New Dawn goes literary!

[New Dawn]

I started to think that my knowledge in general literature was lower than I could bear with so I have recently started to read some 'classics' in (mostly) the English/American literature. So far I've read 'To kill a mocking bird', 'Great expectation', 'Pride and prejudice' and 'The catcher in the rye'. Right now I'm reading 'Heart of darkness'. Have you got any ideas of classics I ought to read?

[Peacemaker]

The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck.  I read it in high school.  One of the best reads ever.

Russian literature is great too.  Anna Karenina is profoundly well written understanding of human motivations and actions.

[New Dawn]

Thank you . I'll look into it. The Grapes of Wrath and Lord of the Flies are also on my list. Are they worth the read?

[Peacemaker]

I've not read angry grapes but I recall Lord of the Flies as a good read.  I read it when I was around 13 years old so there was naturally more age-oriented identification with the characters for my part however I believe it was fairly well written. 

[Sir Osis of Thuliver]

Grapes of Wrath is a must-read, but for Steinbeck, I prefer East of Eden. Both great though.

I like Hemingway too, The Sun Also Rises or Farewell to Arms would be the places to start there.

I've not read Anna Karenina, but have had it on my bookshelf for years, maybe I'll get to it this summer. I've read The Brothers Karamazov, and my wife wants me to read Crime and Punishment... but I'm thinking one big Russian novel per year is plenty.

Of the ones you've mentioned that you've already read New Dawn, which are your faves? I love Heart of Darkness (you'll have to geek out on Apocalypse Now after finishing it, then check out Hearts of Darkness, about the making of Apocalypse Now), and To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my faves as well...

A couple other recommendations: Ken Kesey: Sometimes a Great Notion... One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is more famous, but SAGN is probably my favorite novel ever.

And, of course, The Great Gatsby is brilliant as well. I think I read that once every couple years or so...

Fun stuff.

[New Dawn]

Thanks to you too. I'll add East of Eden to my list. The only book I've read of Hemingway is 'The Old and The Sea' a very long time ago. Maybe I'll reread that. I'll add The Sun Also Rises and Farewell to Arms to my list too.

The term 'reading' is a little missleading as I'm mostly listening to books nowadays. It's not the same thing as reading with your eyes. Sometimes it can be better and sometimes it's 'worse' depending on the quality of the recording.

I really enjoyed 'To kill a Mockingbird'. Not so much the other I mentioned. Not so much the others I've mentioned.

Thanks again for your advice.

[Peacemaker]

I started to read the Narnia stories, seven apparently, not that they are great literature.  My little boy (nearing 6yrs) is interest so it's a good excuse to read something that I hadn't before.

[New Dawn]

One part in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' that really moved me was the part when the girl managed to stop the mob from lynching the man in the jail. I thought that was a very strong part of the book. And also the chapter about the trial.

I have read 'The great Gatsby' and heard that it should be good book but I can't see the greatness of it. Maybe you can explain it to me?

[Peacemaker]

One of my high school teachers used to like to brag that he was in the Great Gatbsy, going on further to clarify that we was an extra (or less) in the film adaptation that was shot on location in Newport Rhode Island.  Apparently his elbow is visible in one seen with Robert Redford.  That was his ice breaker for new students - your teacher is movie star.

[Sir Osis of Thuliver]

Explaining the greatness of The Great Gatsby... Hmmm. Don't think I can do it.  I dunno, I think it does a good job of painting a portrait of an era in American history and does a great job of talking about classes in America. And there are just a lot of great images in that book for me. The huge parties, the billboard for the optometrist looking down on all that's going on, Gatsby's house situated across the bay from Daisy's house... And then the love story pretty realistic.

And, what do you mean you can't repeat the past? Of course you can...

I dunno, I suppose I have a difficult time explaining why I like something. I can tell you more easily why I don't like something...

[New Dawn]

I just read (aka listened to) The Heart of Darksness and must say I'm very confused. The whole book is about this Kurtz but it's mostly rumours about him. The place he actually takes in the book is minimal. But parts of my confusion can be due to the fact that I listened to the book and not read it. When you read it you decide the speed with which you process the words, when listening the narrator decides the speed and I know that I was unconcentrated at several times when listening to it. Maybe I'll reread (relisten) it.

[Sir Osis of Thuliver]

Heart of Darkness took me a long time to read, for not a very long book. Lots of long sentences that take a long time to process. Yeah, that would probably be a book best read rather than listened to, so you could reread a sentence in order to get the meaning more easily.

[Peacemaker]

The butler did it.

[New Dawn]

The $10.000 question, Peacemaker, is: in what story?

[New Dawn]

Now I've read 'Sense and Sensibility' by Jane Austen. Even if I understand its greatness with regards to its depiction of the characters I personally think it is a little to 'wordy' for my taste.