Kjerstin’s Comments (group member since Dec 31, 2010)

Kjerstin’s comments from the Classics for Beginners group.

I'm reading The Red and the Black (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) for my European Romanticism class. It's not exactly boring, but I'm having a hard time getting through it. This may be because it's over 500 pages, and I just don't want to read it for class!

You're welcome! :)

Maybe we can do a buddy read sometime! That would be fun :)

I agree that "A Christmas Carol" is good. It's the only Dickens that I have read. I'm nervous to read anymore of his work since most people don't like him :s lol

I was actually discussing this with a friend today. While I have set the line my frien said that anything written a generation ago and has universal themes could be considered a classic. He also does not believe in such a thing as a "modern classic." It's interesting to see how everyone defines these terms. I love the "modern classics" I've read just as much, if not way more, than any of the "classics."

Beowulf is a really good book! I recommend the Seamus Heaney version. It's a really good translation from the Old English, and easy to understand.

Welcome Laraine!

Maybe I will try The Sound and the Fury... I guess I can't give up on James Joyce based off of one of his works.

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Kjerstin, I'm glad it wasn't just me who disliked A Portrait of the Artist as Young Man."

Seriously, every time I hear the name "James Joyce," I shudder, and this book is to blame. I've never had such a horrible experience with a book before. As a literature major, I tend to like most books we read in class. I just could not get through this one. :( I would say that "stream of consciousness" is just not a writing style that I particularly enjoy. However, Darl's chapters in As I Lay Dying were phenomenal. I guess William Faulkner was just better at writing stream of consciousness.

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
The Awakening
The Stranger

NO offense to fans of these books. For me, they were absolutely pointless wastes of time."

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was seriously the worst book I've ever read. I hated every page of it.

Classics Read
Anna Karenina
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Frankenstein
The Importance of Being Earnest
Hamlet
Othello
A Christmas Carol
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
A Doll's House
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation
The Book of Margery Kempe

Classics Currently Reading
Little Women

Modern Classics Read
The End of the Affair
Beloved: (Great Books Edition)Peter Pan
The Hound of the Baskervilles
To Kill a Mockingbird
My Ántonia
The Crucible
The Metamorphosis
The Grapes of Wrath
The Great Gatsby
The Handmaid's Tale

Modern Classics Currently Reading
The Chronicles of Narnia


To-Read
Any and all other classics!

Are there any books on my Read list that anyone wouldn't consider classics? I wasn't sure about all of them, and I wouldn't be offended if you think they aren't! :)

*I updated this list and decided to add Modern Classics. Until I get a firm grasp on where the line is between a classic and a modern classic, anything written in the 1900's and after, that I consider worthy, will be in my modern classics.

I would definitely consider Alice in Wonderland a classic. Also, it was published almost 100 years earlier than To Kill a Mockingbird, and has similar, if not greater, staying power.

I guess it all just depends on how you define a classic.

I wasn't sure. The reason I put it on here was because I have the Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classics version of it, so I just figured it was a classic. I think it might be :)

Read
Anna Karenina
Beloved: (Great Books Edition)
Peter Pan
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
To Kill a Mockingbird
Frankenstein
The Importance of Being Earnest
Hamlet
Othello
A Christmas Carol
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
A Midsummer Night's Dream
My Ántonia
The Crucible
The Metamorphosis
Tess of the d'Urbervilles
The Grapes of Wrath
The Great Gatsby
The Handmaid's Tale
A Doll's House
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation
The Book of Margery Kempe

Currently Reading
The Chronicles of Narnia
Little Women

To-Read
Any and all other classics!

Are there any books on my Read list that anyone wouldn't consider classics? I wasn't sure about all of them, and I wouldn't be offended if you think they aren't! :)

I'm reading The Chronicles of Narnia series. I love it so far.

Yeah, Anna Karenina was really good. I definitely recommend it, but it will take some commitment!

Hey, I'm Kjerstin. I have always wanted to read classics, but I keep finding other books to read instead. This group is a perfect place to start reading the books I have been too afraid of reading!

My favorites so far are , and especially .

Almost all of the classics I've read (including my 4 favorites) are ones I was required to read for school. I love most of them, but for some reason I can't make myself read them by myself!