The Classics

[Anonymous]

A place to share about the Classics you are reading. I know that's a broad term, but I think that's ok!

Like I'm sure is similar for many of you, I've been reading classics for the past 25 years and sometimes I wonder if I've already read all of the best ones! So it would be great if this thread could encompass some of the lesser-known classics as well.

One I read recently is The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope. I'm a big Trollope fan and have already read the Palliser and Barsetshire series, but hadn't yet read this stand alone novel. I really enjoyed it - shows that the uber-wealthy misbehaving with their money is not a new thing. And, as in most Trollope, has some interesting marriage scenarios going on.

[Anonymous]

I love Trollope. I forget how great he is and then I’ll pick up one if his books and have such a good time with it.

[Anonymous]

I love Trollope, too.

Not too long ago I finally read War and Peace, and it is stunning. Just so good. I don’t always love the Russians (I recently tired to read The Brothers Karamazov and couldn’t get into it) but War and Peace is outstanding.

[Anonymous]

Brothers karamazov is wonderful

[Anonymous]

I am having another go at Ulysses by James Joyce. I studied it at college a very long time ago and it mostly went over my head. I don't think I was ready for that. But now I am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love Trollope, too.

Not too long ago I finally read War and Peace, and it is stunning. Just so good. I don’t always love the Russians (I recently tired to read The Brothers Karamazov and couldn’t get into it) but War and Peace is outstanding.

That’s on my reading “bucket list.” I read Anna Karenina this past year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It took a few months for me to read, but I did it. I now have Crime and Punishment on my bedside table, but I keep putting it aside for quicker reads. I do love immersing myself in richly detailed long-ago worlds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love Trollope, too.

Not too long ago I finally read War and Peace, and it is stunning. Just so good. I don’t always love the Russians (I recently tired to read The Brothers Karamazov and couldn’t get into it) but War and Peace is outstanding.

That’s on my reading “bucket list.” I read Anna Karenina this past year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It took a few months for me to read, but I did it. I now have Crime and Punishment on my bedside table, but I keep putting it aside for quicker reads. I do love immersing myself in richly detailed long-ago worlds.

My favorite Russian classics are:
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
War and Peace by Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky
The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov
Dead Souls by Gogol
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman

I had a hard time with Doctor Zhivago, though I think it's because it was a Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. I read their Anna Karenina as a reread and absolutely hated how they did it.

I also had a hard time with Brothers Karamazov, but I may have been too young - in my 20s.

What other Russians should I try?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am having another go at Ulysses by James Joyce. I studied it at college a very long time ago and it mostly went over my head. I don't think I was ready for that. But now I am.

This is one I haven't attempted yet. Some day.

I absolutely love Proust's Remembrance of Lost Time. I read it over a year and I loved it enough to reread it some day, despite it's length.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am having another go at Ulysses by James Joyce. I studied it at college a very long time ago and it mostly went over my head. I don't think I was ready for that. But now I am.

Do yourself a favor and have a copy of the annotated text next to you while you read! For PP who hasn’t attempted it yet, maybe just tell yourself you’ll tackle a chapter at a time and start with Chapter One?

Any Dickens fans out there? The power of his characters is so strong, there are some from years ago that still make me laugh when I just think of them. “Barkis is willing.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am having another go at Ulysses by James Joyce. I studied it at college a very long time ago and it mostly went over my head. I don't think I was ready for that. But now I am.

Do yourself a favor and have a copy of the annotated text next to you while you read! For PP who hasn’t attempted it yet, maybe just tell yourself you’ll tackle a chapter at a time and start with Chapter One?

Any Dickens fans out there? The power of his characters is so strong, there are some from years ago that still make me laugh when I just think of them. “Barkis is willing.”

Yeah I am finding I really don't need an annotated text, but there's a helpful glossary at the back of my edition that's useful for any highly unusual words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love Trollope, too.

Not too long ago I finally read War and Peace, and it is stunning. Just so good. I don’t always love the Russians (I recently tired to read The Brothers Karamazov and couldn’t get into it) but War and Peace is outstanding.

That’s on my reading “bucket list.” I read Anna Karenina this past year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It took a few months for me to read, but I did it. I now have Crime and Punishment on my bedside table, but I keep putting it aside for quicker reads. I do love immersing myself in richly detailed long-ago worlds.

My favorite Russian classics are:
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
War and Peace by Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky
The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov
Dead Souls by Gogol
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman

I had a hard time with Doctor Zhivago, though I think it's because it was a Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. I read their Anna Karenina as a reread and absolutely hated how they did it.

I also had a hard time with Brothers Karamazov, but I may have been too young - in my 20s.

What other Russians should I try?

Interesting... I read Pevear/Volokhonsky's translation of Brothers Karamazov and absolutely loved it. But I found it hard to slog through Constance Garnett's original English translation of Brothers K, which a lot of people favor because of its more formal language. I know there are other translations out there. Maybe someday I'll read one of the others and compare.

[Anonymous]

On a different note, I just read "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and it was so good. The author's mind is so different than my own to have come up with that story.

FYI I watched the movie, and it was different enough to not be like the book at all. It wasn't a bad movie, but it was distressing to me how different it was, psychologically-speaking.

Go for the book!

[Anonymous]

I bought a "surprise" book at an indie bookstore -- you know, where it's wrapped in brown paper and there's a description of the book but you don't know what it is -- and ended up with Sylvia's Lovers, by Elizabeth Gaskell. I read it years ago in grad school and am having fun reading it again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love Trollope, too.

Not too long ago I finally read War and Peace, and it is stunning. Just so good. I don’t always love the Russians (I recently tired to read The Brothers Karamazov and couldn’t get into it) but War and Peace is outstanding.

That’s on my reading “bucket list.” I read Anna Karenina this past year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It took a few months for me to read, but I did it. I now have Crime and Punishment on my bedside table, but I keep putting it aside for quicker reads. I do love immersing myself in richly detailed long-ago worlds.

My favorite Russian classics are:
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
War and Peace by Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky
The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov
Dead Souls by Gogol
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman

I had a hard time with Doctor Zhivago, though I think it's because it was a Pevear and Volokhonsky translation. I read their Anna Karenina as a reread and absolutely hated how they did it.

I also had a hard time with Brothers Karamazov, but I may have been too young - in my 20s.

What other Russians should I try?

Interesting... I read Pevear/Volokhonsky's translation of Brothers Karamazov and absolutely loved it. But I found it hard to slog through Constance Garnett's original English translation of Brothers K, which a lot of people favor because of its more formal language. I know there are other translations out there. Maybe someday I'll read one of the others and compare.

Thanks for the recommendation - I just downloaded the Pevear translation of Brothers K. May try to get it from the library to read on paper, if they have that version.

I recommend Somerset Maugham. Of Human Bondage or Razor’s Edge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love Trollope. I forget how great he is and then I’ll pick up one if his books and have such a good time with it.

Listen to his books narrated by Timothy West- sublime.