Reading the Classics
I belong to a book club that meets monthly. Each month we have a theme and each member interprets the theme in their own way. This enables people to enjoy reading something of their choice, without having to read a set book. Last month's theme was Women and War and it is amazing how wide the range of reading was.
This coming month, for our next meeting, the theme is the Classics. That certainly is antoher theme with exceptionally wide scope. I was considering rereading something easy, a children's classic, such as Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, Black Beauty or The Secret Garden. Then I thought maybe I'd revisit Charles Dickens and revisit something I'd read in the past, possibly A Tale of Two Cities. I reread Jane Eyre last year and am not in the mood for that period of writing just at the moment.
I looked through my bookshelf for something to read again and finally settled on a choice between two Russian classics I haven't read for over 40 years, Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky or Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I finally settled on Anna Karenina and have made a start. There are 784 pages in the book and I'm only up to page 59. So, there's still a long way to go. Although I know I enjoyed reading it the first time, I've actually forgotten what the story is, so it will be fun to read again.
Do you have classics you've read that you like to revisit, or enjoyed in the past? Or maybe you have one that you've always been meaning to read? What would your choice be if you were given the theme The Classics and a month to read a related book?
Image Credit » https://pixabay.com/en/old-books-book-old-library-436498/ by jarmoluk
Comments
CoralLevang wrote on September 5, 2015, 4:57 PM
I would probably choose Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, or Catch-22.
1valmnz wrote on September 5, 2015, 5:11 PM
CoralLevang I really enjoyed reading Jane Eyre again last year. I confess, I've never read Catch-22, so maybe after Anna Karenina I should introduce myself to that one.
Dawnwriter wrote on September 5, 2015, 5:11 PM
I must have read Pride and Prejudice at least 50-60 times. Earnest Hemingway and Dickens are always firm favorites but now I just do not have time to read long classics. 784 pages sound overwhelming.
1valmnz wrote on September 5, 2015, 5:14 PM
Dawnwriter it's 26 pages a day for thirty days
CoralLevang wrote on September 5, 2015, 5:18 PM
That's how to break it down! LOL How about War and Peace next?
1valmnz wrote on September 5, 2015, 5:25 PM
LOL CoralLevang that is sitting on my shelf in two volumes. I picked up the first and notice I never completed reading it. So, there, I'll add it to my list of books I must read before I die list
CoralLevang wrote on September 5, 2015, 5:38 PM
Two volumes of Tolstoy would KILL me to read!
1cmoneyspinner wrote on September 5, 2015, 5:45 PM
Yes. The one that should be read but I probably never will is "War and Peace".
1WordChazer wrote on September 5, 2015, 5:49 PM
Homer's the Iliad and the Odyssey would do me. I've not read them in depth since graduating university but my personal tutor was one of the leading Homer experts of his day, so I have a signed copy of his translation of the Odysssey in my collection.
1valmnz wrote on September 5, 2015, 5:50 PM
There are people who have enjoyed it I believe cmoneyspinner
valmnz wrote on September 5, 2015, 6:19 PM
CoralLevang but Anna Karenina is Tolstoy and I'm really enjoying it.
valmnz wrote on September 5, 2015, 6:21 PM
WordChazer you were probably lucky to study them with someone who knew them. I had only a fleeting acquaintance with them at Teachers College.
1msiduri wrote on September 5, 2015, 6:33 PM
cmoneyspinner It is really long so you have to devote time for it, and nearly everyone in it is a Prince/Princess or a Count/Countess, but it really isn't that bad. It's quite an enjoyable (but not a happy) read. I read it in college many moons ago. The ink was still fresh from Tolstoy's pen.
Feisty56 wrote on September 5, 2015, 7:38 PM
I've never read Alice in Wonderland, not even as a child, so I might give that one a go. Pride and Prejudice is a book I've read a few times, at different ages, and might well be worth another reading. I like the premise of your book club, choosing a theme rather than everyone reading the same book. I've considered joining one of the book clubs at our local library, but there everyone reads the same book. Maybe I'll put in a suggestion to try a themed book club.
1LeaPea2417 wrote on September 5, 2015, 7:39 PM
I have read Pride and Prejudice and I like that book a lot. I would like to read it again.
1DWDavisRSL wrote on September 5, 2015, 8:38 PM
I would like to read Tale of Two Cities. Both my sons read it in high school. A hated it but Z loved it.
1valmnz wrote on September 5, 2015, 8:50 PM
DWDavisRSL it's a book I enjoy when I'm in the right reading mood.
valmnz wrote on September 5, 2015, 8:51 PM
Feisty do you think it's because in America it wasn't so widely read as in England and other related countries? I can't imagine anyone's childhood without Alice in Wonderland.
1Feisty56 wrote on September 5, 2015, 8:54 PM
I'm not sure what the reason in, valmnz . Reading was emphasized in our education and I was an avid reader from a young age. I read Little Women and other children's classics, but Alice in Wonderland never crossed my mind.
cheri wrote on September 6, 2015, 12:01 AM
I started reading classic when i was in high school until college because it was required. Now I think I have to reread them since I forgot most of what I read
1valmnz wrote on September 6, 2015, 12:07 AM
cheri they are much more enjoyable when read as an adult.
CalmGemini wrote on September 6, 2015, 2:05 AM
valmnz ,so you are re-reading Anna Karenina.Good.I recently re-read The Old Man and the Sea.But then it is a very short novel.
1valmnz wrote on September 6, 2015, 2:14 AM
CalmGemini gosh, I'd forgotten that one. I think I read it at school.
CoralLevang wrote on September 6, 2015, 2:57 AM
I remember Alice, but not reading it, having it read to us. I did read Alcott, though.
Rufuszen wrote on September 7, 2015, 6:42 AM
I have always found the writing style in classics rather heavy going, even Jules vernes!
Colibry21 wrote on September 11, 2015, 8:50 PM
Ever read a Jane Austen? I've enjoyed a few of her books.
1valmnz wrote on September 12, 2015, 12:12 AM
Yes, which is why I chose something different this time