starrylizard | *coughs* So, the classics!

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coughs So, the classics!

There's something that I've been bemoaning lately. Apparently, back in high school and even in college (that's yr 11 and 12 here in Canberra), they didn't teach the same stuff in English as everyone else. Why yes, looking back through my English notes, I have waxed lyrical about The EarthSea Trilogy, learnt all about puberty via Judy Blume and even (wait for it!) written an essay about Aliens comparing the Director's cut to the screen version and discussing the subtle ways in which the movie pointed out the inhumanity of the android character found therein.

While all of these things were reasonably entertaining, I now find I have never studied Shakespeare, never picked up a Dickens or even a Jane Austen. (I did manage to get one term worth of Greek Tragedies, which was pretty darn fun!) So, now I'm thinking that perhaps I should try to fill this little void in my education.

I haven't a clue where to start though. So, please suggestions, my wonderful learned flisties! Tell me which Penguin Classic I should pick off the bookstore shelf.

I want something with a reasonably happy ending. Something not too bogged down with slow bits. You know, just for a starting point. I don't want to be put off right away.

I loved Hornblower on TV. Are the books good to read? The BBC adaptations of Jane Austen are awesome and right now I'm watching Our Mutual Friend, which appears to be very twisty-turny and fun! Don't laugh too hard, but I didn't know that was a Dickens book until it popped up in the opening titles. *doh* Oh yes!

So (*rubs hands*), please be giving insightful knowledge over now? :)

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I adore all the Jane Austen books - except for Sense & Sensibility which I've tried and failed to read several times. The others I've read countless times =)

I have at home shedloads of classics which I've read over and over and am happy to send you an email with a more detailed list later if you like?

Ooh - off the top of myhead, though, read Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' - one of the best books I've ever read and a million times better than any of the film adaptations ever made.

ooh really! Dracula! *flail* Never would have even occurred to me! *\o/* Now I am massively curious! :)

Oooh this is good! Yes, feel free to enlighten me further. I really and honestly have no idea and suddenly it's like, there's all these books I can read that I just never knew about, but everyone else is just "well duh". *bounce*

The Tempest remains my favorite Shakespeare play.

Go forth. Read.

Noted! *adds to shopping list* :)

Our Mutual Friend is fantastic! I'm assuming you're watching the one with Paul McGann and David Morissey? *winks*

Ummm classics well it's all too personal taste. I think Pride and Prejudice is the most readable Austen, and the most popular, so that's a good starting point. After that I recommend Persuasion or Emma. I prefer the former. =) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is too a very readable and fantastic classic. However, it's more of a bittersweet ending than a happy ending soo....

If you want happy endings, don't read Dickens! Apparently (I haven't read all the Dickens myself) Our Mutual Friend is the only Dickens novel to have a happy ending, so if you're into something cheerful don't go for Tales of Two Cities or David Copperfield!

Hornblower I think is fantastic, but it's very much down to taste. There's quite a bit of sailing terminology to get one's head around, but IMO it doesn't detract from the fantastic plot and characterization. I say go for it, but be warned that the ITV adaption is quite different from the books. Archie doesn't have a major role in the books, Hornblower's only friend being Bush, and Hornblower's character in the books is much more introspective and much darker than in the movie. Go yeah, give it a read! I recommend perhaps skipping the first book in the series chronologically, going straight to Lieutenant Hornblower. =)

(BTW, if you haven't already, watch BBC's adaptation of The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, which is crackling and utterly hilarious! (Happy ending XD )

I'm assuming you're watching the one with Paul McGann and David Morissey? *winks*
*cough* I may have noted PMG was in it and hence picked it up. I spent the first episode squeeing as all my favourite British actors then popped up one after another. How absolutely freaking utterly cool is the cast list on this puppy?! O_O

Really, David Copperfield is angsty? Damn, I thought that might be a happy one for some reason. Okay, I think I'll skip most of Dickens just for the moment and come back later.

Wiki tells me Lieutenant Hornblower is the 7th novel. Is that right? Feels like cheating, but thanks for the tip! *adds C. S. Forester to the possible reading list* Hopefully I've picked up a little of the sailing terminology from the BBC adaptation or I can just set about things with a dictionary nearby. Lucky Bush is my favourite character. :)

(BTW, if you haven't already, watch BBC's adaptation of The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, which is crackling and utterly hilarious! (Happy ending XD )
Oh cool! Okay, I'll see if I can find it anywhere. :)

Thank you muchly!

P.S. Was just reading your profile earlier and you're studying biomedicine. I assumed you were an arts major from your LJ content. Hee! I did molecular biology. :)

Wiki tells me Lieutenant Hornblower is the 7th novel. Is that right?

Well it's the 7th novel that CS Forester wrote, but 2nd chronologically, if that makes sense? The events of that novel are in Mutiny/Retribution and the beginning of Loyalty.

And yes hehe history is my pet like, and many of my biomed friends are really surprised when I borrow biographies and such for "light reading" =)

Ah, I see. He didn't write them in order. Got it.
I've made myself a list and I plant to go searching this weekend. I'm hoping the second-hand book store has some of them, as I've got credit there. :)

I think it's fabulous! People have such interesting hobbies. It often leaves me feeling very uninteresting.

David Copperfield has lots of angst through the book but ends happily. Tom Jones the book is even racier than the tv adaptation!

I second the recommendation for Jane Eyre, though I did think it had a happy ending. Then again, I'm used to death and destruction at the end of most of my fave books, so... ;)

For Dickens I'd suggest Bleak House. The title might sound, well, bleak, but it's actually a very uplifting story and SOOOOOO amazingly well-written. It does make you cry in spots, but in the good way. ;)

I had the same problem with my education, since I was homeschooled from age 13. I had to discover the classics on my own, too, and I'm really glad I did. You don't have to pick them apart or force yourself to read ones that you don't enjoy, you can just have fun with them. :)

Thanks for the recommendations. I have a feeling I once saw a movie of Bleak House, but I'm not sure. Uplifting sounds good. :)

I have heard that Bronte is rather difficult to read in general, so I may not start there, but I'll keep Jane Eyre in mind for when I get to it. See me, getting all psyched up to get happily edumacated! \o/

Thanks, hon!

I wouldn't say that Bronte is more difficult to read than any other classic author, though I do remember getting bored with the first couple chapters of Jane Eyre the first time I read it. Just keep in mind that the story does get going eventually, and there is a reason for everything that happens at the beginning. That's the way it is with most classics, I've found - if you're patient through the first few chapters that set up the characters and the plot, it tends to pay off later. :)

Okay! I'll try to keep that thought in my notoriously impatient brain. :)

I can't wait until the weekend now. I have $50 credit at the second hand bookstore from all the books I finally traded back, so I'm gonna start there and hope they have some of these in stock. \o/

The only classic I ever studied in high school was To Kill A Mockingbird, which is a fabulous book btw.

I've read some "classics" on my own, but I found Shakespeare too convoluted. So you are not alone in your educational void.

Hee, I'm sure others must have missed out along the way too. I'm gonna add To Kill a Mocking Bird to the list. Thanks!

Our Mutual Friend. Oh yes. ;-)

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a good one, but not really happy if I remember. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins if you like detective stories. It's considered the first English-language detective novel, and stands up pretty well, iirc. Depending on your tastes, there's Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle... check online at Project Gutenberg, they may have some of the rights-expired stuff entered there. Not of Conan Doyle, though; his estate's never letting them go.

Ooo. Also Lovecraft if you're into weird, twisty, brain-screwage wrought in purple prose. It's an acquired taste though, and not much on the happy endings.

Now, Shakespeare's an odd one for reading unless you're used to reading plays. I read most of them in high school. Hamlet's always a good one (no happy endings there), 12th Night, Midsummer Night's Dream. As for film adaptations, I love Kenneth Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing" and ooo. If you can find it (doubtful but worth a shot) there's a comedy troupe that's done "The Complete Works of Sharespeare" in... I forget. Either an hour or two. Must be seen if you can find it, it's rather obscure.

Oooh thank you! I'll add those to the possible list of reading materials! :)

OMG! Just finished the BBC adaption of Our Mutual Friend. It's definitely up there with the BBC versions of P&P and S&S. I was totally wibbling when I thought Eugene was dead after he and Lizzie had just declared their love. And she gets him out of the water and ... *wibble* And wow David plays such a demented bad guy. &hearts I ams so buying the DVDs the moment I find them. :)

It's definitely on the must read list now!

Oooh Arthur Conan Doyle did Sherlock Holmes. I know that one. They could be a lot of fun! Jules Verne... ooh Journey to the Center of the Earth etc. Looks like they may well be free online too. Though I'm not sure I could read a novel that way. :P

Reminds me that I have read Day of the Triffids and The Time Machine as a kid, for fun, because I found them on Dad's book shelf, so maybe I have read a few classics! \o/

I'll have a look for Kenneth Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing". Seems you all love that one! I believe I also have an audio book of it. :)

Thank you!!!

I haven't read many "classics" myself, though I've read a few Wishbone versions!! ;)

Seconding the recs for P&P, especially since you've seen the film adaptation/s. IMO, that makes it easier to follow some of the dialogue since you have a feel for how the tone was supposed to be. Or maybe that's just me.

Shakespeare is quite convoluted, so (again) I'd recommend watching a film adaptation first - particularly the Kenneth Branagh "Much Ado About Nothing" as someone else mentioned.

Seconding Dracula and To Kill a Mockingbird (not sure on the happy ending factor, but they're fantastically easy to read and very enjoyable).

I've only read one Hornblower book (I think it was Lieutenant Hornblower) and I did enjoy it quite a lot. Sounding like a stuck record, but seeing a film adaptation helped me a lot...

Thank you! Appreciate the recs. \o/

EDIT: Also your icon! OMG Darcey! Don't you just want to smish him! Ha!

As a beginning:

Any Jane Austen, but Pride and Prejudice is the most popular for a reason.

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre.

Elizabeth Gaskell: Any, but there's a Penguin Classics edition of her Gothic short stories which are lots of fun.

Charles Dickens: Bleak House

Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White

I'm away from my bookshelves at the moment, and I'm trying to visualise what's on them but do those do as a beginning?

Yes indeed! Thank you!

I have quite the list going now. I'm gonna head down to the second hand book store on Saturday with said list and see which ones they have ($50 credit, you see!). And if that doesn't work, I'll go to Collins and just pick me up some Penguin classics. :)

I'm kinda excited. :)

Glad you're excited. I am an absolute Penguin Classics junkie - I have an entire bookshelf full of them. This is why I'm still wearing my jeans-and-rugby-shirts uni clothes around the parish - all my money goes on books rather than clothes!

Hee, I'm like that with DVDs these days, but I was once more of a book junkie. I want to get back into reading, but nothing has caught my fancy (and more recent incredibly short attention span) of late. But I've always wanted to read more of the classics. I should definitely re-read "Day of the Triffids" too. I LOVED that book as a kid!

Man, the states really *do* have different curriculums. We couldn't avoid Shakespeare of some form!

To Kill a Mockingbird--was read in year 9 or 10 for English, so wasn't a hard slog, and was a bloody good book.

The Phantom of the Opera--why yes, it was a book first! :-) The book is good and a bit different from the musical.

I did enjoy Jane Eyre, Tess d'ubervilles is depressing and do not read Wuthering Heights. *shudders* People say that it's one of the best 'love stories' but it's all about obsession and stalking.

Anne of Green Gables series--so enjoyable.

Little Women--same as above.

If you ever want something harder, Les Miserables is bloody good. Well, other than the first 100 pages going on about the piety of the priest who is otherwise in it for two seconds, and the stuff recapping the battle of Waterloo. I really enjoyed it otherwise, but it's a long book.

Scifi classics: Fahrenheit 451 (I think). Short book but bloody awesome.

War of the worlds--I really enjoyed it, which I didn't expect.

Australian classics:

A town called Alice and The Beach. Both bloody good reads, read them a few years ago.

Any of the Mary Grant Bruce Billabong books (good read as an adult too), although you need to take into account the racism of the time.

Seven Little Australians--has a fond place in my heart.

Awesome! I feel I've read War of the Worlds around the same time I did The Time Machine and Day of the Triffids. Neither of those were through school, just random perusing of Dad's book shelf.

We did do Shakespeare once in highschool, but we didn't do Shakespeare. We generally had a summary of the play and were forced to act out a scene in small groups and then it was like "phew that's done, now for something we want to do". Ya know? All I remember is having to cackle like a witch and say "bubble bubble boil and trouble" or some such. Heh.

There was a recent BBC version of Tess d'ubervilles and I stopped watching after ep one in which she is stalked and then raped. Lovely stuff that! I had nightmares.

I shall definitely look for Phantom of the Opera. Jane Eyre and TKaMB are already on the rec list and I'll have a look for Little women and Anne of Green Gables. I have a feeling my sis has copies of AoGG in her bedroom. hmmm.

Thanks! \o/

I realised I wrote down the wrong name for one of them--it's "On the beach" not "The beach".

The Anne of Green Gables books are incredibly lovely.

The rest of the John Wyndham (Day of the Triffids) novels are fantastic.

Aside from Austen and the Hornblower novels, I'd recommend Jules Verne. They're not terribly heavy and pretty amusing.

If you want a Shakespeare rec, I'd suggest Much Ado About Nothing as a good place to start.

And Mary Stewarts novels are great. Though not her Arthurian books.

And Mary Stewarts novels are great. Though not her Arthurian books.

I've actually read The Crystal Cave and enjoyed it at the time. It was in a Fantasy Fiction class at college.

Someone else recommend Jules Verne too and I know I have Much Ado about Nothing as an Audio Play somewhere. *G* Thanks

Also, just realised I have read The Chrysalids. That was a good read. I hadn't connected it as being the same author as The Triffids book. :)

Dunno if you do much reading online, but all of the Jules Verne books are available as eBooks over at Project Gutenberg. In fact I'd suggest popping by then anyway because most of the "classics" are out-of-copyright and you could download a few to read to see what you like.

It's such a shame you didn't have a teacher who loved Shakespeare at school. It really does make all the difference to the level of enjoyment you get from those plays when the teacher is enthusiastic.

I'm not a big classics fan but definitely go with the Pride and Prejudice recommendation - it is not possible to adapt that book and do justice to it. Also with the Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream still my favourite.

For others you could give Chaucer a go - always good for a bawdy giggle, and how about Greek Comedy - Aristophanes rules that. :D

The trouble I find with most books considered classics is that they tend to be tragedies - people don't seem to appreciate the art of the comic. But you could try P.G. Wodehouse, and of course the lovely Oscar Wilde.

If you can cope with some tragedy Brave New World by Aldous Huxley still stands out for me.

Thanks! \o/
I've heard of Chaucer, but actually wouldn't even know what genre he writes in. Oscar Wilde's stuff always sounded like an interesting read. I'll look P.G. Wodehouse up.

Oh, yes, Wilde. Importance of Being Earnest is hilarious.

Also, Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw which is what My Fair Lady was adapted from.

Hmmm, just looking at the bookshelf. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is great. And if you want something a bit weird, Methamorphosis by Franz Kafka.

Oh, and if you can get hold of it, Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto is perfectly beautiful. It was made into a film years ago.

Banana? O_o

Thanks! I'm kinda overwhelmed with choices, but that's just awesome! I'm just hoping the store has some of these on Saturday when I go searching! :)

Chaucer is in a genre of his own. Medieval English tales around a group of people on a pilgramage. I had the joy of reading them in olde English for school, but they are in modern translation. And unlike Shakespeare I don't think you lose anything by doing that. My English Lit teacher would probably disagree. :P

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coughs So, the classics!

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