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Classic Books

S

Stephen

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I don't know if all these books are classic's but they are well know. I was just looking for some feedback on them as I'm starting to get back into reading again.

Books I've bought recently but haven't read yet:

Beloved - Toni Morrison
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Emma - Jane Austen
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Books I'm thinking of buying:

The Catcher in the Rye - not sure of author
To Kill a Mocking Bird - Harper Lee
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Our Man in Havana - Graham Greene
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
1984 - George Orwell
Animal Farm - George Orwell
The Screwtape Letters - C.S. Lewis
Money - Martin Amis
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

Any more similiar books you think I should get?

Many Thanks.
 
I've read and recommend all of the books on your to read list but the following which I haven't read:

Our Man in Havana - Graham Greene
The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
Money - Martin Amis
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote

Maybe you should buy In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. I've never read anything like it. It's haunting. Usually my wife makes sure the doors are locked at night, but after reading this book, I can't sleep unless I make sure myself.

It's a true story and a great one. It's also more than just a crime story. It will really make you think about what man is.

Can't say I'm a big fan of Dickens. Maybe you can wrap David Copperfield and give it away for Christmas!

Just kidding, of all Dickens I have read DC is my favorite. There is just something about his style that makes him very difficult for me to get into.
 
These are a few personal favourites:

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Doestoyevski
Lord of the Rings - J.R. Tolkien (which also happens to be our November book of the month)
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

You might be interested in this page. It has links to various lists of what others consider "classics".

Happy reading!

Ell
 
Hi Stephen,

Oooh! How lovely, getting into those books! Another author you might like to try is Henry James, but go with either Washington Square or Portrait of a Lady or even The Turn of the Screw or The Aspern Papers first before The Wings of the Dove or The Golden Bowl. It's been a while since I read a James, and he can take a little getting into, but very worth it.

How's about Doris Lessing? The Golden Notebook is a good start with her, and the series Children of Violence.

I could bang on a lot more, but I won't.

Cheers
 
When I saw the word 'classics' I immediately thought of Robert Louis Stevenson, Jonathan Swift and Charles Dickens. It seems you are aiming for more recent titles *grin*

I recommend 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess. Also, I found the original version of 'Gulliver's Travels' (not the heavily cut childrens version) to be quite a good read. I'm sure Project Gutenberg has Gulliver.

Add Heinlein's 'Stranger in a Strange Land' if you like sci-fi.
 
I'm reading Wuthering Heights right now, and I guess that could be considered a "classic" as well.

I don't really like it though... It's really weird; I wish I could appreciate books from this period more, as I'm sure they're worth it, but I can't seem to bring myself to liking them. :(
 
Dawn, you're right, that was a good link. Thanks a bunch for the heads up. Still it seems that everyone has a different idea about what makes a true classic. I have to agree with letterHead though: Stranger In a Strange Land should be considered a classic, but is it just a SciFi classic? There's also 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Time Machine and a whole raft of others that aren't considered "serious" literature, but were still way ahead of their time. Are they classics just because they're old or because they are timeless pieces of literature? I guess thats why I asked that question.
 
That's why I posed the question in the first place. I guess, pure definition aside, when it comes down to it, "classic" is in the eyes of the beholder (or reader).

Ender's Game comes to mind. It's definitely a SciFi classic. It's even been used in military schools as a reference, if I remember the forward correctly. But is it a true "classic"? I think so, but will a classical literary scholar agree?
 
There are really many definitions to the word 'classic'. It depends on different tastes, I guess. Here's some of my favourites:
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway
Moonfleet - J. Meade Falkner
A 'book' site you might want to visit:
www.fireandwater.com
 
As it happens, Prolixic, I have a degree in Lit. (for whatever that is worth). Like most of the posters here, I take a more liberal view towards what constitutes a "classic". So, here is a list of some books that you might not run across elsewhere:

Victory - Joseph Conrad
Lord Jim - Joseph Conrad
The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
The Good Soldier - Ford Maddox Ford
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
Ficciones - Jorge Luis Borges

I could make this list 3x longer, but that's all that comes to mind immediately. Is there some particular type of book/story that you are interested in?
 
As I have mentioned on the forum before. When I was a lad at school we had to read at least one book per week and then write up a synopsis. The English teacher would then select at random a member of the class to talk about the book and it's author.

One book that sticks in my mind as being one that I thoroughly enjoyed was called "John Halifax, Gentleman".

I cannot remember the author but I think that this book would be classed as one of the "classics".

Does anyone know who the author is and has anyone read it recently, or perhaps like me, not so recently?
 
To go beyond any dictionary definition, I would say that a classic is a book that has no more to prove its value. His author may not be necessarily dead - but it helps. A book which is still being read, outside any publisher's publicity, commercial circuit or affiliated or not critics, may be considered a classic. Individual taste is always there of course; among the classics there are those you like and those you dislike. No obligation about that. E.g, in music, I love Mozart and Schubert and cannot stand Wagner - yet they are all classics.
 
What about 'The Italian' by Ann Radcliffe. I have to to do this book for my English part of my degree and it seems to me to be a masterly gothic romance.
Written in 1797 the last book written by the author.
 
Funes,
you touched a chord. I don't know of too many people who have read and loved the 'Good Soldier'. You became immediately a brother or sister soul. I should re-read it, because it was such a long time ago since the first time.
But how do you keep up with all the yet unknown books and the re-readings?
 
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