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“Classic” books/novels you’ve loved or hated


Billy Pilgrim

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Interested in reading: Grapes of Wrath, The Old Man and the Sea, Anna Karenina, War and Peace, 1984


I have since read:

The Old Man and the Sea - loved it

1984 - great book but scary shit that seems inevitable

Anna Karenina - thought it was good despite being a little long and Russian high society isn’t my favorite subject
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/6/2024 at 3:07 PM, wild_turkey said:

 


I have since read:

The Old Man and the Sea - loved it

1984 - great book but scary shit that seems inevitable

Anna Karenina - thought it was good despite being a little long and Russian high society isn’t my favorite subject

 

I re-read The Old Man and the Sea recently and also loved it. I remember reading it in high school and hating it. I think age or wisdom-- whatever it is you want to call it when you have experienced a little bit of life kicking you to the dirt once or twice-- brings a little bit more appreciation. And when put in context to where EH was in his career and his life, I can appreciate it all the more.

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  • 2 months later...

Every classic story from elementary school. I had the ability to read at a high level, but none of the books we had to read interested me in the least. You name it and I did not enjoy having to read it. I loved books about actual history, but that was not on the agenda at that age.

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I need to sprinkle some classics into my non-fiction. I don't know that it's fair to mention any that I particularly hated, since they were primarily in high school and I was "forced" to read them. I have tried to start The Sound and the Fury a couple of times without picking up much steam.

Top 3 are...

1. 100 years of Solitude- It's been a decade since I read this, and I'm hopefully going to Colombia in a couple months, so due for a re-read.

2. 1984- I'm a glutton for punishment I guess, because well-done books/shows/movies that are terrifying and depressing are often my favorites. 

3. East of Eden- My now-wife gave me this to read when we first started dating, so fortunately I loved it just as much as she did. Multi-gemerational stories seem to capture my attention (see #1).

Catch-22 and A Brave New World probably round out the top 5. Man, I really need to read more.

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I don't think I've read any of these since I turned 26 (36 now), so it would definitely be interesting to see what I get out of a lot of these books now that I've been out in the real world for a while.

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38 minutes ago, hookem2010 said:

I don't think I've read any of these since I turned 26 (36 now), so it would definitely be interesting to see what I get out of a lot of these books now that I've been out in the real world for a while.

Same for a lot of works.  Even re-reading Cormac McCarthy, looks way different now in my twilight years, than it did in my late 20s....

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1 hour ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Same for a lot of works.  Even re-reading Cormac McCarthy, looks way different now in my twilight years, than it did in my late 20s....

Good old man books:

The Way of All Flesh - Samuel Butler (not sure why this is one of my favorite books - just very old school style story, but the way he looks back on his life was very affecting)

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Cormac McCarthy (no way she was 23 - pure southern gothic, lots of sad wisdom)

Train Dreams - Denis Johnson (this was frighteningly depressing - novella)

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