So the genre study we are doing at work for April and May is on Literary Fiction and Classics.
I'm not a big fan of the classics, although admittedly I haven't read very many of them. So I am looking for suggestions of what to read. What have been your favorite classics to read? Which ones did you hate?
And yes, I'm just going to admit right now (I feel like a high schooler saying this!) that the shorter the book the better (although if it is a really good story I can probably do a longer one) since I have a lot of other things to do at the moment.
Thanks for your help and I look forward to your suggestions!
10 comments:
OK. Some of my favorites include:
Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
I also really enjoyed:
O Pioneers by Willa Cather
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
(The last two longer and the first few chapters are hard to get into but then... awesome!)
But by all means steer clear of Ethan Frome!!
Tell us what you choose and how you like it. :)
The shortest Austen's (and are two that I adore) are Persuasion and Northanger Abbey. And then you can watch the movies. :-) I, too, love Jane Eyre. And the 2005 movie of that one is fantastic. Um, I would really have to think about what else there is that is shorter. For some reason, I really liked A Separate Peace in 10th grade (I read it on my own) and it was pretty short. I can definitely tell you what NOT to read! :-)
Oooo...where to start...
I second Em's suggestions of "Bless me Ultima" and "Pride and Prejudice". Seriously, two of my favorite books!
And will add these:
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Lord of the Flies, William Golding
Crime & Punishment, Dostoyesvsky (I know this one is long, but it's a good one...)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
1984, George Orwell (Or Animal Farm for the short version)
And throw in some Edgar Allen Poe for good measure. :)
I hope you enjoy whatever you read!
The Jane Eyre movie is actually 2007. Oops. And yes--definitely To Kill a Mockingbird!
I don't really know what the definition of a "classic" is, but here are some of my favorites:
Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, Little Women, Dandelion Wine, My Antonia, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Scarlet Letter.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Rebecca
Cry, the Beloved Country
Pride and Prejudice
1984
Little Women
A Room with a View
Jane Eyre
Do NOT attempt
Animal Farm
Candide
As I Lay Dying
(although If I read them now that I am old and wise, maybe I'd enjoy them more)
seriously, "to kill a mockingbird".
Thank you for all of your suggestions!
I have already read "To Kill a Mockingbird" twice and loved it each time.
MBC-I unfortunately chose "Animal Farm" last time we did this genre study. I didn't like that one at all. Pretty much the only good thing it had going for it, was that it was short!
So far I've picked up and started "Wuthering Heights" and "Lord of the Flies", but we'll see what I ultimately end up reading!
Thanks again, and if you think of any others let me know.
I am late to this party - but if you are in a place where you don't have the time or patience for a novel, there are a lot of really great plays that are pretty easy to get through.
I love pretty much anything by Oscar Wilde, Ibsen, Tennesee Williams, Moliere, and, of course, Shakespeare. Plays can be a good way of getting some of the gritty characters of great literature without spending 400 pages to get there.
Oooh, fun question. I had way too much fun answering... If I had to limit myself to the shorter ones (and classics do tend to be longer) some would be:
Catch 22 for hilarity
Dracula for good old-fashioned horror
Alice in Wonderland for word plays and most references in church (well, after CS Lewis, that is)
Death of a Salesman for tragedy
All Roald Dahl for children's books
The Godfather for action
I would avoid Joseph Conrad and One Hundred Years of Solitude-way too much obscure meaning. If someone out there loves those books, please explain to me why! Really.
I miss having a library! Lucky Ann-Marie!
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