How do you choose which 'Western Canon' books or classics to read?

[TurquoiseSunset]

I've been looking at loads of lists lately and although I don't believe in religiously sticking to a list or lists I do think they can be helpful in giving you an idea on what to read next, but they can also be very overwhelming.

I specifically ask about Western Canon because anything else is easy to pick...I read the back and if it looks good that's that. Classics and literature that can be defined as "great works of artistic merit" is a little more difficult for me. It doesn't help that I'm generally indecisive about these things and usually I read books for pleasure, be they classic or otherwise. In this case reading is more for...study (hate hate that word, but you know what I mean)? How do you decide? Where did you start?

[Handler]

If you just set out to "read the classics," it might be quite a slog. The best thing to do, in my opinion, is find one book that you really love and then let your curiosity about that author and that author's favorite authors - they all have favorites, lead you to another book, etc. In a way, you're taking recommendations from people you've come to trust like friends, and friends with specialized knowledge. And hopefully then you'll be approaching the next book with excitement rather than trepidation. Follow those connections long enough and you'll eventually find you've covered a wide swath of classics in a kind of natural, personal process.

[Sebas. Melmoth]

Two good options:
follow Harold Bloom:

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Canon-...062948&sr=1-11

or, even better, Jacques Barzun:

http://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Decadence...3063026&sr=1-1

[gruntingslime]

I agree with Handler on that one. I used to have a strong prejudice against classics when I tried to read Moby Dick at 13. Later on in a literature class we had to read Camus, Kafka, and Dosteovsky and I loved them all. Later I branched off from those authors and found tons of authors that I appreciate.

[kiki1982]

I don't know, I guess I just read what takes my fancy.

I only started a few years ago on English because I wondered how different Jane Eyre was from Jane Eyre in a few adaptations. So I wanted to know what the real thing was.

I saw Lost in Austen, liking the stories on TV, but not in real life. I had tried them when I was a teenager, but obviously I couldn't understand (English is my third language). Anyway, so I saw Lost in Austen, and I thought, 'man this is great!' Would the real thing be as fun? And I read it in barely one week and went from there. I only have two Austens left to read now...

I am mainly going through Penguin (English only) because they are cheap and I like doing my own research. I should start on more French, but they are more expensive. I guess more pages to read... Though, I have discovered that Livre de Poche editors also post them to you with some great deals.

I guess following lists can give some inspiration, but I wouldn't read something because it is next on the list... Then I really do not get through it.

[TurquoiseSunset]

Two good options:
follow Harold Bloom:

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Canon-...062948&sr=1-11

or, even better, Jacques Barzun:

http://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Decadence...3063026&sr=1-1

Heh, believe me when I tell you I know about all the lists out there, but thanks. I just really want to know how people come to choose from those lists (If they don't use lists I would like to know how they do it as well).

It's not like I've never read classics, I just have a hard time choosing, especially when it's for a reason other than just plain enjoyment.

[Handler]

What are you reading for then, I wonder. If it's not for enjoyment, you're probably screwed.

[TurquoiseSunset]

I guess following lists can give some inspiration, but I wouldn't read something because it is next on the list... Then I really do not get through it.

Exactly. Usually I also just pick them by whatever takes my fancy. That way I enjoy them and read something of classical merit. Then I take a look at all the lists and lists and lists and I go cross-eyed. I want to read more classics (and enjoy them obviously) but sometimes it's just daunting picking one if I've never read the author before.

Also, it's super annoying when I do research about a classic and people give away major plot points. I mean, I realise it's big and famous, but that does not mean everyone's read it right?

[TurquoiseSunset]

What are you reading for then, I wonder. If it's not for enjoyment, you're probably screwed.

Hehehe, I know. You would think that was the only reason why people read, but ask a few litnetters their opinion on the subject and you'll get a million and one different answers.

See, how do you choose books you enjoy? It's usually because it looks interesting or because it's similar to others you have enjoyed. Many classics do not fall into that category for me, so I'm reluctant to try them, but I'm scared I might miss out on some really good ones...there's a reason they are classics.

I'm just interested to know other people's methods.

[Handler]

When it comes to great works of literature, a lot of people, myself included, would say that finding out what happens is only a fraction of what the book has to offer. On the other hand, no, there's nothing wrong with not having read something and wanting to enjoy it spoiler free. But, I'll say it again, if you're trying to cover the western canon simply as a self-improvement project or, I don't know, to learn something useful, you're starting off on the wrong foot.

I would recommend taking the Nabokov course. Buy a copy of his "lectures on literature," as well as the 5 or 6 books on the "syllabus," Mansfield Park, Madame Bovary, The Metamorphosis, Swann's Way (a must, in my opinion, though not that easy), etc. I might skip Ulysses unless you're up for it. Read the books and "attend the lectures," so to speak. That's a really good place to enter "the western canon."

[togre]

In my reading I try to mix enjoyable books with ones that may be a bit of slog to get through. If you have read some of the greats, you know which you enjoy or at least tolerate. Read a couple by the same author or in a similar style (even if they aren't on the list or hardcore, nerd-level classics) and then grind through one book that expands your horizons (a style or author you know nothing of or a book you dread). Don't feel like you have to read Moby Dick and then War and Peace and then whatever other massive tome. Mix it up. Take baby steps. Also, I some times read several books at once. I have some junkfood novel I'm reading just for fun, I have some serious book I'm also reading in free time and then I have a third book I read just at lunch--this works well because no matter how dull or dry I keep plodding along and eventual finish it.

But your results may vary.

[TurquoiseSunset]

I think people have misunderstood what I asked...or maybe I didn't word it correctly. I didn't mean I want to get into classics and don't know how, because I already read them, and like I said, I am familiar with the hundereds of lists available.

I just wanted to know other people's methods of choosing the next one, because I sometimes get overwhelmed by all the choices. It was just for interest's sake...not because I'm starting a literary Julie/Julia project.

Thanks to those who have shared what they do though!

[Handler]

Turquoise - this is the last I'll say on this, then I'll move aside so other folks can share their "methods," which are all basically the same: one book at a time.

[LitNetIsGreat]

The suggestion of moving with an author you like is quite a good one. For me for example I was hooked with Wilde instantly when I first read him about 8 or 9 years ago – (was it really less than a decade ago?). I then read (or re-read) a host of other things, Wilde’s influences and contemporaries through Wilde as it were. However, this was on top of my part-time degree in Literature and Creative Media where I obviously had more structure with my reading, studying particular areas or movements of literature in the usual way. So, personally I feel like I have had the best of both, a drifting of interest and something more formally structured.

When it comes to lists, yes I think they are a good indicator for the reasons given, but I do feel that while it is a good idea to “drift” between texts, moving with what takes your fancy, an author or style or whatever, I also think that some sort of more formal structure is a good idea with your reading. So for example instead of simply reading a classic modernist text like say Woolf and then moving onto say Ovid or something, it may better serve you to get a picture of modernism, an overview, taste a few books in this area, read critically around the movement in general and then move on to something else. Really I think the best way to go about it if you are not studying literature (or even if you are) is to follow some sort of university syllabus generally, but at the same time feel free to drift when the need arises, don’t feel too tied down to it, we shouldn't lose sight of what reading is all about in the end.

[keilj]

It has been sort of tricky for me. In some cases I've gone with an author that I have liked. For example, I liked Of Mice and Men when I was younger. So eventually when I got older, I tried some others by Steinbeck, like Cannery Row, In Dubious Battle, and To a God Unknown

In other cases, I have just tried picking something up at the book store that looked somewhat interesting. I don't know what possessed me to pick up Babbitt for the first time and buy it - but as a result I became a huge fan of Lewis and have read nearly all of his novels now

I have also tried authors based on my own gut, or on the suggestion of others. This can be hit and miss, but without doing it, I would not have found some good books. I read Clockers just becasue I liked the movie - and it turns out I think Price's writing style is very good. On the other hand, I tried some Elmore Leonard stuff based on a recommendation of a friend, and I ended up not liking his books much

But, as you mentioned earlier (I think), I don't care much for the big literary lists, and I don't take much stock in them. I can live without some of the favorites like Jane Austen and Faulkner. And, often the books on those lists are not even my favorites by that particular writer. (I liked Twain's autobiography infinitely more than Tom Sawyer, and Dostoevsky's The Possessed way more than Crime and Punishment)