Unutterably Silly Classics you've been introduced to through unconventional means

[RickyMaveety]

For example, growing up, I watched a lot of Rocky & Bullwinkle .... a whole lot.

Of course, that meant Dudley Do-right of the Mounties. There was this one episode where there was a wind up robotic Dudley, and he only had a few phrases he repeated. One of them was from Kipling:

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot.

Today, for some reason, I could not get those lines out of my head. Sort of like when you find yourself singing "Kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit" to a snippet of Wagnerian opera.

Any other big of foolishness out there that got someone reading the classics, or listening to classical music, or looking at classical art??

[Greg Anos]

Silverlock - John Myers Myers....

[DixieGal]

In 11th grade, the teacher had a stack of comic books of classics, stuff like Moby Dick, Time Machine, and so on. Does that count?

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Silverlock - John Myers Myers....

Never heard of that. Tell more.

Originally Posted by DixieGal

In 11th grade, the teacher had a stack of comic books of classics, stuff like Moby Dick, Time Machine, and so on. Does that count?

I had all those classics comics too. Although, most of them were pretty straight out representations of the books they represented. I think I recall reading a lot of Dickens in that format (when I was about 6 or 7) and I remember reading Cyrano as a classic comic, probably about the same time.

By the time 11th grade rolled around I had read most of the classics in their unabridged form ... and had moved on to science fiction in a very big way. But, I was thinking more of really off the wall things that got you to the classics without you even realizing that was happening.

[RWood]

So reading stuff like that just to get a date with a grad assistant doesn't count? (I had read most of the stuff anyway so I guess it doesn't really count.)

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Never heard of that. Tell more.

A great book. A fantasy, published in 1949, reprinted in paperback in the late '70. Currenty available new in hardback, with a reference as long as the book in back, from NESFA Press.

The book is about a 35 year old MBA, who fell overboard off a cruise ship, and ends up in the Land of Letters. Everyone mentioned in the book is a classical literary reference (some fictional, some historical), with their serial numbers lightly filed off. Some you will recognize from your literary reading, most you won't. (looking them up is part of the fun.) But the story itself is interesting and entertaining. The opening line is --- "If I had wanted to live, I would have died." Delian law prevents me from saying anything more. (Just hang on for that third drink.)

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by RWood

So reading stuff like that just to get a date with a grad assistant doesn't count? (I had read most of the stuff anyway so I guess it doesn't really count.)

No, it doesn't count.

Oh well, leave it to me to post a thread that almost no one "gets."

[montsnmags]

I came to stand before Proust via "intelligent robots that live beyond the asteroid belt". More specifically, I came to this point courtesy of Orphu, "a Moravec from Io, roughly three meters tall and six meters long, outfitted for work in the hard vacuum of space."

Cheers,
Marc

[Slite]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

A great book. A fantasy, published in 1949, reprinted in paperback in the late '70. Currenty available new in hardback, with a reference as long as the book in back, from NESFA Press.

The book is about a 35 year old MBA, who fell overboard off a cruise ship, and ends up in the Land of Letters. Everyone mentioned in the book is a classical literary reference (some fictional, some historical), with their serial numbers lightly filed off. Some you will recognize from your literary reading, most you won't. (looking them up is part of the fun.) But the story itself is interesting and entertaining. The opening line is --- "If I had wanted to live, I would have died." Delian law prevents me from saying anything more. (Just hang on for that third drink.)

I concur.... Silverlock is a definite read. If you haven't read it, you missed out on one of the great books!

[Gaurnim]

Originally Posted by montsnmags

I came to stand before Proust via "intelligent robots that live beyond the asteroid belt". More specifically, I came to this point courtesy of Orphu, "a Moravec from Io, roughly three meters tall and six meters long, outfitted for work in the hard vacuum of space."

Cheers,
Marc

Well, well, Dans Simmons.
I didn't really appreciate Illium and Olympos, though I enjoyed the others a lot.


The description of Silverlock makes me think about The Thursday Next series.
The main character can travel through books, and meets a lot of fictional characters.
After reading those books, I wanted to have a look at Jane Eyre, even if there is a good chance that I won't like it.
I won't give the complete list of references, but here are a few of the characters / books that are mentioned :
- Waiting for Godot
- The trial, by Franz Kafka
- Hamlet
- Wuthering Heights

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Gaurnim

Well, well, Dans Simmons.
I didn't really appreciate Illium and Olympos, though I enjoyed the others a lot.

You won't get a contrary opinion here. [As an aside, I think I rated Setebos as "Least scary monster ever" (not that that was the point), though kudos for the fear-factor of Caliban - I don't tend to argue with character-portrayals that managed to work their way into one of my dreams/nightmares]. It was not...satisfying to me, at least not as satisfying as I found the Hyperion Cantos. Though, again, credit to Orphu (and Mahnmut) for taking me somewhere "classic" I hadn't been before.

Cheers,
Marc

[Slite]

Originally Posted by Gaurnim

Well, well, Dans Simmons.
I didn't really appreciate Illium and Olympos, though I enjoyed the others a lot.


The description of Silverlock makes me think about The Thursday Next series.
The main character can travel through books, and meets a lot of fictional characters.
After reading those books, I wanted to have a look at Jane Eyre, even if there is a good chance that I won't like it.
I won't give the complete list of references, but here are a few of the characters / books that are mentioned :
- Waiting for Godot
- The trial, by Franz Kafka
- Hamlet
- Wuthering Heights

I like most of what Dan Simmons has written, I did not however like "The Terror", which I personally thought stunk to high heavens and back again. Which is a shame really, since I liked the concept well enough, just not what he did with it.