Reading the Classics discussion

The shackles are off! This time you don't have to worry about how long the book is. As you have noticed, we are more flexible in terms of how long we take to read a selection, relating the schedule to the length of the book. We will stick (for now) with 3 weeks on/1 week off, and we will stagger those weeks so they are different for each selection.

Let's hear your ideas for a 'Monthly' September read, and for our next Doorstopper (long books). We can either start them both in September, or take a month off from the Doorstopper, and begin that one in October. I lean toward taking a break on that until October, but let's hear your thoughts on the subject.

Some ideas for our next reads:


The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway
Great Expectations - Dickens (or anything by Dickens)
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins (first modern mystery?)
Les Liaisons Dangereuse - Choderlos de Laclos
Madame Bovary - Flaubert
Something by Agatha Christie?
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
The Plague - Camus
Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury
Mrs. Eckdorf in O'Neill's Hotel - William Trevor
Lord of the Rings trilogy (long-term Doorstopper)
The Ides of March - Thornton Wilder


Feel free to comment on any of these, or to add your own suggestions.

From Brian's list:
Dickens - David Copperfield
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Madame Bovary - Flaubert
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury

My additions:
East of Eden - Steinbeck
The Count of Monte Cristo - Dumas, translated by Robin Buss
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling - Henry Fielding

My suggestions with some borrowed from above:

Dickens. I was also thinking about Dickens. So many I have seen as PBS miniseries but not actually read. Those that come to mind are
Little Dorrit,
Bleak House,
David Copperfield,
Nicholas Nickelby,
Hard Times,
Tale of two cities

Other suggestions -
A Fable by William Faulkner.
East of Eden, Steinbeck
The Sea, the Sea, Iris Murdock

I actually just read East of Eden and it is a fantastic book. I would also love to read Sun Also Rises. Something more modern would be nice!

I definitely recommend Bleak House by Dickens, including any other novel by him for our next read.

Some from Brian’s list:
Jane Eyre- Charlotte Bronte
Madame Bovary- Flaubert
Les Liaisons dangereuse- Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Lord of the Rings trilogy
And Then There Were None- Agatha Christie

Some suggestions:
North and South- Elizabeth Gaskell
The Scarlet Letter- Nathaniel Hawthrone
The Master and Margarita- Mikhail Bulgakov

The Woman in White
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Madam Bovary
The Count of Monte Cristo