Classic literature

Cooter

Cooter

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Cooter
I'm going to suppose that I'm fishing the wrong pond with this one.......BUT, I'll give it a shot anyway. Is anyone here a fan of Classic literatue? I'm looking for recommendations since I'm going to have a little extra time on my hands this Fall. I picked up a few at the used book store today to get me started but I'm looking to avoid the obscure stuff and maybe expose myself to something I've missed over the years. Currently reading Jane Austen and thoroughly enjoying it, which was not my expectation. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
 
The Public Fountains of city of Dijon by Henry Darcy is a classic in potable water supply but perhaps not quite what you may be looking for...
 
Just about anything by Mark Twain. Though if you want just one choice to start, here's a hint:
"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn." -- Ernest Hemmingway.

I just finished reading "Three Men in a Boat" published in 1889 by Jerome K. Jerome. Wry British humor of the day. I read it to satisfy an itch delivered 50 years ago when I read Robert Heinlein's "Have Space Suit, Will Travel" (a classic book of another sort worth reading) that began:
You see, I had this space suit. How it happened was this way:
“Dad,” I said, “I want to go to the Moon.”
“Certainly,” he answered and looked back at his book. It was Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat, which he must know by heart.​
Later in Heinlein's story, the father character says:
"Reminds me of this passage I'm reading. They're trying to open a tin of pineapple and Harris has left the can opener back in London. They try several ways." He started to read aloud and I sneaked out-I had heard that passage five hundred times. Well, three hundred.​
I just had to read the book to find out how they eventually opened the tin of pineapples.

Anyway, there are the classic classics: the Iliad and the Odyssey. No need to read them in the original Greek.

Naturally, as a pilot, some Jules Verne would be appropriate (hard to avoid Hollywood taint when reading his original books) but "Robur the Conqueror" could be added as a topical classic. Don't let it give you any ideas!
 
Sinclair Lewis' Arrowsmith. Loved it as a voraciously reading teenager.
Confessions of Nat Turner.
Any Mark Twain.
So much great stuff!
 
Anything by Jack London. If you're a pilot you have to appreciate the adventures.

John Steinbeck, anything.

Probably not classified as a classic but could be IMO, "We" by Charles Lindberg.

I, Claudis by Robert Graves

Don Quixote

Crime and Punishment

A Farewell to Arms

For Whom the Bell Tolls

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The Red Badge of Courage

The Fountainhead

The Hound of the Baskervilles
 
Heart of Darkness
The Jungle
 
I read "The Grapes of Wrath" recently. See y'all, I have culture. Great book, story applies even now.
 
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Thanks for all the recommendations. :)

I just discovered Goodreads so I'll be using that to browse around and narrow down my search. For those that have been mentioned:

Hemingway- I tried A Farewell to Arms about 10'years ago and didn't like it, but it's worth another try I think. I might go with For Whom the Bell Tolls, I like the poem at least.:)

Twain: I read him when I was young but I think I will put Huck Finn back on the list. Especially now that we're so race sensitive it will be interesting to read

St D'Exupery: He's too poetic for me. I've read a couple of his works and I liked the content but felt like I had to work too hard to extract it.

Sinclair Lewis: No exposure, I'll give him a try

Ayn Rand: haven't read Fountainhead but I did read Atlas Shrugged and feel like I got a pretty good handle on her philosophy. She makes it pretty clear, unlike many other philosophers. I'll take a look at it and see if Fountainhead offers anything different.

Dostoyevsky: one of my favorites. I liked Crime and Punishment significantly less than the Brothers K though.

Homer: I will re-read those with my kids when it comes up in their curriculum soon. I had a tough time making it through before, but will probably get more out of it next time around.

R.L. Stephenson: fun to read. Will be reading Jeckyk and Hyde very soon

Steinbeck: Loved East of Eden, didn't like Grapes of Wrath

Don Quixote, The Heart of Darkness, The Hound of Baskervilles, and Memoirs of U. Grant have my interest.

Thanks again!
Cooter
 
Cooter said:
Steinbeck: Loved East of Eden, didn't like Grapes of Wrath



Thanks again!
Cooter
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I'm gonna check out East of Eden from the library, looks good. After I finish "Red Eagles: America's Secret Migs", to see how Velocity fared.
 
I'll take a stab at it...

Louis Lemore
Zane Grey
Kurt Vonnegut
Ray Bradbury
Michael Crichton
C.S. Lewis
Martin Luther
 
Axtel4 said:
I'll take a stab at it...

Louis Lemore
Zane Grey
Kurt Vonnegut
Ray Bradbury
Michael Crichton
C.S. Lewis
Martin Luther
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With the exception of Vonnegut and Crichton, whom I've never read, I like your list. I read almost all of Louis L'Amour's books growing up. Bondage of the Will by Luther is a goal of mine, but haven't gotten to it yet. I'm a huge fan of Lewis, I've read many of his works 2-3 times. Fahrenheit 451 is a must read.
 
Clark1961 said:
The Public Fountains of city of Dijon by Henry Darcy is a classic in potable water supply but perhaps not quite what you may be looking for...
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I find is writing style to be obscure, like flow through a porous medium.
 
A lot of good recommendations here that I wouldn't term "classic literature"... what is "classic", anyway? But a good change from the oft repeated "best flying books" thread...

Ayn Rand: The Fountainhead is, IMO, the better book than Atlas Shrugged... AS is the definitive work on her philosophy but Fountainhead is far more believable as far as the characters are concerned (Rand was a genius but she really didn't understand people).

Jules Verne: One of the greats, but you have to ignore the rabid anti-semitism in some of his works.

Voltaire: Somebody once said, "if you like Voltaire you'll like Kurt Vonnegut." Well, if you like Vonnegut you'll like Voltaire. If you've read Slaughterhouse Five (and everybody should), when you read Voltaire's Candide you'll think each passage should end with, "So it goes."

While we're talking about Vonnegut Cat's Cradle also deserves mention, and while we're talking science fiction (if you can call Vonnegut that) then Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, already mentioned, is another latter day classic that everybody should read. I could go on and on about Heinlein, Asimov, and others, but we're straying from "classic literature".

Mark Twain: It blows my mind that people object to Huckleberry Finn as racist... quite the contrary, he portrayed N****r Jim (historically accurate language, not a modern racial slur) as a very positive character despite the prejudice of the day.

I like Louis L'Amour but I hardly consider him "classic literature". More like comfort food, not really good for you but satisfying... one of those writers I reread from time to time when I'm too tired to read something new. He's weak on strict historical accuracy but good on the general sense of the times he writes about. Zane Grey, OTOH, I couldn't get into at all, too much of the bad old stereotypes of western literature.

For more serious historical fiction, Kenneth Roberts... Rabble in Arms (about the American revolution) and Arundel (about Benedict Arnold) are classics, and Boon Island is intense (men shipwrecked within sight of the Maine coast, can see people on the shore but can't attract their attention).
 
The Santa Fe Trail by Buffalo Bill Cody. He not only wrote the book but actually was there. It actually starts with the Conquistadors!
 
Lndwarrior said:
Anything by Jack London. If you're a pilot you have to appreciate the adventures.

John Steinbeck, anything.

Probably not classified as a classic but could be IMO, "We" by Charles Lindberg.

I, Claudis by Robert Graves
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Read the entire collection after watching the BBC production with Derek Jacobi. Definitely the progenitor to "Game of Thrones".
Thanks to a quality PUBLIC high school education, I've read almost everything else on this list. "The Little Prince" was made into a movie with Bob Fosse as the Snake, Donna McKechnie as The Rose, ad Gene Wilder as The Fox back in the '70s. I've been trying to find a copy.
Definitely Mark Twain.
Don't forget the other Heinlein books - his juvenile books were written & marketed to teenage boys, but well suited for grownups, too. Asimov should be on the list, too, with the interest in Data Analytics and AI these days.
I took Spanish in high school for the sole purpose of reading Don Quixote in the original, not translated version.
The Shakespeare comedies. Twelfth Night is playing at the professional theatre in Denver, already have tickets for Sunday.
Don Quixote
Crime and Punishment
A Farewell to Arms
For Whom the Bell Tolls
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Red Badge of Courage
The Fountainhead
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Click to expand...
 
"Pillars of the Earth" - Ken Follett. Not exactly a "classic," but epic, very involving, and quite interesting from an historical perspective.
"Boat of a Million Years" - Poul Anderson. Again, not exactly a "classic," but it is in the intelligent science fiction genre. A wonderful read.
Classics? "Moby Dick" and "Frankenstein" I enjoyed a great deal. The original "Dracula" was interesting, written in the form of letters between people, but a tough slog for me.. took a desire on my part to read it, and not as compelling as the others. Love all the Jack London books, but they are very easy reads.. "White Fang" was a childhood favorite. Was forced to read "Great Expectations" years ago.. recognize its place in classic literature, but it bored me to tears. Maugham's "Of Human Bondage" was more involving, but can't say it was "enjoyable" either. Steinbeck's "The Red Pony" should be required reading.. broke my heart the first time I read it, but it's great writing.

If you read horror and aren't easily offended, some of Clive Barker's books are incredible.. makes Stephen King look like a seventh grader in terms of prose, scope, and imagination. SOME of Barker's stuff I found to be garbage, but "The Great and Secret Show" and "Everville" (a two-book series), "Imajica," and "Weaveworld" were all phenomenal... alternately horrifying, mind-boggling, and even beautiful at times. The sensationalist horror movies made from his other books are not, AT ALL, a representation of the depth and breadth of his talents. King is, usually, a great story teller. Barker, at times, is a great story teller and an AMAZINGLY skilled writer. Both are, obviously, not for the faint of heart.

Just some ideas without repeating what others have already said.
 
Dickens, Tale of Two Cities, read it in high school and hated it, read it again a few years ago and liked it.
 
Every time someone digs up an old thread I’m reminded of how much I miss @mscard88 .
 
murphey said:
I've tried to get thru War & Peace many times. Gave up in the third chapter.
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Well, it's hard to read it, I agree. You can watch movie, if you like. I did the same and after watching the movie it was easier for me to read. Btw who else does the same thing? Watching movies before reading the book or vice versa?
 
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