other things Dreiser wrote about people that inspired the characters. Plus, his descriptions of Chicago and New York. I haven't got to the critical essays yet, but I'll probably work through them tonight.

>99 keristars:
Ooh, you're making me very excited to read Sister Carrie this year. "Unputdownable" (which Chrome also doesn't recognize as a viable word) is high praise indeed.

I'm very glad I got the Norton Critical Edition

I think it's time you came clean, Keri: you work for Norton, don't you? DON'T YOU!?

101> I'm just a huge fan!

I also adore the Broadview Literary Texts, and would praiset them if I were reading them. I am willing to slum it with Oxford Classics or B&N Classics and I have an embarrassing number of Penguin Classics on my shelves, though. ;) But I refuse to buy any more Signets. I can't stand the way their printing process/standard typeface & margins end up looking. (I want to try some titles from Hesperus, but haven't got around to it yet.)

100> Oh, I don't know. The end of the first half of the book dragged for me, when it was a lot of talk about love relationships and doing wealthy things like theatre and going on drives. But in the very beginning and in the second half, there's a strong plot that made me want to know how the characters would succeed or fail, and hardly any bits that felt tedious. Dreiser is very big on being precise about details and descriptions, which might make the book less interesting to someone else.

#80, 81 I am getting ready to start the first Palliser novel tonight. Definately read the Barset Chronicles. It is well worth it. A lot of people are not very fond of the first one The Warden. It is the shortest, and (IMO) it adds a lot of depth to the rest of the series.I have not read The Way We Live Now, but I have seen the BBC adaptation, which I liked well enough. I think I have it in my library, so maybe I will get to that one this year (or next) ;o)

I agree with you about The Warden, Jen. Apart from its place in the Barset Chronicles and the background it provides, IMO the chapter "A Long Day In London" alone makes it essential reading.

There's going to be a new version of Huckleberry Finn that removes the N word and substitutes it with the word slave. The hope is that removing the "incredibly hurtful" word will allow more people to read the book.
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article...

105> Oh, wow, I'm more than a little bit appalled. How on earth could "slave" deliver the same meaning or impact? It's a shame that a lot of subtleties and even not-so-subtle bits of characterization would be lost because of the change.

But I see the person in charge has already predicted my response:

Gribben has no illusions about the new edition's potential for controversy. "I'm hoping that people will welcome this new option, but I suspect that textual purists will be horrified," he said. "Already, one professor told me that he is very disappointed that I was involved in this."

Also, am I alone or something in not thinking of Huck Finn as a book meant for children? It seems like because it's about a boy, and it's from the 19th century, it's for children to read. I wouldn't dream of reading it out loud to a kid.

You beat me to it, Keri. And I don't see how replacing one incredibly hurtful word with another incredibly hurtful word - which are not by any means interchangeable, either - is going to help.

This came up on another forum, and I suggested that if anyone was intending to read the book, now that it has been brought to their attention, they should get the Mark Twain Library edition. So I'm suggesting it here, too.

http://www.librarything.com/work/10679790/get/10313944

It's the authoritative text with original illustrations and plenty of explanatory notes. Also, excised bits and facsimiles of the original manuscript (always cool to see!). Plus, my copy at least is a decent size and the text isn't tiny, like the red Bantam/Signet I used to have, which was just awful to read with the cheap paper and cruddy type.

#98 Krys: What a wonderful friend to have to read classics with! I'm a wee bit jealous :)

105: Wait until they get their hands on some 19th century British Imperialist literature. Won't someone think of the children?

Krys: I read The Adventures of Augie March not too long ago - I'll be waiting to hear what you think of it...

>105 Citizenjoyce:-108. Thank you so much for bringing this up. I had no idea. This is a thoroughly objectionable idea to me, for one simple reason: It will no longer be the book that Mark Twain wrote. All I can think of is, where does this kind of thing end?

Here are some salient quotes from the article:

"For decades it's been disappearing from the grade school curricula." Well, I say, "Let it." It shouldn't have been in any grade school curricula in the first place. I couldn't agree more with the comment at #106: Huck Finn really isn't a children's book and was never meant to be. I've never understood that confusion, frankly. Tom Sawyer is a great kid's book, but Huck Finn is something entirely different. This new thing will be called The New South Edition, and they plan to combine the two books.

The guy who came up with this idea, Gribben somebody, calls people who disapprove "textual purists." On the other hand, one scholar is comparing him to Thomas Bowdler, the guy who had the bright idea to clean up Shakespeare for family consumption.

Did you also see where the same editors plan to remove the word "Injun"?

The edition I plan to read is the Facsimile Edition with an Introduction by Hamlin Hill. This book not only reproduces the orginal illustrations, but also the original font. It also reproduces the original words--snark.

I was just over at the Twain website--the people who are putting out all of his letters, journals, definitive texts, etc. I think I'm going to look for the Scholarly Edition put out by these people:

The Works of Mark Twain. Volume 8. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Edited by Victor Fischer and Lin Salamo with the late Walter Blair. University of California Press, 2003. Pp. 1204. Cloth 6 x 9".

These kinds of editions tend to be quite expensive when new (the Willa Cather Scholarly Editions set me back $75--each), but I'm thinking I can find a good used copy somewhere. I think it would be worthwhile to find this edition, considering what's coming down the road with the New South thing.

I got a kindle for X-Mas and I've been filling it with out of copyright books, pretty much everything on it is pre-1960. I'm starting with The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which I've been meaning to read for years, I once attempted to learn to read Anglo-Saxon but it didn't take so I'm reading it in English.

Speaking of the Mark Twain site. On another site it was posted that you can read his newly released autobiography there. The thing is huge, so it's nice to have a e option. http://www.marktwainproject.org

And Phocion, "Won't someone think of the children?" Too funny. There seems to be a push to make everything child friendly.

There seems to be a push to make everything child friendly.

I look forward to the Bowlderized Marquis de Sade. We wouldn't want his works to continue offending, well, everyone would we?

And guess what just made its way onto my TBR list? (No, not the Marquis de Sade!)

Hey, guys, I'm sufficiently annoyed about this to propose a group read of the - not unbowdlerised, but ungribbernised - version of Huckleberry Finn. Would people here be interested in that? We could cross-invite members of other classics groups / threads, too.

>117 lyzard:. I have too much on my plate right now to do justice to a group read. However, I hope you do this and I'll follow the thread with great interest.

Lyzard, if you make it for next month, I'm in.

I can absolutely promise it wouldn't be before next month - not in my current state of disorganisation and panic. :)

Disorganization and panic, you sound like a member of LibraryThing.

Home, sweet home.

Re: Huck Finn - the NYT Room for Debate today is on the subject: http://nyti.ms/ekBe0L

I have to say that while I think the change is wrong, stupid, appalling, if it were to a word other than "slave" so that it has the same shocking and uncomfortable meaning as the original, I could see it being used in a special edition for young people. As long as not every edition decided to change it. But to make it easier to teach in high schools, and with notes explaining the change? sure! (I still don't think it should be taught as a children's book, the way the current "slave" discussion seems to be implying it si)

I started The Warden this morning, but only got a couple of chapters read as the traffic was so light (I was on the bus, not endangering myself and others ;-) ) Why does that never happen when I'm standing squeezed in the aisle? It's a few months since I finished the Pallisers, and it's great to get back into the Trollope world-view.

I'm just about to start The Warden as well. We'll have to compare notes!

I am reading Sea Whispers by W.W. Jacobs, published in 1926.

I am reading Can You Forgive Her by Anthony Trollope
Initially published in serial form from Jan. 1864 to Aug. 1865.

I've started As I Lay Dying, which I think can be classified as a classic.

>128 ffortsa:. I'm really happy to see someone reading American lit around here. Maybe it's the people I hang around on the 75 group (who are all wonderful people and great readers, BTW), but it sure seems like American authors (and especially American lit) gets short shrift. But I digress.

As I Lay Dying is a book well worth the effort. If it's your first read, don't get too impatient with it. I went back and looked at my copy and I've underlined and put notes all over the place, something I rarely do in my books. I hope you'll post your thoughts about it as you read. I keep forgetting to go to other threads from this thread to check up on people to see if they're doing that. Actually I guess I'm too busy reading--heh.

Addition: I just looked at your profile and found you're a (former--and I like what you have to say about it) English major and also a systems analyst. I have a couple of English degrees that I went back to school for when I was working as an R.N. I've never regretted the years I spent going to school part-time and reading all those books. My DH works in the same field you do. Right now he's director of development, but he spends all his waking hours away from the job doing--whatever??, I have no idea--I'll just say "stuff" to keep himself current so that when he's done with this management gig he can go back to being an architect, his real love.

I've always admired architects and envied them for the potential scope of their work. Systems work is not unlike that in structure, I think, but I'm fascinated by how architects need to focus on how space works. It's not only the beauty of the structure, but the utility and the emotional effect. To me, designing a building people love to be in, can work or play in - that's my Romantic ideal.

# 126 Ah you’re finally reading Sea Whispers by W. W. Jacobs! I remember having a conversation with you about it last year on my thread when I had reviewed Jacobs’s The Lady of the Barge and Other Stories. Sea Whispers is a hard to find book. When it was published in 1926, Jacobs’s fame was in decline. So only a limited number of copies were published. I am so glad you found it and are finally reading it.

# 124, 125 & 127 So much Trollope talk is making me want to get my copy of his Barchester Towers out of the shelf. Saw another one of his The Chronicles of Barsetshire books, Framley Parsonage, at a second hand book shop yesterday. The book’s condition is not very good. I'm still wondering should I spend my money on it.

131-Porua: Framley Parsonage is my favorite of the series. It is definately worth reading IMO.

Whether or not you want to spend your cash on the book that is bad condition is dependent on whether you keep all your books or if you get rid of them when you are done. Since it is a classic, a lot of editions of the book are not that expensive. Also, if you want to read before you buy, you can likely get an eBook of it free somewhere.

#131: Thanks, Porua.

# 132 Glad to know you like Framley Parsonage. Certainly encourages me to get to it.

Actually I do keep all my books. I prefer to collect and then read classic books. So, I might wait for an inexpensive edition of the book to show up. But then again I may cave and buy the second hand edition if I do feel the urge.

# 133 You’re welcome!

I am bogged down in Book 3 of Gargantua and Pantagruel. I hope to get through it, sometime this year!

I have begun Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann, published in 1901. So far -190 pages- it is accessible and interesting.

Susanj and Ygraine, I hope you're enjoying THe Warden - I love that whole series, and have re-read the Warden a couple of times partly because it is shorter! I must try some other Trollope though...

#137 yes, I loved The Warden. I need to finish a couple of library books before I can start Barchester Towers, but I hope to get to it on the weekend.

I read He Knew He Was Right last year and thought it was great, so you could try that one.

http://www.focusfeatures.com/video/jane_eyre_the_trailer

This is the link to the new Jane Eyre trailer. I think it looks great. I am getting excited about it.

#139 I am also very excited for the new Jane Eyre. If I'm not mistaken there's also supposed to be a new Wuthering Heights coming out later this year.

#98 It's obviously been a while since I've been on this thread Krys, but there are a good dozen titles on your list that I already have and hope to read soon or that I look forward to picking up! I'll be reading The Turn of the Screw probably in February.

I just started reading Sense and Sensibility for the group read. I'm only four chapters in but I was so apprehensive about how I'd feel about Jane Austen after hearing how great she all my life, but so far I must say I'm equally impressed.

141> The Turn of the Screw is one of my favorite stories, especially in the dead of winter. :)

Also, I had the same apprehension about Jane Austen, especially since my first attempt to read her work (S&S when I was 12) didn't go so well. But I think that's because I didn't have enough knowledge of the context of her writing or the laws and history of England at that point to be able to properly understand what was going on.

#142 I can't say I know anything about the context, laws or English history, but I do greatly appreciate all the subtlety in her writing that I probably wouldn't have fully comprehended had I read it as a teenager (or maybe I would have, but I'll never know that). To me that's what makes the reading of it so enjoyable as a first-timer because if it weren't for that I think I might find the story insipid. Which is obviously not the case.

I just finished Sense and Sensibility and gave my thoughts over on my thread. I know I finished ahead of schedule, but it was so good I couldn't wait.

Stasia and I are doing a mini group read of Wilkie Collins' The Law and the Lady, and here's the thread for our discussion:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/107545
Anyone can join if they like. :)

Masterpiece Theater is doing a mini series of Downton Abbey. I don't know if that's from a book, but the series starts out wonderfully. I didn't know there was such a thing as an "Entail" in Britain. For a place that's been ruled by queens, one wouldn't expect such restrictions.

143> Oh, yeah, the subtleties, too. But I remember thinking that a lot of things in S&S were boring or weird, because I simply didn't understand enough about what life was like back then. When I read it a second time a few years ago, I knew more about things like the Marriage Act and about what an "entail" is, also manners and fashions, so it was much more vivid. I had read Jane Eyre a few months before Sense & Sensibility and found it much more interesting, but I also discovered that I'd missed a lot of really cool and, yes, subtle parts when I reread it years later (and then a few years after that...I've reread it several times, and I still love that one).

I really need to re-read Jane Eyre and see if it's still my favorite book. Haven't read it in over a decade.

#146 I went and looked up the Marriage Act on wikipedia to see what you were talking about Keri. In Fingersmith it plays a large role because at one point there's the whole question of marrying in another town and the marriage bans and so on, so it all came back to me.

I finally decided to give audiobooks a try and have to say that if I can keep finding good/inexpensive titles, a lot of things are going to get done around the house! So I got Oliver Twist (unabridged) which is over 15 hours of wonderful time when I can rest my eyes and keep my hands busy!

I finished Can You Forgive Her? The first of the Palliser series by Anthony Trollope. It seems like a decent start to the series, but not my favorite Trollope book.

I've finally started Barchester Towers.

I have never read Evelyn Waugh, but would like to. What is recommended that I try first? I took advantage of that "$20 Amazon card for $10" that apparently 1 million other people also purchased, and am itching to use it.

Watch out, Madame Bovary, I'm coming for you!

#151 - Try Decline and Fall. I'm not a huge Waugh fan, but I loved this one.

I really need to get into some Trollope. I've heard such good things, and I enjoy reading the Victorians. Luckily I picked up several of the Barchester series at a library sale.

I've posted my review of Sense and Sensibility. I was going to make it snarkier, but I toned it down so as not to offend anyone. Here it is.

I've started The Deerslayer and am very surprised that I am liking it this time around. I tried reading it back around 2006 and ditched it fairly quickly. But this time it seems like a different book.

Two classics this week, according to this thread's definition, which could scarcely be further from one another: finished All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West, and started The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward by H.P. Lovecraft.

I'm 40% of the way through Barchester Towers, according to my Kindle's location bar, and *really* enjoying it. It's much funnier than the Palliser series, which surprised me because you wouldn't think religion was necessarily funnier than politics, but there are some great characters in it, and I love the tussle over who will be the Bishop of Barchester, a three-way contest that the actual Bishop seems to be losing to his chaplain and his wife ;-) The gruesome Stanhopes are also a delight. I'm so pleased I finally got to this series, and I can see myself reading it right through (famous last words as all the LT recommendations crowd in...)

In other classics news, I found the Penguin Classic version of Clarissa in the bookshop downstairs from my office this morning and it's MASSIVE! You certainly don't realise that from the picture on amazon. It's not just thick, but much wider and taller than a normal book. Not exactly handbag reading. But it's definitely on my list, although it's going to be quite a project.

#151 I'm a lurker at the 75 group, but I couldn't resist recommending Brideshead Revisited to you for your Evelyn Waugh read. I absolutely loved it.

>158 susanj67:. About 10 years ago I read the abridged version of Clarissa in a class and loved it. I have the edition you mention on my shelf, and "one of these days" I'm going to read that one. You're right, it's massive. Good luck with yours.

I'm still making my way through (the 125th anniversary edition of) Huckleberry Finn. I'm to the point where Tom Sawyer and Huck are back together again, so I'm pretty close to being finished. I've enjoyed the maps and explanatory notes that are part of this edition, as well as the original illustrations. I plan to read Finn by Jon Clinch when I'm finished.

I am reading The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov for a group read, I just started it two days ago and have read more than half... I am enjoying it so much! I have been collecting Russian literature for a while and have made it one of my categories in my 11 in 11 challenge so that I can read some books from Mt TBR. Now I am wanting to buy more by Bulgakov to add the the TBR stack (as well as some Pushkin, Goethe etc.,).

Finished and reviewed the classic The Diary of a Nobody. It is better than I had anticipated.

Currently reading Tess of d'Urbervilles. Another step in my ongoing obsession with BBC's the Big Read...

I am in the middle of War and Peace and I have to say that Denisov sound alittle like Elmer Fudd.

I am reading The Woman in White because it was mentioned in The Thirteenth Tale and I am enjoy it SO much. It's hard to put down.

I was just coming in to say that a few of us are starting a group read of War and Peace and have set up a thread for it over here:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/108451

We would love some more readers if anyone's thinking about it!

#164, ALWINN, how far through are you?

#165 Glad you're loving The Woman in White. I received it not too long ago from BookMooch and look forward to it.

#166 Funny because I was actually looking and hoping for a group read now or in the past but couldnt really find one. I am only like 200 pages in so this is great.

But Denisov still sounds like Elmer Fudd.

168- Denisov DOES sound a little like Elmer Fudd, now that you mention it, lol...

Having Finished a genuine classic, All Passion Spent, I have now moved onto a "classic by the definition of this thread only", The Secret Of Trescobell by Joseph Hocking, a mystery from 1931.

Has anyone picked up the new Visual Edition version of Tristam Shandy?

I keep seeing photos and reference to it on design blogs. I'm seriously lusting after it simply because of the playful use of typesetting and color and everything, so it'd be nice to hear a first-hand account of it.

I'm a huge fan of playing around with type and book design. Sometimes I wish I were a wealthy heiress so that I could indulge in it without having to worry about whether creating and publishing such books were actually profitable...

#171 - I'll have to keep an eye out for it. The Penguin Classic version defeated me!

I finished Barchester Towers this morning and adored it, so it's on to book 3 now. My Kindle announced this morning that it was going to do a factory reset, which would have meant losing my Project Gutenberg downloads, but I managed to stop it. I'm still not sure what I pressed by mistake!

Read and reviewed Sarah Orne Jewett’s classic, The Country of the Pointed Firs. Such a gentle, little book!

Scary business, susanj67. Sometimes those machines are out to get us, glad you prevailed - this time.

#172 Glad you enjoyed Barchester Towers so much. I love that series too. I've not read the Palliser ones and was wondering about starting them but hearing you say they are less funny than the Barchester books makes me a bit less keen...

I'll be listening to The Return of the Soldier soon. It's a free recording form LibriVox.org, and both the site and this audiobook were recommended to me by Kerry (aviatakh). Thanks Kerry!

After I finished reading Huckleberry Finn, I read Jon Clinch's Finn (a fabulous 5-star book, IMO). Clinch said that one of his inspirations for the Pap Finn's own "Pap" (the Judge) was Faulkner's Thomas Sutpen in Absalom, Absalom!. So that's what I'm reading next.

I reported here earlier that I would be reading Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop. Since I read only the first chapter in that one before coming upon the Faulkner reference in Clinch, I'm setting Cather's book aside until I finish AA.

I just finished and reviewed Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak and Conquered City by Victor Serge -- both excellent.

I've just started Quicksand by Nella Larsen about a 20 year old, well educated woman of mixed heritage Scandinavian and African American (reminiscent of the author herself), who has ambition and taste in a very caste conscious America.

I've finished Quicksand and Passing by Nella Larsen. She was such a perceptive woman, even though she had such a small output she pointed out a great deal about women, mixed race women and African American culture. Now I'm starting Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

I just finished up Rebecca West's The Return of the Soldier. Terrific book.

I finished and reviewed the really fun Wandering Stars by Sholem Aleichem. What a story-teller! What vivid characters!

So far this year I have read, and thoroughly enjoyed, The Master and Margarita and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. I also finished a re-read of Their Eyes Were Watching God and childrens' classics Peter Pan, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Aesop's Fables.

I am currently in the middle of re-reading Anna Karenina and debating whether to follow through with participating in a group read of Bleak House.

Just started Moby Dick today. No opinion on whether I like it yet or not.

>#184 I can't wait to hear what you think of Moby Dick. I didn't particularly care for it but it's always interesting to hear what people who love it have to say!

I read and reviewed Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns and Matigari by Ngugi wa Thiong'o -- both excellent.

I've just started Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.

I just finished and reviewed the fascinating, multilayered, beautifully written The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier.

I just finished Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, and Anne of the Island. I've never seen any of the TV shows or the movies, so I had no idea what the story was about but was pleasantly surprised. All three books were a great read since they are such a reminder of how simplistic and ideal the world once was. :)

I'm considering to read Middlemarch next, but I'm wondering whether this will be an 'easy' read like Sense & Sensibility or more of a pain like Portrait of a Lady. Anyone knows what I'm in for?

I was unable to get past the first chapter or two of Middlemarch. Your mileage may vary.

190- I just read Middlemarch with the group read here, and I LOVED it.

I think it's divided into 7 or 8 'books'. The first book or two were more difficult, but by the time I got to book #3 I was completely hooked!

However, it WAS a more challenging read than Jane Austen's books, which I've also read and enjoyed.

#190 Middlemarch is slightly more difficult going than Jane Austen, but I really enjoyed it.

#190 Personally I've always found Henry James almost impossible to read, whereas Middlemarch although long and probably a bit meatier than Austen was perfectly readable and very well worth reading. All those who recently did the group read seemed to really love it.

From what I've heard, Henry James falls into that tiny "widely read and widely hated" category. I have a friend who has been reading James for years and has loathed every single book.

Agreed to all of the above.

Middlemarch is more difficult than Jane Austen, but doable and enjoyable.

Jane Austen is fun!

Anne of Green Gables and all the subsequent volumes are wonderful!

Henry James is awful. I read 2 books and stopped while I was ahead.

I forgot to add (and this is a comment I cannot make in general public without getting odd looks)

I am reading War and Peace this year (that is odd look #1, and the assumption that I'm showing off, which all of you know I'm not)
And what strikes me as I read the end of Book 1 is that it is a lot like a Jane Austen novel so far. (odd look #2 - that I would contemplate something I've read beyond just while I'm reading it or watching the movie)

Anyway - in book 1 we've had people at parties gossiping and flirting, we've had intrigue around who is going to inherit the fortune, we have greedy people who assume everyone else is as base as they are.
I'm sure when we get to the War part it will not resemble an Austen novel quite so much.

labwriter, what do you love about Faulkner, and what do you hate? Are these on your list here first reads or rereads? -Laurel

Thanks for the pointers on how difficult Middlemarch is going to be. I think I'll manage it as I somehow managed Portrait of a Lady (but that was probably more because I refuse to give up on books). Good to know as well that the first two 'books' of Middlemarch may be a bit more difficult to get into - then I will definitely push on to the greener pastures ;-). It seems it will be a fun read, too bad I missed the group read though...

#195 I can totally imagine that Henry James falls in that category! The book was very difficult to read and the end left me totally frustrated as well! I guess I would need a book discussion to understand the novel a bit, which may improve it... I also saw one of the films (with Nicole Kidman) but that also didn't really help...

#197 You make War and Peace sound quite interesting, so far I've just been frightened of it, although wanting to tackle it at one point. I have no idea how bad a read this would be. Would you say it's easier than Henry James? By the way, it would be interesting to list authors on difficulty to read. Would Henry James be at the top?

I didn't find Henry James really difficult, just not really interesting. I appreciate good language and having things well phrased - which Middlemarch has!
But I am really driven by the story and the characters. I liked the characters and story of Middlemarch. (I love the characters and humor and goodness of Anne of Green Gables.)

When I finished a Henry James book I did not feel rewarded for the time spent with the book. The characters, the language, and the story just weren't appealing enough.

War and Peace isn't grabbing me much yet with characters or story (I have a long ways to go) but the writing is pretty interesting in the descriptions of the people and some of the scenes.

I actually enjoyed War and Peace as well even though it seems daunting. I may be in the minority but I preferred it to Anna Karenina.

Then I am in that minority with you, for I also enjoyed War and Peace more than Anne Karenina, although I did like both.

Sandy K

I too prefer W&P to AK, but I love both.

#200 indeed, it's not really that the language was too difficult. My main difficulty for Portrait of a Lady was not getting the main character, her actions. I couldn't really understand her choices, which made the book much more difficult to get through.

Well I managed Anna Karenina and quite enjoyed that, so I should definitely take on War and Peace some time soon!

>198 deserthorse:. labwriter, what do you love about Faulkner, and what do you hate? Are these on your list here first reads or rereads? -Laurel

I just finished Absalom, Absalom! yesterday. It was a reread for me, I think the third time. The first time must have been in high school, and IMO no high schooler should be subjected to Absalom; the second time was when I was getting an English Lit degree when I was in my forties. Faulkner himself said that this was the best novel written by an American. He also said that probably only about "10,000" people would ever read it. He never made any money to speak of on his books.

I absolutely loved this book, but there were days when I didn't know if I would make it through to the end. Faulkner reveals the story through three generations of multiple narrators; one of the themes of the book is "truth"--what it is and who knows it. Not only are the narrators telling things they "know" only second or third-hand, but also the reader is left with the distinct idea that each narrator, in his/her own way, is unreliable. The other thing he does in this book is to write in sentences that are pages long--no sentence breaks, no paragraph breaks--no breaks. It's a book that must be read slowly, and someone suggested the best way to do that is to read it out loud. I didn't do that, but I wish now that I had.

If you're interested in reading more of what I had to say about the book, my thread is here.

re: Absalom, Absalom!. If you're interested in the Faulkner book, on my thread at #'s 20-26 see also the discussion about a book called Reading Faulkner: Absalom, Absalom!, by Joseph Urgo.

That is exactly what I remember about the one Faulkner book I read years ago - the first paragraph was one sentence, and it was a fairly long one. Glad to hear you enjoyed Absalom, Absalom. I definitely need to read Faulkner again.

I have just read Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. Both very depressing books and hard to get through. Now I'm embarking on an adventure - in need of a more uplifting book - going Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. See you around.

I hope you like fish.

I just read and reviewed the haunting and brilliant The Vet's Daughter by Barbara Comyns.

Re-read and reviewed the classic spy thriller, The Thirty-Nine Steps. Enjoyed it greatly this time around too.

# 209: I do. Verne made me cheer up again. Nothing like a good adventure.

Just read and reviewed another winner by Barbara Comyns, Our Spoons Came from Woolworths.

I just read and reviewed Wilkie Collins' The Law and the Lady over on my thread.

Here's the link:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/110331

I've created the thread for the Pride and Prejudice group read, which we're officially starting on March 15th: http://www.librarything.com/topic/111738

I just started The Red and The Black, so far interesting.

For those interested, I've set up a thread for a Jane Eyre group read in April: http://www.librarything.com/topic/111969. You'll also find it on the wiki.

I just finished reading the title work from Fantomina, and Other Works by Eliza Haywood (Broadview Literary Text) and it's just as wonderful as I remembered, if not more so! You can read it here, if you like.

There were so many sly remarks and digs, as a part of the social satire, that I'd forgotten. And I had misremembered how the story began - possibly I was mixing it up with another of Haywood's novellas. But it's so wonderful to read a story about a young woman who has agency and control in her relationship and who doesn't let her love interest pull all the strings. And, also, reading between the lines, to have no shame in her enjoyment of sex. (This was written in 1725, after all - it doesn't outright say that she liked it, but I doubt that the main character was putting so much effort into hanging onto Beauplaisir just because she liked the way he flattered her, not after he grows cold THREE different times!)

Thanks for the story, keristars.

I recently finished and reviewed The Time of the Hero by Mario Vargas Llosa, the first novel by one of my favorite authors).

And now I just finished Irretrievable by Theodor Fontane (touchstones not working right now), the story of a failing marriage and the frivolity of the aristocracy in 19th century Germany and Denmark.

It's a mission of mine to reread all of Austen. Recently I finished Northanger Abbey. Someone later pointed me in the direction of the Austenathon thread, so I'm out of order ... but that's not unusual for me!

Enjoyed NA so much more the second time round. My uni reading (LONG ago now), while enjoyable, was a jam-packed, hurry-up-and-finish exercise. Anyway, I loved Austen's biting wit: that empty headedness was the most reliable way to find a man; so if you were a woman, and knew anything, you were better off concealing it!!

>218 keristars: Thanks for the link, Keristars. I've been taking a little dip into 18th century literature in the past couple of months -- Pamela, Shamela and I'm now in the middle of Joseph Andrews. Eliza Haywood is frequently mentioned in the notes and intros. I don't think I've ever read her books.

keristars, I just read Fantomina, and I think the story makes it very plain that the woman enjoyed sex as much as the man. What a surprising find from 1725. How in the world did Eliza Haywood get away with writing such things?

I've been participating in the group read of The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. We're about halfway through and there are some very interesting discussions going on on the spoiler threads.

I'm reading The Mill on the Floss and Love in a Cold Climate right now and they are both very good.
All you guys reading James are scaring me - his stuff sounds so daunting and unenjoyable. I don't think I'll be getting to what I have of his very soon.

I thought the same thing before starting the book, but I am really enjoying it.
--BJ

224> Haywood was fairly revolutionary for the way she broke genre conventions and wrote about ordinary people going about their lives (albeit in interesting ways!), but I don't think the frankness about sex was completely new to her writing. I've read some things coming out of the Restoration period in the late 17th century (such as Aphra Behn), where you can clearly see the seeds that allowed Haywood to write as she did - not that she was all that well-liked or admired for it. As popular as she was, and as much as she could make a living from her writing, she had the same problems that modern writers and artists have when it comes to including sexuality in their work. The Dunciad from Pope was pretty harsh, from what I've seen (haven't read it myself and am not sure I want to).

lyzard has been writing some really good blog posts about the English literary scene in the late 17th and early 18th centuries which give a lot of context to where Haywood was coming from, though she hasn't got to Haywood yet in her reading. (poor lyz!)

also! 223> ivyd, I definitely recommend checking Haywood out, if you get a chance. Aphra Behn, Susanna Centlivre, Penelope Aubin, Delariviere Manning are all other women author names from the late 17th and early 18th centuries that I'm coming across a lot. I've only started dipping my toes into this period of English literature, but I'm really enjoying it. :)

#226 Charlotte, I thought the same thing about Henry James, but then started by reading a small book of his, The Turn of the Screw and The Aspern Papers, two short stories that made me want to read more of his work. I find I'm enjoying his prose very much (much more so than Jane Austen's prose, which is sometimes unintelligible to me). He doesn't broach 'light' topics by any means, but I think there's a lot of satisfaction to be derived from the character studies in his novels. I joined this group read precisely because I thought it would encourage me to read the novel sooner, as otherwise it would probably have perished on my shelves for many more years.

>>228 keristars: Ah, Keri! - I very nearly leapt in and answered that, but I figured that was really your privilege. :)

Haywood was the last female writer for some two hundred years to get away with writing frankly about sex (not to mention suggesting women might - gasp! - enjoy it). Pope's attack on her all but destroyed her career, or that phase of it. "Harsh" is putting it mildly: The Dunciad depicts Haywood as the prize in a literal (excuse me) pissing contest between two rival publishers. It also implies she bore illegitimate children, which was a lie, but which had the desired effect of tearing down her character.

Just finished listening to The Return of the Soldier. That was stunning 5/5. If you like listening to a book while walking, gardening, or whatever, check out LibriVox; it hosts a HUGE catalogue of books in the public domain for free download.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread, but, keristars and lyzard, what was the purpose of Pope's attack on Haywood?

She satirised a friend of his in one of her stories - that on top of the fact that he despised her for writing for "the masses" in the first place, and because he despised fiction generally as a low form of writing. And she was a woman competing (and very successfully) in what he considered a male preserve. So he set out to destroy her, and the only reason he didn't succeed is because she was amazingly resilient and versatile.

Pope ruined her novel-writing career at the time by smearing her character, so she founded and edited the first magazine aimed at a female audience instead (Keri can tell you something about that); and some fifteen years later, she began writing novels again, only in step with the new times she started writing didactic, moral stories instead of the thoroughly immoral (and sexy) ones she'd first made her reputation with.

Wonderful woman. And incredibly gutsy.

Thanks so much, lyzard. I would be shocked at Pope's actions, but they seem very familiar.

I read Fantomina last night, and thought it was delightful!

Thanks, too, for all the background comments. They tie in nicely with other comments I've read, and in combination with actually having read Mrs. Haywood's story, I now have a better understanding of Richardson's and Fielding's digs and their attempts to distinguish their novels from hers.

ETA: The ending surprised me.

>224 Citizenjoyce:
In the 18th Ce. I think you have less of that late-Victorian "women are not much troubled with sexual feeling of any kind" thing and more of the "women are lascivious temptresses who lack the higher brain functions that let us men restrain our passions and write great books" thing.

Re. Pope and Heywood, I don't know much about that particular episode. Pope had some complicated relationships with women, particularly intelligent, literary women (see his love/hate for Lady Wortley Montague). His physical disabilities meant that he wasn't anyone's idea of a swashbuckling young stud, so I think he rather anticipated female laughter -nor would I claim he was innocent of the sexism of the age.

On the other hand, he had female friends (actual friends), and often dealt sensitively and respectfully with a feminine viewpoint in his poems. Compare Swift, whose descriptions of women could be cruel and disgusting.

He could also be vicious when he felt a defense of a friend was called for; Maynard Mack's wonderful biography suggests that his infirmities made him overcompensate with literary aggression.

Anyway, I can easily believe that he shredded her because she'd dared to satirise a friend of his, and that it didn't do much good for her literary reputation in some quarters. Is there a reference to support the assertion that her mention in the Dunciad drove her out of writing novels, or to suggest that he targeted her simply because she was a woman?

The terms of his attack are misogynistic, certainly, and I don't care to defend them, or him - but he was not a two-dimensional Enlightenment-era woman-hater.

Oh, yes. There are any number of works out there dealing with this incident - really, anything about Pope or anything about Haywood will talk about it, although the perspective varies, of course. Sadly, for about two hundred years this was really all Haywood was known for. Like Aphra Behn, her writing got buried under the shifting morals of the 18th century, and again like Behn, it's only recently that she's begun to be reassessed just as a writer.

Keri and co., you've really made me want to discover Eliza Haywood. I've not delved into books from that period in history, much less so women authors and I'm very intrigued. Sadly, I just checked and there's NOTHING by her or any of the other authors Keri mentioned at our library system. They had books about Aphra Behn, but that's about it. Guess I'll have to wishlist them on BookMooch...

For those interested, I've posted the Austenathon Main Thread, which can also be found on the 75ers wiki page. It gives you the proposed reading schedule and links to ongoing threads.

I'm still mired in book 4 of Gargantua Pantagruel. Must...stop...getting...distracted.

Read and reviewed one of Charles Dickens’ Christmas stories Mrs Lirriper's Lodgings. Nice and enjoyable book. Now on to its sequel Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy.

Am now six chapters into Virginia Woolf's Night and Day. This is another audiobook; very enjoyable. Haven't read Woolf previously, so her humour is a nice surprise : ). Also behind in my Austen reading, so this afternoon is dedicated to Pride and Prejudice.

@238 Thanks again for the main Austen thread; very helpful!

I read Jane Eyre and Slaughter-house 5 this week and loved it!

What a week! I love both those books, in different ways.

I'm a few chapters into Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth. Enjoyable! It's my first experience with her.

Finished Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy by Charles Dickens, the sequel to Mrs Lirriper's Lodgings. Wish there were more Mrs. Lirriper stories.

I enjoyed reading these two Dickens Christmas stories. Now I’m going to look for more of them.

Gee, I have a complete set of Dickens on my shelf. It was a gift to my mother on her engagement - but alas, she hated Dickens. The spines are beginning to fall off, but it's real letterpress - lovely.

Anyway, that means I must have these stories on my shelf, but I've never read them. Lovely - thanks for talking about them.

This is just a random book-construction question - I wonder what makes the spine fall off an unread book?

I think the spine material got very dry. It's about 70 years old, and I don't imagine it's leather. It severed exactly at the corners. The book binding still holds together, however, and the pages are not yellowed at all. It was the volume I was reading at the time - hm - maybe Bleak House?

I'm nearly at the end of Nicholas Nickelby. Dickens is one of those authors that I'm always hesitant to pick up for some reason, but when I do I always enjoy him much more than I think I'm going to.

# 246 You're welcome! I do love talking about relatively unknown books. Bringing them to everyone’s attention makes me happy. :-)

My mom got Pride and Prejudice as a wedding gift. She never read it either. 13 years later, I read it and loved it. It was my first Jane Austen book. She's been one of my favourite authors ever since.

Starting Out of Africa, Isak Dinesen. Prose looks beautiful so far. It begins, "I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of Ngong Hills..." and immediately I could hear Meryl Streep saying these words in the movie; she was so fab in that! The book looks up to the task, going on first impressions.

Downloaded Bleak House, Project Gutenberg edition for my ereader. Looks LONG ... but it gets rave reviews.

Finishing up audiobook Night and Day, Virginia Woolf.

251- I really enjoyed Bleak House. It IS very long, and in the beginning so many different characters are introduced that it's impossible to keep track of them all. But toward the middle and end, the separate threads all come together and it really gets interesting. And there's an element of mystery woven throughout that I really loved. Hope you like it!

I finished reading Portrait of a Lady in March (loved it) and am now getting back to Great Expectations. I am hoping to read either Jane Eyre or The Age of Innocence (actually both are re-reads) in April, but haven't decided which one. I'm not sure I will have time for both.

I am currently enjoying the adventures of Mr Pickwick, Mr Snodgrass, Mr Tupman and Mr Winkle in The Pickwick Papers.

I am currently reading The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope.

ahhhhhh You must be in the group reads. That is where I read Portrait of a Lady. I also read Great Expectations last month and enjoyed both very much. Not sure which direction I am going to head to next. Been thinking The Hunchback of Nortre Dame maybe....

I've just read The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot and was surprised by how much I've enjoyed it. I'd previously started it twice and it hadn't grabbed me on either occasion, but this time around I loved it. More George Eliot for me soon, I think.

I'm reading Oldtown Folks by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Love it.

>251 lit_chick:, 252. Bleak House is my favorite Dickens--hands down. I read it in a lit class with a professor who was one of my favs, and I'm really glad I had that sort of backup because Dickens does some "unexpected" things in this book. It's worth the time you're willing to give to it, IMO.

@258 More encouragement for Bleak House : ). I know exactly what you mean about a professor who can make a work come alive. I studied The Canterbury Tales with one of those rare gems -- the five star rating I gave the Tales is really a shout-out to him.

I, too, am reading Oldtown Folks (Hi, Becky!) and am still reading The Mill on the Floss. TMotF is not getting read as quickly as I would like, but that's because I am trying to read to many other things at the same time. but, I agree with you Ygraine - it's very, very good.
I finished Bleak House a couple, three years ago and it was a relief. Can't say it was my favorite Dickens. That would have to be Our Mutual Friend, which I've been meaning to re-read for the longest time.

I've read and reviewed The Fierce and Beautiful World and Soul and Other Stories, both by Andrey Platonov, a Russian writer of the Soviet era. Both collections include the same novella and many of the same stories, but the translator of the second collection, Soul and Other Stories, had access to the full versions, rather than the censored versions, of the texts. Platonov is an exceptional writer.

249> I feel exactly the same way about Dickens. I need to read another Dickens this year.

I recently finished Elizabeth Taylor's The Soul of Kindness, which was the first I've read of her. I very much enjoyed it.

I picked up The Nose by Nicolai Gogol
last night and I have to say what a fun, witty little piece that was. Thinking maybe I can use that excuse next time I call in sick. Yea this is Ann I am unable to make it into the office this morning because when I woke up this morning my nose is missing off my face. But I did see it dress very stylish down the street soooooooooo.

Yea for some reason something is telling me that would not be a good idea.

263- Lol...

About to start A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf.

I've read and reviewed three early George Smiley novels by John le Carré: Call for the Dead, A Murder of Quality, and The Looking Glass War. While not up to le Carré's best, all are interesting, each in its own way and all contain elements of the themes le Carré explores with more complexity in his later works.

For those interested, my review of Jane Eyre can be found right here.

I've just finished Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini. It was excellent!

Getting started on All Quiet on the Western Front.

@269 Oh, I hope you enjoy All Quiet on the Western Front. I finished it just a couple of weeks ago. 5/5 stars.

Found Blackstone Audiobook of The Phantom of the Opera; the reader is muaahhh. I've been aware of the story forever but have read (or listened) to the whole of the novel.

Finished Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther. Quite an engaging book.

I'm listening to Whose Body by Dorothy Sayers, the first of her Peter Wimsey series. It's a good mystery though the narration is fingernails on a blackboard awful.

Eventually, I am going to reread all the Wimseys, which I last read probably in the 70s or early 80s. Thanks for the reminder.

Reading Mansfield Park as part of May/June Austenathon. Join us!

I'm listening to an audiobook of Oliver Twist. Despite it initially feeling very familiar, there's a lot more in the book than in the musical!

I'm on the second Lord Peter Wimsey novel Clouds of Witness published in 1926 and set in England and am wondering what is going on with the extensive use of the word aint by the British upper class. Is this an accurate representation?

I think it was an affectation popular at the time - if I remember, Lord Peter is particularly prone to using it, as well as to dropping final 'g's frequently.

True, I thought it was just his affectation, but I think the police used it on occasion also. Were they just parroting him?

Not sure about the police... I'll try to pay attention to this the next one I read (I'm re-reading my way all through the series, just finished the third one recently).

LPW is such an interesting series. I keep envisioning Cary Grant and Myrna Loy.

Sadly I believe it's taken me this long to get around to my first classic of the year. I've been reading a lot of nonfiction lately, which seems to have bumped classics off the radar.

Anyway, I've finished and posted a review for The Pearl by John Steinbeck.

Just started reading The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. A bit slow starting but i'm looking forward to reading Wharton again. Sadly, it's been a while since i've read a classic that i've enjoyed.

I just read and reviewed the dark satire The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer.

Finished Bleak House and Mansfield Park this weekend -- both excellent reads! Up next: The Stone Diaries (audio) and Annabel (print).

I just started reading Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant. It's incredible what has changed in the world, and what hasn't. I'm really enjoying this book about a young go-getter trying to make his way in the world.

I've finished and posted a review for my 2nd classic of the year, The Picture of Dorian Gray. *Sigh* I really need to read more classics. I've got 2 coming up soon, and I definitely plan on grabbing some more during my next trip to the local library.

I finished my first LPW in which Harriet Vane was introduced, Strong Poison. It's my favorite so far. Now I've started Gaudy Night which definitely does not start of with a bang. In fact it feels much more erudite and philosophical. I hope it will be entertaining too. Many people have told me it's their favorite. of Sayers' mysteries.

Today I am starting Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope. I keep getting waylaid by shiny new things, but this time I'm determined!

I am 77% of the way through The Idiot. This is only my second Dostoevsky after Crime and Punishment and I am really enjoying his intelligence and insight.

I've just started Moby Dick for one of my reading groups. I remember reading it at 2AM when I was in high school, and couldn't wait to see what happened next. So far, taking it slowly, savoring the language and images. Ishmael has just met Queequeg. Wonderful stuff.

eta: can't find the touchstone for the Modern Library edition I have.

Just starting Robinson Crusoe. So far, so good.

Just finished Antonia White's Frost in May, which was a delight, as I expected it to be.

Finished the gothic and gripping Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - and the entertaining Doctor Thorne by Trollope. I liked both a lot - but totally different reading experiences.

Couln't get much more different than Du Maurier and Trollope.... Well, perhaps you could, but still they are worlds apart! I'm glad you enjoyed both.

I have to interrupt my Moby Dick reread to reread Turgenev's Hunting Sketches for next week's discussion. Not really in the mood for that, but I'll soldier on.

eta to fix touchstone, not sure of the edition.

#293 I love both of those too: I'm glad you enjoyed them.

(Note to self: get back to The Small House at Allington ASAP.)

I've started Cannery Row this morning and I'm really liking it so far.

I've thoroughly enjoyed, and reviewed, Favourite Sherlock Holmes Stories: Selected by the Author.

I'm moving from 1 classic to another right now. I've finished and posted a review for Cannery Row by John Steinbeck and I'm about to go start The Time Machine by H. G. Wells right now.

Finished the immensely enjoyable Very Good, Jeeves, a collection of eleven short stories featuring Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse.

I did not enjoy Gaudy Night finding it preachy and more worthy of an essay than the classification of a novel; however, I'm still sticking with Dorothy Sayers and have started Unnatural Death.

Wow, there's some good reading going on in this thread right now! :)

I've started Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns. It grabs the reader right from the start.

It's funny just a month ago (post 281) I was posting that I was only just getting to my first classic of the year. Now I'm reading more classics than anything.

I've finished and posted a review for The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck.

Currently rereading and enjoying Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

I finished Unnatural Death, another good Dorothy Sayers LPW. For some reason I think he said aint only one time in this book. Is he getting better? Next up is the Harriet Vane I should have read before Gaudy Night, Have His Carcase. After that I think I'll do Busman's Honeymoon then maybe I'll give LPW a rest for a while.

Ah, why have I been neglecting the classics for so long? Reading The Plague by Albert Camus and loving it. :)

I'm so glad to see you enjoying the classics so much Stephen. After all there are usually very good reasons for why these works have endured, and of course, like so many other things, there is something for everyone.

I've been reading The Conquest of Plassans by Émile Zola and absolutely loving it. He's so good at portraying people being very bad in so many unexpected ways. Sometimes it seems like human nature had no secrets for him at all. Makes me all the gladder I decided to take on the whole Rougon-Macquart series.

Definitely, Ilana. Last year I read 9 classics, actually, but they were spaced out throughout the entire year. Right now, I'm reading classic after classic and I'm finding it hard to get interested in anything else. Even nonfiction, which is quite a change!

I just started O Pioneers! by Willa Cather and am loving it so far.

Read a rather disappointing collection of Victorian horror by Amelia B. Edwards called The Phantom Coach and Other Stories. Hope my next read is better than this!

#309 I go through phases with my reading sometimes too (like with everything else). I have yet to go through a non-fiction phase though. Admittedly, I have several non-fiction books that look amazing on my TBR, but classics will always be a regular part of my book diet.

2 review posed for 2 recently-read classics, The Plague by Albert Camus and The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde. Loved the Wilde, but the Camus was rather uninteresting.

Finished re-reading the classic Rebecca.

I've finished and reviewed another wonderfully perceptive novel by Barbara Comyns, The Skin Chairs.

I am taking another crack at Moby Dick, which I've never managed to read.

AnneDC - Bless your heart! I finally got through it a couple of years ago. It's quite a slog and that's coming from someone who's loved all the other Melville she's read, especially Bartleby and Benito Cereno.

Read the children's classic Anne of Green Gables.

Currently reading Old New York by Edith Wharton and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.

Guess we really should start a new thread since this one is up over 300 posts.

New thread here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/121592