Rediscovering the classics

[ficbot]

I like mystery and suspense novels, and recently have read a spate of best-sellers which have been disappointing. They weren't terrible, per se. Just...average. They were fine. They were adequate. But they didn't blow my mind, and as they were bestseller-DRMd, I had to liberate them and in a few cases, the formatting was a little rough.

I am running out of space on my Sony so I decided my next reads would be some of the bigger files, many of which happen to be classics because they are either a) available here as some kind of mega-anthology like the Sherlock Holmes stories or b) if not available here, available at Feedbooks, in which case, it's a PDF and hence a bigger file. I am enjoying these so much more! They just seem like more substantial books, higher-quality books. They have stood the test of time. It just feels like the reading I am doing is higher-quality, more substantial stuff. The writing is better. The atmosphere is more elegantly conveyed. It's like switching to artisan bread after years of wonder bread sandwiches.

I'm so excited. I do still have a fair stash of disposable modern reads to get through. But I think I am going to institute a holding period on these where I will wait a month when I see one in case it shows up on Overdrive for free at my library. While I wait, I will read these superior classics and enjoy the plethora of freebies which are nicer looking and of much better quality.

Some of the ones I have enjoyed so far:

Sherlock Holmes omnibus (almost done!)
Jacques Futrelle omnibus (I like the 'locked room' genre)
Edgar Allan Poe (short stories)
H.G. Wells (almost finished War of the Worlds)

On my to-read list:

Mary Roberts Rinehart
Raymond Chandler
Sax Rohmer
Dashiell Hammett
Dorothy Sayers
Earl Derr Biggers
Ernest Bramah
Raffles Series
Arsene Lupin Series
Wilkie Collins
Anna Katharine Green
Scarlet Pimpernel Series
G.K. Chesterton (Father Brown)
Augusta Groner

Anyone want to suggest any others I am missing? I feel like I could go for years just on what's in the library here! Back to the no-buying challenge for me!

[Katti's Cat]

A golden oldie suspense / mystery: Count of Monte Christo. Got the lot, betrayal, murder, love - what more would you want

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I like mystery and suspense novels, and recently have read a spate of best-sellers which have been disappointing. They weren't terrible, per se. Just...average. They were fine. They were adequate. But they didn't blow my mind, and as they were bestseller-DRMd, I had to liberate them and in a few cases, the formatting was a little rough.

I am running out of space on my Sony so I decided my next reads would be some of the bigger files, many of which happen to be classics because they are either a) available here as some kind of mega-anthology like the Sherlock Holmes stories or b) if not available here, available at Feedbooks, in which case, it's a PDF and hence a bigger file. I am enjoying these so much more! They just seem like more substantial books, higher-quality books. They have stood the test of time. It just feels like the reading I am doing is higher-quality, more substantial stuff. The writing is better. The atmosphere is more elegantly conveyed. It's like switching to artisan bread after years of wonder bread sandwiches.

I'm so excited. I do still have a fair stash of disposable modern reads to get through. But I think I am going to institute a holding period on these where I will wait a month when I see one in case it shows up on Overdrive for free at my library. While I wait, I will read these superior classics and enjoy the plethora of freebies which are nicer looking and of much better quality.

Some of the ones I have enjoyed so far:

Sherlock Holmes omnibus (almost done!)
Jacques Futrelle omnibus (I like the 'locked room' genre)
Edgar Allan Poe (short stories)
H.G. Wells (almost finished War of the Worlds)

On my to-read list:

Mary Roberts Rinehart
Raymond Chandler
Sax Rohmer
Dashiell Hammett
Dorothy Sayers
Earl Derr Biggers
Ernest Bramah
Raffles Series
Arsene Lupin Series
Wilkie Collins
Anna Katharine Green
Scarlet Pimpernel Series
G.K. Chesterton (Father Brown)
Augusta Groner

Anyone want to suggest any others I am missing? I feel like I could go for years just on what's in the library here! Back to the no-buying challenge for me!

You'll find, especially in the mystery genre, that modern novels are lukewarm compared to the originators. As of yet nobody has approached the style, wit and beauty of a Chandler novel. Nobody has the pacing of Hammett, and there'll never be anyone as two-fisted and pulpy as Sax Rohmer.

I had a lecturer who said you should never read your contemporaries in any fictional field. He said it was like drinking water spat out of someone else's mouth.

[Katti's Cat]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

I had a lecturer who said you should never read your contemporaries in any fictional field. He said it was like drinking water spat out of someone else's mouth.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeew

[Slite]

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

A golden oldie suspense / mystery: Count of Monte Christo. Got the lot, betrayal, murder, love - what more would you want

Donuts? Bacon? Chocolate?

Seriously though. I kind of feel the same way, reading contemporary mystery/thrillers. About the only "modern" writer in this genre I can stand is Michael Connelly's Harry bosch books.

[Katti's Cat]

I agree - once you read the oldies, the 'bestsellers' are just a rehash - and bad ones at that

And i do like Harry Bosch as well

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

I agree - once you read the oldies, the 'bestsellers' are just a rehash - and bad ones at that

And i do like Harry Bosch as well

I've almost completely stopped reading mysteries now. I find that the characters, even Bosch, aren't as interesting as those Chandler, Hammett and Brackett invented way back when.

[Slite]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

I've almost completely stopped reading mysteries now. I find that the characters, even Bosch, aren't as interesting as those Chandler, Hammett and Brackett invented way back when.

Yeah I agree, Mike Hammer would go medieval on Harry Bosch's behind any time!

But if I had to choose one modern writer I can stand...

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by Slite

Yeah I agree, Mike Hammer would go medieval on Harry Bosch's behind any time!

But if I had to choose one modern writer I can stand...

I think I'd go with Spenser by Robert B. Parker. The Spenser novels are more fun than Bosch, who I've always thought of as a depressing Mike Hammer.

I'm not going to rag on mysteries altogether, it was one of the reasons I got into writing, because I loved Chandler and Cain and Hammett, and I'll probably always write something in the mystery genre myself. But it is a tad oversaturated now.

[Katti's Cat]

I don't mind reading less good books - makes me appreciate the real good ones even more.

[Slite]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

I think I'd go with Spenser by Robert B. Parker. The Spenser novels are more fun than Bosch, who I've always thought of as a depressing Mike Hammer.

I'm not going to rag on mysteries altogether, it was one of the reasons I got into writing, because I loved Chandler and Cain and Hammett, and I'll probably always write something in the mystery genre myself. But it is a tad oversaturated now.

Oversaturated? Have you looked at the erotica/supernatural field lately.... Now THAT is oversaturated!

How many sexy vampires/werewolves/demons/ghosts/withces/wizards/whatever novels can you write? I mean, it's not as if you can "re-create" the genre.

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by Katti's Cat

I don't mind reading less good books - makes me appreciate the real good ones even more.

Very true. What I do stay away from alltogether are any kind of 'forensic' books, you know, the type where everything is solved with science. Dull as dishwater. I want a PI in my mysteries, someone who does it all with legwork and intuition, and maybe a fist-fight or two.

[Moejoe]

Originally Posted by Slite

Oversaturated? Have you looked at the erotica/supernatural field lately.... Now THAT is oversaturated!

How many sexy vampires/werewolves/demons/ghosts/withces/wizards/whatever novels can you write? I mean, it's not as if you can "re-create" the genre.

Don't get me started on that 'genre'. It's one of the reasons I've started reading more 'general' fiction, because that stuff has swamped whole sections of the book stores. I refuse to buy any book, no matter how good the story, if there's a leather clad woman on the front holding a knife while in the background a photoshopped fog descends over a photoshopped city!!

[Slite]

Originally Posted by Moejoe

Don't get me started on that 'genre'. It's one of the reasons I've started reading more 'general' fiction, because that stuff has swamped whole sections of the book stores. I refuse to buy any book, no matter how good the story, if there's a leather clad woman on the front holding a knife while in the background a photoshopped fog descends over a photoshopped city!!

Awww... come on MoeJoe... tell us how you REALLY feel about erotic supernatural novels

[Katti's Cat]

Originally Posted by Slite

Oversaturated? Have you looked at the erotica/supernatural field lately.... Now THAT is oversaturated!

How many sexy vampires/werewolves/demons/ghosts/withces/wizards/whatever novels can you write? I mean, it's not as if you can "re-create" the genre.

Hmmm , obviously a market there. Makes you wonder why that genre is in such high demand now. Maybe something the guys aren't doing ???