MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - I'd like to start reading the classics. How should I begin?

Neverwhere · 08-18-2013, 12:52 AM

Hi all,

I'd like to broaden my mind and my vocabulary - upon seeing the absolutely excellent public domain library offered right here, I've decided that this is the best place to ask for help. I normally read fantasy, horror, thriller and young adult novels - a few of my cherished authors, specifically, are Stephen King, China Miéville, Cassandra Clare, Sarah Diemer, Dean Koontz, Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson and J.K. Rowling. I hope this gives you an idea of the kinds of novels that I gravitate towards, as well as the calibre of writing I tend towards.

Now, as far as the "classics" go, I'm looking for older classics rather than newer one - Slaughterhouse-Five is a classic which I've read, for example, but it's newer than what I'm aiming for. Let's say that if I can access it in the library here, I'd like to read it. I've previously read The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde and Sense And Sensibility by Jane Austen. I adored them both - the former because of the haunting, gothic themes of vanity, greed, and their consequences; the latter because of the view it presented of societal behaviour (and, I'll admit, I love non-erotic romance!).

Even though I've read these two, and enjoyed them both immensely, I'm not sure where to go from here. I feel entirely uneducated in the classics, and I'm sure that there's a treasure trove of excellent literature within them - why else, after all, would they be considered classic? Should I begin with Don Quixote? War And Peace? Les Misérables? Ulysses? The Divine Comedy? Bleak House? Frankenstein? Middlemarch? It's such a vast field to choose from - I feel, frankly, lost. If I haven't talked your ear off (or, as it were, typed your eyes out!), can you please provide me with a suggestion or two for what to read, and maybe even broadly suggest how I should go about tackling the classics? I won't stop until I've read 100! (Though not all at once!)

I'm sorry if I really have typed your eyes out; I can be a tad ... verbose. What can I say? I'll blame it on my tutors - I'm studying writing, after all!

08-18-2013, 12:52 AM	#1
Neverwhere Nameless Being	I'd like to start reading the classics. How should I begin? Hi all, I'd like to broaden my mind and my vocabulary - upon seeing the absolutely excellent public domain library offered right here, I've decided that this is the best place to ask for help. I normally read fantasy, horror, thriller and young adult novels - a few of my cherished authors, specifically, are Stephen King, China Miéville, Cassandra Clare, Sarah Diemer, Dean Koontz, Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson and J.K. Rowling. I hope this gives you an idea of the kinds of novels that I gravitate towards, as well as the calibre of writing I tend towards. Now, as far as the "classics" go, I'm looking for older classics rather than newer one - Slaughterhouse-Five is a classic which I've read, for example, but it's newer than what I'm aiming for. Let's say that if I can access it in the library here, I'd like to read it. I've previously read The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde and Sense And Sensibility by Jane Austen. I adored them both - the former because of the haunting, gothic themes of vanity, greed, and their consequences; the latter because of the view it presented of societal behaviour (and, I'll admit, I love non-erotic romance!). Even though I've read these two, and enjoyed them both immensely, I'm not sure where to go from here. I feel entirely uneducated in the classics, and I'm sure that there's a treasure trove of excellent literature within them - why else, after all, would they be considered classic? Should I begin with Don Quixote? War And Peace? Les Misérables? Ulysses? The Divine Comedy? Bleak House? Frankenstein? Middlemarch? It's such a vast field to choose from - I feel, frankly, lost. If I haven't talked your ear off (or, as it were, typed your eyes out!), can you please provide me with a suggestion or two for what to read, and maybe even broadly suggest how I should go about tackling the classics? I won't stop until I've read 100! (Though not all at once!) I'm sorry if I really have typed your eyes out; I can be a tad ... verbose. What can I say? I'll blame it on my tutors - I'm studying writing, after all!