General Book Discussion

[Mara]

I would completely agree that the Lord of the Rings trilogy of books are classic...
And, to be perfectly honest, I DO plan on rereading them someday when I have time. They are on my list.
Part of the reason I think there are still so many fans of Tolkien (of the books, NOT the movies) is a testament to how it stands the test of time, which I think we said earlier, is one reason a novel becomes classic. It's relatable to any time frame.
I completely consider these, plus The Hobbit, to be classics.

And I really don't think "readability" should be a strict rule against whether a book is classic or not. There are several novels out there that I have trudged through, but it was all worth it at the end. Dostoevsky [Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov], Steinbeck [Grapes of Wrath], Dumas [The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers] come to mind.
I don't think a classic has to have a low reading level in order to be appreciated. Sometimes a careful study and review of a novel brings to light new meanings.
And I'm also not saying it has to be full and wordy either, like the novels I mentioned. Sometimes something simple like a Jane Austen novel is also considered classic, even though it has complex undertones.

I think you would be hard-pressed to find a novel that did not have any complex or hidden meanings within.

I have not read Jules Verne, but I would like to someday... partly because it's one of the "classics" and partly because it just sounds interesting... Kind of in the style of The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (but hopefully a lot more interesting...)

Nor have I read Harry Potter -- the subject matter just don't interest me. So I can't really make a judgment on its classic-ness.
However, I would venture to say that it's not really the first of its kind, or really introduce any new themes (I see it, from afar, as a coming-of-age story, and we all know how many novels like that are around....)

Do you mean Gogol, Squallie? I have heard of him ("Diary of a Madman" and "The Nose" are very interesting). I have both books of Poe and Gogol. And I consider both to be classic.


As for what else I would add to the list, that hasn't been mentioned... I could probably go on and on...

Perhaps Tolstoy [War and Peace], Faulkner [The Sound and the Fury], the Bronte sisters [Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights], Cooper [The Last of the Mohicans (and all the leatherstocking series of books)], Dante [The Divine Comedy], Homer [The Illiad, The Odyssey], Virgil [The Aeneid], unknown poet [Beowulf...
I could just browse the classic section of my library and come up with a whole slew of books... plus others I think are classics in modern times.

[Squall]

from the mouth of an english major =p

[Mara]

My degree has to be worth something.

[Mashiara]

Whoa! Definately outta my league here^^ Who am I to argue the finer points of Literary works with an Engilsh Major!?!? I'm just your average run of the mill book worm.

hehe but you have all made some really brilliant points and brought up authors I haven't thought about in ages... BTW Squall... when did you read Gogol?

[Serena]

I still stand by my opinion that if a book cannot grab and hold my attention in the first 25 pages, I won't read it. I can't stand it when books just go on and on and on about something in boring manners with lackluster phrases that really hold no descriptive vallue. Books that over describe are just as bad and I find myself skipping whole pages sometimes. I can't remember the book name but around 2 years ago I was reading a book and the description of the castle was almost 2 pages long. I put it down at that point. A book cannot become a classic if people can't enjoy reading it.

[Squall]

do you read Stephen King much Reenie? lol

[Serena]

Yes, but some of his books I do the page skipping on. Tommyknockers for one.

I know, I know Shame on me

[Mara]

serena said:

I still stand by my opinion that if a book cannot grab and hold my attention in the first 25 pages, I won't read it. I can't stand it when books just go on and on and on about something in boring manners with lackluster phrases that really hold no descriptive vallue. Books that over describe are just as bad and I find myself skipping whole pages sometimes. I can't remember the book name but around 2 years ago I was reading a book and the description of the castle was almost 2 pages long. I put it down at that point. A book cannot become a classic if people can't enjoy reading it.

Yes, I agree with that, but I do not think that readability alone, should be a qualifier for a classic.

[Squall]

if one can not read through a book how is it to become classic?

Yes serena, that's because he is very discriptive in his books. I think that kind of writting leads to a more emersive reading experience.

[Mara]

I'm not saying that readability cannot be used in the determination of a classic. I am saying that it cannot be the ONLY identifier.

[Squall]

admin said:

I'm not saying that readability cannot be used in the determination of a classic. I am saying that it cannot be the ONLY identifier.

not at all but it would be a major identifier =p

[Mashiara]

right... but who's readability? It seems to be a case of Majority Rule here... If the majority of the people who determine these things e.g. professors, intellectualls, etc...
determine that the book is a "classic" they must have found them to be readable.

Or are they just keeping up apperances? Just trying to look and sound better by saying books they hate are classics, and great reads? Its always a possiblility ^^

[Fere Epi]

*blows the dust off the thread* Alright. Let's see here. I have myself two lists of books thanks to my OCD. One is SW, and one is everything else. These are all the books that I am planning to purchase. I'll start with the non-SW (bear in mind these mostly follow series that I'm obsessed with, so I'll seperate them based on that or the author)

Orson Scott Card:
1. A War of Gifts
2. Ender in Exile
3. First Meetings

Torchwood:
4. Skypoint
5. Almost Perfect
6. Into the Silence
7. Bay of the Dead
8. The House that Jack Built
9. Risk Assessment
10. The Undertaker's Gift
11. Consequences
12. Hidden (audiobook only. Yes I count these as novels.)
13. Everyone Says Hello (see ^)
14. In the Shadows (see 12)
15. The Sin Eaters (see 12)
16. Lost Souls (audio drama, a bit more of a stretch as it's like TV without the video)

Doctor Who:
17. The Clockwise Man
18. The Monsters Inside
19. Winner Takes All
20. The Deviant Strain
21. Only Human
22. The Stealers of Dreams
23. The Stone Rose
24. The Feast of the Damned
25. The Art of Destruction
26. The Price of Paradise


As you might have noticed, I'm a huge SciFi buff. To prove it, my Star Wars list is longer than my non-SW list. LET'S LOOK:

1. Showdown at Centerpoint
2. Darth Bane: Rule of Two
3. The Clone Wars - No Prisoners
4. Imperial Commando: 501st
5. Death Troopers
6. Shadows of the Empire
7. The Bounty Hunter Wars (It can be found as an omnibus, so I'm counting it as one book)
8. The Truce at Bakura
9. Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
10. X-Wing: Rogue Squadron
11-16. X-Wing novels in order (Don't feel like listing them all)
17. Tatooine Ghost
18. The Thrawn Omnibus (The only reason this is so low on my list despite all it's praise is that I prefer to read in chronological order if possible)
19. X-Wing: Isard's Revenge (doesn't fit with the others due too chronology)
20. Jedi Search
21. Dark Apprentice
22. Champions of the Force
23. I, Jedi (see 18)
24. Children of the Jedi
25. Darksaber
26. Planet of Twilight
27. X-Wing: Starfighters of Adumar (see 19)