Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I fell asleep last night before I entered the last book. 1.1.2021

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authors' photos

B1: Classic of Asia The Diary of Lady Murasaki 1/31/2020 3 stars
B2: Classic Tragedy Camille: The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas fils 11/25/2020 4 stars
B3: A Book Published at Least 200 Years Ago A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift 3/15/2020 4 stars
B4: Memoir, Autobiography, or Biography The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin 9/7/2020 1 star
B5: Classic of Europe The End of the Affair by Graham Greene 7/13/2020 4 stars

I1: Classic Mystery or Crime Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré 3/17/2020 4 stars
I2: Group Bingo Participant Pick The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa 9/12/2020 5 stars
I3: Classic Drama or Play Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe 10/21/2020
I4: Book From Group’s 2020 Bookshelf To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf 6/30/2020 5 stars
I5: Classic Gothic or Horror The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft 7/5/2020 4 stars

N1: Book From Group’s Old School Classic Shelf prior to 2020 A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle 4/6/2020 5 stars
N2: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize A Passage to India by E.M. Forster 5/2/2020 4 stars
N3: Reader’s Choice Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich 5/29/2020 4 stars
N4: Classic Short Story The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote 1/1/2019 4 stars
N5: Book From Group’s New School Classic Shelf prior to 2020 Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery 4/1/2020 5 stars

G1: Classic Science Fiction or Fantasy Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick 10/9/2020 5 stars
G2: The Bigger Read List by English Pen The Lover by Marguerite Duras 9/11/2020 2 stars
G3: Poetry or Essay Collection Sonnets From the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning 11/28/2020 5 stars
G4: Banned Book Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson 2/5/2020 4 stars
G5: Classic Science or Philosophy Meditations by Marcus Aurelius 11/2/2020 5 stars

O1: Classic of Africa, Antarctica, Australia, or Oceania Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay 6/5/2020 5 stars
O2: Classic Western Old Yeller 9/25/2020 5 stars
O3: Book Published the Year You Were Born A Murder of Quality by John le Carré 12/6/2020 4 stars
O4: Classic Adventure White Fang by Jack London 8/15/2020 5 stars
O5: Classic of the Americas The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson 4/14/2020 4 stars

Just seeing Lonesome Dove on your card makes me just a tad envious. I loved Lonesome Dove and had to stretch to find a book for this square. I love your choices, Lynn, because they are books you read at work and I’m always on the lookout for books for my kids.

Brina wrote: "Just seeing Lonesome Dove on your card makes me just a tad envious. I loved Lonesome Dove and had to stretch to find a book for this square. I love your choices, Lynn, because they are books you re..."

I have read so many book reports on Old Yeller, probably because of the movie. I even own a copy, but have not read it yet. Perhaps Bingo will push it to the top of the list. The Great Gatsby is a book I have tried to start so many times, but then put it down. I am going to try again.

Yes, the book I am most excited about is Lonesome Dove. Maybe I will save that until Spring Break or Summer so I can really enjoy it!

Brina wrote: "Just seeing Lonesome Dove on your card makes me just a tad envious. I loved Lonesome Dove and had to stretch to find a book for this square. I love your choices, Lynn, because they are books you re..."

Oh I have two suggestions that my 8th grade students loved

1. "Flowers for Algernon" although I do not live in Louisiana, our curriculum coach (read boss there) directed us to use a unit from their website. We just did https://www.louisianabelie
es.com/docs/default-source/teacher-to.... There are links to resources. I used Lit2go for the Frankenstein chapters. There are even Greek myth tie-ins. Be forewarned the Unit is huge. We skipped the poem to Hades, and one of the informational articles on intelligence testing. We only did two of the writing assignments. For the final argumentative essay, I had the students analyze the writing prompt and produce a thesis statement, without writing out the entire essay. I still have two other writing assignments to grade! The curriculum coach agreed it was a good way to do it.

But the students really, really cared about Charlie and loved "Flowers for Algernon".

2. I love "The Hitchhiker" by Lucille Fletcher a classic radio play. It is filled with symbolism. There are many versions of the pdf online and also radio play dramatizations available. The students enjoyed it. The best part is the story was rewritten by Rod Serling for an episode in the Season 1 of "The Twilight Zone". We watched that episode in class the day before Thanksgiving Break began, because concentration is somewhat impaired on a day before vacation. You can do a compare/contrast between the two versions. The students must determine which character is the ghost and who the Hitchhiker really is. There is also a place where the driver becomes quite upset about "going west". I ask the students what the direction "west" might symbolize in this context, because when a character become overly emotional about an everyday thing, you are probably dealing with a symbol.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hit...

I’ll have to read the Hitchhiker. I’ll try to get my 7th grader to read Flowers for Algernon over the summer. My deal with her is that if she wants to read Percy Jackson well below her reading level, she has to read 1-2 classics each summer. And to her surprise and of course not mine she ends up liking them. Ooh, I could use the Hitchhiker for my horror square because Stephen King gives me nightmares.

Brina wrote: "I’ll have to read the Hitchhiker. I’ll try to get my 7th grader to read Flowers for Algernon over the summer. My deal with her is that if she wants to read Percy Jackson well below her reading leve..."

We could even nominate it for a Short Story monthly read!

I’ll do that then I’ll have the 2020 group book shelf square woohoo.

Brina wrote: "I’ll do that then I’ll have the 2020 group book shelf square woohoo."

Oh warning on "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes. Your daughter (middle school age) should read the short story. It won a Hugo. A decade or so later Daniel Keyes rewrote the short story as a novel. I read the novel last Spring. I read it straight through in 6 hours crying for the last hour. This is not appropriate for Middle School. It is normally used as a High School text.

Hope you enjoy the challenge, Lynn.

Katy wrote: "Hope you enjoy the challenge, Lynn."

Thanks Katy, I am sure I will. : )

So much planning, I'm envious. I haven't even started my thread. I will give an additional shout out for Lonesome Dove, one of the best I’ve ever read. Enjoy!!

I would be happy if people would make some recommendations for me.

1. I love sappy heartwarming children's books like Heidi. When there is a lot going at work I like to retreat into a children's classic.

2. I love Golden Age Science Fiction. During the Summer of 2019 I read three Edgar Rice Burroughs|10885], the first three John Carter books. I have also read and enjoyed several Ursula Le Guin books.

3. I discovered Honoré de Balzac in 2019. I really liked Letters of Two Brides and Eugénie Grandet.

3. I would rather avoid dystopia or politics.

Thanks in advance.

1. I loved Heidi and I loved Nobody's Boy by Hector Malot, which I read earlier this year.

Rosemarie wrote: "1. I loved Heidi and I loved Nobody's Boy by Hector Malot, which I read earlier this year."

Thank you Rosemarie. That sounds like a interesting book! I do not know this author. I just downloaded it, in a free kindle version. Yet, other recommendations are still welcome.

Lynn, this is going to sound really weird, but Jenny Colgan books give me the same feeling Heidi gave me (I just read Heidi this year for the first time). They are neither children's nor classic, but there is a common appreciation and description of place and heartwarming feeling. My favorite is The Cafe by the Sea.

Milena wrote: "Lynn, this is going to sound really weird, but Jenny Colgan books give me the same feeling Heidi gave me (I just read Heidi this year for the first time). They are neither children's nor classic, b..."

Thank you for the suggestion. I read the blurb and marked it to read. The storyline sounds a bit like A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy, which I liked.

Thank you for the return recommendation, I have not read anything except Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy.

I recommend Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck.

Aubrey wrote: "I recommend Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck."

Thank you. I have wanted to read more Pearl Buck. I thought about this book last year when it came up in discussions.

The Woman in White is one of my favourite novels! Hope you enjoy it!

Regarding Golden Age Science Fiction, have you tried John Wyndham (of The Triffids but actually all his novels are very good, such as The Midwich Cuckoos), Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles, and Bujold’s Vorkosigan series? There’s lots :0)

Of soppy children's books I love The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy.

Philina wrote: "Of soppy children's books I love The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy."

I love The Secret Garden so Much!

Great List Lynn! Many of my favorites are on here. Lonesome Dove, My Cousin Rachel, Women in White and A Study in Scarlet were all 5 stars for me.

I'll echo Sue, great list.

Philina wrote: "Of soppy children's books I love The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy."

My grandmother gave me The Secret Garden when I was in 5th grade. She said it was her favorite book when she was a child. I read it and I agree; that is a great book to recommend!

Veronique wrote: "The Woman in White is one of my favourite novels! Hope you enjoy it!

Regarding Golden Age Science Fiction, have you tried John Wyndham (of The Triffids but actually all his novels a..."

Veronique thank you for recommending John Wyndham. I have not read anything by him, so I will be on the lookout for a time that I can start on his books.

I am moving slowly on reading so far this year. I blame . It was a very dense book. Yes, it was 460 pages, but the real issue was how I needed to read slowly and digest. Some books I can read in a weekend. This one took almost two months because I could not digest more than a chapter or two per sitting. Still it was worth reading. I am still pondering a review, if I decide to write one. No rating yet.

Lynn wrote: "I am moving slowly on reading so far this year. I blame . It was a very dense book. Yes, it was 460 pages, but the real issue was how I needed to read slowly..."

Don't worry yourself! Books like these exist. I could only stomach one chapter of the Chernobyl book at a time. That tiny little book took me ages to read.
I've got The Best American Essays of the Century on my Bingo tbr and I know I'll need a very long time for that one. This is why it'll be the last book to read for the Bingo.

In complete contrast to my slow going through Snow Falling on Cedars and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I am currently flying through a reread for me Anne of Green Gables. While school is on hiatus, our librarian set up an Anne of Green Gables book club. At night, when my eyes are tired from all the screen time, I am going to bed early with the librivox audiobook. It is so good!!! I do not remember loving the book this much the first time around in 2008. As always, it is important to hit upon the right book at the right time.

I guess I will use it for New School before 2020 and bump the Daphne du Maurier I had planned.

How true, Lynn, that timing is everything. So glad you are loving Anne this time around.

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

Because of current uncertainty, I deliberately was searching out free book sources online. I found the text of this book on a university website. Having no idea what it was about and thinking it was an autobiography I wanted to use it for B4. I actually read the first four chapters before I researched the author and realized I was reading a novel. James Weldon Johnson writes of his perceptions of social status of people in the United States in the 50 years or so after the Civil War.

I rated the book 4 stars. The text is an interesting story told in first person, and I cared about what happened next to the character. As far as literature goes, once the reader gets past the first few chapters he or she might feel that the plot is simply too coincidental and contrived at points. Still the historical detail and the thoughts and emotions expressed were fascinating. I am glad I read the book.

I believe the reason this book was on the University website where I found it is because Johnson and in particular this book, were highly influential upon the writers who became known as "Harlem Renaissance" writers. That is why I am going to use it as a "classic of the Americas".

I just finished A Passage to India which won the https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/..., so N2 Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize.

I just went through the books I have read this year and found a Bingo!! Vertical line N Bingo. I feel like I am cheating a little using "A Modest Proposal" for a book because it is really a single essay. If I read something old that is longer - like if I ever finish Meditations - I will make a substitute.

Well, congrats on the found Bingo.

Katy wrote: "Well, congrats on the found Bingo."

Thank you. I do not believe I will finish all my challenges, so Bingo is what I am focusing on at the moment. So far this year, I have not focused on any one challenge, so I am too scattered to make any progress.

I loved A Passage to India. Don't see anything wrong with using A Modest Proposal. It is a more important work than many that are much longer. Congrats on the Bingo.

Sara wrote: "I loved A Passage to India. Don't see anything wrong with using A Modest Proposal. It is a more important work than many that are much longer. Congrats on the Bingo."

Thank you Sara.

Congrats, and I agree with Sara, A Modest Proposal definitely counts. Its to good not to.

Congrats on the Bingo, Lynn! I also really enjoyed A Passage to India.

Thanks

The last two books I read were not very enjoyable. I read The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin . This is a book about hate. I lived it. I was born in 1962. I remember going to a desegregated school where the children got along and being bewildered by the anger and hatred we saw on TV. I do not think I learned much, and it is just painful to read.....

The other book was The Lover by Marguerite Duras This was definitely not my style. It reminds me of Jean Rhys. I like some stream of consciousness, for instance To the Lighthouse. I also do not mind certain scenes that go beyond G rating as in The End of the Affair Yet some authors seem to be imprecise as they gush emotions all over the page. I do not enjoy wading through all the emotions with them when there is no other point to be made. Duras's book felt more like a therapy session than a narrative. Paraphrasing: I hate my mother, I love my mother, no wait, I hate my mother. The Lover seemed empty and lacking to me.

Sorry the last two books were disappointing. I opted not to read The Lover and you have reinforced that I made the wise decision. I had planned to read The Fire Next Time, but I also lived the 60s and I really don't care to revisit the pain to no purpose. Thanks for your thoughts on both!

Sara wrote: "Sorry the last two books were disappointing. I opted not to read The Lover and you have reinforced that I made the wise decision. I had planned to read The Fire Next Time, but I also lived the 60s ..."

Thanks. I have had a wonderful morning though reading The Housekeeper and the Professor. This is a lovely book. I am working the numerical puzzles as I go and developing my own simple equations. Still the book is so much deeper than that. I just read two books about hate. The New York Times says this is a book about love. No, I think it is a book first and foremost about kindness, and then that can grow into love. The love being referred to here is not amorous physical love, but a deeper and sometimes better respect for the person.

This book in its beautifully understated manner investigates the wonder of numbers. Numbers predated people and we in our attempt to discover their relationships "open God's notebook". There are beautiful metaphors drawn between the relationship between numbers when you see numbers as individuals with their own personal characteristics and the relationships between individual people.

I think another thing I did not like about the two books I read previously is the grouping of people into arbitrary societal constructs, as happens in real life society, instead of looking at them as individuals. The Lover sometimes sees people as individuals, but always falls back on their group memberships.

Nice that you have found the perfect book to offset the other two. I understand what you are saying, too much divisiveness in real life to need any in the literature. I have The Housekeeper and the Professor on my TBR, perhaps it would be a good book to more up the list.

Oh, I have been puzzling over what to read for my birth year. Since I have been introduced to John le Carré this year, I have decided to read another George Smiley book. I just ordered A Murder of Quality , George Smiley #2 published in 1962. It is a used hardback... It came out one year before The Spy Who Came In from the Cold which I rated 5 stars. Plus, there is an audible audiobook. I loved the audible audiobooks on the last two Le Carre books I read.

I've only read The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, so I can't make a valuable contribution there, but I was glad to find your recommendation for The Housekeeper and the Professor. It sounds like a special book, and I've added it to my TBR list.

Love le Carre and have read the entire Smiley series. I enjoyed A Murder of Quality, but it is not a spy novel as the later ones are. Smiley is one of my favorite characters ever.

I just finished The Housekeeper and the Professor and it did not disappoint. I actually am going to use it for the Group Member Pick square because multiple people had recommended it to me. I may still use Pavilion of Women: A Novel of Life in the Women's Quarters by Pearl S. Buck for the Asian Classic Square.