Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

It may seem early, but it's time to start thinking about what we're going to read in 2026.

The format is the same- a pair of classic authors that have something in common to be read over a period of two months.

In order to encourage diversity, authors from Great Britain, Canada and the United States do not fit this category. We read them in many of our other categories.

This year there will be no official carry-overs from previous years, but feel free to browse any of the previous nominations for inspiration.

Please feel free to suggest as many pairs as you like in this our preliminary round.

Here is a list of our suggested pairs:

1.Sacher Torte Anyone? Pam
Two authors who lived in Vienna: Arthur Schnitzler and Joseph Roth
Original Language: German
➕

2. The Sverbeyev's Literary Salon Pam, Kathy Luis
Two authors who lived in 1830s Moscow: Nikolai Gogol and Mikhail Lermontov
Original Language: Russian
➕➕➕➕

3. Let's go to Mexico! Lindenblatt Luis
Two authors who lived in Mexico City: Juan Rulfo and Gabriel García Márquez
Original Language: Spanish
➕➕

4. After the War Lindenblatt
Two authors who fought in World War 1: Henri Barbusse and Erich Maria Remarque
Original Languages: French and German
➕

5. The Flesh is Weak Pam Luis Anisha Jen
Two authors who suffered from tuberculosis: Franz Kafka and Albert Camus
Original Languages: German and French
➕➕➕➕

6. Gone to Soon
Two authors lost in the Holocaust: Bruno Schulz and Irène Némirovsky
Original Languages: Polish and French

7. Am I Seeing Things? Jen
Two imaginative French poets: Francis Ponge and Arthur Rimbaud
Original Language: French
➕

8. Humanity is Important Luis
Two 20th century French authors of Faith: Georges Bernanos and François Mauriac
Original Language: French
➕

9. Female Authors under Fascism Luis Jen
Two authors who were affected by Fascist policies in World War 2: Alba de Céspedes and Nathalie Sarraute
Original Languages: Italian and French
➕➕

10. Who's Guilty? Kathy, Pam, Michelle, Piyangie
Two Japanese mystery authors: Seichō Matsumoto and Seishi Yokomizo
Original language: Japanese
➕➕➕➕

11. Under the Southern Cross Jen
Two authors from southern Africa: Alan Paton and Bessie Head
Original language: English
➕

Not early at all, I've been waiting for it! 😊

I've come up with the following pairs:

1) The Sverbeyevs' Literary Salon
Two authors who lived in 1830s Moscow: Nikolai Gogol (an Ukrainian author) and Mikhail Lermontov (a Russian author)

2) Let's Go to Mexico
Two authors who lived in Mexico-City: Juan Rulfo (a Mexican author) and Gabriel García Márquez (a Colombian author)

3) After the War
Two authors who fought in WWI: Henri Barbusse (a French author) and Erich Maria Remarque (a German author)

Two authors who suffered from tuberculosis: Franz Kafka and Albert Camus.

(I'm sorry for choosing an illness as the thing in common. I so want to read more of them.)

Haha- illness in common. Well I'm okay with it as I'm interested in both of them. And. I have a sad one too:

Two authors lost too soon to the Holocaust:

Bruno Schulz and Irène Némirovsky

Very much interested in the Mexico nomination too! (I'm interested in sachertorte too but I don't know those authors ;)

Also, how about French poets:

Francis Ponge and Arthur Rimbaud

Piyangie wrote: "Two authors who suffered from tuberculosis: Franz Kafka and Albert Camus.

(I'm sorry for choosing an illness as the thing in common. I so want to read more of them.)"

I think they also have in common of how they question the big stuff, a bit of depth but existentiolaism comes to mind.

I also want to read more of their works and am interested in this pairing.

great suggestion Piyangie.

Piyangie wrote: "Two authors who suffered from tuberculosis: Franz Kafka and Albert Camus.

(I'm sorry for choosing an illness as the thing in common. I so want to read more of them.)"

I agree with Piyangie. Kafka and Camus for me, too.

Thanks so far for the creative suggestions.

Here's another one:
Two French authors of faith: Georges Bernanos and François Mauriac

Thanks, Jen, Anisha, and Luis.

Jen wrote: "Haha- illness in common. Well I'm okay with it as I'm interested in both of them. And. I have a sad one too:

Two authors lost too soon to the Holocaust:

Bruno Schulz and [author:I..."

Great choice!

Rosemarie wrote: "Thanks so far for the creative suggestions.

Here's another one:
Two French authors of faith: Georges Bernanos and François Mauriac"

Can I add them, too?

Of course, Luis.

This is a preliminary list of ideas.

Rosemarie wrote: "Of course, Luis.

This is a preliminary list of ideas."

Obrigado!

Another idea in line with others I've read and loved for these challenges:

Women Writers Under WW2 Fascism: Alba de Céspedes and Nathalie Sarraute

De Cespedes was a Cuban-Italian writer whose work is currently having a strong revival with new English translations from major publishers. Due to fascist censorship, she has had literary work banned and been arrested for antifascist radio broadcasting work too. Her work is originally written in Italian.

Sarraute is another very cross-cultural writer I've just learned of- a French Russian writer and lawyer whose life was endangered due to her Jewish background. In France she went into hiding and, according to the GR bio, lost her work as a lawyer and divorced her husband in order to protect him from the same persecution. Her work is originally in French.

This is not to say that their literature is overtly political. That point is just about how their personal backgrounds relate to one another.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!
We'll be taking suggestions for pairs until Saturday the 27 September.
In message 2 you will find all of the suggested pairs in a list.
On Sunday the 28 we'll start with the first round of voting. You will be able to choose 4 pairs from this list.
Then we'll take it from there.

One spot out of the six will be reserved for the Moderator's Choice.

I will keep updating the list in message 2 as we get more suggestions.

Rosemarie wrote: "Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!
We'll be taking suggestions for pairs until Saturday the 27 September.
In message 2 you will find all of the suggested pairs in a list.
On Sunday the 28 we..."

There's issue with my noms in messages 6 and 15?

We have a great list of European and Hispanic authors!

Now it's time to find some pairs from the rest of the world, including Australia and New Zealand, all of Africa and Asia and the Caribbean.
The original language can be English if the authors come from any English speaking countries other than the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland and the United States.

Jen wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!
We'll be taking suggestions for pairs until Saturday the 27 September.
In message 2 you will find all of the suggested pairs in a list.
O..."

It took me a while to add them, but you'll see that they are there now. I save frequently when editing a post because I once deleted an entire long message by mistake. I added and saved after each book.

ah haha yay. I had seen 20min had passed when I saw the list but yea, long posts can take even longer than that I imagine.

From Africa, there could be Alan Paton and perhaps Bessie Head both from South Africa. I'm interested in her work but there's only about 3 that may qualify for the timeframe of classics as defined here.

That's a good suggestion, Jen. They're so different, in a good way.

I am very new to this group and not sure if this fits, but both of these are 50 years old or more:

Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian Nobel Prize winning author of the play Death and the King's Horseman (1975) and fellow Nigerian Chinua Achebe. Both write on the effects of foreign influence on the existing culture, but there's some key differences as well.

I haven't read Death and the King's Horseman in years and would enjoy a re-read. Both writers have a lot of works to choose from as well; so there's plenty to discover.

Perhaps the group has done these before or it doesn't fit. If so, please disregard the suggestion. Thanks!

Jen wrote: "Another idea in line with others I've read and loved for these challenges:

Women Writers Under WW2 Fascism: Alba de Céspedes and Nathalie Sarraute

De Cespedes was a ..."

I support De Cespedes. I have one or another book by her.

Greg wrote: "I am very new to this group and not sure if this fits, but both of these are 50 years old or more:

Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian Nobel Prize winning author of the play [book:Death and th..."

We read these not that long ago, Greg, in September of last year. Feel free to check out our discussion threads in the Archives World Authors.All of our discussion threads stay open for further discussion.

Does anyone know any classic Japanese mystery authors? That would be a fun choice for a pair.

Oh I’m still so grateful for our Soyinka/Achebe section that year. I want to read more especially from Soyinka in the future.

Rosemarie wrote: "Does anyone know any classic Japanese mystery authors? That would be a fun choice for a pair."

Tanizaki suits for this? I'm not sure if I have any books by him.

Luís wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "Does anyone know any classic Japanese mystery authors? That would be a fun choice for a pair."

Tanizaki suits for this? I'm not sure if I have any books by him."

He's not really a mystery writer.

Jen wrote: "Oh I’m still so grateful for our Soyinka/Achebe section that year. I want to read more especially from Soyinka in the future."

Jen, I started a new Archives folder for our 2x2 reads called Archives World Authors. You'll find that discussion there now.

Luís wrote: "Jen wrote: "Another idea in line with others I've read and loved for these challenges:

Women Writers Under WW2 Fascism: Alba de Céspedes and Nathalie Sarraute

De Ces..."

I read and loved Forbidden Notebook / Quaderno proibito earlier this year. Eager to read more :)

This will be a tough choice when it's time to vote!

Jen wrote: "Haha- illness in common. Well I'm okay with it as I'm interested in both of them. And. I have a sad one too:

Two authors lost too soon to the Holocaust:

Bruno Schulz and [author:I..."

Oh and yes, Nemirovsky wrote in French, but to get even more specific and celebrate the diversity here, she was Ukrainian, so both authors of this pair were Eastern European Jewish.

Rosemarie wrote: "Does anyone know any classic Japanese mystery authors? That would be a fun choice for a pair."

How about Seichō Matsumoto and Seishi Yokomizo for Japanese mystery authors. A few years ago the group read Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Matsumoto. (At least I think we did...)

Thanks for finding those, Kathy. I vaguely remembered reading Japanese mysteries with the group.

Message 2 has been updated with the latest pairs.

Wow, Japanese mystery authors! I love that. Never read any.

Neither have I, but I like mysteries so they should be fun.

We have 11 great suggestions for our next year's schedule-so it's time to start the selection process now. (Instead of Sunday, as I originally planned to, since we have enough to choose from.)

Please choose up to four choices. Some members have already supported some of the pairs, but this was before the list was finalized.
You can change your support if you wish!

If you don't wish to select 4 pairs, you can choose fewer pairs.

If there are ties, we'll take it from there.

The complete list is in Message 2. You can state the numbers or the names of the pairs you are supporting,

I support Japanese Mystery Authors.

I support

10. Who's Guilty?
Two Japanese mystery authors: Seichō Matsumoto and Seishi Yokomizo
Original language: Japanese

I support:
3. Let's go to Mexico!
Two authors who lived in Mexico City: Juan Rulfo and Gabriel García Márquez
Original Language: Spanish

4. After the War
Two authors who fought in World War 1: Henri Barbusse and Erich Maria Remarque
Original Languages: French and German

I support

10. Who's Guilty?
Two Japanese mystery authors: Seichō Matsumoto and Seishi Yokomizo

And

2. The Sverbeyev's Literary Salon
Two authors who lived in 1830s Moscow: Nikolai Gogol and Mikhail Lermontov

I support:
1. Sacher torte anyone?
2. Sverbeyev’s Literary Salon
5. The flesh is weak

I support Let's go to Mexico!

I've added the votes so far, including a few that were mentioned before the finalized list.

I didn't add any of yours yet, Jen, since I want to make sure you have time to make your selections.

Rosemarie wrote: "I've added the votes so far, including a few that were mentioned before the finalized list.

I didn't add any of yours yet, Jen, since I want to make sure you have time to make your selections."

So hard to decide!

I will say de Cespedes/Sarraute, Ponge/Rimbaud, and Paton/Head. I'm not sure yet about a 4th vote. You can pull my vote from #5. It looks like it'll get through regardless for now.

Thanks!

I also support: 2. The Sverbeyev's Literary Salon

We have five pairs:
Numbers 2, 3, 5, 9, 10!

To choose our final pair, please cast one vote for one of the pairs below, in the next message. Those pairs who received only one vote do not have that vote carried over.

Choose one of the following pairs:

1. Sacher Torte Anyone?

4. After the War Luis
➕

6. Gone Too Soon

7. Am I Seeing Things?

8. Humanity is Important

11. Under the Southern Cross Kathy Melanie Jen
➕➕➕

In case of a tie, we will have one more round and if there is still a tie, I'll make a Moderator's Choice

I support 11. Under the Southern Cross.