read more classic literature

Pilgrim’s Progress
Robinson Crusoe
Pamela

yeah…I’m in an 18th century lit class.

I’ve always loved reading, but fell out of practice in the last few years. I was trying and trying but failing miserably at getting into the swing of things…(I have some fatigue issues that make reading very difficult to do without falling asleep a few pages in)

Anyway, I finally managed to get myself back into reading (and manage to read a good amount before needing to go sleep) and have been working on “Sironia, Texas,” the second longest novel in the english language, by Madison Cooper. I ran into it when looking up something else. It is out of print, but lucky the library at the University I attend has dusty old copy. It’s pretty interesting. I am half-way done with volume 1, and then there is volume 2.

2009.06.06 Finished John Updike’s ‘Marry Me’; started Audrey Niffenegger’s ‘The Time Taveler’s Wife’. Maybe these are ‘classic’ titles, but they were personally recommended, so I’m comfortable with them for now.

Well. I suppose it is a classic. And no one said all classics were going to be easy to read or even satisfying. I suppose. And while I did enjoy the gothic and ghostly elements of this book, they were too few and far between to keep me that interested. The real problem for me, besides the aforementioned unwieldy size of the actual book, was the skipping around of the narrative. I wasn’t sure, especially toward the end, who was telling this story anymore…and I almost didn’t care. My main goal became to finish it and so that’s what I worked for.
This particular edition also contains Jane Eyre and I’d thought I move right on to it but I think I need a break from this sort of dark and dense reading…

I’m reading Charlie’s books from Stephen Chbosky’s Perks of Being a Wallflower… So far I’ve read The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher In The Rye, Huck Finn, and I’m reading This Side of Paradise now… and then Catch-22 ^_

284 books to read
including some real classics

sigh… onto the sheakspeare!

Reading Jane Eyre again, my she is an awesome writer!

So I finished The Call of the Wild last night and it was quite un-put-downable and surprisingly easy to read. What a good story. I think what made it even more enjoyable was that the copy I read was a 1903 edition I found at my parents’ house that belonged to my grandpa and his brothers and in fact has their surname written in the front. Also, one of them, when reading it, must have scribbled notes in the margins and they were like little treasures to find. One part of the book describes how Buck played with some fellow dogs and one of my great-uncles or my grandpa scrawled at the side: “Old Pard did that.” At another spot, a protective dog licks Buck, like a mother and someone has jotted at the side: “Just as little Teddy licked old Pard.”
So my grandpa’s childhood dogs were named little Teddy and old Pard! What a gem of a find! I love it.

I started Wuthering Heights after that but I only read the first chapter. It is part of a collection of Bronte books in one bigger book so not as easy to curl up with and lose yourself…

I just finished Animal Farm yesterday. What an appropriate story for our recently passed era.
Then I started The Call of the Wild and am already halfway through it. I had forgotten how good a good story can be.

I’ve read more classic literature over the past year than I have in my entire life. I still like reading modern books when I can, but I’ve been on a great schedule and have finished:

Pride and Prejudice
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Scarlet Letter
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Raven
A Midsummers Night Dream

I’m also nearly finished with The Three Musketeers.

I feel a great deal more accomplished having these titles under my belt than the string of random other novels I’ve read over the last couple of years. Anyways, if you’re interested in classic literature, I’ve gotta recommend dailyreader – it has helped me soo much towards this goal.