Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

F. Scott Fitzgerald's "College of One" is not a published book or reading list, but rather a concept from his final novel, The Last Tycoon. In the book, the list was intended to be a selection of significant literary works to comprise a self-directed education. While no complete, definitive list has been identified, the concept represents Fitzgerald's desire to be well-read in a broad range of classic and contemporary literature.
Shortly before his death, F. Scott Fitzgerald embarked on a romantic relationship with Sheilah Graham. Fitzgerald put together a study plan for her to obtain the knowledge of a college education without actually going to college.

1. Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray)
2. Man and Superman (George Bernard Shaw)
3. The Red and the Black (Stendhal)
4. Bleak House (Charles Dickens)
5. Seven Men (Max Beerbohm)
6. Androcles and the Lion (Bernard Shaw)
7. The History of Henry Esmond, Esq. (William Makepeace Thackeray)
8. A Doll's House and Other Plays (Henrik Ibsen)
9. Sister Carrie (Theodore Dreiser)
10. The Red Lily (Anatole France)
11. Youth's Encounter (Compton Mackenzie)
12. Sinister Street (Compton Mackenzie)
13. The Kreutzer Sonata (Leo Tolstoy)
14. Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert)
15. The Custom of the Country (Edith Wharton)
16. The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
17. Tono-Bungay (H. G. Wells)
18. Roderick Hudson (Henry James)
19. The Pretty Lady (Arnold Bennett)
20. Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy)
21. How to Write Short Stories with Samples (Ring Lardner)
22. Chéri (Colette)
23. My Ántonia(Willa Cather)
24. The Sailor's Return (David Garnett)
25. The Financier (Theodore Dreiser)
26. The Titan (Theodore Dreiser)
27. A Lost Lady (Willa Cather)
28. The Revolt of the Angels (Anatole France)
29. Ariel the Life of Shelley (Andre Maurois)
30. The Song Of Songs (Hermann Sudermann)
31. The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway)
32. Growth of the Soil (Knut Hamsun)
33. Byron: The Last Journey (Harold Nicolson)
34. South Wind (Norman Douglas)
35. Man's Fate (André Malraux)
36. The Woman Who Rode Away / St. Mawr / The Princess (D.H. Lawrence)
37. The Cabala(Thornton Wilder)
38. Tender Is the Night (Fitzgerald, F. Scott)
39. The Outline of History (H. G. Wells)
40. Death in Venice and Other Tales (Thomas Mann)

There are Classic Authors in this list I have never even heard of and books as well.

Rosemarie have you seen this list before?

34. South Wind (Norman Douglas)

I forgot I had it! In slip cover version!!

Lesle wrote: "There are Classic Authors in this list I have never even heard of and books as well.

Rosemarie have you seen this list before?"

This is new to me.

I've read 24 of them.

Rosemarie wrote: "I've read 24 of them."

Out of those have your read Anatole France before?
He is on here a couple times.

I read The Revolt of the Angels and enjoyed it. It's not a typical novel but it is lots of fun.

Rosemarie wrote: "I read The Revolt of the Angels and enjoyed it. It's not a typical novel but it is lots of fun."

I was looking at:
Penguin Island (1908; French: L'Île des Pingouins) is a satirical fictional history which satirizes human nature by depicting the transformation of penguins into humans – after the birds have been baptized by mistake by the almost-blind Abbot Mael.

Have you read this one?

Rosemarie wrote: "I've read 24 of them."

That is alot. I think I counted 3!

I've read only four of them.

I've read 10, but there are several I've never even heard of.

I’ve read a total of 2! Many are on my TBR and some authors I’ve never heard of, not surprising though.

Lesle- I have a very cool edition of Penguin island. It’s a hard cover in a slipcase and has ink and pen drawings. I’ve yet to read it but I keep meaning to every year! Maybe 2026 will be the year. I need a book with a bird on the cover for a challenge.

I've read only 9. Not even a quarter from the list. There are authors and books that I haven't even heard of.

Lesle wrote: "Rosemarie wrote: "I read The Revolt of the Angels and enjoyed it. It's not a typical novel but it is lots of fun."

I was looking at:
Penguin Island (1908; French: L'Îl..."

We read this a few years ago in Classics in Translation. It's so much fun-very entertaining.
We read Penguin Island in July of 2019.

this is an interesting list

Pam wrote: "Lesle- I have a very cool edition of Penguin island. It’s a hard cover in a slipcase and has..."

Is it a Heritage Press edition?

Pam I will look for one and see what I can find we can do a Buddy Read if you want! Im very interested in this author.