Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

For those that have the unspoken admiration and appreciation for the fact that these Classics took authors sometimes decades to complete. For those out there who share a certain desire for those hefty books over 800 pages but cannot seem to crack the Classic open. For those Members that need a little shove. For those that want to add that 1000 page book to their reading list. For those that are willing to take the step with support.

We will take the time to enjoy the read over a span of three months, ONE a quarter or FOUR reads will be offered a year.

2020 Hefty Reads

January thru March: Romola by George Eliot
April thru June: The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
July thru September: The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
October thru December: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy OR
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (581 pages) Member Favorite from January given 2nd chance as a Mini Hefty Read

2019 Hefty Reads

January thru March:
Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

April thru June:
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

July thru September: The Manuscript Found in Saragossa by Jan Potocki
October thru December: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

2018 Hefty Reads

April thru June:
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky


July thru September:
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

October thru December:
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

I'm currently reading the B & N Classics paperback edition of The Way We Live Now (1875; 802 pages) by Anthony Trollope (1815-82).

Lesle wrote: "Laura, is this the right Classic?

Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson

You can add it to the Poll as a Write-In."

I would be up for this one, too.

If I can help in some way...

Thank you, Kelly.
Are there any books you would like to read?

I have no idea what has been read. Two I think of right away are:

Anna Karenina
The Possessed

Les Mis
Don Quixote
The Three Musketeers
War and Peace

Our Mutual Friend
Vanity Fair
Martin Chuzzlewitt

From Here to Eternity
Daniel Deronda

Kelly, we have a list of books read already in the Hefty Archives. Most of your suggestions are not on our "read" list, and there are some great titles there.

I have been thinking about reading From Here to Eternity sometime next year. And maybe rereading War and Peace. I read it in the 80s.

A book I would be interested in reading is Romola by George Eliot.

Rosemarie wrote: "Kelly, we have a list of books read already in the Hefty Archives. Most of your suggestions are not on our "read" list, and there are some great titles there.

I have been thinking about reading Fr..."

I would too. I like her books.

I’d be interested in Romola also. And Vanity Fair

I was looking through my classics and the big ones I haven’t read (without looking at the archives yet) are The Possessed by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Anna Karenina, Bleak House and Nicholas Nickleby.

For 2020 Hefty Suggestions:

We only have four Classics to add for next year. Taking it down to just one.
Please do not forget we have an Epic Poetry thread too for our large read.

Would like at least a suggestion, a second and a third on these please! Thank you!

Is anyone interested in reading The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding?

I second The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

Rosemarie wrote: "Is anyone interested in reading The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding?"

yes

Lesle, in the 2019 planning site, a number of members showed interest in reading Romola by George Eliot, including myself, Brian and Tracey.

Is there anyone else interested in reading Romola?

I see that Kathy has also shown interest in this book. Thanks, Kathy.

Thanks for seconding The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, Kelly and Kathy.

Here are the four books that Patrick mentioned above:

The Possessed by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Rosemarie wrote: "Lesle, in the 2019 planning site, a number of members showed interest in reading Romola by George Eliot, including myself, Brian and Tracey...."

Rosemarie, we had 5 of us talking about scheduling Romola for January to March and then a discussion of The Way We Live Now for April to June yet I have no idea what thread we were in. It seems we were in the wrong thread but where was it? I can't find the discussion.

Actually, Brian, I can't find it either.
Would you like to renominate The Way we Live now?

I would like to read The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek

Rosemarie wrote: "Actually, Brian, I can't find it either.
Would you like to renominate The Way we Live now?"

No, someone else, Kathy or Tracey nominated it. I'm reading it anyway with the Trollope Project close to that April to June period but said I would chime in with those who wanted to read it here, Tracey and/or Kathy, which one or both was something I wanted to check on if I found the discussion.

Jazzy wrote: "I would like to read The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek"

You could also nominate this in the classics in translation thread, Jazzy.

It's too long for that, I think it would be a good hefty classic.

two more 'hefty classics' would be
Life and Fate - Vasily Grossman
And Quiet Flows the Don - Mikhail Sholokhov

Are there any other members who would like to read The Good Soldier Schwejk?

It's meant to be quite fun. I haven't read it yet, but have a copy here on my shelf.

I read it a few years ago. It was a fun read. He had the right attitude!

I would like to read The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek as well,

I would like to 2nd Anna Karenina

We have one quarter left to fill for next year

We need 3rd for:
The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek
Anna Karenian by Leo Tolstoy

I guess I didnt do a very good job keeping track.
Patrick, Kelly and myself for Anna Karenian so this will fill are last spot!

Great choices...Thank you everyone!

Kelly wrote: "If I can help in some way..."

Would you like to Host any?

Jacquie wrote: "I would like to read The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek as well,"

Well i guess it's just me and you, kid :)

I'm in another group that is currently reading The Way We Live Now. So from April to June would anyone else like to read The Good Soldier Svejk at that time?

Jazzy, we can set up a Buddy Read for Schwejk next year. Just let us know when you want to start reading the book.

Just to let everybody know that all our book discussion threads stay open for comments even after we have started a different book. This includes the discussion threads in the Archives, which are arranged either by year or by genre.

Jazzy wrote: "I'm in another group that is currently reading The Way We Live Now. So from April to June would anyone else like to read The Good Soldier Svejk at that time?"

As the Chunksters Group is currently reading TWWLN and I'll be joining in when the Readers Review reads it next spring, it will be good to have Good Soldier Svejk as an optional buddy read on here. It looks interesting. Even the various spellings of the main character intrigues me.
I also thought it interesting that three of the four Hefties, Anna Karenina, Tom Jones and TWWLN, are also on the Members' Favorites list.

The reason for the various spellings is that they're translated from one alphabet to another. Both are phonetic, so it is up to the translator to choose.

In case you are wondering, I spelled his name the German way since I read the German version, complete with the original illustrations. You are in for a treat reading about the Good Soldier's exploits.

A buddy read for The Good Soldier Svejk works for me,

Up to you Jazzy, for when to start, I’m flexible

I would also join the Švejk in 2020

Just let us know when you would like to start the buddy read and I will set it up for you in 2020!

Well Peter and Jacquie, would you like to start it at the start of the year? Or wait til April?

both would be fine for me

Shall we start on the first of January?

I bought a diary which mistakenly left the UK off the map of Europe (I'm not sure why, because even if Brexit takes place we're still Europeans), and it has a lot of sweet photos of the 50s/60s and places to write things and I'm going to keep track of my books by pencilling them in tentatively so i can always use a rubber to scrub them out if I end up not reading them in the end.

Fine then. January it will be. I will, however, read in my mother tongue (German) which is more wordy than English so we might have problems to compare reading progress by pages.

Peter wrote: "Fine then. January it will be. I will, however, read in my mother tongue (German) which is more wordy than English so we might have problems to compare reading progress by pages."

No worries, and if i could read in German at a decent speed I would join you but not being fluent I will have to make suffice with English. Otherwise you'd be finished and I'd be only on page 2 or 3. :)

I just thought we'd read it and have fun.

January is good for me, I’m in training this week so am a little slow to respond. Thank you for coordinating!