In Kramer's defense, I'd rather read a PC manual than Chronicles of FuckAll: Revenge of the Witchalock IV.AWAR said:
Do you read classic literature?
- Thread starter Johnny Novgorod
- Start date
Ah... now there's someone I don't have... anything by... Tacitus... probably ought to invest in his Histories. Which do you have? Annales?Fiz_The_Toaster said:
Lazy! =P
It is indeed Annales, lucky guess.SckizoBoy said:
The next time I venture over to the book store I'm gonna look for more of his stuff sine I enjoy reading him.
Hey now!
At least I'm honest.
Lucky for you my work bag is in reach and it's called The Fall of Troy by Quintus of Smyrna.
I'm somewhat disgruntled by the dismissive characterization of sci-fi and fantasy as 'young adult', but given that I mostly read for entertainment and escapism it's not that far off, so meh.
When I want to be intellectually challenged I tend to read non-fiction. Currently fuming over Goldacres 'Bad Pharma'. I'm only getting through it slowly because you can't read more than a chapter at a time without getting an overwhelming urge to write to your MP.
When I want to be intellectually challenged I tend to read non-fiction. Currently fuming over Goldacres 'Bad Pharma'. I'm only getting through it slowly because you can't read more than a chapter at a time without getting an overwhelming urge to write to your MP.
I'd say I read quite a lot of what the OP calls modern classics; stuff like Pynchon, Delillo, Alasdair Gray etc. etc. Most of my favourite writers would be at least moderately well respected in the literary community. I also like to through in a "classic" like Frankenstein or Jane Eyre or Tess of the d'Ubervilles occasionally, though if I'm being honest I don't find that many to be truly enjoyable with a few exceptions (Frankenstein being my major one).
I also think that anybody who limits themselves to a few genres is really missing out on a lot. Some of my favourite books are ones I thought I'd hate because the subject matter or genre didn't appeal.
I also think that anybody who limits themselves to a few genres is really missing out on a lot. Some of my favourite books are ones I thought I'd hate because the subject matter or genre didn't appeal.
I've read lots of classic literature almost all of which was simple curiosity rather than because of some academic need. It should be noted that I rarely like the book in question - it simply serves to help round my understanding of things. For example, the Divine Comedy is a fair grind but it certainly helps illuminate how the modern depiction of hell and demons came about. As a rule, there are few books more than about a hundred years old that I've enjoyed in the absolute sense. I can think of a few exceptions of course. Candide could, with little alteration, be turned into an incredible dark comedy and Anna Karenina was riveting (if gut wrenching). Some of the Sherlock stories actually hold up though their status as pulp works is probably much of the reason there. And The Three Muskateers, even if it diverged wildly from the story I expected (Based on the Disney film of course) was a fantastic adventure. There are others that hold up in the abstract - the Illiad, Oddessy and indeed much of Greek myth and ancient Mediterranian history are all fantastic stories if a grind to get through.
I read classics sometimes as I like variety in my reading (fantasy, classics, horror, historical fiction etc). As of late I've bought a few new classic books: Northanger Abbey, Moll Flanders, A Study In Scarlet, My Brilliant Career, A Clockwork Orange etc etc
Well, I'm one of the people with a main focus in SF and Fantasy, but I do occasionally read classics to see what the fuss is about, in most cases I can appreicate and like them. Not that many, maybe 30 among which Lolita, All Quiet On The Western Front, The Road, some Murakami, Chekhov, Dostoevski, Pushkin, Dumas, Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, 1984, etc. I am also currently trying to read more "literary" sci-fi and fantasy e.g. Catherynne Valente, China Mieville, David Brin, Clive Barker, Jeff Vandermeer. I'm not rushing so much into old classics, I think I will try to read more contemporary authors, since I'm a first year uni student and my course is British and American Studies and I'll read a lot of classics. The second term for example, we will read 19th century classics like Great Expectations, Heart of Darkness, Middlemarch and so on.
And OP, try to read some fantasy or sci-fi, at least the classics. It kind of makes you sound like a snob, which is why some people, I don't know why, avoid reading classics. Try Dune, Stranger in a Strange Land, Lord of Light, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Stanislaw Lem's Star Diaries (or whatever the translation is), Stand On Zanzibar, The Hitchhiker's Guide and yes, even the abhorrent ASOIAF or The Second Apocalypse series, Cloud Atlas or The Long Price Quartet. There's fantasy and there's fantasy. If you have already tried, I apologise, but they're is also stuff that can appeal to literary types too, if only they look for it. Samuel Delany and Robert Anton Wilson are a good example too.
And OP, try to read some fantasy or sci-fi, at least the classics. It kind of makes you sound like a snob, which is why some people, I don't know why, avoid reading classics. Try Dune, Stranger in a Strange Land, Lord of Light, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Stanislaw Lem's Star Diaries (or whatever the translation is), Stand On Zanzibar, The Hitchhiker's Guide and yes, even the abhorrent ASOIAF or The Second Apocalypse series, Cloud Atlas or The Long Price Quartet. There's fantasy and there's fantasy. If you have already tried, I apologise, but they're is also stuff that can appeal to literary types too, if only they look for it. Samuel Delany and Robert Anton Wilson are a good example too.
Haha! Better than me, I haven't even properly read Caesar yet! >_<Fiz_The_Toaster said:Hey now!
At least I'm honest.
I like Livy too much, I guess...(!)
Hmmm... uh... hmmm... mixed feelings about Posthomerica... a tad too mythy for me... despite the fact that I've read the Iliad, though that said, I didn't really enjoy it... :/
I enjoy Livy, so you're totally fine for that.SckizoBoy said:
It's okay. I just started reading it and I haven't gotten that far into it yet. It's a little too Roman propaganda-y for my tastes, well... I should say he's a little too blatant about it. That might be because I think Virgil did that better, but whatever. I'll still read it. :/
Yeah I read quite a few, but it's mostly the plot driven classics (rather than more thematically important literature). Recently I've read some Dumas (The Count of Monte Cristo), Lion Feuchtwanger (Jew Süss), Dickens (Great Expectations), Fitzgerald (Gatsby), Twain (American Drolleries), Austen (Emma, Pride and Prejudice), Shelley (Frankenstein), Mervin Peake (Gormenghast) and a shitload of Edgar Allan Poe as research for a short story I wrote in his style (which I posted on the internet, PM me if you want a peek). As for more contemporary stuff, I've recently read some Karel Čapek (War with the Newts), Kurt Vonnegut (Cat's Cradle, The Sirens of Titan, Slaughterhouse 5), McCarthy (The Road) Heller (Catch 22), and most recently a lot of Haruki Murakami (1Q84, Norwegian Wood, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, Sputnik Sweetheart, Kafka on the Shore and A Wild Sheep Chase).
That list is just the stuff I can remember over the past two years or so, though, I'm not as voracious a reader as I used to be.
EDIT: Looking through the thread I'm seeing a few more, but as I'm already in the running for most boring post of the year I think I'll leave it at that.
That list is just the stuff I can remember over the past two years or so, though, I'm not as voracious a reader as I used to be.
EDIT: Looking through the thread I'm seeing a few more, but as I'm already in the running for most boring post of the year I think I'll leave it at that.
That's the majority of what I read, actually. I want to be a writer myself, so I prefer classic literature. There's nothing wrong with pop books, but I prefer something that makes me think a little more. I think a lot of people get intimated by classic literature. They figure that, because it's classical, it must be beyond reproach, or have "elevated" language. Of course, that's not true, most of the language is old, not elevated. In my opinion, when you approach it as just another book, it's more enjoyable. Some classical books I love, some I hate, but they're all worth reading.
Of course, I can't read something that doesn't have a clear beginning, middle, and end, so there's that. That's why I don't read much comic related material.
Of course, I can't read something that doesn't have a clear beginning, middle, and end, so there's that. That's why I don't read much comic related material.
Loads of people on this thread are saying 'yes' and then reeling off a list of authors who are not part of the literary canon... o_0
OT: I'm ready Ulysses at the moment, god save me. Have to take a break every 10 pages or so and read some Bill Bryson to calm me down. I study English Literature so I kinda have to read classic literature.
OT: I'm ready Ulysses at the moment, god save me. Have to take a break every 10 pages or so and read some Bill Bryson to calm me down. I study English Literature so I kinda have to read classic literature.
I ploughed through Divine Comedy for sheer curiosity. I enjoyed myself the first third but then the book also goes to describe on equal measure purgatory and paradise, which aren't terribly exciting reads.Eclectic Dreck said:
This guy hits the nail on the head. Even if something was awesome for its time, doesnt mean its awesome now. I've read a bunch of classic literature in my English study. Most of it was shit. But it was written for another time.thaluikhain said:
Is all classic literature shit? No, of course not. But a lot of it is. Some time ago someone on the escapist posted citizen kane as one of the most...er...cant remember the english word...not hyped exactly, or respected...but I guess you get it...one of the best films ever, except that thats just what people say, its not exactly that. It might have been revolutionary at its time, but that doesnt really mean much.
We dont think 486 cpus are awesome because they are old, and thank god, games have developed from Pong.
I dont read much classic literature, the reason being I havent found much that was good or interesting.