“Classic” books/novels you’ve loved or hated

[The Original Greaser Bob 2819]

Fitzgerald, like Hemingway, wrote better short stories than novels, IMO.

[wild_turkey 3159]

Interested in reading: Grapes of Wrath, The Old Man and the Sea, Anna Karenina, War and Peace, 1984

I have since read:

The Old Man and the Sea - loved it

1984 - great book but scary shit that seems inevitable

Anna Karenina - thought it was good despite being a little long and Russian high society isn’t my favorite subject

[UpperWestside 6159]

Every classic story from elementary school. I had the ability to read at a high level, but none of the books we had to read interested me in the least. You name it and I did not enjoy having to read it. I loved books about actual history, but that was not on the agenda at that age.

[hookem2010 2623]

I need to sprinkle some classics into my non-fiction. I don't know that it's fair to mention any that I particularly hated, since they were primarily in high school and I was "forced" to read them. I have tried to start The Sound and the Fury a couple of times without picking up much steam.

Top 3 are...

1. 100 years of Solitude- It's been a decade since I read this, and I'm hopefully going to Colombia in a couple months, so due for a re-read.

2. 1984- I'm a glutton for punishment I guess, because well-done books/shows/movies that are terrifying and depressing are often my favorites. 

3. East of Eden- My now-wife gave me this to read when we first started dating, so fortunately I loved it just as much as she did. Multi-gemerational stories seem to capture my attention (see #1).

Catch-22 and A Brave New World probably round out the top 5. Man, I really need to read more.

[hookem2010 2623]

I don't think I've read any of these since I turned 26 (36 now), so it would definitely be interesting to see what I get out of a lot of these books now that I've been out in the real world for a while.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11819]

38 minutes ago, hookem2010 said:

I don't think I've read any of these since I turned 26 (36 now), so it would definitely be interesting to see what I get out of a lot of these books now that I've been out in the real world for a while.

Same for a lot of works.  Even re-reading Cormac McCarthy, looks way different now in my twilight years, than it did in my late 20s....

[The Original Greaser Bob 2819]

1 hour ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Same for a lot of works.  Even re-reading Cormac McCarthy, looks way different now in my twilight years, than it did in my late 20s....

Good old man books:

The Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler (not sure why this is one of my favorite books - just very old school style story, but the way he looks back on his life was very affecting)

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Cormac McCarthy (no way she was 23 - pure southern gothic, lots of sad wisdom)

Train Dreams - Denis Johnson (this was frighteningly depressing - novella)

[MinerProphet 71]

On 5/22/2024 at 2:24 PM, The Original Greaser Bob said:

Good old man books:

The Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler (not sure why this is one of my favorite books - just very old school style story, but the way he looks back on his life was very affecting)

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Cormac McCarthy (no way she was 23 - pure southern gothic, lots of sad wisdom)

Train Dreams - Denis Johnson (this was frighteningly depressing - novella)

Train Dreams was.....interesting. This was the one with F-head right? I could be confusing it with other DJ, though I never read tree of smoke but thought Largesse of the Sea Maiden (I think is the title) was awesome and he didn't lose much off his fastball.

[MinerProphet 71]

On 5/22/2024 at 11:43 AM, hookem2010 said:

I need to sprinkle some classics into my non-fiction. I don't know that it's fair to mention any that I particularly hated, since they were primarily in high school and I was "forced" to read them. I have tried to start The Sound and the Fury a couple of times without picking up much steam.

Top 3 are...

1. 100 years of Solitude- It's been a decade since I read this, and I'm hopefully going to Colombia in a couple months, so due for a re-read.

2. 1984- I'm a glutton for punishment I guess, because well-done books/shows/movies that are terrifying and depressing are often my favorites. 

3. East of Eden- My now-wife gave me this to read when we first started dating, so fortunately I loved it just as much as she did. Multi-gemerational stories seem to capture my attention (see #1).

Catch-22 and A Brave New World probably round out the top 5. Man, I really need to read more.

I have also been meaning to re-read 100 years, it's on my desk collecting dust.

I re-read 1984 back during Trump's first term around 2016-2017 and thought it was just okay. When I was a teenager I thought it was amazing. Like Clockwork Orange amazing.

[TwiceHorn 31429]

9 hours ago, MinerProphet said:

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

*Carson McCullers

[MinerProphet 71]

7 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

*Carson McCullers

You quoted the wrong dude, dude

[locodos 5387]

Spoiler

Books I love but aren't 'classics'

Horse Latitudes - Ferrigno  Dark PI thriller.  Unsettling and raw

Blue Meridian - Matthiessen  Science nerds just beginning the research on Great Whites.  I still think about the stories told by the Whalers in the Indian Ocean

Great Gatsby - you already know

 

Worst book ever...

King Rat.  I read the whole thing thinking it'd get better.  I was wrong.

 

Edited August 22 by locodos

[boilerhorn 1371]

Confederacy of Dunces was recommended to me a few years back and I had forgotten about it.  Upon a few folks mentioning it here, I gave it a whirl and borrowed the audiobook and listened as I walked.  Story is brilliant and the audio was great.  The reader, Barrett Whitener, did a wonderful job at the accents, intonation, etc.

[High Plains Drifter 11024]

 

Confederacy of Dunces is an all time favorite. I literally laugh out loud every time I read it. 

 

Catcher in the Rye- Loved it as a teen. Reread it and thought damn, this Holden dude is a fucking dipshit asshole. 

That's the brilliance of the book, imo. You identify with Holden as a yout, you can't stand him as an adult. 

[billfromlaketravis 11444]

Just finished Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. A rare movie is better than the book. 
 

Thoughts about the book and film.

Spoiler

- The book doesn’t contain the famous baptism scene. Mo Green’s killing is mentioned off hand. Yikes.

- The book contains the hospital scene, but it’s devoid of real tension. Michael and the nurse move the Don. Mike runs into Enzo and they stand outside and look tough. It’s maybe 3-4 pages. The scene in the movie is a masterpiece. Tense, terror, you’re on edge the entire time that the Don is going to be killed.

- The book is much more concise on Mike’s time in Sicily. He drinks wine with the local Don and his brother at their villa. Goes for a walk 1 day and meets Apollonia. They’re married in a few weeks. She’s assassinated a few weeks later. Chapter over. The film is overindulgent in the Sicily sequence. I think Coppola wanted an excuse to spend several weeks over there on the studio’s dime. It’s the slowest and least interesting part of the film.

- Lucy’s pelvic floor storyline in the book is a huge waste of time. Why do we care about her and her doctor husband? 

- Same for Nino. He’s Johnny’s drinking buddy and likely a stand in for Dean Martin. Puzo knew Martin’s drunk act was just that, an act right? Contributes nothing to the story.

- I enjoyed the strategy discussions in the book. Helps the reader get into the Don’s head.

- Luca is killed pretty suddenly in the movie. Reddit kept telling me that Luca’s backstory is much more detailed in the book. Nope. Not really. Just a killing machine indebted to the Don for life. The movie summed it up well. 

- It’s strange. The book feels rushed while the film is superbly paced. Probably the best film adaption of all time.

- Given his personal appearance and descriptions in the book, I suspect Puzo hadn’t had sex before writing the novel. Just very juvenile passages. 
 

- I’m a Godfather nerd, so I enjoyed the book, but I wouldn’t recommend it to a casual fan.