A bit of this and that discussion

i was thinking of doing a six monthly challenge of reading some classic lit stuff. I was thinking along the lines of Charlotte Bronte, Daphne Du Maurier, Dickens? i say 6 months because it takes me a while to read anything classic - i can be a bit of a dunce lol
I would really like to give Wuthering Heights a try so if anyone would like to read along with me let me know :)

so i have jumped into this one feet first!! The language is abit foreign to me - but i guess it's like reading Shakespere - will get easier as i go along. i am only afew pages in but the book already has a very dark and mysterious feel to it. I do know the story from watching the film afew times so i am hoping this will help me in getting through the book and understanding it. I was feeling a bit smug with myself to be honest when i was sat in my staff canteen at lunchtime with 'Wuthering Heights' in hand - i got afew looks lol

Any suggestions for a classic lit read?
I loved Wuthering Heights once i got deep into it...fantastic, horrible characters...Heathcliff and Kathy both deserving of each other as both of them despicable!

How about some Jane Austin?

I would like to read The French Lieutenant's Woman but then found out it was written in the 1960's...so my question...does this still count as classic lit?

The French Lieutenant's Woman would count as a classic in my mind, but Fowles' best book is The Magus from the same decade. The 1960s is after all home to some pretty notable work - Catch 22, Slaughterhouse 5, Peter S Beagle's lovely A Fine and Private Place, to name just three fine examples.

From the dustier shelf, I'd have to pick Dracula and Bleak House. And some of the Shakespeare plays are quite readable too: The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet (which has some of the most beautiful writing I have read from any era.) I'm mildly ashamed to admit that my attention to the classic Classics, so to speak, isn't as impressive as it should be, but slightly less ashamed to admit that I have a pile of Dickens, Austen, and others that I definitely plan to deal with.

well if you name it we will read it ...or i will at least since nodody else seems to be around lol We could buddy up? :)

I have read 'Catch 22' - although a long time ago! and i think i read 'A Christmas Carol' once - or at least tried too!

I await your challenge! :)

I'm planning/hoping to read Bleak House by Dickens in December. I love everything by Austen, although Emma is my least favorite.

I read "Wuthering Heights" with another GR group and hated it. It seemed unnecessarily morbid to me. I mean, I know it is very bleak and stark out there on the moors but everyone was either so nasty or like a doormat. I didn't like one character. Now, we are reading "Jane Eyre" , written by another miserable Bronte sister. At least Jane has an interresting personality - she stands up for herself and has the capacity for love and compassion.

Wuthering Heights IS grim and dark! I liked it, though. Like a Gillian Flynn/Stephen King mash-up.

I hope you like Jane Eyre, Terry. I've read it a couple of times and it's not so grim as WT.

Well, Gillian Flynn and Stephen King are two of my favorite authors and you are right, as I read further, Jane Eyre does have some optimism about it.

I like that Jane has sass and grit!

Victoria wrote: "I'm planning/hoping to read Bleak House by Dickens in December. I love everything by Austen, although Emma is my least favorite."

The good thing about Bleak House - it doesn't feel so long once you get into it. I'm hoping the other Dickens I've got feel the same, though I often imagine Hard Times might be well-named.