I have recently started a new job, which requires commuting to London 2 or 3 times a week. Rather than be downhearted at the prospect of three & a half hours tube & train travel, I have devoted this journey time to reading all the books I should have got round to reading ages ago, starting with Ffordian choices, Wuthering Heights, Sense & Sensibility and of course Jane Eyre (which I am currently halfway through - and loving).

I was wondering if fforumites could build a recommended reading list of Good classics? I say "good", I know it's very much personal choice but I don't want to nod-off and wake up in Swansea - so don't even think about suggesting Moby Dick!

Thank you in advance.

'Alice in Wonderland' must go in, mustn't it?

And the sequels.

Flatland.

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'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

And its sequels (Sphereland at least).

Not a classic yet, but I do recommend Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

There were recommendations on books made in some other threads. These three i found fairly easily but I think that there was another one we all contributed to about mid 2007. I copied many of the recommendations to a text file but it is on another computer that is currently in storage.

the three thread titles are:

book recommendations please

The Book Recommendation Thread

what can you re-read repeatedly?

MS - already made a mental note to find Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell after seeing someone reading it on the tube and remembering the glowing references to it on the fforum.

Thanks Bunyip, but I'm specifically after "classics", thinking of trying some George Orwell next, maybe Alice in wonderland will be the perfect antidote to that!

I'd also recommend the series of short stories by Susanna Clarke (JS & MN) The ladies of Grace Adieu, is a good starting point for reading her, I think.

Might I suggest, Arthur Ransome as a classic? Or perhaps Fantasy genre Ursula Le Guin?

It depends a lot on the motive. Since you only want Classics, it would appear that you want to make an upmarketish impression on your fellow Beano readers.

Joyce's "Ulysses" would be a good start. Stroke your chin a lot, smile and nod knowingly and make little gutteral sounds of agreement every so often. I prefer "Finnegan's Wake" but not enough of your fellow travellers will twig that this is just as dense (or by Joyce).

"Lolita" could be a goer if there are a few goers who are specific targets of the impression making. But avoid making the little gutteral noises (see above) at all cost, you don't want the transit police hoisting you off.

You could always go for the ancients but avoid texts which might mark you as a uni student. "Argonautica" or anything by Euripides would be fine and any of the poets would work if you can remember, every few minutes, to gently rest the book on your lap, sigh and stare wistfully out the window. If you notice someone glancing at your "Golden Ass" (or whatever it is), say, "This? Just something I missed when it first came out and thought I'd see what all the fuss was about." A wonderful opening line in my experience and one that I'm happy to share.

Thanks Robert, that's more the kinda thing I'm looking for - although the motive's a little off. I'm just trying to use this free time to expand my literary general knowledge - I don't think I could appear "upmarket" if I tried!
Managed to get through Ulysses a few years back (at the third attempt). Not sure about Lolita, I've not long finished reading some John Updike - so I think I've had my fill of sexually frustrated middle-aged men for a while.

BWH - did Ransome write anything not involving children?

Hmm... I don't believe he did!
I remember my mother talking about how he had to write in secret, as his wife told him his stories were rubbish and other utter nonsense. She sounded like a pretty bad partner for a writer!

Still, they are great! And the adults are fun in his books as well.




On another topic, let me know if I am still sane in a few weeks time... I have over 150 reports to do as it is that time of year for school teachers.... I may have to retreat into the furthermost reaches of my mind in order to survive the abnormal pressures.

Read Homer's 'The Odyssey' maybe, and tell me if I should bother...

Lord of the Rings could fill in alot of time...

And Sabriel by Garth Nix (contemporary, but excellent).

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a good one.

And I may or may not think of some others.

What a great idea! I would suggest 'The Odyssey', 'The Iliad', 'The Aeneid' and 'Paradise Lost'- all great collections of stories, really, which you can dip into. Also, I love 'The Great Gatsby'- bit more modern- if you don't mind wiping away a tear or two on the train! For a very modern 'classic' I like 'Kafka on the Shore' by Haruki Murakami- will make even the tube seem less surreal! ('though it's probably not for younger/easily upset readers).
I envy you all of the reading time! I used to travel to work by bus a few years back (1 hour each way) and I relished the guilt-free, uninterrupted reading. when I later bought a car I missed that time (even 'though it halved the journey).
Somehow reading at home isn't the same, what with chores etc.!

Please define 'Classic'.

In some people this is stuff written 400 or more years ago regardless of merit. To others it is something of great merit and which they expect to be read for many years still to come.

In advertising it means that they can't think of anything else to say.

I hesitate to add Dickens to the list but 'A Tale of Two Cities' is very good. Also, if you don't know the reveal, Agatha Christie's 'The Murder of Roger Ayckroyd is fun too!

It was the butler what did it is was it not?

I second Sabriel by the way.

Although Robert's advice is also good.

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Nope, it wasn't the butler, and that's all I'll say on the subject. I don't think there even was a butler in the whole book!

But it *has* to be the butler....

__________________________________
'We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad." [said the Cat.]
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "Or you wouldn't have come here."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Bunyip - given the surroundings, I would define a "classic" as a piece of literature likely to be referenced in a Jasper Fforde book.

PirateXxEsque - you should definitely read the Odyssey & the Iliad - both cracking stories.

OK, adding to the list:

Alice in Wonderland
Brave New World
Paradise Lost
The Great Gatsby
A Tale of two cities
The Murder of Roger Ayckroyd - (Never would have thought of Agatha Christie - Inspired!)
Modern (soon to be) classics: Kafka on the Shore, Sabriel & JS & MN


Where's the best place to start with Wodehouse?

(edited to remove Butler)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2008 01:00PM by ibborobb.

Seeing as he's been mentioned elsewhere - Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy would soak up a lot of time, and possibly the will to live. I'm still trying to work out why I kept on going, and occasionaly think I must have missed something and I should go back to them - but life's too short!

A few years ago when I had a hour long commute by train to work I got through a fair few of Annie Proulx's works - The Shipping News ... . Does anyone know how you are supposed to pronounce her surname?

Presuming the ability, I would suggest Jules Verne in the original French, for that added factor of pretentiousness. Verne might be a bit of a 'boy' thing though.

No-one knows where the best place to start Wodehouse is, especially with deleted butlers! The Blandings books are recommended a lot, I believe.

E.