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

pwalker8 · 08-18-2013, 08:22 AM

At one time, the classics were taught in high school. Way back in the distant reaches of time, when I had to dodge dinosaurs to get to school (as I like to tell the kids), we had Moby Dick in the 8th grade. (I'm kind of odd, I actually like Moby Dick and liked it in the 8th grade). Now it seems to be more the pop book de jour that talks about whatever the teacher thinks is significant social issues. It's too bad that kids are missing out on the basis of our shared culture.

There are a lot of classics lists out there. I agree with the earlier poster that the Penguin Classics list is a good place to start. I read a good many of those in high school (I can't possibly imagine why "I, Claudius" and "Lolita" and "Lady Chattery's Lover" weren't on my summer reading lists

. )

I would also toss in some Shakespeare, though I would suggest reading in combination with watching a good performance of the play in question. Hamlet is the most famous. The Olivier film version is the most well regarded, though quite a bit was removed. Branagh's version is unabridged and runs 4+ hours.

08-18-2013, 08:22 AM	#13
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,195 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	At one time, the classics were taught in high school. Way back in the distant reaches of time, when I had to dodge dinosaurs to get to school (as I like to tell the kids), we had Moby Dick in the 8th grade. (I'm kind of odd, I actually like Moby Dick and liked it in the 8th grade). Now it seems to be more the pop book de jour that talks about whatever the teacher thinks is significant social issues. It's too bad that kids are missing out on the basis of our shared culture. There are a lot of classics lists out there. I agree with the earlier poster that the Penguin Classics list is a good place to start. I read a good many of those in high school (I can't possibly imagine why "I, Claudius" and "Lolita" and "Lady Chattery's Lover" weren't on my summer reading lists . ) I would also toss in some Shakespeare, though I would suggest reading in combination with watching a good performance of the play in question. Hamlet is the most famous. The Olivier film version is the most well regarded, though quite a bit was removed. Branagh's version is unabridged and runs 4+ hours.