Most of us were forced to read some of the "Classics" as students, books such as Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Lord of The Rings, Narnia, etc. What "classics" have you read on your own though?
I read Little Women, Narnia, Death of a Salesman, Catcher in The Rye, Jane Eyre and I'm sure a few others. I love reading though and thought it would be a good thing to read some of the "classics" that I didn't WANT to read as a kid growing up and this time truly understand them!
[question posted by hockeygal4ever]
responses and comments:
I was forced to read both Death of a Salesman and Catcher in the Rye. However, I would have read them on my own. I have also read Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison Version.. not the scifi) and i would now consider 1984 and Brave New Wolrld as classics. [Smith2028]
I read Death of a Salesman and Catcher again as an 'adult' myself. I was forced to read them in high school, enjoyed them but not as much as the 2nd time when I really put the effort into them. Funny how perspective changes when you're not 'forced' to do something! lol I think I started 1984 and didn't like it for some reason. I'm not sure though. Perhaps I should pick it up again. Thanks for sharing! [hockeygal4ever]
I've read all of those except Little Women. I wasn't forced to, I read them because I loved to read. I fell in love with Shakespeare when I was in high school. We read Romeo and Juliet in class. I picked up a Midsummer Night's Dream from the library, and i was hooked. [onesiobhan]
You know, I hated Shakespeare and I think it was simply because of the dost thou and hast thou and thine own style of writing. How do you get past that? It drove me nuts every time I read it. I read all of Shakespeare by force, in school, and while I agree he was a fabulous writer and his stories were interesting the language barrier for me was just too intense. [hockeygal4ever]
I guess that depends on how you define classic – but I have read some. Charles Dickens, Bleak House and great expectations. And some Hardy – Tess, and The Mayor of Casterbridge. I find Dickens quite dense, that is very wordy. Hardy was a little depressing, but am glad I red them both. At least I have an opinion now. [Denjgi]
I agree with Dickens, he is a bit too wordy. I got bored with his style quickly. I'm not sure if it's just that he over explains it all or what but I found him very hard to enjoy. Although the words put to film or play come out wonderfully and I've enjoyed a lot of his work that way. [hockeygal4ever]
I read treasure Island and 20000 leagues Under the see. [bilook1]
Oh, Treasure Island was a good book! I forgot about that one! See, I knew people would mention some that I read and had forgotten! I loved that one. [hockeygal4ever]
hello friend great to discuss with you, i think the classic i read is mahabharata and ramayana that' very good books i have ever read, i can learn from that books,try it. good luck [andy_baex]
Funny thing is, these days the classics are among my favorite types of reading. I've read all of Jane Austen several times, all of Charlotte Bronte (except "Shirley", which I somehow couldn't get into), the Narnia books, all of L.M. Alcott, LOTR... you name it. Dickens and Hardy were hard going, I agree. Like so many others, I wasn't fond of Shakespeare at school, but these days I find myself deeply moved by his sonnets. One book we read at school which I still enjoy reading was D.K. Broster's "The Flight of the Heron" - our English teacher was also a professional actress, and the way she read it to us totally captured my imagination! [anglogerman]
I think it's a matter of maturing. And the fact that you're not 'forced' to read something. I find that a huge downer when I'm reading. If I'm reading it because I have to it's not nearly as interesting. [hockeygal4ever]
not many but just 2 of them as i am not an avid reader [sapnatols]
Ooh! I read some of the Shakespeare stories on my own, not for school ^_^ I know that I read some of the others, like Dickens' novels, one being Oliver Twist, but I can't remember a lot of the others. I remember reading Catch 22 in High School. Pretty sure that that one is considered some kind of a classic, even though it's not as old. Classics are classic for a reason, for sure! All of the above mentioned books were wonderful. There have been times in my life where I've really tried to get myself to strike out and start reading even more of the classics that I didn't get to when I was younger, but I haven't managed it yet. [shywolf]
I didn't read all that many in school, just what was required, so I've been reading some as adults. It's been a lot of fun, though I spend so much time online now that I don't have a whole lot of reading time. Sometimes I "cheat" by seeing movies based on the books, if they're considered good and faithful adaptations. (I really enjoyed Jane Eyre, BTW.) [Idlewild]
The only classics i've read would have been Lord of the rings, Narnia, Romeo and Juliet. out of all those. I do not know if i've actualy read other classics because well i don't classify most of the old books i have as classics i just classify them as 'to read' or 'already read' :P [JellyBeans]
A book is a Clasic only if the reader thinks so.I don't consider Gone With The Wind a classic.I consider Pride And Prejedice to be a classic and I have read it. [sandy70]
There are a set of standards in the industry that consider a book a classic. Those books can also be found in any book store listed under classics. If a book is a "classic" in your eyes, that's fine and your opinion, but there are literary standards. [hockeygal4ever]
Some.. Like Lord Of the Rings, Rome and Julie, Hamlet and some more :D [Mafia101]
I read 'The Raven' and 'The Tell-Tale' heart on my own..I love all things horror and they were considered some of the first horror type literature..I even read McBeth again..when I was in high school, I kinda understood it, but now, I had a better concept of it, so I re-read it.. [ScarletAlston]
Oddly enough I "read" the Tell Tale Heart via an audio book and it really was wonderful. I enjoyed it told that way and think it was one of those books that deserved some of the audio effects. [hockeygal4ever]
i have read so much i probably have read them all in my time lol but i did so enjoy dracula [ESKARENA1]
Yea I remember those times at school!! I was NOT impressed with some of the stuff they gave us to read!! So.......... Being into "Action Books" as a kid, I used to take my "Camp on Blood Island" with me to school, and then, when they opened "Little Women" I used to put mine in the middle and continue to read my World War II Prisoner of War escape book!! Now of course, I understand how important reading the Classicals would have been, and my and my wife love the way that they are "Done" on the BBC TV At the moment we are well into "Pride and the Predjudice" EXCELLENT series! [forfein]
You know, oddly enough when my kids were small they loved to watch Wishbone, a dog who told the stories of the classics by living in them. It was so good and to be honest, often got me to go back and actually read them!! I think often it is a matter of how they are presented. [hockeygal4ever]
Don't know what are the classics you consider, but I've read on my own books like: - The Lord of the Rings - Chronicles of Narnia - 1984, George Orwell - The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas - Os Lusíadas, Luís de Camões And I'm looking for (when I've got the money to buy them): - The Count of Monte Cristo - Ivanhoe - MacBeth - Hamlet - Odissey - The Illiad - The Divine Comedy - Alice in the Wonderland - The Wizard of Oz [Red_Nanaki]
After 8 years of elementary school + 5 years of High School + 5 years University of Toronto Honours Degree + 3 Years post Graduate Masters course I dare say i have read 100s of classics I enjoyed many of the reading material assigned but nevertheless it was required reading and not as enjoyable as it could been I read all the novels you mentioned + many many more Shakespeare plays I must confess now that i have no required reading and spending so much time on the internet i find reading is not a habit i can re connect to Good Luck [maddy37]
I'm afraid, so many people don't like classics because they had to read them in school. In High School I had to read 'Hamlet', 'Odyssee', 'Iliade', 'War and peace' (I heard an interesting thing lately. The word 'mir' in Russian has actually two meanings, 'peace', and 'world'. Now it was discussed somewhere, what Tolstoy actually meant, 'War and peace', or 'War and world'), 'Yevgeni (Eugene) Onegin' (a splendid thing actually but how many pupils like verses, even when they are sooo witty?) bu Pushkin, 'Father Goriot' by Balzac, and of course there were our Estonian classics, like Tammsaare, and Tuglas (I'm not sure at the moment, how much of their works are translated to English), etc. I don't mention the Soviet garbage we had to read! Now I'm working in the library, and I see, what the pupils have to read at school nowdays. All the classics I mentioned above are still in program but there are so many more, even if I'm leaving the Estonian authors out: 'King Odipus' by Sophokles, 'Steppenwolf' by Hesse (I liked 'The Glass Bead Game' more), 'Jane Eyre' (Bronte sisters are a bit too romantic for me. I prefer Jane Austen, any time, especially 'Pride and Prejudice', and 'Persuasion'), 'Lolita' by Nabokov, 'Lord of the Flies' by Golding, 'Plague' by Camus, 'Master and Margarita' by Bulgakov (an absolutely wonderful philosofical satire about Soviet life in 20-s of 20. Century, with religious touch), 'Catcher in The Rye', and 'Love Story' by Erich Segal, and there are many more. Every time I ask myself, will all these good books be spoiled for the children also? It would be pity... [kiiizu]
"Jane Eyre" and "Alice in Wonderland and Through the looking glass". It was in the middle of summer, we have a small library in our house, and I just tried to read on it. It was kind of old, the one that we have, and I just got fascinated with it since then. I remembered, I even wake up at nights, because I can't bear to sleep a chapter of it! [orangepeel]
one of my favorites, and i must admit, i didn't read much of it, as the movie my teacher showed in class followed the book EXACTLY, was Pride and Prejudice. [jsgrand0]
Wow, I don't even think I could list all of them. I read Narnia on my own as a child and am rereading it now since the movies are coming out. Others: Complete works of W.Shakespeare (yes, i know I'm crazy!) LOTR including The Hobbit Little Women Actually looking through the posts I think I have read all of the ones mentioned so far. I know I reread Watership Down as an adult but it was first read as a school book. [debbie4824]
I'm definitely going to find a copy. Thanks [hockeygal4ever]
I never really participated in the reading of classics in school unless it was done in the classroom. I hated being made to do anything. As an adult, however, I've discovered an appreciation for them that I wouldn't have had as a kid. I've gone back and read the collected works of Jane Austen (Sense and Sensibility being a particular favorite), Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott, Swiss Family Robinson (also a dear favorite) by Johann Davis Wiess, The Chronicles of Narnia, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and many others. I'm glad, truth be known, that I waited until I was older to attempt to read these great works of literature as I wouldn't have loved them the way I do now when I was younger. [dutchess67]
I've read so many classics. Some of them are: Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, All the Narnia books, Catcher in the Rye, Wuthering Heights, Huck Finn, The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby (still one of my favorite books), Heart of Darkness, Oedipus Rex, The Canterbury Tales, A Room with a View, Brave New World. The list goes on and on. I love most of the classics. They are classic for a reason. Some can be dry at times, but I really think you can learn a lot by reading them. [elusivedarkness]
I forgot about A Room with a View. That was the weirdest, but good, book I've ever read! lol [hockeygal4ever]
I have read Tom Sawyer, Huckelberry Finn, Death of a Salesman, Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Great Expectations, Swiss Family Robinson, and I cant remember any more right now....these I had to read in school....but I have read some other not so classics that I choose to read. I think if I were to read one of those classics I had to when I was a kid, then I would understand it better (I sure hope!) too! [Kscott]
I've read most of those high school requisite ones (Cather in the Rye, Huck Finn, Romeo and Juliet, etc). I think the only one I read on my own was To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it in 8th grade as a bookreport book. My teacher was very impressed. I didn't have to read it in high school until my junior year. Oh, I did read a couple Shakespeare plays in college for my own enjoyment, but I can't remember which ones now, lol. [4monsters4me]
NOt many but heard they re good i have seen the movies though [kdeepak1984]
LOL.. that is SO cheating!! Saw the movie!!!? Tsk Tsk. [hockeygal4ever]
I read Little Women,Jane Eyre,Catcher in the rye,atlas Shrugged,The Good Earth,Romeo and Juliet,Merchant of Venice,and Lord of the Rings. I ahve not read Narnia,I ahave read a book about CS lewis but I do want to read it. [suscan]
Narnia is a wonderful set of books that will truly let you use your imagination. I actually read them as a child/teen and loved them. [hockeygal4ever]
its a good thing i (being from india and of science stream) was never forced to read clasics. 'Robinson crusoe by daniel defoe' was my first read. it is one of the best adventure novel i hav read and the only novel i hav dared to read twice. lately i hav read a good number of classics.'les miserables by victor hugo' and 'mayor of the casterbridge by thomas hardy' the true masterpieces on the tendencies of the human nature. while thomas hardy concentrates upon the realistic human psyche, victor hugo in les miserables is an idealist. i also read 'a farewell to arms', 'for whom the bell tolls', 'the old man and the sea' all by ernest hemingway, some time back. though all of the three were pretty involving, i liked 'the old man and the sea'. 'gone with the wind' by margaret mitchell is a mammoth novel but u remain hooked up till the end. though i started it with a reputation of being the greatest romantic novel of all times, i found it has much more to offer than that. 'the fountain head' by ayn rand is a novel(or rather an idealistic philosophy) which has the capabilitiy to change the way u think, whether u agree with her views or not. if one wants some quality light read one ought to read mark twain. i read recently three of his novels - 'a connecticut yankee in king arthur's court', 'the prince and the pauper' and 'adventures of tom sawyer'. i liked 'adventures of tom sawyer' most. it is really the most natural humor i hav ever read. right now i m reading 'adventures of huckleberry finn'. lets see how it turns out. [agnosticme]
All my "classics" are on vynil. I still have the original copies. :) Electric Ladyland, Tommy,Topographic Oceans, LA woman,Aftermath,Between The Buttons,Ummagumma,Piper at The Gates Of Dawn,Harvest,Mad Dogs And Englishmen... Oh there's too many :) [nuffsed]
LOL.... you're not READING those darling! Okay, I guess technically you CAN read the album covers! [hockeygal4ever]
i nevr read any of d classics..bt i would like to read...can any1 suggest me vat sh'd i read in classics?is dat difficult for understanding? [aishwarya2211]
I did a lot of Victorian stuff in school, but on my own I'll read early 20th century stuff. I think that qualifies as a classic for your purposes! ;) One summer I had a big run of DH Lawrence, whom I can't recomend enough! Amazing stuff. I also recomend Henry Miller. They're both considered "dirty" of course, but they're very, very differnt writers. I read Catcher in the Rye, and all I could think is "I don't get it." [panique]