Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

2024 Schedule

Jan/Feb: Two Aviators
Gabriele d'Annunzio Italy
Antoine de Saint-ExupéryFrance

Mar/Apr: Cat Lovers
Colette France
Elsa Morante Italy

May/June: Two Y's from Japan
Yasunari Kawabata
Yukio Mishima

July/Aug: Two Brazilian Authors
Jorge Amado
Clarice Lispector

Sept/Oct: Two Nigerian Authors
Wole Soyinka
Chinua Achebe

Nov/Dec: Two Italian authors born on islands
Grazia Deledda
Natalia Ginzburg

Our schedule is now posted in message 1.
Any of our previous discussions can be accessed in the Classics in
Translation Archives. New comments are welcome!

These pairs will be carried over into next year's poll.

These two pairs will be on the list for the third and last time:
1. Australia- Exploration and Colonization
Patrick White and Eleanor Dark
2. Mental Illness
Janet Frame(New Zealand) and Osamu Dazai (Japan)

These two pairs will have their second chance:
1. Two V's from India
Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa The Mahabharata
Vālmīki Ramayana
2. A Happy Couple?
Max Frisch Switzerland
Ingeborg BachmannAustria

The criteria for the pairs:

1. The bulk of the works of the author need to have been published for the first time before 1974.

2. The pairs need to have something in common: perhaps a name, a common activity, common interests, major prize winners, similar backgrounds, etc.

3. Since our first two pairs are both from France and Italy, in order to fulfill our goal of diversity-
Please choose pairs that are not from either of those two countries.

4. Authors generally should not be from the U.S., the U.K. or Canada.
The exception is French Canadian authors who write only in French.

In addition, the pairs that received at least one vote in 2023 and a very early suggestion for 2024 will be available as voting options as well.

I'll provide that list shortly. It's in message 1.

Each member can suggest one pair of authors and vote for two pairs.

Suggestions will be accepted until October 26.

The results will be tallied on October 31(or thereabouts).

I'm not so knowledgeable in this area but some worldly classics I'd be interested in include the spiritual poetry of Rumi and Hafez, from Persia.

I'm interested in Russian classics but I imagine I'm rather alone in this crowd in needing to read them.

From Africa, I'm interested in Chinua Achebe. Perhaps as a pair with Ayi Kwei Armah but open to other ideas.

Your second choice from Africa is a bit young for our group, since the cut off point for our classics definition is before 1974.
How about Wole Soyinka or Alan Paton? Both are older authors who wrote important books.

Rosemarie wrote: "Your second choice from Africa is a bit young for our group, since the cut off point for our classics definition is before 1974.
How about Wole Soyinka or Alan Paton? Bot..."

Oh thanks for the ideas! I would say of Soyinka, it's his more recent work that I'm curious about at the moment rather than the older work. But I like your idea for Alan Paton- of course I know the title Cry, The Beloved Country.
I also just learned of Naguib Mahfouz from Egypt, who seems very interesting. I see very high ratings for his trilogy Palace Walk / Palace of Desire / Sugar Street and for the first part of it Palace Walk.

We've read Mahfouz a couple of years ago, and in the past we had a whole year of Reading the Russians, Jen.

I think that Acheba and Soyinka would be the better pair, too, since their works deal with the transition from colonial times to independence.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for pairs of authors?

So far, Jen has provided a pair from Africa.

The authors do not have to be from the same country-and the connection can be creative and fun.

I have two suggestions for Japanese and Chinese authors but i am not sure if they are suitable or not . I want to read them but know nothing about them except their countries.

Japanese authors Yukio Mishima and Yasunari Kawabata


Chinese authors Pearl S Buck and Cao Xueqin

Of these i have not read Cao Xueqin at all.

I'll be interested in the brazilian pair Clarice Lispector and Jorge Amado....

Both authors are from the same epoch. The military dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas.

I’ve read Mahfouz (Children of the alley and Palace Walk) at the same time as Lawrence Durrell (The Alexandria Quartet) and find these author go quite well together.

Nidhi wrote: "I have two suggestions for Japanese and Chinese authors but i am not sure if they are suitable or not . I want to read them but know nothing about them except their countries.

Japanese authors [au..."

Pearl Buck wrote her works in English so I'm not sure if that combination works well. It's a very tenuous connection.
But since you can suggest only one pair, the Japanese authors are a perfect fit.

Luís wrote: "I'll be interested in the brazilian pair Clarice Lispector and Jorge Amado....

Both authors are from the same epoch. The military dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas."

Good idea!

Lorraine wrote: "I’ve read Mahfouz (Children of the alley and Palace Walk) at the same time as Lawrence Durrell (The Alexandria Quartet) and find these author go quite well together."

Durrrell is a British author so he doesn't qualify for this thread. However, he's a perfect suggestion for our Authors/genres thread!

Message 1 has been updated.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. More are welcome!

Rosemarie how about:

Two French authors + both spent time in prision
Jean Genet and
Alexandre Dumas

The Dumas who spent time in prison was the author's father. He was a prisoner of war during the Napoleonic wars. The author was still a school boy at the time.
Maybe his father's adventures gave the young Alexandre some ideas for books he would write later in his life!

Rosemarie wrote: "The Dumas who spent time in prison was the author's father. He was a prisoner of war during the Napoleonic wars. The author was still a school boy at the time.
Maybe his father's adventures gave th..."

Darn...your right I forgot father had the same name! lol oh well!

And his son also had the same name!

Belgium has three official languages and Switzerland has four. I would need help from Rosemarie on this, but I thought it would be interesting to pick two authors from either country who represent different ethnic groups. I’ve found authors who have set their books in either country but aren’t originally from there. Friedrich Glauser began writing mysteries while he was an inmate in a Swiss insane asylum but he was born in Austria.

The major issue would be picking authors that are easily and cheaply available in translation, Melanie. Also the time frame, before 1974.
We have read Belgian author that writes in French, Georges Simenon and there is a prize winning Swiss author who we haven't read yet, Max Frisch who writes in German.
Our topic is called 2x2 for two reasons, two authors over two months.
We used to read a different author each month, but this gives us more flexibility. Members can read either author or both.

That's true, Rosemarie!

Rosemarie
What about your thought Max Frisch and Ingeborg Bachmann

Both 20th Century Authors and from 1958 to 1963 she lived with Max Frisch.
Her 1971 novel, Malina, has been described as a response, at least partially, to his 1964 novel Mein Name sei Gantenbein.
Both write in German?

Thoughts?

I think it's a great idea, Lesle! We really should read some of Max Frisch's works. It sounds intriguing.

Wonderful! It all started with you actually :)

Yay!

When I was in university I had the opportunity to see Max Frisch and hear him reading from some of his books. We were studying his book, Homo Faber.

Oh wow!
I know I have not read any of his. I think the pair is interesting and would like to make it a suggestion if you do not mind.

I think they both sound good. And I love the Swiss connection!

Lesle wrote: "Oh wow!
I know I have not read any of his. I think the pair is interesting and would like to make it a suggestion if you do not mind."

Go ahead, Lesle.
I've read a lot of his works. My favourite is Stiller.

Rosemarie wrote: "Lesle wrote: "Oh wow!
I know I have not read any of his. I think the pair is interesting and would like to make it a suggestion if you do not mind."

Go ahead, Lesle.
I've read a lot of his works. ..."

Yes, I'm curious too, Lesle. I've just realized I kinda know about one story by this author because my husband's surname is Biedermann and he has said, because of a famous story, the name is associated with stupidity or something haha! (Don't worry, he laughs about it ;)

Man, this vote is kinda tough. I think definitely one of my votes would be for Lispector/Amado. I think it was their first books that I was interested in, if that matters...

We have three votes each for the first round. Last year we added a second round and then a tie-breaker!

Any author pairs that get at least one vote are put into next year's pool.

We'll have our first round vote on October 26 or when we have 12 pairs, whichever comes first.

Right now we have seven pairs.

The play is Biedermann und die Brandstifter, known in English as The Arsonists or The Firebugs: A Morality Without a Moral, A Play. It's about a regular middle class guy(Biedermann) who rents out his attic to arsonists.

How about two Italian female authors: Natalia Ginzburg from Sicily and Grazia Deledda from Sardinia?

And they're both from islands!

These two authors will be our last nominations for Italian-speaking authors, since we already have two scheduled.

We now have eight pairs!

Shall we stop at ten nominees instead of twelve?

I vote for the two from Australia and two from Nigeria.

I vote for Two "Y"s from Japan:
Yukio Mishima and Yasunari Kawabata.

I vote for mental illness and, if we get a 2nd vote, Brazilian authors.

It's time to start voting!

Thank you to those who've voted already.

Each member gets three votes!

I vote for the two Y’s from Japan and the two Brazilian authors.

The other day you had said 3 votes each for the first round, no?

Jen wrote: "The other day you had said 3 votes each for the first round, no?"

Thanks for spotting that Jen!

I've corrected message 42.

You can vote for up to three pairs, but it's fine if you vote for only two or one. It's up to you!

Cool! I’m interested in so many.
I vote for the Brazilians, the Japanese, and the Italians please.

For my third vote, I will add the two V’s from India

I vote for two Nigerian authors.

My 3rd vote is for the Japanese authors. Thanks.

I support authors from Australia, Nigeria and (epic authors) India.