Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

This month I've thoroughly heaved myself out of my reading slump by not reading anything longer than about 300pp which seems to always work like a charm lol :) Right now it's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Half-way through and after a solid start, has become rather dull with too many unpoetic and unnecessary descriptions. The fact that it's slightly lower on the Boring-scale than it's movie mate barely makes up for the fact that reading 300 pages takes much longer (and leaves for no multitasking) than a +2'40" movie.

I decided not to read Dickens at this time, maybe next year. I did try reading A Tale... and it wasn't exactly bad, either, but maybe I am in a reading slump now and feeling a bit like Aleta. (I also want to finish all the books before the year is over so I can't afford to start something slow.)

So I borrowed something easier, Hamlet, Revenge!, which is supposed to be a genre classic. (Never heard of the author before.) Classic mystery/detective novels have always been my light reading favourites. I think I read something that people learned something about Shakespeare while reading it so it might of course be useful in the coming pub quizzes. :-P

I finished A Princess of Mars last night, very good for being written in 1912. Read The Gift of the Magi today, a very short read, but also very good. Tonight I need to start a new read and I don't have a clue right now what I will pick.

I managed to finish 2001, despite suffering from Severe Boredom, but managed to spoil the ending of Moby-Dick in the process *sigh* Nothing to do about that now I guess lol. I've taken up North and South by Gaskell again, after having it on hiatus for a while. It's such a depressing read! Good, but depressing :b


@Bob, I've been wanting to read those books for ages! Tarzan of the Apes is a favorite of mine (who doesn't love a fun adventure story? Number 2 in the series is awful though) and have high hopes for A Princess of Mars. I've only seen the movie (John Carter, from Disney I think) and while it wasn't bad as simple action goes, I have a feeling the book is very different!

Hmph, we were asked about that Tars Tarkas in a pub quiz recently and no one remembered the name properly. I read pretty much all the Tarzan books as a kid but not the ones in the secret world or whatever that was..

Secret world?? Now that's almost enough to make me want to read on in the series despite the horrible storyline of the second book! Almost, but not quite ;) Do you remember if the series was very varied in quality throughout? Maybe it's just Return of Tarzan that isn't any good?

Aleta wrote: "Secret world?? Now that's almost enough to make me want to read on in the series despite the horrible storyline of the second book! Almost, but not quite ;) Do you remember if the series was very v..."

I was about 10, maybe, when I read those books. It was a looong time ago, so I don't remember too much about them. I just remember that in some books they went to some place where there were weird animals and stuff, maybe like dinosaurs. I think... I didn't really read them. I would guess they were varied, must have been, he wrote so many books.

Hmmm, that sounds.. like it's a bit far from the original concept of the story.
Good point. Sometimes it seems like the more books an author writes, the less sure you can be of the quality. Perhaps it's that they take less time to complete the books than if you only publish something along the lines of a book every 10 years.

The winter queen

Mike wrote: "The winter queen"

I hope you like it, it's still waiting for me. I mentioned the series at our meet-up and a couple did say they had liked it. I understood that all the books in the series belong to different genres or at least written with different styles, or something like that.

Mike wrote: "The winter queen"

Who is the author? When I looked it up, there are several books with this title.

I believe it is this one The Winter Queen, we talked about it earlier.

Tytti wrote: "I believe it is this one The Winter Queen, we talked about it earlier."<

Thank you. Looks interesting.

Almost done with Wuthering Heights. I'll be reading V for Vendetta next.

about a third of the way through Billiards at Half Past Nine by Heinrich Böll. Complex stream-of-consciousness narrative but beautifully written. Also Les Miserables - again!

Just finished up and loved it so much. Slowly working my way through .

I'm reading Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I now.

Currently reading The Dovekeepers, hope to have it finished tomorrow night. Still wanting to reread A Christmas Carol.

I'm currently reading the first vol. (book 1 & 2) of 'Amadis of Gaul', the chivalric romance that Don Quijote parodies. The library had to get it shipped all the way from USA - which is really saying something since I live in Scandinavia lol! Supposedly Don Quijote is best when you've read this work as well as maybe some Chretien de Troyes, so am reading those as preperation :)

@Cassandra, I LOVED Fahrenheit as well when I read it, think it might even be due for a reread soon :)

I loved it so much I was tempted to re-read it as soon as it was done. :) Hubby has stolen it though and then MIL wants it after him.

Currently I'm reading Shirley by Charlotte Bronte and my goodness, I love it! (Maybe even more than Jane Eyre...)

@Tracy: I LOVED the Night Circus. :)

I always confuse The Night Circus with Nights at the Circus lol.

@Moray, I have Shirley on my shelf, but have been too afraid to read it, because what if I didn't find it as good as Jane Eyre? Glad to hear it's at least as good! :)

@Aleta I read a few pages a couple of months ago and it didn't really speak to me so I moved on but I'm really glad I gave it another go!

I'm listening to the audio of and reading . I'm really enjoying both!

I'm currently reading The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmesand STILL working my way through The Count of Monte Cristo They're both pretty good.

I am currently reading The Escape by David Baldacci.

I am trying to finish the books I've started and maybe read one more before the year is over (because otherwise it messes up my stats). I am behind my schedule, though, for various reasons. I think that when I finish Anna Karenina I won't be starting any longer books for a while. I have been "currently reading" one or two of them for a couple of years now, different books of course.

I am also contemplating whether I should read Farewell, My Lovely or The Catcher in the Rye as my last book (if I have the time), they are 288 and 289 pages respectively. Yes, they have been chosen because of the page count. It's as good a reason to pick a book as any other, in my opinion. :-P At the moment I am leaning towards The Catcher but who knows about next week...

Currently reading Old Christmas: From the Sketch Book and Bel Canto, should finish both this weekend.

Tytti, I have read both Farewell, My Lovely and The Catcher in the Rye. I liked Farewell much better than Catcher. It is a 1930's crime mystery and has some slang and a lot of political incorrectness. It was a fun read.

Yeah, I might have seen the movie, or at least I've seen the Big Sleep, so I know what to expect. But The Catcher would be something different and it does get referenced a lot. We'll see...

Tytti wrote: "I am trying to finish the books I've started and maybe read one more before the year is over (because otherwise it messes up my stats). ..."

I'm glad I'm not the only one that does this! I might have an audiobook in progress at New Years since those can take weeks to listen to but I do try to clear out any print books in progress before the New Year hits.

I'm trying to clean some books off my TBR this month, so I haven't been reading many classics but I might make an exception and try to get Kafka's The Trial read while there's still a group read of Invitation to a Beheading going on.

I have had to suffer this year for having about 718 pages read in two books before the year started. It makes counting pages read quite difficult and I have to take them into account in my page goals. If I start to do something, like counting pages, I usually go all the way then...

I only have 3 chapters left in Amadis of Gaul! At least this vol. Still a volume more to go afterward, but don't think I can get my hands on that. I've managed to finish some other reads though, like A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway. Liked The Old Man and the Sea much better, this was pretty mediocre to me.

Tytti, I definitely recommend reading The Catcher...! I read it earlier this year for the first time and absolutely loved it. It's important though to keep in mind that Holden is somewhere specific when he starts telling the story and where exactly that is, which should be clear once you reach the end. Most people miss that particular point and then dismiss Holden, the main character, as simply being whiney.

I am currently reading Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks.

Currently reading Les Miserables and also just started Edge of Eternity which was a Christmas present

I have just completed Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier.

The Martian Chronicles
by Ray Bradbury

I'm currently reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle

The third man; and, The fallen idol

I think it is the best time to read A Christmas Carol and other Christmas stories from Ch. Dickens. Currently I finished the first one and beginning with The Chimes.

I have a book with those two. Maybe I will read them this time next year. I am currently watching the BBC series Great Expectations but I still don't find Dickens one bit interesting.

I'm reading Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. I'm really impressed. Atkinson excels at the things I like most about novels: character, setting and story structure. She's a new author for me. I plan on reading more from her next year. Has anyone else read any of her work?

Mary wrote: "I just read The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. I loved it!"

I read that numerous times as a child and re-read it recently. I still love it too. It's such a great story, with so many droll characters. And little Gerda! What edition did you read, Mary?

I'm rereading Shogun. Can't decide where to rate it on the "sexism" scale.


Shelley
http://dustbowlstory.wordpress.com

I am currently reading Queen Bee Goes Home Again by Haywood Smith.

I started Carmilla ja muita kertomuksia by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.

Mary wrote: "Kallie wrote: "Mary wrote: "I just read The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. I loved it!"

I read that numerous times as a child and re-read it recently. I still ..."

Mary wrote: "Kallie wrote: "Mary wrote: "I just read The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen. I loved it!"

I read that numerous times as a child and re-read it recently. I still ..."

Thanks. The voice is very like my edition's, though mine doesn't have Little Tuk, which I just read.

I am rereading The Giver by Lois Lowry and reading The Hunger Games: Mockingjay.

I have read The Giver. I really enjoyed it.

I am currently reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.