Classics you should read, classics you shouldn't

[JimC]

Do Biggles books count as classics?

[Rum]

Should: The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire (honest injun - read the whole effing thing!)

Shouldn't: Don Quixote

[Ronja]

Classic you should read:-

The War of the World by H.G. Wells.


Classic you shouldn't read:-

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne.

Funny, I would have inverted those

And I would have placed them both in the "should read" category. I love Jules Verne's books, since time (almost) out of memory. Phileas Fogg...

[Santa_Claus]

Yes - Animal Farm by George Orwell.

No- Great Expectations by Charles "Jeffrey Archer" Dickens

[Ronja]

Classics you should read: Mark Twain: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (works nicely as an audiobook, too)

Classics you shouldn't read: -

[Santa_Claus]

Yes - Homers Odyssey. Ripping yarn.

No - Homers Illiad. repetetive and dull. but to be fair, probably far better in the ancient greek. told around a campfire......but not in one go

[Svartalf]

No- Great Expectations by Charles "Jeffrey Archer" Dickens

Interesting. Great Expectations is the only Dickens book I ever read completely and in the original (I was exposed to Oliver Twist and David Copperfield in abridged, possibly bowdlerized translations as a child, and hated them), I did not hate it completely, though it did not push me to read more dickens. Would you have a Dickens recommendation in the "must read" category?

[Svartalf]

Yes - Homers Odyssey. Ripping yarn.

No - Homers Illiad. repetetive and dull. but to be fair, probably far better in the ancient greek. told around a campfire......but not in one go

You understand that Aedic poems were NOT designed to be read at one sitting, but indeed sung around the campfire or banquet hall, probably just one canto per evening, right?

and I disagree with not reading the Iliad, it provides some essential context to the Odyssey, and shows off a completely different facet of Epic Poetry.

[FBM]

Should read: Being and Time, Martin Heidegger

Shouldn't read: Being and Time, M. Heidegger


Yeah, I know. It's a hell of a rush, but it...did things...to me.

[JimC]

Should read: Being and Time, Martin Heidegger

Shouldn't read: Being and Time, M. Heidegger


Yeah, I know. It's a hell of a rush, but it...did things...to me.

So, the edition where he shortens his first name is crap, right?

[FBM]

Should read: Being and Time, Martin Heidegger

Shouldn't read: Being and Time, M. Heidegger


Yeah, I know. It's a hell of a rush, but it...did things...to me.

So, the edition where he shortens his first name is crap, right?

Ya. That's the crap one.

[Santa_Claus]

You understand that Aedic poems were NOT designed to be read at one sitting, but indeed sung around the campfire or banquet hall, probably just one canto per evening, right?

Yeah. I had a few doubts about my signed Penguin version

and I disagree with not reading the Iliad, it provides some essential context to the Odyssey, and shows off a completely different facet of Epic Poetry.

Ok, perhaps not read is a bit harsh. but mostly because of it's origins. (but I like history). but I found the difference with the Odyssey very marked.


A good Dickens? got me there but I've not read them all.

[DRSB]

Classic you shouldn't read:

Ulysses, James Joyce.[/quote]

I made it through the reading, albeit with guidance. At James Joyce's house in Zurich, (he wrote the thing in Zurich), there are readings with a Joyce-expert who explains the references, like, "the protagonist is standing beside a statue in front of a public pissoir in Dublin", you know, without such pertinent information the reader is lost, but I made it, two chapters a week, over a winter term, well worth it, I'd say, it is a classic one definitely should read!

[Hermit]

Ulysses, James Joyce.

I made it through the reading, albeit with guidance. At James Joyce's house in Zurich, (he wrote the thing in Zurich), there are readings with a Joyce-expert who explains the references, like, "the protagonist is standing beside a statue in front of a public pissoir in Dublin", you know, without such pertinent information the reader is lost, but I made it, two chapters a week, over a winter term, well worth it, I'd say, it is a classic one definitely should read!

Cryptic crossword puzzles are not my idea of literature. I gave up after about 70 pages.

[Animavore]

Joyce is brilliant.

It's probably easier to read if you're from Dublin, though.