Classics Welcome to the Classics Salon

[Catlady]

I'm a little taken aback by the choices being set forth so quickly and without any input. Frankly the only one of the three I would even consider reading is Don Quixote; the others are a hard no.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I'm a little taken aback by the choices being set forth so quickly and without any input. Frankly the only one of the three I would even consider reading is Don Quixote; the others are a hard no.

The reason for the selections of Don Quixote and Daniel Deronda has been given twice now. And “hard no” needs to be backed up with a substantive reason based on merit why it’s not a good choice. George Eliot is one of the greatest Victorian novelists so it’s a matter of bemusement.

With a list of three, no one’s going to get exactly what she or he wants, but it’s hoped that the list is intriguing enough to get people to participate. The books are free, so where’s the downside in giving them a try?

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by issybird

The reason for the selections of Don Quixote and Daniel Deronda has been given twice now. And “hard no” needs to be backed up with a substantive reason based on merit why it’s not a good choice. George Eliot is one of the greatest Victorian novelists so it’s a matter of bemusement.

With a list of three, no one’s going to get exactly what she or he wants, but it’s hoped that the list is intriguing enough to get people to participate. The books are free, so where’s the downside in giving them a try?

One minute we were kicking around the idea, and the next minute, bam, here are the choices. I expected that those of us who were discussing classics in the other thread would have some input.

I don't need a reason for not wanting to read these books. Two of them simply don't appeal to me at all.

[Bookpossum]

Surely the point of this new Classics Salon - I do like the term - is that we get it up and running quickly for those who want to take part. For those who don't, that's fine. No-one is expected to want to read all the books.

I think it's a good idea to get things started while people are discussing it, and why not start with books that have already been mentioned as being of interest.

I think starting with Eliot, then having a go at the melodrama of East Lynne and finally tackling Don Quixote once we have really hit our collective stride is a good suggestion. I see the Eliot is available in the MR Library, and thanks for the heads up on the free audio book, Charlie.

Let's see how we go and tweak things along the way. But please don't let's get bogged down in wrangling over why this book was nominated and that one wasn't. It would be such a pleasure just to get on with reading and discussion.

[CRussel]

Amen. What Bookpossum said. This needs to be a no wrangling salon.

[drofgnal]

I wouldn't shy away from War and Peace because it's too large. It's a fantastic read. I've read it three times. Les Miserables was a bit more of a door stop for me. It's even longer and at times very boring, like 70 pages for the battle of Waterloo with only a couple of points tangentially related to the story, and there are other examples I won't go into.

I like Catlady's suggestion for Anna Karenia. It's been on my TBR list for a while. I also like Crussel's suggestion for Dickens, I've never read much Dickens. David Copperfield in high school and that was decades ago. I'd also be up for giving Issybird's choice of Don Quixote a run, but that wouldn't be my top choice.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Bookpossum

Surely the point of this new Classics Salon - I do like the term - is that we get it up and running quickly for those who want to take part. For those who don't, that's fine. No-one is expected to want to read all the books.

I thought the point was to encourage participation by having an open discussion and gathering input, not some arbitrary rush to begin by a certain date. Here's one prospective participant out till December or so before the new book club even begins.

I think it's a good idea to get things started while people are discussing it, and why not start with books that have already been mentioned as being of interest.

Because those books were not mentioned in the thread where the discussion started. In fact, the reason I listed the books I'd like to read is that I misread the initial post here and assumed the three books were mere proposals, and that further proposals would be welcome. Clearly not.

Let's see how we go and tweak things along the way. But please don't let's get bogged down in wrangling over why this book was nominated and that one wasn't. It would be such a pleasure just to get on with reading and discussion.

Wrangling is just another word for discussion. Good luck, and see you all in December. Maybe.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

Given the input so far, I’d propose for a schedule:

May 15: Daniel Deronda
Aug 15: East Lynne
Nov 15: Don Quixote

This breaks up the two serious works with the lighter selection and postpones Don Quixote until the end, when a substitution could be made if it were thought it wouldn’t work out.

I am ready to hop on this train!

Standard Ebooks just released a nice edition of Daniel Deronda.

I'd never heard of East Lynne. ETA - I didn't realize that it is in the Patricia Clark Library - https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=21357

Did we have in mind the most recent translation of Don Quixote by Edith Grossman?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I am ready to hop on this train!

Standard Ebooks just released a nice edition of Daniel Deronda.

I'd never heard of East Lynne. ETA - I didn't realize that it is in the Patricia Clark Library - https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=21357

Did we have in mind the most recent translation of Don Quixote by Edith Grossman?

Excellent! I’d hoped we could reel you in.

I know that I and at least a few others have the Grossman translation and that’s what we’ll be reading, but people are of course free to read whichever translation they please and “free’ could be the operative word.

[pdurrant]

I will add Daniel Deronda to my reading list. It's worth a try.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I thought the point was to encourage participation by having an open discussion and gathering input, not some arbitrary rush to begin by a certain date. Here's one prospective participant out till December or so before the new book club even begins.



Because those books were not mentioned in the thread where the discussion started. In fact, the reason I listed the books I'd like to read is that I misread the initial post here and assumed the three books were mere proposals, and that further proposals would be welcome. Clearly not.



Wrangling is just another word for discussion. Good luck, and see you all in December. Maybe.

I am mildly interested in the possibility of reading some classics and may or may not do so depending on what else is going on in my life. Therefore, I don't have a big personal interest in which books are proposed at this time.

But like you, I was surprised that this went from "let's start a classics club" in the other thread to "here are the books" in this thread, apparently based on previous discussions that took place elsewhere. I just wanted to let you know you were not alone!

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by issybird

Excellent! I’d hoped we could reel you in.

I know that I and at least a few others have the Grossman translation and that’s what we’ll be reading, but people are of course free to read whichever translation they please and “free’ could be the operative word.

All things being equal, I'd have preferred the Grossman translation, but there is the David Case narration of an earlier translation, so I might have to go with that one.

[sun surfer]

Originally Posted by Catlady

• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
• Bleak House by Charles Dickens

These are all great great reads.

I've read all but The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which I'd love to read since I loved Les Miserables. I have seen the old old (almost a century old now!) 1923 silent film version of Hunchback so I somewhat know the story (who doesn't know the story though? heh) but haven't seen any of the other many adaptations of it.

Originally Posted by CRussel

A Tale of Two Cities and especially Nicholas Nickleby.

I've never read either of those two Dickens and would love to read both.

A Tale of Two Cities is one it seems everyone has read or at least had to read in school but somehow it escaped me. I don't know even the most general plot abstract for it (besides the 'two cities' aspect) which I like in a way; since I already know I want to eventually read it, I savour the idea of being able to go into a book so blindly.

I do somewhat know the story of Nicholas Nickleby, at least the parts I remember, from watching the enjoyable 2002 film adaptation, and I'd be happy to read the book.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by CRussel

All things being equal, I'd have preferred the Grossman translation, but there is the David Case narration of an earlier translation, so I might have to go with that one.

My library had the audiobook of the Grossman, luckily.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I will add Daniel Deronda to my reading list. It's worth a try.

I read it decades ago and loved it, so I’m looking forward to it. However, I got slightly blindsided as I’m currently in the (early) middle of a different George Eliot novel and shall have to scurry to finish in the next ten days, so as not to overlap. I’d have let The Mill on the Floss go, had I but known!