I "stole" the idea for this post from Carrie at Reading to Know, who "stole" it from Bluerose's Heart. Rebekah from bekahcubed also wrote a similar post.
I review classics rarely, so most of you probably don't know that I'm a huge fan of classics. I love them. I even have a list from collegeboard.com that consists of one hundred books and short stories that every college-bound reader should get a hold of, and most are classics. (By the way, I'm only a quarter of the way finished with the list and starting college in the fall.)
Since I first grabbed hold of a classic (it was probably one of Jane Austen's, I'm not sure) I was transported into an altogether different world, where the language is so much different than today and the feelings and emotions so much more in depth and interesting, or so it seems. I admit that I wouldn't want to read classics solely and avoid all modern writing, but I do have a special place in my reading time for classics.
Unfortunately, there are just so many that are talked about and liked and disliked that I haven't read as many as I would like to. So here are ten classics that I intend to read ... eventually. These are listed in no particular order.
1. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I will read this. I will. I actually started it last month and read a bit of it. It is long, and at times boring, but I will finish it.
2. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. This is one that I just want to read to say that I've read it, which I know isn't the most commendable thing.
3. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I started this book a long, long time ago but didn't finish it. I can't really remember why I stopped.
4. The Illiad by Homer.
5. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
6. Moby Dick by Herman Melville. I just feel the need. I'm not sure I'm even interested in whales that much.
7. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I only have this and Lady Susan to read before I am finished with Austen's completed works. I've watched the 1995 movie version (with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet) I don't know how many times, but haven't gotten around to reading the book.
8. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I watched the BBC series of this and loved it. My sis says the book is better.
9. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I'm about a third of the way done with this one!
10. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. I can consider this a classic, can't I?
Click on any of the pictures to be taken to their respective Amazon pages for more info. I could probably think of more, but that will do for now!
No matter what, Jennifer, you MUST read Les Miserables. It will have its boring parts, yes. But totally worth it!!
ReplyDelete@Tarissa Don't worry, I will! :) I have heard too many good things about it to stop now!
ReplyDeleteGreat list! I keep passing War and Peace in the bookstore... My excuse for not reading it is that it's too expensive and if I check it out from the library there's no way I'll finish it before the due date. =O
ReplyDeleteI read Huckleberry Finn a few years ago. All I remember is being bored to tears by it.
Mere Christianity is one of my favorite books of all time! I was expecting it to be a bit tedious, but it was the most wonderful, brilliant book. I definitely recommend starting with this one! You'll fly through it in no time.
You need to add The Girl Of The Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter to this list! It's not all tedious, or slow, or 'heavy' but so incredibly beautiful and I know will be quite unlike anything you've ever read! That's just my experience with it, and I'm certain I could recommend it to anyone.
ReplyDeleteI think my list would be much of the same! Most especially I want to read Les Miserables, Sense and Sensibility, North and South (LOVED the movie! :P), and Mere Christianity (The Screwtape Letters by same author is one of my fave books of all time)...
I've got classics on my book shelf, that I've actually started, that I need to read as well, such as Jane Eyre, The Pilgrim's Progess, etc. but for some reason I keep passing them over for newer books. I'm trying to make it a challenge this summer to get them read...
@Eva {The Writer} Well now I have to check out A Girl of the Limberlost because of that recommendation! Thanks for the suggestion.
ReplyDeleteGreat list! I really want to read Mere Christianity! I hope to get to it soon. I'm just now reading through the Chronicles of Narnia for the first time. :)
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