Book Hauls!

[D_Davis]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

Sweet. One of the 4 so-called great Chinese Classical novels recognised by most people in the West as "Monkey" is a very nice purchase indeed. I have an abbreviated version only, so it will be interesting to read the thoughts of someone who is to read the entire work...

I've read Monkey, and have been exposed to many film and television adaptations of the story. Really looking forward to tackling the entire epic this year.

[HoopyFrood]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

You ask the Library Keeper if he has read anythnig else by Waugh?.. I say, I say I'm shocked, truly shocked I tell you...

I have Brideshead Revisited which is great and Handful Of Dust is to my way of thinking a masterpiece but whilst being aware of Decline and Fall I have not read that one yet....

If you like great prose stylists and you've probably read most if not all of these but I'll mention them anyway, you should certainly try Vladimir Nabokov, Joseph Conrad, Virginia Wolf, George Orwell, P G Wodehouse, F Scott Fitzgerald, Andrei Platonov, James Joyce, Rudyard Kipling, Italo Calvino, Marcel Proust, Somerset Maugham, Herman Melville, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Isaac Babel, Yasunari Kawabata, Tobias Wolfe, Stefan Zweig, Saul Bellow amongst others.

Cheers.

Just checking, just checking, heh. Handful of Dust was my first -- will never forget that moment when she gets the Johns mixed up. And as a former English student, you can be sure I've read more than my fair share of many of those! P.G Wodehouse has been a long time favourite of mine, love Imperial Blandings. Also very much enjoyed Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby. James Joyce is a...er...acquired taste! Nonetheless, there are actually parts of Ulysses that were fantastically written. I always akin them to beautiful patches of clearing in an otherwise dark and tangled forest (considering Joyce's unique style). Orwell is always great; Woolf I probably haven't read enough of yet to form a proper opinion. The structure of Conard's Secret Agent is excellent, working backwards from the main event and filling in the details. Damn, now I really have the urge to read this one again -- huzzah! It's on my shelf...!

[GOLLUM]

Originally Posted by HoopyFrood

Just checking, just checking, heh. Handful of Dust was my first -- will never forget that moment when she gets the Johns mixed up. And as a former English student, you can be sure I've read more than my fair share of many of those! P.G Wodehouse has been a long time favourite of mine, love Imperial Blandings. Also very much enjoyed Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby. James Joyce is a...er...acquired taste! Nonetheless, there are actually parts of Ulysses that were fantastically written. I always akin them to beautiful patches of clearing in an otherwise dark and tangled forest (considering Joyce's unique style). Orwell is always great; Woolf I probably haven't read enough of yet to form a proper opinion. The structure of Conard's Secret Agent is excellent, working backwards from the main event and filling in the details. Damn, now I really have the urge to read this one again -- huzzah! It's on my shelf...!

Hmm.. "beautiful patches of clearing in an otherwise dark and tangled forest"..mind if I borrow that phrase... I like it and of what I've so far read of Joyce not a bad analogy. Conrad is excellent I agree. Nostromo, which I have but am yet to read, appears to be regarded amongst many critics as his greatest work. Have you read that before? and let's not forget Heart Of Darkness. If you haven't read The Waves yet by Woolf do so and you'll see the genius. Wodehouse is superb and The Great Gatsby one of my favourite American novels. Thanks for the trip down memory lane...

[Hilarious Joke]

Having forgotten to pack a book in my carry-on luggage, and with limited choice in LA Airport, I got The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Quite good though, so far!

[thatollie]

Hmm hmm hmm...

The Peace and War trilogy by Joe Halderman
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein
The Whipping Star by Frank Herbert
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Tales from The Thousand and One Nights
A collection of 6 Hemingway novels
Paradise Lost by John Milton

[antiloquax]

@Gollum and HoopyFrood: I agree that Conrad is marvellous. I only got around to "The Secret Agent" fairly recently. I love "Heart of Darkness" and "Under Western Eyes". "Nostromo" is a masterpiece. I haven't read it for years and I hope to have time for a re-read. Mind you, there are lots I haven't read yet - "Lord Jim" for instance [blush].
Interesting to see "Timescape" on your list Gollum. Since it's an SF Masterwork, it's on my radar also (and on my Kindle!).
I'm also fascinated by the idea of reading the Classics (eg "Journey to the West"). I've recently come across the "Lifetime Reading Plan" by Fadiman and Major. (There's a reproduction of the bare list here). There are lots of authors and titles there that I hope to read. Maybe I should start alternating - one off the list and then one SF book!
What do other people on here think? How much time do you spend reading the classics as opposed to SF or literary fiction? I think I read SF for pure pleasure. I read the classics and literary fiction for a mixture of reasons - educational, self-improvement, curiousity etc.
a
PS I am loving the community of well-read people on here!

[Connavar]

Shadow Season by Tom Piccirilli
Candlemoth by RJ Ellory

I need good fast paced books for my vacation to Turkey

[D_Davis]

Originally Posted by antiloquax

What do other people on here think? How much time do you spend reading the classics as opposed to SF or literary fiction? I think I read SF for pure pleasure. I read the classics and literary fiction for a mixture of reasons - educational, self-improvement, curiousity etc.

I am absolutely not interested in reading the "classics," for any other reason except for one sounding interesting to me. I like some non-genre lit, but more often than not when I read non-genre fiction it bores me; I find myself waiting for some big idea, or for something supernatural to happen, and then when it doesn't my mind wanders.

I read some of the classics in school (high school and college) and not that I don't have to, I won't! I don't know...

Life is too short, and I have limited time to read as it is, so I'm going to hedge my bets and gravitate towards books and authors that I am more apt to enjoy. And the stuff I typically enjoy are stories that are highly creative and imaginative and full of big ideas, adventure, or weird happenings.

And like Gene Wolfe said, "all fiction is fantasy, some is just more honest about it." Also, I don't really believe in the distinction between "literary" fiction and "genre" fiction. I believe the distinction exists within the halls of academia, but it doesn't exist in my own experience. I've gotten way more insight into humanity and the world from authors like Dick, Bradbury, Sturgeon, and Ballard than I ever did from some non-genre work. It's all about what connects with the reader.

[Connavar]

I took literary courses so i could read ancient,modern classics that i wanted to read on school time too. School never told me to read anything other than Shakespeare so i have developed love for classic lit that isnt genre classics on my own. From Homer,Euripides to Goethe etc

Davis not all Academia is snob lit people that look down on genre. I had teachers that spent alot of time talking about Tolkien,Frankenstien, how modern fantasy is good with mythology building. A teacher that agreed with me Magical Realism is just mainstream mag critics name for literary strong fantasy.

I think its interesting how many genre fans in UK/US dont read classic non-genre because school forced when they were kids. Reading huge classic books is boring when you are not used to it but reading great classic lit is never boring!

[D_Davis]

Originally Posted by Connavar

Davis not all Academia is snob lit people that look down on genre. I had teachers that spent alot of time talking about Tolkien,Frankenstien, how modern fantasy is good with mythology building. A teacher that agreed with me Magical Realism is just mainstream mag critics name for literary strong fantasy.

I agree.

[HoopyFrood]

A lot of the 'classics' that I have read has been through force, if you will, seeing as it's mostly because of the crazy amount of literature-based education I have behind me now. However, that has never dampened my love of them. In fact, Othello is my favourite text ever, and it's completely through studying it at A Level (I also...er...one of based my university module choices on the fact that I'd get to study it again...) I don't actively choose to read classics, but seeing as I am very ominorvous they will get picked up now and then depending on my tastes.

Mostly, I am very aware that there are so many books in every genre and type that I still need and want to read!



In a side note, I dislike when people read classics for posing sake only. I had a friend like that. Gets old very fast.

[Hilarious Joke]

I always feel I should read more classics, but I echo D Davis' sentiments here:

Life is too short, and I have limited time to read as it is, so I'm going to hedge my bets and gravitate towards books and authors that I am more apt to enjoy

Still, I'm nearing the point where I feel I've read all the latest decent fantasy series that are easily available in your average bookstore. It's good being part of a community like the Chrons though for working out what else you'd like that you've yet to read.

[antiloquax]

I agree that there's no point reading the Classics unless you enjoy them. They are "classics" because lots of people have read and enjoyed them in the past, just like the books in the SF Masterworks list (many of which I would never have heard of if it wasn't for Gollanz's series).
Take Beowulf for example. Violence, mead, monsters and a dragon. What's not to like?

[D_Davis]

Picked up a lot of Pyramid SF book on ebay. All for $50 - not bad.

3 in 1 Pyramid Books F-899 1963 Sturgeon Simak Leinster
Brain Twister Mark Phillips Pyramid Books F-783 1962
Doctor To The Stars Murray Leinster Pyramid Books F-987 1964
First lensaman E.E. Smith Pyramid Books X-1456 1968
Hell Flower George O. Smith Pyramid Books G298 1957
Inheritors of Earth Gordon Eklund & Poul Anderson Pyramid V4068 1976
Islands Marta Randall Pyramid Books V3664 1976
Joyleg Ward Moore & Avram Davidson Pyramid Books F-805 1962
Masters of the Maze Avram Davidson Pyramid Books R-1208 1965
Options Robert Sheckley Pyramid Books V3688 1975
Out of Bounds Judith Merril Pyramid Books G499 1960
Raiders From The Rings Alan E. Nourse Pyramid Books F-933 1963
Space Lords Cordwainer Smith Pyramid Books X-1911 1968
Starshine Theodore Sturgeon Pyramid Books X-1543 1966
Supermind Mark Phillips Pyramid Books F-909 1963
The Cleft Paul Tabori Pyramid Books X-1940 1969
The Ghosts of Manacle Charles G. Finney Pyramid Books R-1042 1964
The Green Rain Paul Tabori Pyramid Books G624 1961
The Impossibles Phillips Pyramid Books F-875 1963
The Night Life of the Gods Thorne Smith Pyramid Books R630 1961
The Planet Buyer Cordwainer Smith Pyramid Books R-10841964
The Sound of Winter Byron Cover Pyramid Books V4017 1976
The Space Magicians Pyramid Books T2393 1971
The Underpeople Cordwainer Smith Pyramid Books X-1910 1968
The Wall Around the World Theodore R. Cogswell Pyramid Books F-703 1962
Venus Plus X Theodore Sturgeon Pyramid Books G544 1960

[JustPassingThrough]

Hmm, most of the stuff now that I have to buy when they come out are the new Wild Card books. Other than that I've found that with watching my pennies I can wait for some to go on sale or there have been times that I have been thinking of a book that I want and then go to a used place or garage sale and there is said book for half a buck!