Yes, the Classics. I've always been a fan of them, from Little Women to Great Expectations, I always fell in love with the stories. Have you ever heard of the Great Classics? Do you perfer them over today's magical stories? If so, why?

I perfer most Classics over today's fantasies because they are detailed, and original. But I'm very intrested in history so that's just me. <3

Great Classics? Classics according to whom?

Shakespeare should definitely be included. I also have an affinity for The Count of Monte Christo, unabridged, which I consider a classic. *nod* It's my favorite book. However, I do enjoy current books, and I confess I've never been able to finish one of Jane Austen's stories.

For me, it depends on the author. But then again, that's how it always is, no?

For example, I'm a die-hard fan for Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde. But I've never, EVER been able to get through Robert Louis Stevenson. And Dickens... just looking at the covers to his books makes me cringe.

I enjoy classics, but like with every genre, there are just some authors I loathe.

@Lachesia: You've never finished one of Jane Austen's books? I would recommend that you start from Pride and Prejudice, it's a great read
As for the Count of Monte Christo, I've been trying to borrow that book but keep forgetting. -_-'

Anyways, I currently have to read Great Expectations for english class, I'm on page 5 or so and can't get past it...

Originally Posted by Simplixity

@Lachesia: You've never finished one of Jane Austen's books? I would recommend that you start from Pride and Prejudice, it's a great read
As for the Count of Monte Christo, I've been trying to borrow that book but keep forgetting. -_-'

Anyways, I currently have to read Great Expectations for english class, I'm on page 5 or so and can't get past it...

Oh Pride and Prejudice is a wonderful book!
And Count of Monte Christo? I wonder what that's about! ;o;
I love Mark Twain Classics. <3 I'm still searching for more books at the library. >w>

I like books by Jack London, more specifically White Fang. I love that book, read it when I was little and I still love it today. The whole storyline was great, and I love to draw and write, mainly because of that book because it inspired my young mind. ^^ I like that book better then some of the new books coming out. Newer books jsut can't compete with some of the classic originals. ^^

Yes, it's true. I tried Jane Austen, but couldn't get into it, which is odd, as I usually don't have a problem with 1800's language. The Scarlet Pimpernel I also consider a classic. I love that book.

Jane Eyre was good, however. David Copperfield was enjoyable, but Tale of Two Cities was somewhat uninteresting until the last few chapters.

However, I do like the author Rafael Sabatini. Scaramouche is an EXCELLENT book, and his others, The Sea Wolf and Captain Blood are good adventure romps. A couple of Errol Flynn's swashbuckling movies were based off Sea Wolf and Captain Blood. They're certainly entertaining.


The Count of Monte Christo is the greatest revenge story ever told. Don't watch the movie; they changed the plot entirely. It's a completely different story. The original book is incredibly dense, complex and twisty, and utterly implacable. Oh, such a great book. I still reread it every couple of years.

I'm not a huge fan of David Copperfield, sometimes it happend to sudden or something. xP

My idea of the "Great" Classics:
J.D. Salinger
Henry James
Edith Wharton
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
Leo Tolstoy
Virgina Woolf
Theodore Dreiser
Oscar Wilde
Marcel Proust
Guy de Maupassant
Anton Chekhov
Voltaire
Ca Xueqin

etc etc

The Brontes were alright. I actually was not that impressed with Wuthering Heights, and found Emily's writing inferior to Charlotte's. I think there was more hype on Wuthering Heights because Charlotte praised her sister so earnestly posthumously.

I liked Jane Austen's novels in that they were simple. Sweet, but simple. Although, Henry James really disliked Jane Austen, and I love Henry James.

A Tale of Two Cities is my favorite classic of all times. Yeah, there were some dry moments, but I found the story absolutely beautiful! I also enjoyed Jane Eyre - thought that one was very well written. And recently read Wuthering Heights as well. I didn't like that one as much as Jane Eyre, but there were some moments in there that I was actually glued to the book. Jane Austen's writing is alright - it's not been as gripping as some other authors, though. And I think that's what I like in a classic - something that's going to really grip me. Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and Hunchback of Notre Dame were both amazing stories, but I toiled through Toilers of the Sea.

I have a list in my LJ of tons of classics, that I'm trying to cross off as I read them. It's going to take me a lifetime, but I do try to balance my contemporary reading by getting a classic at least once or twice a month. I do have War and Peace sitting on my bookshelf, wanting me to read it, but I've always been so intimidated by its size!

I've recently started to read more and more classics, but even so my knowledge of them is rather small.
My personal favorites are Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Scarlet Pimpernell by Baroness Orczy, and the Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. The Three Musketeers by the latter is also one of my favorites.

A Tale of Two Cities is lovely, if I do say so myself.

Les Miserables is all right, but not my personal favorite.

I know most won't call it a classic, although it will become one, but I love Brave New World.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is interesting, but I had to read it several times before I finally understood it to my liking.

My favorite Shakespear play is Much Ado About Nothing, it's just so amusing!

I count Aldous Huxley as a writer of classics. Wasn't Brave New World published in the 1920s or 1930s? That was one I enjoyed too, I must say.

At what point does a book become considered a classic?

It was written in the late 30's, I believe. And I don't count it as a classic becuase I believe it takes 100 years for a book to become a true classic. Looking back on my list of classics, I believe there are one or two that I should take off it then. Oh well. They soon will become classics anyway!

I only say that I believe in the 100 year rule because if not, then every best seller would become a classic. Take a lot of the new books nowadays, for instance Harry Potter and Eragon. Those two series are booming now but I'm unsure of their fate once the series reach their ends. I believe the hype will dissappear and people won't read them as avidly as people read classics such as Pride and Prejudice, Brave New World, Picture of Dorian Gray, Great Expectations etc.

My favorite books that are usually considered classics are:

The Picture of Dorian Grey
Dracula
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

*I love the horror classics.*

I tried to get into the Scarlet Pimpernel..but just couldn't. I've warned that the first few chapter are rather boring, but I just can't read a book that doesn't capture my attentions from the very start.

I'm ashamed to admit that I own most of the classics on my bookshelf -- such as Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, The Tale of Two Cities, and etc. Jane Eyre was alright, but I never even bothered to look at the other 2 books. I'm starting to think that perhaps there is an age thing.

As for the Count of Monte Cristo, the reason I wanted to read the book was because I watched the movie. Horrible, I know. But, if the book was so much better than the movie, I should have no trouble reading it..

Never read the adventure books except for Robert Louis Stevenson's, and Robin Hood. So the Scarlet Pimpernel, Horatio Hornblower, 3 Musketeers, Zorro, Count of Monte Cristo, um...*points toes toward each other* a heh. heh. I've read condensed versions made for children, but not the real things.

Other genres, yes. Once you slog through Dickens, other British authors seem much more friendly - Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen - they all get better and better as you age and your brain is able to process all those words. Some books that I read in childhood and read again today have so much in them that I never saw before. It's like reading a new version, but it's just reading with a better brain.

Reading the classics is still a must for devoted bibliophiles. You get to see where so many modern filmmakers and novelists crib their material.

Best classic IMO has to be Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It has a story for every type of person and I still remember fondly at age 11-12 laughing my head off at the bawdy parts. Of course, now they seem more like crude Family Guy style humor, and that's what they were...appealing to the lowest echelons. But it was just so funny to be hearing dirty stories in Middle English!

I like Charles Dickens and Henry James.

"SLAUGHTER HOUSE FIVE! THAT'S A CLASSIC IN ANY TOWN!"
I love Footloose. xD
Because uh.. being a techie is fun and I know all the lines to plays.. >_>
-disappears-

Originally Posted by StripedSocks`

"SLAUGHTER HOUSE FIVE! THAT'S A CLASSIC IN ANY TOWN!"
I love Footloose. xD
Because uh.. being a techie is fun and I know all the lines to plays.. >_>
-disappears-

Oh yeah...Kurt Vonnegut just died u_u I did not love his works but they stay in the head. Even MST3K made references toward his stuff. Probably Harrison Bergeron (short story about society forcing mediocrity on everyone) is my favorite and one everyone recognizes.

Offtopic - Vonnegut's son was temporarily in a mental hospital for drug-induced insanity. His account of his madness is fascinating!
I love madness when it's not mine! XD