I currently lead a book club and we've only read about 4 books...but all the books that we've read have been contemporary fiction or memoirs. We decided that we would like to read something from classic literature. We've all read most of the Jane Austin books and other highly popular classics. I would love some suggestions for classic literature that aren't too daunting in regard to length or difficulty. We are all female and all teachers with very busy schedules...something enticing and very readable would be great. Any ideas?
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good classics
Our all-female "of a certain age" bookclub also likes to mix our monthly selections among new and old fiction, as well as non-fiction. Some of the early 20th century writers are somewhat neglected these days, such as Willa Cather (we read The Lark), Fitzgerald (we read The Great Gatsby), and on to John Steinbeck (we read Grapes of Wrath). I think it is very interesting to re-read some of these classics that perhaps you read when a young person - your perspective may have changed, and you may discover a book that speaks to you now in a way it didn't then. I really liked Saul Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March, Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose (to echo Jon's recommendations), and becoming re-acquainted with Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye was just great!
Going back to the 19th Century, Thomas Hardy is always good for discussion. We read Tess of the D'Urbervilles and thoroughly enjoyed our discussion of the time and place. I want to take on Theodore Dreiser and Sinclair Lewis, and Thomas Wolff, to see how they stand up to our contemporary eyes - but remember, those books are much longer then we are used to reading today!
Good luck!
Classical Literature
I suppose on what your definition of "classical" is but here are my favorites:
The Consolation of Philosophy
The Bible (too long, perhaps?)
Don Quixote
Crime and Punishment
classics are great to throw into bookclub discussions!
In my bookclub we read a mix of classics and modern literature. Some of the best 'classics' for my groups over the years have been:
Lolita (1 month) Nabokov
East of Eden (2 months) Steinbeck
Anna Karenina (2 months) Tolstoy
Knight of the Maison Rouge (1 month) Dumas
I could go on, but those four really got our group talking and also showed us great differences of opinion. I lead an all female bookclub, and half of us are school teachers as well. I would love to see my group do M. Bovary....maybe next year!
Natalie
Trailblazer - France
three more plus one I couldn't omit...
...even if it is lengthy.
In no particular order:
My Antonia or Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather
The Master and Margarita - Mikhail Bulgakov
The Awakening - Kate Chopin
and my personal favorite classic novel - Middlemarch by George Eliot.
Ok, five books, but that's showing some restraint for me. I'll also second Jon's mention of Howard's End.
PS - Anna Karenina is not a short book.
Alison, It's so hard to
Alison,
It's so hard to gauge the group's taste, of course ... so I'll kick this discussion off by getting a few easy ones to consider out of the way. Perhaps your group has read most of these?
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (if the group hasn't read this, start here, of course)
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (it's probably too long?)
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Howards End by E.M. Forster
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
How about something by Saul Bellow? (Herzog, Seize the Day, The Adventures of Augie March). Or Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner?
Again, with the classics, your mileage my vary!
Jon
Jon Phillips
Editor & Publisher, Bookmarks