Classics Welcome to the Classics Salon

[astrangerhere]

Just to be clear about the schedule - are those the dates on which the discussions would start?

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Just to be clear about the schedule - are those the dates on which the discussions would start?

Yes. Since the books are long, we’re planning on a loose read and discuss format. I know you also lurked at the War and Peace online discussion last spring (I know it because I found out about it from you ); this is similar, but without the set daily stints. So people can pace themselves and participate as they go along.

It occurs to me it would be helpful if people used chapter references, say, if making specific comments, so others can avoid or not depending on how far they’ve got, but I’m just tossing this out as an idea.

[John F]

Originally Posted by sun surfer

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.



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.

I read A Tale of Two Cities in HS and enjoyed it. I would be interested in reading it again to see if I enjoy it now. Another one would be Great Expectations.

[issybird]

I think the Dickens issue could be the same as the Austen issue: he’s so very popular it could be hard to find a title that people don’t have in common as already read. A willingness to reread is personal and probably varies by book, based on recency and frequency of having been read.

ETA: Oh, and length, even more so than Austen. Rereading Austen isn’t nearly the same time commitment as rereading most Dickens novels.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by John F

I read A Tale of Two Cities in HS and enjoyed it. I would be interested in reading it again to see if I enjoy it now. Another one would be Great Expectations.

A Tale of Two Cities is on my list to reread for the same reason. I have not read Great Expectations or many of his other books and would like to read these.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by Catlady

The classics I would most like to be prodded to read include these:

I would like to read these on your list.

• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
• Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Standard Ebooks just released a nice edition of Daniel Deronda.

This version started with a brief forward in the form of a letter from Eliot to Harriet Beecher Stowe about the reaction to her portrayal of Jews. It was very insightful to see off the bat.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

This version started with a brief forward in the form of a letter from Eliot to Harriet Beecher Stowe about the reaction to her portrayal of Jews. It was very insightful to see off the bat.

Thanks for the heads up.

I’ve borrowed the Penguin edition from OverDrive, hoping for good front matter (although frequently that can get too spoilery, at which point I drop it). I’m going to wait until just before the 15th to read it, however, at the end of the three-week lending period, although I suspect I’ll be able to renew.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by issybird

Thanks for the heads up.

I’ve borrowed the Penguin edition from OverDrive, hoping for good front matter (although frequently that can get too spoilery, at which point I drop it). I’m going to wait until just before the 15th to read it, however, at the end of the three-week lending period, although I suspect I’ll be able to renew.

I had a professor in college, who was also my thesis advisor, who always instructed us to skip any front matter. He told us it was pointless to look at it until the end.

I made an exception here as it was a letter from the author and was not likely to have any critical analysis or spoilers. I am going into this particular Eliot title blind, so I wanted to stay unspoiled.

[issybird]

A few books I’d like to read with the Salon:

• Germinal by Emile Zola
• Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac
• Something by Anthony Trollope, not from either of the six-book series

And how about A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe? In addition to its relevance, it would get us out of the 19th century.

[poohbear_nc]

I've tried random books in Zola's Les Rougon-Macquart series and Balzac's La Comédie humaine series in the past, but never finished any. It would be interesting to try again.

I actually began reading Defoe's Journal and Pepys' Journal at the start of the pandemic lock down, but again didn't finish.

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

This version started with a brief forward in the form of a letter from Eliot to Harriet Beecher Stowe about the reaction to her portrayal of Jews. It was very insightful to see off the bat.

Thanks for the link, astrangerhere. Especially as it is a site I didn't know.

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by issybird

A few books I’d like to read with the Salon:

• Germinal by Emile Zola
• Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac
• Something by Anthony Trollope, not from either of the six-book series

And how about A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe? In addition to its relevance, it would get us out of the 19th century.

I must confess I have never read anything by Zola and would really enjoy doing so with friends. I love Trollope and have enjoyed the works by Balzac I read long ago.

Some really interesting suggestions, issybird. It looks as if we are going to keep busy for several years, with these and other books suggested already!

[binaryhermit]

If the three selections for the rest of the year are set in stone, then "A Journal of the Plague Year" hopefully won't be so relevant when we get to it...

[AuntiWiddershins]

I enjoy reading anything by P. G. Wodehouse. He writes light comedy.

Also, I never tire of reading Robinson Crusoe, especially the first chapter where his father begs him not to go to sea and he just won't listen.

An easy/enjoyable russian author is Anton Chekhov, a travelling doctor, author of short stories.

Perhaps the salon could be reading recomendations. Similar to what Marrella and Hamlok do for the Buchclub Extra Challenge. Although I could never keep up with the amount they read, I read all their recommendations.

P.S. Thanks for the link to https://standardebooks.org