In my the first couple of years of my Lit degree we analysed a crap tonne of E.B. White's essays and columns from Harpers and The New Yorker. I'm not sure if that makes Charlotte's Web a classic, but it probably doesn't hurt any.
That brings up another good question...what is a classic? I say Charlotte's Web is a classic because of name recognition. I know I at least browsed through it as a child but I don't really know if I read the whole thing. But the point is I didn't have to google it to know what you were talking about.
Conversely, almost no one would have to Google Fifty Shades of Grey either, but I really hope beyond hope that it doesn't' qualify as a classic.
Yeah, name recognition would only be one part of the equation. Now, if 50 years from now no one has to google Fifty Shades Of Grey, then unfortunately it will be considered a classic.
To Kill a Mockingbird and nothing by Steinbeck and Faulkner. I want to catch up on as many of the major classics as I can, though.
The second volume of War & Peace. Read the first volume about ten years ago, the second one is still patiently waiting for me. I keep meaning to pick it up. Then I decide to start from the beginning all over again. I get to somewhere around when Pierre gets hooked by Helene, then I get distracted by some nice fat fantasy novel. People say War & Peace is 'hard', it's not, it's just long. Beautifully written, but I need to be in the mood for beautifully written classics. Grey Sunday afternoon, armchair in the corner, ideally some rain pattering at the window - if it can be arranged. One day I'll get around to it.
I've never read so much as a synopsis of it, and I blame Heinlein? I think it was the older female (RAH had four characters: Young Impetuous Robert, Older Wise Robert, Silly Young Lady, and Wise(r) MILF Older Lady) character in one of his books who trashed War and Peace by saying "something is gained in translation," implying that the original Russian was even more boring than the English taught in school....
I'd say it's 'slow and meditative' rather than boring. Though that of course is an entirely subjective matter. Takes a bit of time to get into it, especially with the huge cast with all those impossible Russian names (and their diminutives). Once you get into it, it's like watching an epic film. Didn't get on well with Heinlein though. I read The Number of the Beast when I was a teenager and didn't grok it. Maybe wasn't a good introduction - it's not one of his classics (as we're on the subject).
ulysses by joyce war and peace by tolstoy those two are simply too big too long . think id watch the movie version of war and peace. but ulysses? naa
Oh, yeah, I was being facetious. If you want to get a feel for Joyce without investing a whole lot of time, try The Dubliners, his collection of short stories... honestly.
Ulysess has been on my 'to read' list for decades. But just like Proust, it's such a hefty commitment time wise (I started Swann's Way about five years ago.. it was funny actually. But didn't get far). And there are so many damn books out there, all vying for attention that I always end up thinking manana. I'm terrible for starting a book then starting another one, and then another one. Until I have about a dozen on the go at once, then some get left by the wayside. Now I only allow myself one book per (self defined) category. Like one for research, one for study, one fiction, one inspirational. I think my categories may have begun multiplying now though. Dirty little buggers.
Literally anything by King, Orwell, Dickens, Hemingway, Austen or Twain. And almost everything by Shakespeare. Granted, I have read maybe the first few pages or most, but never finished any of them except macbeth (had to read it for school, terrible). Probably many other "classics" I havn't read to be honest. But I've read a fair bit. I especially like the russian classics from people like Tolstoy or Dostoevsky.
My favourite in that genre is Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. ETA: The vintage cover for it is the best. Spoiler
Looks like me when I get woken up in the morning.... haha. From a quick google it looks interesting and has interesting ideas. I'll have to pick it up somewhere, I havn't read it. Wonder if it available as an epub/kindle? Time for some googling.
Sun Zu Art of War. While I haven't read it yet, I plan to do so....one day. Just haven't gotten around to it.
I read and actually enjoyed most of the classics that I was exposed to when I was young. There were a few I disliked and/or just couldn't get into at all. Namely The Scarlet Letter and The Sound and the Fury. But those are the only two required reading classics that I can think of that I didn't enjoy. I guess I'm weird. However, the list is VERY long of the ones that weren't required that I haven't read, or the ones I tried reading and just couldn't seem to get going. High on my list of ones I intend to read at some point are some of the Russian classics, including War and Peace. But maybe I'll start with a few of the others instead. Maybe. A recent discovery was Jane Austen. We didn't get her on the required list in the USA, but I had certainly heard of her. I never tried reading her till after I saw the excellent TV production of Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle) here in Scotland. That got me interested. I then read Pride and Prejudice, loved it, and went on to read all her other books. And then read books ABOUT her as well. Interesting woman.
