I'm guessing this isn't your usual genre, but one of my favourites is Robert Graves' I, Claudius and Claudius the God. It is the story of the first five Roman emperors as told through the eyes of the fifth. It was also written by an Englishman in the 1930s as he witnessed the interwar period and the beginnings of the dissolution of the British empire.
Something totally off the wall (pun intended) from everything we've ever read but still somehow "classic". Recently (as in the last 2 summers or so) I've fallen in love with Toni Morrison. I've only read 2 of her books (The Bluest Eye and Sula) but she is fabulous. Or something by a more modern author?
Pretty sure this is going to fail epically, but I think the only way I'm ever going to get through "War and Peace" is if I have the peer pressure of someone else reading it, so I'll nominate it, even if it gets voted down/vetoed.
We should read White Oleander. I started reading it then for some reason I stopped and returned it to the library. This is the perfect opportunity for me to complete it. Another good book would be The Way It Works by William Kowalski. I haven't read it yet but what a perfect opportunity.
At this moment the only things coming to mind are things on the Oprah book club list though I adore her, the level of merit I feel probably isn't what we're looking for. I'll get back to you on that one. But Jane Eyre Sounds fun. War & Peace not so much just keeping it real.
I'm guessing this isn't your usual genre, but one of my favourites is Robert Graves' I, Claudius and Claudius the God. It is the story of the first five Roman emperors as told through the eyes of the fifth. It was also written by an Englishman in the 1930s as he witnessed the interwar period and the beginnings of the dissolution of the British empire.
ReplyDeleteSomething totally off the wall (pun intended) from everything we've ever read but still somehow "classic". Recently (as in the last 2 summers or so) I've fallen in love with Toni Morrison. I've only read 2 of her books
ReplyDelete(The Bluest Eye and Sula) but she is fabulous.
Or something by a more modern author?
Pretty sure this is going to fail epically, but I think the only way I'm ever going to get through "War and Peace" is if I have the peer pressure of someone else reading it, so I'll nominate it, even if it gets voted down/vetoed.
ReplyDeletePortia -- Do you have a specific example of a modern classic in mind?
ReplyDeleteJames - if that's the logic, we should tackle all seven volumes of Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe since we're looking at potential for modern classics or types of works in general, we should focus on nominating authors? Thoughts?
ReplyDeletejane eyre.
ReplyDeleteWe should read White Oleander. I started reading it then for some reason I stopped and returned it to the library. This is the perfect opportunity for me to complete it. Another good book would be The Way It Works by William Kowalski. I haven't read it yet but what a perfect opportunity.
ReplyDeleteAt this moment the only things coming to mind are things on the Oprah book club list though I adore her, the level of merit I feel probably isn't what we're looking for. I'll get back to you on that one.
ReplyDeleteBut Jane Eyre Sounds fun. War & Peace not so much just keeping it real.
I would ask not War & Peace, sorry James!
ReplyDeleteI nominate a classic script, something like A Streetcar Named Desire or The Glass Menagerie.
NEIL GAIMAN :)
ReplyDeleteWaqas -- Which Gaiman? (And, I'm sorry, we're not reading Sandman.)
ReplyDeleteeither Anansi Boys or the Graveyard Book (which would be a comparison of that to The Jungle Book, so we would probably have to read that as well).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Katie. It's time for another reading of Jane Eyre. :-)
ReplyDeleteI see my choice has predictably submarined. How about the Divine Comedy? Am I allowed 2 nominations?
ReplyDeleteJames, you and anyone else are entitled to more than one nominations.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to read Neil Gaiman, let me suggest Good Omens. It's very funny
ReplyDelete