rina.reads’s Comments (group member since Dec 02, 2023)

rina.reads’s comments from the the classics club group.

Casey (1 Week a Month) wrote: "The Brothers Karamazov. I loved Crime and Punishment so my hopes are way up there. Way, way up there."

I stilll have The Brothers Karamazov on my shelf, unread. xD Hope you enjoy!

Étienne wrote: "A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens."

Oh I quite liked that one. I actually want to read more Dickens but I sometimes find his writing style tedious and hard to get into. 😅

I agree with what Alice has said.
Additionally, I'd always opt for an edition with footnotes (there are some publishers which sell certain works with a vocabulary list included, e.g. Klett). Sometimes you also find a translation of some works into simple modern English, for example of Shakespeare's plays. The Sturrock translation of the Hunchback of Notre Dame is also fairly easy to read.

Pax wrote: "rina.reads wrote: "Oh I so want to read Sappho one day! Which edition do you recommend? :D

I have to say Rebecca wasn't bad, it was a pretty accurate psychological portrayal and a good thriller, h..."

thank you for letting me know ^^

Oh yeah, that one is supposed to be really good. Die Welt von Gestern as well. I sadly haven't read both yet.
But yea, Lenz, Der Sandmann, Prinz Friedrich von Homburg, Die Verwandlung are all important classics by the authors I've recommended.

E.T.A. Hoffmann, Franz Kafka, Friedrich Schiller, Georg Büchner, Heinrich von Kleist... :)

Georgia, I've meant to ask you: which collection of Saki's short stories can you recommend? I've only ever read one story ("Laura") of his so far but always wanted to read more of his work.
And I've added the two volumes of Maugham's Far Eastern Tales to my tbr, they sound so interesting!

Georgia wrote: "rina.reads wrote: "Jane Eyre is also one of my favourite novels of all time, as is The Great Gatsby.
I was a bit underwhelmed by Rebecca, tbh! 😅 But I've loved Jamaica Inn.
I also really enjoy read..."

Thank you for the recommendation! Will do. :)

Jane Eyre is also one of my favourite novels of all time, as is The Great Gatsby.
I was a bit underwhelmed by Rebecca, tbh! 😅 But I've loved Jamaica Inn.
I also really enjoy reading short stories. Maugham has been on my tbr for too long! xD

Welcome, Georgia. Great that you've found this group. ^^
I also read the Classics, mainly, but I also enjoy nonfiction!

You're very welcome 😉 if you need more recs just tell me :D

liz wrote: "HIII anyone has any historical murder mystery recs?"

yes, I do. :D

These Shallow Graves
The Alienist
By Gaslight
The Story Keeper

Completely forgot to post here:

well, a couple of days ago I finally read White Nights and actually really enjoyed it. I didn't like how dialogue heavy Crime and Punishment was but in the short story form it was okay. I didn't expect that it would end in the way it did and so I'm left to wonder, whether the unnamed narrator will ever see Nastenka again? I truly hope so.

@Jo: I can see your point but I feel like she loves him too, as she stated in her letter, she wished she could love them both.

Okay, tysm! <3

Dear Holly,

I have a quick suggestion to make.

Since March has already started and I currently have a lot of stuff to do and Jane Eyre (with around 500 pages depending on the edition) is not as short a book as White Nights or The Phantom of the Opera, shall we perhaps decide that Jane Eyre will be BOTM for March and April?

Or go with a short novella for April instead so that some people who haven't got much time on their hands can drag Jane Eyre into the beginning of April and still be able to read the April BOTM?


Oh and apart from that I have another suggestion to make: what do you think of creating a topic where we can request a buddy read? ❤

Jesse wrote: "I suggest All Quiet on the Western Front if anyone would want to read that."

I've got that one unread at home already so I'd be up for it!

So, I second Jane Eyre and Spring Snow.

Additionally I'd like to suggest the following books (which are a bit shorter, around 100 - 200 pages each, since March has already begun):

liz wrote: "spring snow by yukio mishima because it's spring idk"
I want to read this one so bad!

@Melissa: Jane Eyre is so good, one of my favourite novels. I'd be down for a reread tbh.

@Hanna: I love your idea! <3

Yes! The same thought also occurred to me.
It somehow lacked depth for a classic. Maybe we really went in with too high expectations. 😅

Yes, have fun! And same! I rated it four stars because of that one phenomenal chapter on Erik and Christine, the rest was all in all a bit of a letdown and I didn't think it was creepy at all. I liked how in the end Erik demonstrated strength of character and let Raoul and Christine go and marry! The book def needed more Erik...

liz wrote: "wow given this info and further information on the girl's circumstances, i think the narrator was describing her mood.

thank you rina, this helped a lot"

Glad I could help :D