A Classic That You Keep Meaning To Read

missingtime

Is there anyone that has just finished/just started a book that they should have read ages ago?

For me it was The Catcher in the Rye.

Nimrod's Son

Ditto (I thought it was pants BTW). War and Peace is staring at me at home but I can't bring myself to start it just yet. It looks so darn long!

Dades

Oddly enough it was CITR for me too.

Finished it last month and thought it was so overrated I started a rant thread about it here.

Never read The Grapes of Wrath. Maybe next year.

missingtime

Aww I quite liked Catcher In the Rye. There is loads I keep meaning to read. I started Hitchhikers Guide but I kinda lost my way with it.

the dice man

The Atheist wrote:

Never read The Grapes of Wrath. Maybe next year.

You should definitly read it, first 100 pages are a bit slow but then it really picks up.

Funnily enough I bought East of Eden straight after I read Grapes of Wrath and still haven't read it so I really should get started on that sometime soon.

chump

East of Eden well worth the read...
I keep meaning to read Catch 22, I don't know why I dod... I just do

Last book I read was The Time Travellers Wife... brilliant read

Capt'n Midnight

Still have the second half of the second part of Don Quixote to finish.

And most of Crime and Punishment.

Nimrod's Son

chump wrote:

East of Eden well worth the read...
I keep meaning to read Catch 22, I don't know why I dod... I just do

Read it ASAP. Brilliant book. Funny as **** as well. You can't go wrong, I guarantee!

NoDayBut2Day

For me, it's Phantom of the Opera. I have the book and started it, but never did finish it. I like the musical better, anyway. :rolleyes:

arbeitsscheuer

I've been meaning to finish Closing Time - the sequel to Catch 22, by Jospeh Hellar, for about a year now.

Started it, waded half way thru, with difficulty, and then put it down.
And I have not resumed reading it since.

In fact, I've started another Joseph Hellar classic, God Knows, so hopefully I'll at least finish this one...

tSubh Dearg

I keep meaning to read Wuthering Heights. One of these days I will get around to it.

Capt'n Midnight

tSubh Dearg wrote:

I keep meaning to read Wuthering Heights. One of these days I will get around to it.

I picked up a copy of Wuthering Heights according to Spike Milligan, so now I'll have to read the original first ..

OfflerCrocGod

tSubh Dearg wrote:

I keep meaning to read Wuthering Heights. One of these days I will get around to it.

Dull. Don't bother.

tSubh Dearg

My latest plan is to get my grandchildren to read it aloud to me when I'm in my dotage.

I've a couple of others I keep meaning to read as they are part of this set I got called "52 Books you must Read". I had already read about half of them so now I'm slowly working my way through the others recommended.

lofto

a book i have heard somuch about but have yet to read is "on the Road" by John something?. Have heard a lot about it but have yet to pick it up, heard people on another thread before saying it was very much like 'catcher in the rye'. a book that i really enjoyed re-reading recently was 'Twelve bar blues', would definitely recommend it.

Closing Doors

lofto wrote:

a book i have heard somuch about but have yet to read is "on the Road" by John something?.

I assume it's Jack Kerouac, "On the Road". Brilliant book btw.

Dades

lofto wrote:

heard people on another thread before saying it was very much like 'catcher in the rye'.

Aaargh!

I stated a thread wondering how two books that inspired a generation could be so different. I've enjoyed On The Road many times, but found Catcher in the Rye irritating and pointless.

If you're going to read OTR (and you should), take it on the road with you for the full effect.

GumDropButtons

Just finished Le Morte D'Arthur... took me about a year to get through! Read about twenty other books before I finished it.

gaf1983

should I finish The Brothers Karamazov? I read about 300 pages during the summer but Christ it's long and I've read other stuff since - is it worth the effort?

Dagnir Glaurung

gaf1983 wrote:

should I finish The Brothers Karamazov? I read about 300 pages during the summer but Christ it's long and I've read other stuff since - is it worth the effort?

I think so. I quite enjoyed it. It gets better towards the end too.

I keep meaning to read Catcher in the Rye. Always completely forget about it as soon as I step into a bookshop though.

Piste

After seeing The Hours last weekend I really want to read Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.

Not quite classics but I would like to read Fight Club and Clockwork Orange.

grimsbymatt

For me it was Catcher in the Rye, 1984 and To Kill A Mocking Bird. I read the former two in the past couple of months and am currently two thirds of the way through TKAMB.

theCzar

A Tale of Two Cities...all i know is the first line...

EvilPixieOne

Ulysses by James Joyce... some day...

odhran

i've been meaning to read catcher in the rye, the great gatsby and gravity's rainbow fo over a year. at the moment, i'm reading lolita, which was on my bookshelf for at least that amount of time. as for on the road, i was extremely disappointed- that has to be one of the most overrated books ever!

Hip

gaf1983 wrote:

should I finish The Brothers Karamazov? I read about 300 pages during the summer but Christ it's long and I've read other stuff since - is it worth the effort?

Read The Idiot first and then start again on The Brothers Karamazov.

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Still have the second half of the second part of Don Quixote to finish.

Don Quixote is one helluva long book.

And to anybody thinking about reading War and Peace - don't, read Anna Karenina instead, it's much more pleasurable.

War and Peace = 1/2 great book + 1/2 Tolstoy's questionable views on the subject of history.

Richelieu

Hero of our time by Lermontov. Been meaning to read it for ages and ages. Finally started this week and I'm absolutely loving it! Can't beat those Russians....

finlma

I read Crime and Punishment lately after putting it off for so long and enjoyed it.

Catcher in the Rye is one of my favourite books of all time.

I want to read Brave New World by Audous Huxley as my next classis

lacuna

Brave New World is one of my favourites. I won't spoil it for you but get your hands on a copy as soon as you can!

jrey1981

On the Road, as someone else mentioned

ionapaul

In my experience, the vast majority of classics are fantastic, great reads and worthwhile experiences. That's why they are classics! And as mentioned above, you can't beat the Russians, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Turgenev, Pasternak, what a race of novelists!

I've never read A Tale Of Two Cities either, will have to rectify that sorry situation sometime soon.

theCzar

just picked up The Idiot, it's at the bottom of a my "to read" stack. I thought Crime & Punishment was a bit dense, but you can't say fairer than €2.25 in Easons.

Chinafoot

I cant wait til college is over so i can actually read the book i *want* to read and not just the 18th century stuff on my course!!

On my list would be:

Catcher in the Rye
Catch 22
Crime and Punishment
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
The Great Gatsby

MrSinn

The christian bible