Classics that don’t suck
Our discussion over the past few days about how we keep meaning to read more, and we for sure keep meaning to read all those classics, but some of the classics actually suck (Exhibit A: Ulysses), and so we don’t really want to give up precious hours of our lives for that garbage–
And then Diana’s comment about the Classics That Don’t Suck list–
Leads me to this: What are the classics that don’t actually suck? For all of us readers out there who want to improve ourselves and at the same time enjoy what we’re reading, let’s give each other a little guidance so we know which Barnes & Noble classics we should plunk down our $7.95 for.
I can personally attest that the following classics do not suck, having read and loved them within the past three years:
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
There are more on my list, but let’s hear from you.
Technorati Tags: Reading, Reading Lists, Book Recommendations, Literature, Classic Literature
December 1st, 2006 at 9:03 am
“old yeller”.
December 1st, 2006 at 9:12 am
Is there a book of that? Or are we talking movie? In which case, we can open it up to movies, too. I’m game.
December 1st, 2006 at 9:13 am
Unless you were somehow being sarcastic, which I won’t believe of you, A.
December 1st, 2006 at 9:16 am
Picture of Dorian Gray — Oscar Wilde
December 1st, 2006 at 9:22 am
no robin, that’s the problem with this disney generation. “old yeller” is by fred gibson, copyright 1956 published by harperCLASSICS. sarcastic, me? get real.
December 1st, 2006 at 9:26 am
How are we defining “classic”?
December 1st, 2006 at 9:26 am
East of Eden, but I’ve never read it all the way through. I get distracted by the pretty prose and find myself reading the same passages over and over. But I have ADD, so I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to finish EoE.
December 1st, 2006 at 9:31 am
Love your title of this post;it sounds like the theme of a cable movie channel marathon-”All this month,classics that don’t suck”:)
1)Persuasion by Jane Austen
2)Cousin Bette by Balzac(Balzac is like a aging relative who loves to gossip about the rest of the family and will say the first thing that comes to mind)
3)Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
4)The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
5)The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
And some classic movies:
La Strada
Mrs. Miniver
The Best Years of our Lives
December 1st, 2006 at 9:43 am
Classics that don’t suck:
Paradise Lost by John Milton
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Anything by Edgar Allen Poe
Beowulf by Anonymous
Njal’s Saga by Anonymous
December 1st, 2006 at 9:46 am
Christen asks how we’re defining classic. I guess I’m thinking old, well-known, literary. But maybe it’s just one of those “I know it when I see it” kinds of things. Not very helpful, I know.
Katrina and Lady T, I have to admit that other than Persuasion, I’ve never read any of those. Which is why I’m glad for your input–I’ll add those to my list. Haven’t seen your movies, either, Lady T. Thanks for the suggestions.
Heather, I LOVE East of Eden. You really do need to get to the end, because the discussion about Timshel is the best part of all. You’ll know why when you read it.
Annette, thanks for clearing that up. Yes, I am totally Disneyfied, and proud of it. But if there’s a book out there, I should read that, too.
December 1st, 2006 at 9:59 am
I recently read Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and really enjoyed it.
Also, the best book in all the world is
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:15 am
A university that a lot of my friends go to has begun teaching the Harry Potter series as “classic”, which I would argue is totally valid. A classic is anything that is revolutionary for its time, causes a stir amongst its readers, and I think most importantly, is deemed a classic by those in the literery and educational fields. Cause I know there’s a helluva lot of books out that that are called classics despite sucking hardcore, and only continue to be considered classics because teachers/professors keep saying they are even though they know they suck. Case in point: Moby Dick; The Scarlet Letter.
That said,
The Harry Potter Series
Catcher in the Rye
100 Years of Solitude
Breakfast of Champions
Where the Red Fern Grows (I know you agree with me on this one, Robin)
anything by Mark Twain
Movie wise, my list is way too long.
December 1st, 2006 at 10:47 am
Kimmy, I agree about Jane Eyre. It’s been a long time since I read Rebecca–I’d better go back and do that.
Barry, I love Paradise Lost, too. I’m surprised you included Wuthering Heights–must be you identify with Heathcliff? Moody, wind-swept, etc. But that book was a big influence when I was in high school. Made me want to be tragic and beautiful. (Got over that by now.)
Lizzie, you know I’m all about Where the Red Fern Grows–my absolute favorite dog book, and it still makes me sob my guts out every time I read it, even though I know what’s coming.
I fully agree about Harry Potter. I think J.K. Rowling is the Charles Dickens of our time. Her writing brings in everyone from kid to adult, reader to non-reader, fantasy-lover to non-, etc. I’m glad to hear that college professors are doing right by their students and letting them enjoy what they read, instead of making them read Moby Dick (aarrgg! The suffering!).
December 1st, 2006 at 11:34 am
Lord of the Flies.
A connecticut yankee in king arthurs court.
December 1st, 2006 at 11:56 am
Patrick, have you read either in your adult years? Or are these high school favs? Just curious.
December 1st, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Well, I totally agree with all the Harry Potter fans! I love that series!
One of my all time favories (which really surprises people) is Plath’s The Bell Jar. I love this book!
I also love Vonnegut’s Sirens of Titan.
December 1st, 2006 at 12:56 pm
I loved all of Louisa May Alcott’s books as a kid. I tried to talk my daughters into reading them but they wouldn’t bit. I went back to re-read them and realized how archaic the language sounded. I still loved them anyways.
Did anyone else read “The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew”? I did devour books even back as a kid.
Trixie Belden, Dana sisters, Bobbsey Twins,Cherry Ames & of course Nancy Drew.
Not that I am considering them classics but mine were well read.
December 1st, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Robin,
From your list, I can see that you are one of my “A” students. I will take credit for your list!
Carolyn
December 1st, 2006 at 1:07 pm
Carolyn, you absolutely should take credit! I’ve been working off your reading list for the last three years, and I really appreciate all your ideas! You haven’t steered me wrong once!
readerdiane and Christen, good lists. Can’t say I’ve read any of those except Nancy Drew.
December 1st, 2006 at 1:58 pm
Oh, yeah — Lord of the Flies! Good one, Patrick.
And yes, certainly — I am Heathcliff. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I would also add Vision Quest by Terry Davis, which is of more recent vintage, but is every bit as good as Catcher in the Rye.
December 1st, 2006 at 2:20 pm
Read them? Why would I do that? I just like the titles. They’re ‘Classic’
Diana jogged my memory with her post about Bridge to teaekalfkz,
I love that title, too.
December 1st, 2006 at 2:52 pm
with all these great suggestions, i am so excited about hitting my favorite book store this week end and curling up for a very long time.
December 1st, 2006 at 5:54 pm
Random thought here.
Does anyone else find it interesting that Seaworld raises ticket prices shortly after spectators witness a killer whale attack a trainer?
I mean, I’d pay more to see that.
December 1st, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Is that true? (Not that you’d pay more–I’m sure you would–but the rest of it?)
December 1st, 2006 at 7:14 pm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15964896/
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061201/BREAKINGNEWS/61201031/1086
Technically, it’s different Seaworlds, but really, let’s guess what they were thinking. Who doesn’t secretly wish for the whales to attack someone else?
December 1st, 2006 at 8:23 pm
if you have ever been subjected to “shamu goes to college” (for real, seaworld, san diego show for many a year) you would wonder why there had not been a killer whale insurrection many, many years ago. there is just so much humiliation any one species can, or, should take. peace out to all shamus, at whatever seaworld facility you may be detained.
December 1st, 2006 at 8:54 pm
Non fiction I’ll do some other time, but fiction, I can *start* with:
The Count of Monte Cristo, Lolita (all from the other post), Frankenstein, Solaris, Clarissa (REALLY long, but oh, so good), Millenium Hall, The Time Machine, Crime and Punishment, The Odyssey (especially the Fitzgerald translation), Persuasion, Emma, and Pride and Prejudice, anything my LM Montgomery (I’m talking to YOU, Robin!) Paradise Lost, The Divine Comedy, The Picture of Dorian Grey, The Magus, and once we start getting into children’s books, I’ll go on all night, so I’ll stop now, but there are plenty more…
December 1st, 2006 at 9:20 pm
Okay, Diana, I hear you. Apparently it’s time in my adult life to make up for the fact that I’ve never read Anne of Green Gables. I hereby pledge to include that on my Christmas book wish list, and to read it sooner rather than later.
I sincerely hope I will feel as enriched as you seem to think I will be. I have to admit that I’m happy my friend Carolyn nagged me into reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a while ago. I’d missed that in my childhood, and felt very rewarded for the correction.
December 2nd, 2006 at 6:17 pm
Anne of Green Gables?
Hold it, hold it. What is this? Are you trying to trick me? Where’s the sports? Is this a kissing book?
December 2nd, 2006 at 6:50 pm
Oh, Patrick, you’ve just made me so happy! (That’s from Princess Bride, for those who didn’t guess.)
December 3rd, 2006 at 7:27 am
Where would the world be without Fred Savage and Columbo?
December 11th, 2006 at 7:21 am
I know I’m coming in late to this one, but sheesh! I don’t believe “Alice in Wonderland” wasn’t mentioned. Nor “The Wizard of Oz” nor “The Secret Garden” yet y’all talked about the Potter books. Oh, and “Lord of the Rings”, and “Grapes of Wrath” and “Treasure Island” and “Gulliver’s Travels” and “The Haunting of Hill House” and “The Idiot” and . . . and . . . and . . . .
Classic SciFi and Fantasy — “Foundation” and “War of the Worlds” and “The Well at the End of the World” and “Slaughterhouse Five”.
December 11th, 2006 at 7:38 am
BJ, thanks for adding your list. You’re such a mega-reader, I always like to see what makes it to the top of the pile.
“The Idiot” completely messed me up when I read it in high school. That book should have come with a warning: Not to be read by moody teenagers.
Thanks for the input.