May 1, 20196 yr I know everyone has a different definition of what a “classic” novel or book should be- I’m talking about those generally listed on “100 greatest books ever written” type lists. I’ve been on a kick over the last couple of years trying to read some classic novels. A few that I can Remember: Liked: Robinson Crusoe, Count of Monte Cristo, The Old Man and the Sea, Slaughterhouse 5, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Of Mice and Men. Didn’t like: The Catcher in the Rye, the Heart of Darkness, the Alchemist, The Pearl, Crime and Punishment, the Scarlet Letter, Red Badge of Courage. looking for more recommendations
May 2, 20196 yr I started to post this in the Favorite Books You've Read thread, but it didn't really fit there. Here are two threads from the old site the jose_medina and sweatpants_boner put together. I forget how they ranked the first list, but the second one was the result of everyone submitting their top 25. http://www.shaggytexas.com/board/showthread.php/104882-Shaggy-Bevo-s-100-must-reads?p=3642957&viewfull=1#post3642957 Quote 1. Civil Disobedience -Thoreau 2. Crime and Punishment -Dostoevsky 3. Lord of the Flies -William Golding 4. Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry 5. Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy 6. Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk 7. All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque 8. The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien 9. Night - Elie Wiesel 10. A Soldier in the Great War - Mark Helprin 11. A Time of Gifts - Patrick Leigh Fermor 12. The Master and Margarita - Bulgakov 13. Robinson Crusoe - Defoe 14. All the Pretty Horses - McCarthy 15. Undaunted Courage - Ambrose 16. Counte of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 17. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole 18. Animal Farm – George Orwell 19. Godel Escher & Bach - Hofstadter 20. Dahlgren 21. Devil in the White City – Erik Larson 22. The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler 23. In Cold Blood - Truman Capote 24. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (2 votes) 25. Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien 26. Neuromancer - William Gibson 27. American Psycho -Bret Easton Ellis 28. The Republic--Plato 29. 1984--George Orwell 30. Iliad -- Homer 31. Shelby Foote's History of the Civil War 32. Huckleberry Finn -Mark Twain 33. Watchmen - Alan Moore 34. Go Tell it on the Mountain - James Baldwin 35. Les Miserable- Hugo 36. The Grapes of Wrath- Steinbeck 37. One Hundred Years of Solitude - GG Marquez 38. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson 39. The Drawing of the Three - Steven King 40. The Sun Also Rises- Ernest Hemingway 41. I, Claudius - Robert Graves 42. The Killer Angels - Michael Shaara 43. Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer 44. A Bright Shining Lie - Neil Sheehan 45. Master and Commander - Patrick O'Brian 46. White Fang - Jack London 47. On the Road - Jack Kerouac 48. Cosmos - Carl Sagan 49. Martin Eden - Jack London 50. Fear and Trembling - Søren Kierkegaard 51. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay – Michael Chabon 52. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh 53. Gilead – Marilynne Robinson 54. The Guns of August – Barbabra Tuchman 55. The Second World War – Winston Churchill 56. The Brother Karamazov – Dostoevsky 57. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad 58. The Sound and The Fury - William Faulkner 59. Rant - Chuck Palahniuk 60. Raising Cole – Mark Pittman, Darrell Royal, Mark Wangrin (homerish, but acceptable) 61. Paradise Lost – Milton 62. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) 63. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams 64. Darkness at Noon - Arthur Koestler 65. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee 66. Killing Lincoln – Bill O’Reilly 67. Of Mice And Men – Steinbeck 68. King Solomon's Mines - Rider Haggard 69. Shogun - James Clavell 70. The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton 71. The Call Of The Wild - Jack London 72. Beyond Good and Evil - Friedrich Nietzsche 73. Das Kapital - Karl Marx 74. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut 75. Sometimes a Great Notion - Kesey 76. The Trial – Kafka 77. A Hero of our Time – Lermontov 78. The Chinese Maze Murders - Robert van Gulik 79. Flashman - George MacDonald Fraser 80. All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren 81. The Stranger – Camus 82. The Idiot – Dostoyevsky 83. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov 84. The Stand - Steven King 85. A River Runs Through It - Norman Maclean 86. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald 87. The Killer Inside Me - Jim Thompson 88. The Gay Place - Billy Lee Brammer 89. The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene 90. The Moviegoer - Walker Percy 91. Little Big Man - Thomas Berger 92. Killing Pablo--Mark Bowden 93. The Two Treatises of Government--John Locke 94. Hamlet--William Shakespeare 95. April, 1865 - Jay Winik 96. The Corner - David Simon 97. The Places In Between - Rory Stewart 98. Texas - Michener 99. A Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich - Solzhenitsyn 100. Friday Night Lights 101. Monster-Walter Dean Myers 102. Survivor - Palahniuk 103. A Storm of Swords - G.R.R. Martin 104. The alchemist. 105. Jurassic park. 106. Enders game. 107. Old man and the sea. =================== Vetoed Entries Left Behind The Old Man and The Sea- Ernest Hemingway Moby $#@! Of Human Bondage The Hobbit A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius – Dave Eggers The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger Dune - Frank Herbert IT - Stephen King Death to the BCS - Jeff Passan The Hunt For Red October - Clancy http://www.shaggytexas.com/board/showthread.php/105444-Rank-your-top-25?p=3658147&viewfull=1#post3658147 Quote 1 Counte of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas 2 Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky 3 Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry 4 Hamlet- William Shakespeare 5 Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut 6 Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy 7 Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoyevsky 8 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee 9 Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad 10 One Hundred Years of Solitude GG Marquez 11 Lord of the Flies William Golding 12 Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain 13 Animal Farm George Orwell 14 Catch 22 Joseph Heller 15 The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald 16 The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck 17 1984 George Orwell 18 The Sun Also Rises Earnest Hemingway 19 Lord of the Rings JRR Tolken 20 Iliad Homer 21 Of Mice And Men John Steinbeck 22 Les Miserable Hugo 23 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 24 A Confederacy of Dunces John Kennedy Toole 25 The Sound and The Fury William Faulkner 26 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov 27 All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 28 The Stranger Albert Camus 29 A River Runs Through It Norman Maclean 30 Civil Disobedience Henry David Thoreau 31 Paradise Lost John Milton 32 Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams 33 The Republic Plato 34 The Stand Stephen King 35 All the King's Men Robert Penn Warren 36 All the Pretty Horses Cormac McCarthy 37 Devil in the White City Erik Larson 38 Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe 39 The Call Of The Wild Jack london 40 The Trial Franz Kafka 41 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson 42 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Michael Chabon 43 Fear and Trembling Søren Kierkegaard 44 Friday Night Lights H. G. Bissinger 45 The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien 46 Beyond Good and Evil Friedrich Nietzsche 47 The Big Sleep Raymond Chandler 48 The Heart of the Matter Graham Greene 49 Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk 50 I, Claudius Robert Graves 51 Sometimes a Great Notion Ken Kesey 52 A Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 53 Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh 54 The Drawing of the Three Stephen King 55 The Guns of August Barbara Tuchman 56 The Two Treatises of Government John Locke 57 Everything is Illuminated Jonathan Safran Foer 58 Gilead Marilynne Robinson 59 Killing Lincoln Bill O’Reilly 60 Master and Commander Patrick O'Brian 61 Old man and the sea Ernest Hemingway 62 The Idiot Fyodor Dostoyevsky 63 The Outsiders S.E. Hinton 64 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 65 Das Kapital Karl Marx 66 Enders Game Orson Scott Card 67 King Solomon's Mines Sir H. Rider Haggard 68 Shelby Foote's History of the Civil War Shelby Dade Foote, Jr. 69 The Gay Place Billy Lee Brammer 70 White Fang Jack london 71 Shogun James Clavell 72 Survivor Chuck Palahniuk 73 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 74 The Second World War Winston Churchill 75 Watchmen Alan Moore 76 A Soldier in the Great War Mark Helprin 77 Darkness at Noon Arthur Koestler 78 Night Elie Wiesel 7 9 Raising Cole Mark Pittman, Darrell Royal, Mark Wangrin 80 The Killer Angels Michael Shaara 81 Undaunted Courage Ambrose Dahlgren 82 A Bright Shining Lie Neil Sheehan 83 A Hero of our Time Mikhail Lermontov 84 A Time of Gifts Patrick Leigh Fermor 85 Atlas Shrugged Ayn Rand 86 Little Big Man Thomas Berger 87 Neuromancer William Gibson 88 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov 89 Flashman George MacDonald Fraser 90 On the Road Jack Kerouac 91 A Storm of Swords George R. R. Martin 92 Cosmos Carl Sagan 93 Killing Pablo Mark Bowden 94 Texas James A. Michener 95 The Moviegoer Walker Percy
May 2, 20196 yr Enjoyed Confederacy of Dunces Blood Meridian (could be a slog at times) All the Pretty Horses Huck Finn Great Gatsby Old Man and the Sea Not on the lists The Great Train Robbery (Crichton) Princess Bride The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
May 2, 20196 yr Author 12 hours ago, retread said: Enjoyed Confederacy of Dunces Blood Meridian (could be a slog at times) All the Pretty Horses Huck Finn Great Gatsby Old Man and the Sea Not on the lists The Great Train Robbery (Crichton) Princess Bride The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Confederacy of Dunces has been recommended to me by a few people, will finally check it out after I finish I, Claudius. never heard of The Great Train Robbery but my interest is piqued because I really enjoyed Jurassic Park and Andromeda Strain by Crichton
May 2, 20196 yr Hemmingway, other than The Old Man and The Sea, I've disliked everything else he wrote. Pain in the ass to read. Jack Londons White Fang, and Call Of The Wild, two of my favorites, and I've read them both at least 3x Edited May 2, 20196 yr by Onboard 2.0
May 2, 20196 yr In general, I've been surprised by how much I have liked most of the books that people complain that they were forced to read in high school and college literature classes, with one notable exception - I hate that mid-1800's ponderous, existential crap. Not every Victorian novel, just the silent, unrequited suffering shit. Stuff like Silas Marner Wuthering Heights Bartelby the Scrivener Madame Bovary Ethan Frome They all seem like you're reading a 500-page introduction then there is no plot. Still messes with me that Silas Marner is really the plot of the Professional/Leon
May 2, 20196 yr 11 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said: Hemmingway, other than The Old Man and The Sea, I've disliked everything else he wrote. Pain in the ass to read. Jack Londons White Fang, and Call Of The Wild, two of my favorites, and I've read them both at least 3x Takes all kinds. The Sun Also Rises may be my favorite book. Don't care for Old Man and the Sea. Too formulaic (even if you argue it wrote the formula). I have also found that some of the more dense literature (not Hemingway, but stuff like Faulkner, Hugo, the Russians, the post-modernists) is a lot more enjoyable if you listen to it. For some reason (at least to me), those novels are easier to follow in spoken form.
May 2, 20196 yr 4 minutes ago, Liquor and Poker said: Takes all kinds. The Sun Also Rises may be my favorite book. Don't care for Old Man and the Sea. Too formulaic (even if you argue it wrote the formula). Yeah, The Sun Also Rises is a very smooth read and of course Hemingway is always going to keep his descriptions short and simple.
May 2, 20196 yr 22 minutes ago, Billy Pilgrim said: Confederacy of Dunces has been recommended to me by a few people, will finally check it out after I finish I, Claudius. never heard of The Great Train Robbery but my interest is piqued because I really enjoyed Jurassic Park and Andromeda Strain by Crichton If we're fast-forwarding to the Dunces era (hilarious book): One Hundred Years of Solitude Inherent Vice (easiest and most entertaining of this list) J.R. White Noise Infinite Jest (written later but in the same vein)
May 2, 20196 yr Hemingway is a pain in the ass to read? His economy with words while still conveying tons of meaning, is remarkable. His short stories may be the best things ever written.
May 2, 20196 yr 5 minutes ago, Liquor and Poker said: Takes all kinds. The Sun Also Rises may be my favorite book. Don't care for Old Man and the Sea. Too formulaic (even if you argue it wrote the formula). I have also found that some of the more dense literature (not Hemingway, but stuff like Faulkner, Hugo, the Russians, the post-modernists) is a lot more enjoyable if you listen to it. For some reason (at least to me), those novels are easier to follow in spoken form. Oh for sure, I mean seriously, fuck those guys who say they get Playboy for the articles. I'm just there for the pictures.
May 2, 20196 yr Author 4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said: Hemingway is a pain in the ass to read? His economy with words while still conveying tons of meaning, is remarkable. His short stories may be the best things ever written. I read Steinbeck’s The Pearl and Hemingway’s Tho Old Man and the Sea back to back. Hemingway was able to vividly describe what was going and paint a clear picture with words while keeping the story and action moving. Was a great story-teller. Steinbeck spent so much time thoroughly describing inane bullshit with no bearing on the story that it made a 100 page book feel like a grind.
May 5, 20196 yr Here to shit on Catcher In The Rye. It is my most hated of all the "classics" aka required reading in honors and AP English in HS plus Lit 201 in college. Enjoyed almost all of Twain, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Dickens, etc. but Salinger can suck my left nut.
May 9, 20196 yr On 5/1/2019 at 3:40 PM, Billy Pilgrim said: I know everyone has a different definition of what a “classic” novel or book should be- I’m talking about those generally listed on “100 greatest books ever written” type lists. I’ve been on a kick over the last couple of years trying to read some classic novels. A few that I can Remember: Liked: Robinson Crusoe, Count of Monte Cristo, The Old Man and the Sea, Slaughterhouse 5, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Of Mice and Men. Didn’t like: The Catcher in the Rye, the Heart of Darkness, the Alchemist, The Pearl, Crime and Punishment, the Scarlet Letter, Red Badge of Courage. looking for more recommendations I read The Count of Monte Cristo in French. First book I read cover to cover in that language. I will always have a soft spot for it. I enjoyed Fitzgerald's translation of The Odyssey enough that I've read it several times. Not a novel, but a classic, Capote's "In Cold Blood" is a fantastic read.
May 10, 20196 yr A Tale of Two Cities is probably my favorite "classic." I've read it about 5 times in my life. East of Eden may be a close second. Lord of the Flies is excellent. I love Moby Dick (#nohomo). Never cared for Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Jane Eyre, or Wuthering Heights. They bored me to death in college, but perhaps they read better as an adult. Not sure I care to find out, though. The Alchemist is an overrated piece of dung, listed on celebrity book lists in an effort to make them seem deep. I'm not sure it's even widely considered a classic, but I mention it since it was referenced above. (Tell us how you really felt about the book, South Austin.)
May 20, 20196 yr Loved: War and Peace The Death of Ivan Ilyich (if you've always wanted to read Tolstoy, but don't have time or inclination for an epic like W&P or AK, start here. Tolstoy has no equal.) Slaughterhouse-Five Cat's Cradle No Country For Old Men Wuthering Heights All the Sherlock Holmes Thought were overrated: Pride and Prejudice The Sound and the Fury The dozen or so Poirot short stories I've read. Very well-written, but seem obviously derivative of the Sherlock stories. I'm hoping to enjoy Murder on the Orient Express more. Edited May 20, 20196 yr by TexArcher
May 21, 20196 yr Hated All the King’s Men. downloaded the audio book and listened to the whole thing on a trip; wish I hadn’t.
June 7, 20196 yr On 5/2/2019 at 10:09 AM, Liquor and Poker said: If we're fast-forwarding to the Dunces era (hilarious book): One Hundred Years of Solitude Inherent Vice (easiest and most entertaining of this list) J.R. White Noise Infinite Jest (written later but in the same vein) All you are missing is some American Pastoral or Portnoy's complaint and The Corrections and you've got the patriarchial who's who of the 20th Century. Maybe throw in some Lincoln's Bardo or whatever that weird book was; I liked Civil Warland way better. Let's see... the most visible of the Latin American Magical Realism boom of the 80's, check. The Pynchon book that became a movie, got it. Gaddis book that nobody reads. I'm following! White Noise is actually mega awesome. Don DeLilo is one of my favorites and this book is amazing. Zero K was a major disappointment. This is Water >>> New Sincerity Movement and IJ Edited June 7, 20196 yr by Rougarou
June 7, 20196 yr Shit. I need to be in front of my bookshelf to properly answer this question. Like Tale of Two Cities, obviously. (H/T to South Austin). Generally liked most of what I've read by Dickens (2 Cities, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Christmas Carol) Pretty much entire catalog of Dumas (Count of Monte Cristo, Three Muskateers et al). Tom Jones, A Foundling - by Henry Fielding No Country For Old Men Pretty much all of Jane Austen (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma) Confederacy of Dunces is fucking brilliant Lolita - Nabakov All of Oscar Wilde (Dorian Gray, short stories) The Illiad & The Odyssey (this really depends on the translation) The Fountainhead (except, you know, that pesky rape) Unsure: Infinite Jest (This honestly reads like 2 books. The parts at the Tennis Academy are possibly some of the most brilliant writing I've ever read. It's Confederacy of Dunces level genius. The other 50% of the French Canadian wheelchair cadre made me consider throwing the book in the toilet every other chapter. It was painful and I hated it. It's why it took me a year to read the book). Disliked: Of Human Bondage (just never grabbed me, kind of boring) The Great Gatsby The Grapes of Wrath Scarlet Letter (it was ok, I guess) Crime and Punishment Fucking Hated: Wuthering Heights Lady Chatterly's Lover Moby Dick Catcher in the Rye aka, Teenagers are always whiny stupid bitches regardless of generation The Bostonians (Sorry HJ) Blood Meridian That's all I can think of without looking at my books. Lots of other stuff that didn't strike me as special, like Camus, mixed bag of Hemingway, Vonnegut etc. Edited June 7, 20196 yr by SydneyCarton
June 7, 20196 yr On 5/8/2019 at 7:05 PM, Deej said: I read The Count of Monte Cristo in French. First book I read cover to cover in that language. I will always have a soft spot for it. Love Dumas and fucking HATE Hugo.
June 8, 20196 yr 18 hours ago, Rougarou said: All you are missing is some American Pastoral or Portnoy's complaint and The Corrections and you've got the patriarchial who's who of the 20th Century. Maybe throw in some Lincoln's Bardo or whatever that weird book was; I liked Civil Warland way better. Let's see... the most visible of the Latin American Magical Realism boom of the 80's, check. The Pynchon book that became a movie, got it. Gaddis book that nobody reads. I'm following! White Noise is actually mega awesome. Don DeLilo is one of my favorites and this book is amazing. Zero K was a major disappointment. This is Water >>> New Sincerity Movement and IJ The Corrections is fantastic.
June 10, 20196 yr We had to read Ivanhoe for summer reading when I was in high school. What an awful book to make high school kids read during the summer.
June 10, 20196 yr Loved Lonesome Dove Grapes of Wrath Call of the wild Robinson Crusoe Hated Moby Dick with a passion. No doubt some I've forgotten.
June 17, 20196 yr Not really sure where we are drawing the line on classics. I love Cormac McCarthy but never really thought of his books as traditional classics, yet lots of them have been mentioned so far. Liked: The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Fahrenheit 451, The Call of the Wild, Robinson Crusoe, Lonesome Dove, A Separate Peace, The Sun Also Rises, East of Eden, The Odyssey Disliked: Ethan Frome, Wuthering Heights, A Tale of Two Cities, The Scarlet Letter, The Metamorphosis, The Prince (have not read any of these since high school so maybe my adult self would appreciate them more than my teenage version did) Interested in reading: Grapes of Wrath, The Old Man and the Sea, Anna Karenina, War and Peace, 1984
August 27, 20196 yr On 5/20/2019 at 6:22 PM, TexArcher said: Loved: War and Peace The Death of Ivan Ilyich (if you've always wanted to read Tolstoy, but don't have time or inclination for an epic like W&P or AK, start here. Tolstoy has no equal.) Slaughterhouse-Five Cat's Cradle No Country For Old Men Wuthering Heights All the Sherlock Holmes Thought were overrated: Pride and Prejudice The Sound and the Fury The dozen or so Poirot short stories I've read. Very well-written, but seem obviously derivative of the Sherlock stories. I'm hoping to enjoy Murder on the Orient Express more. Just came here to add The Alchemist to my overrated list. I'd heard good things about it for years and seen it listed as one of the great novels. It's not. It's a mediocre adventure story told in mediocre prose, and the "philosophy" is trite, naive, and almost impossibly heavy handed. This is a novel for people who think The Secret is deep and powerful. Blech. Edited August 27, 20196 yr by TexArcher
August 27, 20196 yr No James Fenimore Cooper on the list? The Last of the Mohicans deserves a spot at the least.
August 27, 20196 yr 24 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said: No James Fenimore Cooper on the list? The Last of the Mohicans deserves a spot at the least. Troof, this statement has it.
December 10, 20196 yr Really enjoyed the the popular stuff by Robert Heinlein, Alexandre Dumas, HG Wells, Ernest Hemingway, Ayn Rand, and George Orwell. Also (to echo others on here) Lord of the Flies, Robison Crusoe, Fahrenheit 451, and (not yet mentioned) Watership Down. Did not like Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Grapes of Wrath, and (these not yet mentioned) Last Unicorn and Lord of Light.
January 7, 20205 yr Butler's "The Way of All Flesh". I read it later in life. Written in the 19th Century, published in 1903. It is allegedly a great critique of Victorianism, but to me it was about a person growing older and experiencing the weight of life and coming to understand it. I thought it was a really personal story.
January 8, 20205 yr In someone of the Samuel Butler mode of books that make you sort of sign with resignation at life, Carson McCuller's Heart is a Lonely Hunter is pretty damn extraordinary, especially since she wrote it at 23. Saddest goddamn thing, but pretty deep and seemingly wise.
January 8, 20205 yr Quick, fun reads from the Modern Libary's 100 20th Century Novels: Scoop by Evelyn Waugh. Funny as hell I thought. High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes. Great yarn. Both of these could have been beach books. Like candy. I was expecting Bridge Over San Luis Rey by Thorton Wilder to be a slog, but I got into it. The most recent ML 100 I read was Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. Man, I loved this little book. If you haven't read it and you make it to New Mexico, take a copy. I've just loaded up my Dallas Library Queue with the remaining 40 or so books I need to read in the list. Finnegan's Wake and Ulysses still laughing at me.
January 8, 20205 yr On 5/5/2019 at 5:07 PM, bamachine said: Here to shit on Catcher In The Rye. It is my most hated of all the "classics" aka required reading in honors and AP English in HS plus Lit 201 in college. Enjoyed almost all of Twain, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Dickens, etc. but Salinger can suck my left nut. Everything Salinger wrote is fan fucking tastic. Yeah, the college grad students shat on it, but they were full of shit.
January 8, 20205 yr And not sure why people read Hemingway's novels when his short stories and non-fiction are head and shoulders above them. The bullfighting books are fantastic as of course are all the stories, especially the greatest of all "The Short Happy Life of Frances McComber".
January 8, 20205 yr On 5/2/2019 at 2:48 PM, Billy Pilgrim said: I read Steinbeck’s The Pearl and Hemingway’s Tho Old Man and the Sea back to back. Hemingway was able to vividly describe what was going and paint a clear picture with words while keeping the story and action moving. Was a great story-teller. Steinbeck spent so much time thoroughly describing inane bullshit with no bearing on the story that it made a 100 page book feel like a grind. Wow, I think Steinbeck is like candy. The Pearl was depressing, but Cannary Row and Tortilla Flat zoom along.
January 8, 20205 yr 1 hour ago, tantric superman said: And not sure why people read Hemingway's novels when his short stories and non-fiction are head and shoulders above them. The bullfighting books are fantastic as of course are all the stories, especially the greatest of all "The Short Happy Life of Frances McComber". *Macomber Carawong. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen. Indian Camp. So many. So great. Edited January 8, 20205 yr by TwiceHorn
January 8, 20205 yr On 8/27/2019 at 5:49 AM, TexArcher said: Just came here to add The Alchemist to my overrated list. I'd heard good things about it for years and seen it listed as one of the great novels. It's not. It's a mediocre adventure story told in mediocre prose, and the "philosophy" is trite, naive, and almost impossibly heavy handed.
January 8, 20205 yr 11 hours ago, TwiceHorn said: *Macomber Carawong. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen. Indian Camp. So many. So great. Another reason they are so great is that I would often start the story, see what they were drinking (gimlet's, for some reason lots of brandy and soda) and drink those while I read. I'd don't have many hard copies of books in the house - I'm a library guy, but this baby is the best one I have:
February 24, 20205 yr Picked up The Hamlet by Faulkner at Half Price. Dunno if it's considered a classic or not but holy shit what a chore to read. I'm about 40 pages in and debating on putting it down for good. The Spanish chapters in Blood Meridian were easier to read than this, and I don't know Spanish. Edited February 24, 20205 yr by NorthLoop
May 6, 20205 yr On 1/7/2020 at 9:21 PM, tantric superman said: Quick, fun reads from the Modern Libary's 100 20th Century Novels: Scoop by Evelyn Waugh. Funny as hell I thought. High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes. Great yarn. Both of these could have been beach books. Like candy. I was expecting Bridge Over San Luis Rey by Thorton Wilder to be a slog, but I got into it. The most recent ML 100 I read was Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather. Man, I loved this little book. If you haven't read it and you make it to New Mexico, take a copy. I've just loaded up my Dallas Library Queue with the remaining 40 or so books I need to read in the list. Finnegan's Wake and Ulysses still laughing at me. I'm so glad you mentioned Willa Cather. I enjoyed her books and that is a nice one. For the plains and immigrant experience (Midwestern version) her others, such as O Pioneers, are also good but not everyone likes those. I also read and enjoyed Giants In The Earth (Rolvaag). I'm with the folks that have mentioned preferring Hemingway's short stories to his longer works. One thing I've noticed about my own reading habits is that some authors or particular works I try to give a second chance. I had no patience for Jane Austen when I was in high school, but later came to appreciate her perspective. Probably doesn't hurt that I'm female, but the same was true for me of Solzhenitsyn and I was glad I returned to his works again. Perhaps it was some age and experience that gave me a wider perspective. Having greater knowledge of historical events and the world in general was helpful in that regard.
May 21, 20205 yr Catcher in the Rye is brilliant. Every teenager thinks it speaks to them, every adult hates the whiny teen. IOW, it perfectly reflects our changing mindset as we move from our teen years into adulthood. Also surprised at all the hate Moby Dick is getting. Loved that book. Also like Conrad's novels, at least the ones I've read: Heart of Darkness, Secret Sharer (not really a novel I guess), and Nostromo.
May 21, 20205 yr On 6/17/2019 at 4:32 PM, wild_turkey said: Interested in reading: Grapes of Wrath, The Old Man and the Sea, Anna Karenina, War and Peace, 1984 My favorite book, short story, whatever.
May 21, 20205 yr On 5/2/2019 at 9:41 AM, Billy Pilgrim said: Confederacy of Dunces has been recommended to me by a few people, will finally check it out after I finish I, Claudius. Having never read Confederacy of Dunces, your life is obviously lacking in theology and geometry. You must begin a reading program immediately so that you may understand the crises of our age. Begin with the late Romans, including Boethius, of course. Then you should dip rather extensively into early Medieval. You may skip the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. That is mostly dangerous propaganda. Now that I think of it, you had better skip the Romantics and the Victorians, too. For the contemporary period, you should study some selected comic books. I recommend Batman especially, for he tends to transcend the abysmal society in which he's found himself. His morality is rather rigid, also. I rather respect Batman.
May 22, 20205 yr Started reading The Hobbit to my kid, but he's way too young to appreciate the craftsmanship (for lack of a better word) of that book, and damn is it wordy.
February 9, 20241 yr I read around quite a bit and am lax about remembering to post in the Whatcha Been Reading thread; my latest two were off-the-wall reads picked up from the library's new acquisition shelf. After finishing some Henry James stories (Portrait of A Lady, etc) I wanted a different type of diversion. Anyway, after perusing the list above, I realized that I've read quite a few of those books. A list that has more nonfiction included is The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written: the history of thought from ancient times to today by Martin Seymour-Smith. It's rather daunting to scroll through --here is a link: https://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/45 because I'm too lazy to copy paste the titles. I had realized while scrolling through it that while I've read some of them in their entirety, most I've only read excerpts, pulled for a class in high school or college. I must ask any of you students of history or the classics, have you ever read The New Science by Giambattista Vico? I've heard that it is rather dusty and yet formed a not insubstantial influence on writers such as James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, both of whom I've read but also with whom I have a rather sketchy relationship (simply was not mature enough to appreciate Joyce and don't know that I still am). Anyway, it's rather ambitious, but I may add some of the titles from that list to my 2024 reading catalogue if any strike my fancy. Our local library competes with the parks department for funding and apparently athletic endeavors are quite pricey compared to books so the new pickings have been slim of late.
February 9, 20241 yr I loved To Kill a Mockingbird. I hated it at first because, and this was in high school, we were forced to read it and I primarily read SciFi/Fantasy. But after a short bit I realized it was really good! I hated the Great Gasby. I went through a phase in the early 2000's trying to read some of the 'classics' I'd missed. That was one. Just absolutely hated it. I understand the nihlism of the day, but I just didn't enjoy a book where basically nothing matters and when you die no one is going to care or go to your funeral.
February 9, 20241 yr I didn't hate The Great Gatsby but it wasn't a favorite either. Sinclair Lewis is an author that gets left off the list and while some of his works are better than others, I'd say he wrote as well if not better than his peer, Fitzgerald. I was neither an English or History major though so that's just like my opinion, man.
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