It might be a little early for new year's resolutions...but I'll give you one that I'm thinking I'll tackle this coming year. For a while, I've been wanting to get myself a little culture on and start reading some "Classics". I think my first endeavor will be The Count of Monte Cristo. After that I may try Les Mes. I don't know if it'll advance me any further in my culturedness, so to speak, but its a goal that I've had for a while. I figure, after all, a lot of those book were writen by very well respected, intelligent peoples of their time, and have stood the test of time as far as the books' staying power. From what I hear, a lot, if not most, of our modern books, stories, and even culture were and are influenced in a lot of ways by the "classics". Now, I haven't taken the time to "Wikipdia" the term "Classic" for the textbook definition, but I have a good idea of what they are. Usually there's a shelf at the local libray that says "Classics". Not only that, but I've noticed a great shelf at the local Borders of Classics that should be a great place to start, especially considered there are about 30 books on that self.
You know, Tell of Two Cities...Crime and Punishment...Dracula...Dante...Oliver Twist, and the list goes on and on. Suggestions btw are always appreciated for what should take priority.
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3 comments:
I would take Brothers Karamzov over Crime and Punishment, even though it's longer. Some call it the greatest novel ever written. I haven't read them all, so I don't know.
And I've heard good things about The Three Musketeers, though I haven't read it, myself.
Robinson Crusoe is amazing. The first English language novel, not hard to read, and nothing like the movies you may have seen. I loved it.
Oh, and Frankenstein's worthwhile. Also not much like the movie - much better, actually.
I read Great Expectations in fifth grade and loved it. It's Dicken's "anti-romance", actually. Sort of a cynical alternative to Austen.
I sometimes like reading novels set in locations that I am currently in. While living near Atlanta a few years ago, I read "Gone With the Wind" for example. Again, kind of cynical about matters of the heart.
So, you see a pattern, perhaps. I like Austen, but all the endings are nice happy ones. That can get predictably boring. I guess I go for gloom, like Longfellow's "Evangeline". Broken hearts are more interesting. Like "Mill on the Floss" by George Eliot.
Hmm, maybe I need to expand my horizons.
Have fun!
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