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Thanks for the advice Etienne. It will definitely be good to know a little of the history before getting into it. Hmm..I have a feeling I am going to have to make a more structured reading list for this year to get it all in though. Thanks again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Etienne
Virgil I didn't know (or maybe I did hear it from somewhere) that you had read Titus Andronicus! It'd be interesting to hear your thoughts on that.
Grace, there is a Shakespeare discussion thread where I put my thoughts on it. You can quote from there and I'll respond. It was an average work I'm afraid, so one of Shakespeare's lesser plays. But it had it's moments and I bet some of it could be really dramatic on stage.Quote:
Originally Posted by grace86
Virgil, didn't you do "Sons and Lovers" too?.... and a few more of the Lawrence short stories such as: "The Shades of Spring" and "Odour of Chrysanthenmums"? At least I thought you did all those short stories.Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil
Wow, I can't wait to make up my list, too. I read some books independently from the forum, as well. It is fun to look back and see just what one read.
Grace, impressive! and especially all those fine Shakespeare plays!;) Good for you!!!:thumbs_upQuote:
Originally Posted by grace86
Oh, I just deleted my post! :brickwall Not that it really matters because I didn't read as many as the others here. So it won't take too long to list again. I am somewhat embaressed to list them for that reason, but I am using the fact that 2007 was a "down" year for me all around as an excuse. :) That and the fact that I did watch a lot of TV this year! :blush:
Quote:
*The Turn of the Screw - Henry James
*The Jane Austen Book Club - Karen Jay Fowler :sick: (disliked it even more the second time reading it)
*The Crimes of Charlotte Bronte - James Tully :sick: :sick: :sick: (hideous book!)
*My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
*Drowning Ruth - Christina Schwarz
*Where Are the Children - Mary Higgins Clark
*The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Bank (I think you can guess as to which are the ones from the book club that I belong to!)
*The Good Soldier - Ford Madox Ford
*The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
*The Awakening - Kate Chopin
*Main Street - Sinclair Lewis
*Persuasion - Jane Austen
*Ghost Writer - John Harwood
Virgil I might wander into the discussion and quote your comments. I'll have to check it out when I have more time. It was a horribly gruesome play.
Janine, I was rather surprised myself!! After listing everything that I have read and by looking at everyone else's list, I am actually currently underway in trying to form some sort of list for this new year. I've got three Lawrence novels in it already (S&L first, then either The Rainbow or Lady Chatterly...whichever comes first). I think I might also pursue more Shakespeare outside of a classroom setting...since I have the entire collection and all!!
Be prepared Janine for more Lawrence tutoring (as well as for your expertise in Shakespeare!) ;)
I have recorded everything from Jan '07 to July 6, '07. My list includes:
LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
Imperium by Robert Harris
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
Medicus by Ruth Downie
Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
The Agony and the Ecstacy by Irving Stone
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Candide by Voltaire
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Along with that I've read a fair amount of American and Russian literature (the former for school and the latter for pleasure).
One of my resolutions for 2008 is to record everything I read. Hopefully I wont stop half-way through like I did last year.
That is a good idea to quote Virgil. He wrote some good observations in that thread...I did not participate but I did read some of the posts. I refused to read that play...too gruesome for me! I also read it was questionable, as to whether Shakespeare even wrote it or all of it; many of people will dispute that fact, though.Quote:
Originally Posted by grace86
Grace, I have been fully prepared... that I would continue with my Lawrence tutoring....:lol:... and you know, I will always help you with Shakespeare ;) - although I have not read all the plays, myself....just ask. How nice that you own them all. Actually, I do also in a very large book. I wish I have a more up-to-date set with notes on the side.
Funny you should mention Shakespeare, tonight I have been watching the early classic b/w adaptation film of 'Midsummer Night's Dream" - I am really enjoying it, although my worn-out player just quit on me :bawling: It heats up and then I have to watch in half-hour installments, so will have to see more tomorrow night.
I would recommend "The Rainbow" second, since that would complete the first 3 novels of Lawrence's (asside from The White Peacock" - his first novel). That would round things out for you nicely. Also, "The Rainbow" is actually the prequel to "WIL", but it matters little which book one reads first. I plan a reading of "The Rainbow" early in the year, after I finish listening to "WIL" on audio CD - I am halfway through, and then I want to read "Kangaroo", which is not too long...then "The Rainbow" will be next on my list. "Lady Chatterly's Lover" was Lawrence's last fiction novel. I was hoping to read that in the late spring.
After looking at these lists, I'm very disappointed in myself =( oh, well, This is what I've managed to read this year:
rereading the Harry Potter series (yes, I'm one of those nerds and proud of it)
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
On The Road - Jack Keroauc
The Jungle - Upton Sinclair
The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
The House of the Seven Gables - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Emma - Jane Austen
Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
Antigone - Sophocles
King Lear - Shakespeare
Hamlet - Shakespeare
The Dharma Bums - Jack Keroauc
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Tom Stoppard
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
My Antonia - Willa Cather
Trainsong - Jan Keroauc
Welcome, iloveoscar. I think there are several of us who feel disappointed in ourselves when it comes to what we've read in the past year. Or, perhaps, I am speaking for myself. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by iloveoscar
Good list, Dori!
I only read these, but not this past year:
The Hobbit & The Fellowship of the Ring, probably the next one (can't recall for sure) J.R.R. Tolkien
The Agony and the Ecstacy by Irving Stone (loved that novel, I should read it again)
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (loved the book and the older movie)
Candide by Voltaire
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (wonderful, great book!)
iloveoscar, Welcome to the forum! I have read these of your fine list:
The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
The House of the Seven Gables - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Emma - Jane Austen
Antigone - Sophocles
King Lear - Shakespeare
Hamlet - Shakespeare
The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
My Antonia - Willa Cather (also recommend, if you have not already read these - Death Comes to the Archbishop -[great read!] and O'Pioneers!
I am impressed - you both read really fine literature!:thumbs_up
I can't imagine why. Some of us read more slowly and absorb more so we don't read as many books or we don't have the time. I think both of your read a good amount of good books last year.Quote:
I think there are several of us who feel disappointed in ourselves when it comes to what we've read in the past year. Or, perhaps, I am speaking for myself.
Janine I was thinking of reading Much Ado About Nothing - you mentioned it online yesterday when I was speaking to you. But I've definitely had plenty of Shakespeare's tragedies to last me awhile, so I think I will try one, two or three comedies this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Janine
I had forgotten about The White Peacock and Kangaroo. Guess I have more Lawrence novels to purchase!!
Other than that I was planning to get through more book club choices and a couple here on my shelf that need to be put in the "read" stack!
"Much Ado About Nothing" is great and so is "Love's Labour Lost"..."Midsummer Night's Dream" is a must! You might, also try "Twelfth Night"...I like that one, too. I think they all have movies you can watch too to aid in your understanding.Quote:
Originally Posted by grace86
Grace, Both books are hard to obtain; I think they are out of print now...I had to get used ones. I liked the first book, but many say it is his first novel, not exactly immature, but one has to say not quite polished as his others and not totally formed or developed, in meaning or concept. I think it has some very beautiful passages and it got the attention of publishers at the time, but one has to place it into L's biography...he was only 21 when he began that novel. Kangaroo is also hard to find. It is one of his more obscure novels. I think you have to know a little about his biography at the time he and his wife resided in Australia, to be interested in that one. I will talk to you later online about these two. Instead, I would recommend Lawrence novellas such as "Love Among the Haystacks" or "The Fox" - I loved both of them. I also liked another book by L, that is a little obscure called "The Lost Girl".
Actually you're right. I forgot to write those down. Thanks. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Janine
I went back and edited my post to include those and another I had forgotten. Plus I created a blog of my 2007 reads. So you can check my blog if you're interested.
Books i've read in 2007
“Jane Eyre” – Charlotte Bronte
“Madame Bovary”- Gustave Flaubert
“The Count of Monte Cristo” – Alexandre Dumas
“Oliver Twist”- Charles Dickens
“Emma” – Jane Austen
“Frankestein” – Mary Shelley
“A Christmas Carol and other ghost stories”– Charles Dickens
“Women in love” – D. H Lawrence
“The name of the rose” – Umberto Eco
«To the Lighthouse» - Virginia Woolf
“Jitterbug perfume» - Tom Robbins
“Vanity Fair” – William Makepeace Thackeray
“The great Gatsby” – F Scott Fitzgerald
“Crime and punishment» - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“The Dubliners” – James Joyce
“Sons and lovers” – D. H. Lawrence
“The old curiosity shop” – Charles Dickens
“1984” – George Orwell
“Peter Pan” – J. M. Barrie
“Master and Margarita» - Mikhail Bulgakov
"The Catcher in the Rye”- J.D Salinger
“The trial” – Frantz Kafka
New here, first post. :)
So, I've read 30 books in 2007, 10,863 pages in total. There aren't many classics in my list, and at the end of the year I was feeling more like reading chick lit, but there are definitely a lot of classics I want to read and those lists of yours are being useful. I'll add some of your recs to my 'to read' list of 2008.
February:
01. Cell, Stephen King.
02. The second summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares.
03. South of the border, west of the sun, Haruki Murakami.
March:
04. Caperucita en Manhattan, Carmen Martín Gaite.
05. The girl who loved Tom Gordon, Stephen King.
06. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer.
April:
07. La noche que quemaron a la mendiga, Arturo San Agustín.
May:
08. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami.
09. Travels in the Scriptorium, Paul Auster.
10. To kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee.
July:
11. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling. (Re-read)
12. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling.
August:
13. L'origen perdut, Matilde Asensi.
14. Dance Dance Dance, Haruki Murakami.
15. Northern Lights, Phillip Pullman.
16. Eragon, Christopher Paolini.
September
17. The Subtle Knife, Phillip Pullman.
October:
18. Kafka on the shore, Haruki Murakami.
19. An inconvenient truth, Al Gore.
20. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby.
November:
21. No Plot? No problem, Chris Baty.
22. Un riu d'esperança, Kim Manresa.
23. Stardust, Neil Gaiman.
24. The Amber Spyglass, Phillip Pullman.
25. Third summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares.
26. Gossip Girl vol. 1, Cecily von Ziegesar.
December:
27. Forever in blue: the fourth summer of the Sisterhood, Ann Brashares.
28. The boy next door, Meg Cabot.
29. Gossip Girl vol. 2: You know you love me, Cecily von Ziegesar.
30. Boy meets girl, Meg Cabot.
Welcome Lain...nice list of books..I see you're a fan of Haruki Murakami :D
I'm actually reading Kafka on the Shore right now. I'm on page 200, or so.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lain
How did you like it?
Thank you! :) Yes, I am a Haruki Murakami fan.
I enjoyed Kafka on the Shore immensely. At first, I thought nothing made sense and I was tempted to put the book down when that incident with the cats happened (I can't stand when animals are tortured), but then I remembered that I love Murakami, so I kept reading. And at the end, it didn't disappoint me, and I ended up loving the book just as much as I loved his other novels.
My favorite is Norwegian Wood, but I'll start reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle so maybe that changes, since I've heard so many good things about the latter.
Are you enjoying Kafka on the Shore so far?
The lists so far are amazing... way to go!
For the past few years I have kept lists of books I have read, but always from August to August, rather than January to January.
Here's my list for 2007, as far as I can make out.
Jane Austen:
Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice
Northanger Abbey
J.K.Rowling
All seven, I'm afraid :)
C.S. Lewis:
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of Dawn Treader
Charles Dickens:
Bleak House
The Cricket on the Hearth
Charlotte Bronte:
Jane Eyre
Villette
Anne Bronte:
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Christopher Paolini:
Eragon
Eldest
Brian Jaques:
Castaways of the Flying Dutchman
The Angel's Command
Voyage of Slaves
Eloise Jarvis McGraw:
Mara, Daughter of the Nile
The Golden Goblet
The Moorchild
The Seventeenth Swap
Pharaoh
The Money Room
Agatha Christie:
So Many Steps to Death
The Secret of Chimneys
Parker Pyne Investigates
The Secret Adversary
Partners in Crime
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Postern of Fate
Mary Shelley:
Frankenstein
Claire Tomalin:
Jane Austen: A life
George Eliot:
Silas Marner
Maria Trapp:
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:
The Hound of the Baskervilles
A Study in Scarlet
Elizabeth Goudge:
Pilgrim's Inn
J.R.R. Tolkien:
The Hobbit
Fellowship of the Ring
The Two Towers
Return of the King
Janet and Geoff Benge:
Cameron Townsend: Good News in Every Language
And I believe that's about it. Good luck on your reading this year, everyone!
I am. I just got through the part you were talking about, and even though that part was disturbing and the book is a bit different from other books, I am enjoying it. It's the first book I've read by him, and maybe I'll try something else later this year if the book continues to be as good as it's been so far. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Lain
Have you read any of Irving Stone's other books? I think I will this year. My friend's mom owns a lot of his books, so I can just borrow them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Janine
Oh, and welcome Lain and The E in M.E. :)
I have three of his books on my list, Hard Boiled Wonderland, Dance Dance Dance and Sputnik Sweetheart. I guess I'm gonna add Kafka on The Shore to them.Quote:
Originally Posted by thelastmelon
So if I'm to start reading one of his books, which should I start with?!
Ikes, I just remembered I read Slaughterhouse Five as well. I'll have to go an add it in.
Virgil you are so funny!! I know you read so much this past year! Didn't you read most of the Lawrence short stories as well? At least you are still remembering which books you read in 07....I know I read more books and for the life of me I cannot recall which ones I have forgotten to add!
I've been remembering more books and adding them to the list for the past couple of days :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil
:lol: Yes, and I listed the Lawrence short stories.Quote:
Originally Posted by grace86
I'm afraid I've been away twice before really become regular around here -- difficult year but I did manage to read some. :)
Fannie Flagg, Redbird Christmas
Adriana Trigiani, Home to Big Stone Gap
Thornton Wilder, Our Town
Alexander McCall Smith, The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Careful Use of Compliments
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
Morality for Beautiful Girls
Portuguese Irregular Verbs
Tears of the Giraffe
The Sunday Philosophy Club
#1 Ladies' Detective Agency
James Michener, Hawaii
Lori Copeland , Stranded in Paradise
Lisa Samson, Club Sandwich
Anne Tyler, Digging to America
Debbie Macomber, Susannah's Garden
I can't recall if I read them this year or both last year and this year combined. That list I could easily make up. Can I list two years worth? When you get old you really can't keep track of these things....hummm
You still forgot one short story - 'The White Stocking'....:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Virgil
I love Murakami! Hard-Boiled Wonderland is my favourite, Dance Dance Dance is a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase so you might want to read that first (I didn't, I read Dance Dance Dance then A Wild Sheep Chase afterwards and thought 'ah!'). Dance Dance Dance is very good, perhaps my second favourite, but I haven't read Sputnik Sweetheart yet (buying it today with my birthday book vouchers - yippee!). Lote has though, Lote said Sputnik Sweetheart was very good. They're all good. Murakami is good (in case I hadn't made that clear, phew!)Quote:
Originally Posted by Nossa
Oh you're right. Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Janine
Thankies :D I guess I'll start with the book I can find, it's kinda hard to find books in here, wish me luck :DQuote:
Originally Posted by TheFifthElement
I agree with TheFifthElement there on Haruki Murakami. I read Dance Dance Dance first too and it didn't really make sense, it was kind of hard to get through. But I loved it anyway. And I want to buy A Wild Sheep Chase, for the 'ah' factor you're talking about. :) Was it good? Was it as weird as Dance Dance Dance?
My friend says Sputnik Sweetheart is amazing, but haven't had the chance to read it yet. I really want to now!
It's so inspiring to read all your lists, picked up a few titles by Murakami for 2008 ;)
Here's what I remember reading in 2007:
Poetics by Aristotle
Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique by Michel Foucault (excellent historical/philosophical reading !)
Great Expectations by Dickens
The Cenci by Percy B. Shelley
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
Lady Wintermere's Fan by Wilde
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Woman of no Importance by Wilde
An Ideal Husband by Wilde
Dubliners by Joyce
Julius Caesar by Willy S.
The Remains of the Day by Ishiguro (very very good !)
Volpone by Jonson
The Jew of Malta by Marlowe
Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas DeQuincey (who could resist the title ? ;) )
Saturday by Ian McEwan
Dr. Faustus by Marlowe
Major Barbara by Georgie Bernie Shaw
Edward the Second by Marlowe
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Heroides by Ovid
Beowulf in Seamus Heaney's translation
The Robbers by Schiller
Heart of Darkness by Conrad
Slaughterhouse 5 by Vonnegut
The Tempest by Willy S.
Richard II. by Willy S.
The Odyssee by Homer
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood (nice to compare with Homer)
Pride and Prejudice by Austen
Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
The Merchant of Venice by Willy S.
King Lear by Willy S.
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
Emma by Austen
The Monk by Matthew Lewis (a bit overrated, methinks...)
King Oedipus by Sophocles
Oedipus on Kolonos by Sophocles
Seven against Thebes by Aischylos
Macbeth by Willy S.
The Satanic Verses by Rushdie
Nora by Henrik Ibsen
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Othello by Willy S.
King Henry IV, 1st part by Willy S.
and a couple of German lit. books, and way too much college non-fiction reading..
A Wild Sheep Chase is excellent, yes, and weird too!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lain
Sputnik Sweetheart is now sitting patiently on my shelf waiting for me to finish my current book so I can read it.
Nossa - good luck! Hope you enjoy whichever one you find :)
Okay, in 2007...
The Canterbury Tales
The Count of Monte Cristo
White Fang
Kidnapped
The Notebook
Little Men
The Guardian
Message in a Bottle
A Bend in the Road
The Scarlett Letter
A Walk to Remember
A Tale of Two Cities
Moby Dick
To Kill A Mockingbird
Gone With the Wind
Northanger Abbey
Emma
Pride and Prejudice
There were 14 others but they were smaller novels, not classics.
Love those books you've read, Tosca! What can you tell me about Emma and Northanger Abbey? Did you like them? I've only read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (and loved it) but I really want to check out her other novels, and I've heard many people complain about Emma.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tosca
I think my next will be Sense and Sensibility though. :)
Hello! I really loved Emma and Northanger Abbey!
"Emma" was about a young woman (Emma) and her love for match-making. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but it is great. There is a lot of comedy as well as romance. A lot of mysterious characters/secrets as well! It does tend to get picked on by some while others love it; but I guess it really depends on the reader and his/her interests.
"Northanger Abbey" was about a young woman, Catherine, who goes to stay with friends/family in Bath. There, she meets a young man and ends up visiting his home at Northanger Abbey. She is a big gothic/mystery novel reader and so she sort of lets her imagination run wild. The consequences of this are both good and bad. It was also a great book. The novel itself was gothic.
You will have to let me know how you like "Sense and Sensibility"! Jane Austen is great! I'm glad you liked "Pride and Prejudice"! That was such a romantic novel! Have you seen the movie?
Hope this helped!
Persuasion ~ Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice ~ Jane Austen
A Tale of Two Cities ~ Charles Dickens
Great Expectations ~ Charles Dickens
The Grapes of Wrath ~ John Steinbeck
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest ~ Ken Kesey
Wuthering Heights ~ Emily Bronte
Wide Sargasso Sea ~ Jean Rhys
Major Barbara ~ G B Shaw
Too True to be Good ~ G B Shaw
Much Ado about Nothing ~ Shakespeare
The Great Divorce ~ C S Lewis
This list doesn't include
books I've read for the 2nd or more time,
books I'm ashamed to say I read , and
the books I've forgotten about (this year I'm going to write down all the books I read).