Favorite 'Classic' Novel?

[TripleB]

IYO what is the best 'classic' book you have read?

I wasn't much of a reader growing up...6th grade reading teacher made us read a book and write a book report each week...didn't have any love for reading in school after that.

Anyway, now that I'm 41 I'm going back and reading some of the 'classics' I never read.

Currently reading 'Of Mice and Men' and am enjoying it...probably moreso since I'm not being forced to read it by some mean teacher (did I mention I'm a teacher)?

Just curious as to what your favorite 'classic' novels are.

TripleB

 

[Gugafan_Redux]

Anna Karenina.

 

[max]

Anna Karenina is an excellent one; for me, it's Pride and Prejudice, nudging out the Brothers Karamazov.

I've been more and more interested in Melville (and Moby Dick, of course). Very much a postmodern kind of book. Coover-esque.

 

[CanadianChic]

Anything Jane Austin, although I prefer Pride & Prejudice. Wuthering Heights and The Count of Monte Cristo are also up there. I will also add Jane Eyre to the mix.

 

[scotus]

Anything Jane Austin, although I prefer Pride & Prejudice. Wuthering Heights and The Count of Monte Cristo are also up there. I will also add Jane Eyre to the mix.

Another vote for the Count of Monte Cristo. Go, Dumas!

 

[mozzer]

To Kill A Mockingbird

 

[GavinC360]

To Kill A Mocking bird is one for me too!

 

[woodrow1029]

For me, A Tale of Two Cities was one of my favorites.

 

[max]

You know, Dickens can be VERY engaging!

Bleak House is good, too.

 

[serve and Justin]

My all time favorite book not just for classics is The Great Gatsby. I really enjoyed The Grapes of Wrath as well...

 

[beernutz]

All the books that have been mentioned above are great and well worth reading. I was a pretty big Sherlock Holmes fan when I was a kid but for some reason never read the Professor Challenger series (The Lost World, etc.) also by Conan Doyle. I'm reading them now on my new Kindle 2 and I have to say they are very entertaining and I would highly recommend them. Professor Challenger's putdowns* are hysterical to me and those alone make the books worth reading. Sir Arthur was way ahead of his time imo.

* Edited to include a few examples.
"The sub-species of the human race to which you unfortunately belong has always been below my mental horizon."
"I feel there is reason lurking in you somewhere, so we will patiently grope round for it."
"Ladies and Gentlemen" [when beginning an address to a large hostile crowd at a lecture] "I beg pardon--Ladies, Gentlemen, and Children--I must apologize, I had inadvertently omitted a considerable section of this audience"

 

[Madhoshi22]

Out of all the Dumas books, it had to be Monte Cristo

As for my others, I enjoyed Anna Karenina, and War and Peace

 

[meowmix]

Count of Monte Cristo- by far the best classic I've read.

Must say, Phantom of the Opera (does that count?), Call of the Wild (or anything Jack London to be perfectly honest) and Tale of Two Cities are up there for me.

 

[shell]

All the books that have been mentioned above are great and well worth reading. I was a pretty big Sherlock Holmes fan when I was a kid but for some reason never read the Professor Challenger series (The Lost World, etc.) also by Conan Doyle. I'm reading them now on my new Kindle 2 and I have to say they are very entertaining and I would highly recommend them. Professor Challenger's putdowns* are hysterical to me and those alone make the books worth reading. Sir Arthur was way ahead of his time imo.

* Edited to include a few examples.
"The sub-species of the human race to which you unfortunately belong has always been below my mental horizon."
"I feel there is reason lurking in you somewhere, so we will patiently grope round for it."
"Ladies and Gentlemen" [when beginning an address to a large hostile crowd at a lecture] "I beg pardon--Ladies, Gentlemen, and Children--I must apologize, I had inadvertently omitted a considerable section of this audience"

Oh, goodness, how did I miss these. I was/am a hugh Conan Doyle fan and am not familiar with these. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[dave333]

Call of the Wild is definitely one of my faves, if not my fave.

Other ones I enjoy are Old Man and the Sea, Catcher in the Rye, the Great Gastby, and of Mice and Men.

I like American lit. Though I do enjoy some Shakepeare plays and Wuthering Heights.

 

[ReopeningWed]

I love Beloved by Toni Morrison.
She controls the English language so well, she's like a prime Roger Federer in literature

 

[sh@de]

Count of Monte Cristo was definitely great... To Kill a Mocking Bird as well. I don't know, very difficult to have a definite 'favourite'. There's too many good books!

 

[Steady Eddy]

Cat in the Hat. Been trying to get through that all summer.

 

[goober]

My favorites in high school were Heart of Darkness and Les Miserables.

 

[Steady Eddy]

My favorites in high school were Heart of Darkness and Les Miserables.

What's that mean? You haven't read a book since high school? Admit it.

 

[goober]

What's that mean? You haven't read a book since high school? Admit it.

No it means I haven't read any classics since high school ---> see title of the thread. I stopped reading fiction pretty much after college.

 

[shell]

Cat in the Hat. Been trying to get through that all summer.

Eddy, let us know how you enjoy this series - I think the next one is Green Eggs and Ham :twisted:

 

[Morpheus]

I would add Kafka's "The Trial" or Cervantes' "Quixote" to this impressive list.

If you want a real challenge, may I recommend Dante's Inferno?

(BBB, aren't you an English teacher?)

 

[Steady Eddy]

Eddy, let us know how you enjoy this series - I think the next one is Green Eggs and Ham :twisted:

One book at a time! I do agree with the author of "The Cat in the Hat", though. That snow, snow, snow, really does have to go, go, go.

 

[TripleB]

(BBB, aren't you an English teacher?)

7th grade Math teacher. I ain't got no need for no English!

TripleB

 

[Morpheus]

7th grade Math teacher. I ain't got no need for no English!

TripleB

Then you may enjoy reading the Life of Pi.

 

[Z-Man]

Slaughterhouse 5
Catcher in the Rye
Things Fall Apart
The Old Man and the Sea
A Farewell to Arms
1984
Animal Farm
Brave New World
Lord of the Flies
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Metamorphosis
Frankenstein
Great Expectations
Huckleberry Finn
A Good Man is Hard to Find
Love in the Time of Cholera
Call of the Wild
High Fidelity

You really can't go wrong with any of these. Some are easier reads than others, but it depends on what you like and what you're in the mood for. If I had to pick one, it would be Slaughterhouse 5. That book has it all.

 

[Mdubb23]

Hah-ree Poht-Uh

 

[Rasta]

Lord of the Flies
Red Badge of Courage

 

[charliefedererer]

War and Peace.
Crime and Punishment.
All the King's Men.

 

[TenniseaWilliams]

Science Fiction Classics:
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Ubik by Philip K Dick
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
Vermilion Sands by J. G. Ballard

 

[serve and Justin]

Slaughterhouse 5---good
Catcher in the Rye---good
Things Fall Apart---good
The Old Man and the Sea---long
A Farewell to Arms---ok
1984---slow start
Animal Farm---good if you are interested in the Bolshevik revoultion
Brave New World---never read
Lord of the Flies---never read
To Kill a Mockingbird---bored me
The Metamorphosis---?
Frankenstein---ok for its genre
Great Expectations---great
Huckleberry Finn---great
A Good Man is Hard to Find---never read
Love in the Time of Cholera---good
Call of the Wild---don't be stupid
High Fidelity---didn't John Cusak do that?

You really can't go wrong with any of these. Some are easier reads than others, but it depends on what you like and what you're in the mood for. If I had to pick one, it would be Slaughterhouse 5. That book has it all.

I put my opinion in above

 

[Morpheus]

^^ FYI, "Old Man and the Sea" is a novella -- really short, not long. (You probably could finish it during detention).

 

[Fatmike]

Hyperion - SciFi from Dan Simmons

Dune - SciFi from Frank Herbert

All the Isaac Asimov books, expecially the Foundation serie

3 musqueeters and Monte-Christo Count (Original versions are french)

 

[beernutz]

Oh, goodness, how did I miss these. I was/am a hugh Conan Doyle fan and am not familiar with these. Thanks for the heads up.

They are really very good. I just finished The Lost World and liked it so much I'm immediately starting on the next one called The Poison Belt. There are five of them altogether with The Land of Mist, The Disintegration Machine, and When the World Screamed. If you can stand to read ebooks on your computer you can get the Professor Challenger Omnibus (all 5 books) in mobi format at http://www.mobileread.com/ and read them on your computer with the Mobipocket Reader which is available at that same website. All for free (my favorite price)!

 

[Xisbum]

Science Fiction Classics:
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Ubik by Philip K Dick
Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
Vermilion Sands by J. G. Ballard

Would definitely add Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land to the above SciFi classics. Read it in Jr. High and again as a freshman in college; big leap in understanding - or "grokking" - between readings.

First book I ever read, at 5, was Treasure Island. Remains one of my favorites.

Good thread.

 

[YULitle]

Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged... life changing books

I also enjoyed Kafka's Metamorphosis

 

[jmverdugo]

As a kid I really enjoyed Jack London books, The Call of the Wild and White Fang, also almost everything from Jules Verne kept me awake a lot of entire nights. After that I got hooked up with Latin American Literature 100 años de Soledad, El Tunel, Cronica de una Muerte Anunciada, el amor en los Tiempos del Colera and others. Then as I grow up I read a lot of existencialist writers important mention is La Niebla from Miguel de Unamuno. After that I think the last "classic" I read and enjoyed was The Quiet American.

 

[Z-Man]

For those who enjoyed short stories like Metamorphosis and A Good Man is Hard to Find, I highly recommend any of the Jorge Luis Borghes short story collections. The Aleph is a classic.

 

[Morpheus]

Atlas Shrugged... life changing b

Do not get the paperback edition -- > 1000 pages of 6 pt type!

 

[YULitle]

Do not get the paperback edition -- > 1000 pages of 6 pt type!

Well, I have that and a first edition...

I don't think reading the first edition would help maintain it's value.

 

[max]

Slaughterhouse 5
Catcher in the Rye
Things Fall Apart
The Old Man and the Sea
A Farewell to Arms
1984
Animal Farm
Brave New World
Lord of the Flies
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Metamorphosis
Frankenstein
Great Expectations
Huckleberry Finn
A Good Man is Hard to Find
Love in the Time of Cholera
Call of the Wild
High Fidelity

You really can't go wrong with any of these. Some are easier reads than others, but it depends on what you like and what you're in the mood for. If I had to pick one, it would be Slaughterhouse 5. That book has it all.

This seems like a high schoolers list. Don't forget the more challenging stuff. (Oh, I'll make a definite exception for Love in the Time of Cholera).

 

[fps]

Z-Man- the metamorphosis is more of a short story no? shook me cold though!

wuthering heights. the trial, if that counts (it was actually, apart from first and last chapters, a collection of chapters written for a book, but arranged by kafka's friend max brod). great expectations, for that wonderful ambiguous ending, madame bovary, The Master and Margarita.

Xisbum- i'm staring at Stranger right now it's in a prominent position in a pile of books in my room, weird! great book.

oh, midnight's children, gonna reread that soon it's pretty outstanding. not sure how far we're going from the traditional novel by that point thought.

 

[Steady Eddy]

Slaughterhouse 5
Catcher in the Rye
Things Fall Apart
The Old Man and the Sea
A Farewell to Arms
1984
Animal Farm
Brave New World
Lord of the Flies
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Metamorphosis
Frankenstein
Great Expectations
Huckleberry Finn
A Good Man is Hard to Find
Love in the Time of Cholera
Call of the Wild
High Fidelity

You really can't go wrong with any of these. Some are easier reads than others, but it depends on what you like and what you're in the mood for. If I had to pick one, it would be Slaughterhouse 5. That book has it all.

This seems like a high schoolers list. Don't forget the more challenging stuff. (Oh, I'll make a definite exception for Love in the Time of Cholera).

Novels belong in the category of "challenging stuff"? Sorry, but people actually need to read and understand: mathematics, economics, logic, philosophy, and history. Novels, even the (gag) "great Novels" are just propaganda, Sinclair's "The Jungle" comes to mind. People are just coming to realize that an anecdote does not determine social policy. Not because it is unreliable, (but it has that too), but because of its limited sample size. So what can we say of the novelist who tries to prove matters of social concern through stories/anecdotes, that he dreams up simply to fit his agenda? The reason someone would study a tome by a Russian megalomaniac instead of reading a primer on economics is because the novel is easier. It's just too much trouble to study what matters, so this seems an easy way to intellectualism. But, alas, the liberal arts are only a path to psuedo-intellectualism.

 

[Z-Man]

I'm challenged all day at work, and when not working, I'm challenged by my brilliant wife and devious children. I read a lot of "difficult" books in high school and at UVA, and frankly, I'm over it. At my age (34) you don't read fiction to be baffled, aggrivated, or to grow your intellect. You read for enjoyment. If I want a challenge, I read non-fiction science or history. Honestly, unless you're just trying to make yourself look smart to a bunch of stangers on the internet, who would recommend crap like Virginia Woolf - To the Lighthouse or James Joyce - Ulysses. The best literature--the true classics--are both thought-provoking AND accessable. You can read Slaughterhouse 5 or Lord of the Flies in an afternoon, but you'll think about them for the rest of your life. That's good writing. I'd put Carl Sagan's Dragons of Eden and Jarred Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel in the same category.

 

[TenniseaWilliams]

Novels belong in the category of "challenging stuff"? Sorry, but people actually need to read and understand: mathematics, economics, logic, philosophy, and history. Novels, even the (gag) "great Novels" are just propaganda,
[...]snip[...]
It's just too much trouble to study what matters, so this seems an easy way to intellectualism. But, alas, the liberal arts are only a path to psuedo-intellectualism.

I think you are overreacting to the word liberal.

Liberal arts - noun plural
the studies (as language, philosophy, history, literature, abstract science) in a college or university intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop the general intellectual capacities (as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills.
~Merriam Webster Dictionary

 

[Steady Eddy]

I'm challenged all day at work, and when not working, I'm challenged by my brilliant wife and devious children. I read a lot of "difficult" books in high school and at UVA, and frankly, I'm over it. At my age (34) you don't read fiction to be baffled, aggrivated, or to grow your intellect. You read for enjoyment. If I want a challenge, I read non-fiction science or history.

I know what you mean. I was looking over a book that lists the 100 greatest, or something like that, in chronological order. There's definitely a pattern. During the early 1900's they are mostly books by white males about how much they don't like life in the U.S.A. (Shallow, materialistic people) The critics love that stuff. By the 50's the fashion goes to black males, the harlem renaissance. See, they have a better claim for victimization. Then they discovered there are other ethnicities, like Indians, and women around, who are even more truly victimized by the great satan (that's the U.S. to the rest of us). So you have Toni Morrison, Alice Walker followed by Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club", Asian women trying to keep culture alive in that great wasteland, the U.S. That's catnip to critics, that one couldn't lose.

Honestly, unless you're just trying to make yourself look smart to a bunch of stangers on the internet, who would recommend crap like Virginia Woolf - To the Lighthouse or James Joyce - Ulysses. The best literature--the true classics--are both thought-provoking AND accessable. You can read Slaughterhouse 5 or Lord of the Flies in an afternoon, but you'll think about them for the rest of your life. That's good writing.

I like that part in bold, that's a good criterion.

 

[Steady Eddy]

I think you are overreacting to the word liberal.

Liberal arts - noun plural
the studies (as language, philosophy, history, literature, abstract science) in a college or university intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop the general intellectual capacities (as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills.
~Merriam Webster Dictionary

Um, I don't get upset with cooking instructions that say to "apply liberally". I don't automatically assume that a good estimate should be "conservative". I also don't think that a football player who's a 'weak safety' should lift weights. I know that words can have different meanings and that 'liberal arts' isn't about left-wing politics. I've known many liberal arts majors and I've been dissappointed in that they lack the characteristic they so often claim to have, that is "open mindedness". For example, if they have a strong opinion on nuclear energy, and I suggest that some knowledge of the science involved might be worthwhile, they absolutely refuse to consider the proposition! To them, facts are boring, and they're above that. A good education should inculcate some sense of humility over arrogance.

 

[max]

I don't think anyone's mentioned the really excellent ancients. . . Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics is my favorite book; it's valuable to read Plato's Republic, Gorgias, Timaeus, Symposium and whatever other dialogues look good to you. Try Plutarch, Xenophon and especially I recommend Thucydides' History of the Peloponesian War; simply excellent in many dimensions.

 

[Morpheus]

Novels belong in the category of "challenging stuff"? Sorry, but people actually need to read and understand: mathematics, economics, logic, philosophy, and history. ... The reason someone would study a tome by a Russian megalomaniac instead of reading a primer on economics is because the novel is easier. It's just too much trouble to study what matters, so this seems an easy way to intellectualism. But, alas, the liberal arts are only a path to psuedo-intellectualism.

Spoken like a true math teacher...

(I have a friend who believes all fine arts and social science classes are a waste of tax payer money and, therefore, should not be offered at public universities. He's obviously not a supporter of public television/radio either).