Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Ok because this one is so speculative, I am putting some limits on the possible book choices. The idea is look at the characters and settings of the books you have read in 2024. Which book would you most want to live in? Why?

For instance you might choose Sense and Sensibility . How would you feel about living in 1790s English countryside and being neighbors of Elinor Dashwood and her family?

Did you notice this is a sneaky way to get us to talk about the books we have read this year?

I did not think about which book I would choose before posting this question. When I looked at the things I have read this year, there weren't many places I might want to live. I definitely would not want to be in the French Revolution or live amongst Triffids. Science Fiction is fun to read, but I would rather live on Earth. Also, I think I prefer the modern era. Although I live in the United States, I have not read many books set in the US this year.

For the reasons stated above, the two best settings to set up house in would be either Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight (1940) the Yorkshire countryside and then an estate in Scotland. The second possibility would be Rose Cottage by Mary Stewart (1997). In the 1950s a war widow returns home to the cottage she grew up in on an English estate in the country. Her grandmother was cook there for many years, and her grandfather was grounds keeper. Her mother had also grown up on the estate.

My final choice would be Rose Cottage. The setting is a charming village where everyone knows each other, yet there is a sense of renewal and modernization going on throughout the book. The characters are pleasant and have a warm sense of community.

If you've ever read the Miss Read books, that's my choice.
Chronicles of Fairacre: Village School / Village Diary / Storm in the Village

Oh Lynn, I could definitely live in the Dashwood's cottage in Devonshire from Sense and Sensibility. That would probably be my number one choice of places I've visited through reading this year!

But I'd also have to consider living at China Court in Cornwall. I'd take that one for the house alone, filled with generations of family heirlooms--just my cup of tea. I could also move right in with Barbara Pym's characters, the sisters in Some Tame Gazelle in their small British town. They'd probably be great fun wherever you put them, but I obviously have a soft spot for the English countryside. :-)

This is a fun and difficult question to answer. I'll go with The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Los Alamos. I wish to be there and help or talk to the scientists, especially those who can explain anything to me by dumbing it down.

By live do you mean a complete life or just visit for a few years? I don’t want to move my life into the past and most science fiction have some bleak detail. (Personally I think the future will be awesome.)

Luffy Sempai wrote: "This is a fun and difficult question to answer. I'll go with The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Los Alamos. ..."

Oh, I understand that one. I have been to Los Alamos in April. In an almost snowstorm. It is very remote and high altitude. I read a sample of Reminiscences of Los Alamos 1943-1945 (somewhere online), and got the impression that it was rough living there. Also the number of people who died from radiation or early cancer....

I think I rather pick The Feynman Lectures on Physics, and attend the lecture series that the book is based on.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "... most science fiction have some bleak detail. (Personally I think the future will be awesome..."

Or maybe Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (view spoiler)[After the ending the story the future on earth would be bright with a super efficient way to store energy. (hide spoiler)]

@J_Blueflower Well die and learn I suppose.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "J_BlueFlower wrote: "... most science fiction have some bleak detail. (Personally I think the future will be awesome..."

Or maybe Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir [s..."

Andy Weir has been writing out of his comfort zone for his entire career, unless he did more than research. He is a computer programmer, not a physicist.

Dont hate on me ... but if there is a world I want to live in .. ?

It is in by Nalini Singh .

Because it is a world where there is true Equality and true striving for Equality by its Leaders.
Where Leaders are True Leaders.

I love these answers, because I don't know most of these books. Luffy and J_Blueflower both of your answers are very interesting. You took the visit an important moment in time pathway. How cool. Siriusedward your setting sounds like an idyllic utopia; also interesting.

Yeah ... if not Utopia to live ( for everyone ) , why choose an imaginary place ? ( that was my reasoning ) ....

I could live in Devonshire near the Dashwoods too. It sounded peaceful and lovely while I was reading Sense and Sensibility.

I just read The Razor's Edge and some scenes are set in Antibes and other towns in the French Riviera. I think I could live in a beautiful place by the sea, but I would rather live there a century ago.

@Lynn Thanks :)

Devonshire in Sense and sensibility sounds good .

My light summer reading included one or the other of the Hillerman mysteries, set in and around the Big Navajo Reservation (Arizona/New Mexico). I spent a few days there, long long ago, and it instantly became the landscape of my soul: I feel drawn to deserts. I think that in one of my previous reincarnations, I must have been a coyote, or a rattlesnake ;-).

I think when I was younger my answer would definitely have been Hogwarts. Now it’s Italy where the Elena Ferrante novels are set.

I pick Manderley...I have always wanted to live by the crashing waves of Cornwall.

If I would return to my roots, it would be Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose, at least some of which takes place in Grass Valley, California. I always thought I would return to Northern California, a bit closer to the coast, though, and live near Sonoma, so — The Silverado Trail by Robert Louis Stevenson.

After visiting Paris in the early 2000s, I thought it would be great to live in Paris for a few years — Les Miserables. Then, with friends and some family in Colorado, that was a thought — Centennial by James Michener.

But now that I am older, I would like to stay closer to what is my home, perhaps in a suburb or exurb northwest of Chicago, maybe in Lake or McHenry County. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larsen, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, or one of Saul Bellow’s books come to mind for the city itself. I’m not sure if anyone has written about Chicago’s northwest suburbs.

This one is easy! Lost Horizon Shangri-La! I would stay there for as many years as their secret elixir of life would allow. And I would want to arrive while Hugh Conway was still there, so I could persuade him to never leave that Utopia and stay there with me to enjoy the library, the music, and the hours and hours of quiet meditation!

When can I go? I am ready tonight!

Lee wrote: "This one is easy! Lost Horizon> Shangri-La!

That one's been on my TBR forever (and would probably be my choice had I gotten around to reading it).

But I wanted to A Hardy Boy growing up, so I'm gonna say the Bayport, NY of those books. Chet Morton always seemed like an awesome "chum" to have.


: )

I would love to live inside a TJ Klune novel,
A truly beautifully written book.

I would say anywhere where the temperature is below 30°C-86°F. Perhaps the Hundred Acre Wood

Daniela wrote: "I would say anywhere where the temperature is below 30°C-86°F. Perhaps the Hundred Acre Wood"

Maybe you want to go Farthest North?

Having talked to Fridtjof Nansen would have been so cool and lived with him for two years,... wow,.....but,..... from the book sort of between the lines you get the impression of depression during the winter.

Perhaps too cold, thank you 😄

Realized most of what I've read so far the setting doesn't matter that much EXCEPT Dante. His settings definitely matter. So, to answer the question, Dante's Paradiso. :)

Lee wrote: "This one is easy! Lost Horizon> Shangri-La! I would stay there for as many years as their secret elixir of life would allow. And I would want to arrive while Hugh Conway was still there, so I coul..."

Great choice Lee!

Daniela wrote: "Perhaps too cold, thank you 😄"

Well, I believe they had heated floors and hot tubs too!

Gini wrote: "Realized most of what I've read so far the setting doesn't matter that much EXCEPT Dante. His settings definitely matter. So, to answer the question, Dante's Paradiso. :)"

Yes, who can top heaven as a perfect setting? ---- As individual as one's concept of heaven might be, Dante came quite close!

Sara wrote: "I pick Manderley...I have always wanted to live by the crashing waves of Cornwall."

It's been over 105 degrees for almost every day here for a month and a half. I'll take Manderley also.

The Davinci Code.
In Paris? Of course.
Working at the Louvre, perhaps? Sounds posh.

Justin wrote: "The Davinci Code.
In Paris? Of course.
Working at the Louvre, perhaps? Sounds posh."

Yes, that sounds wonderful. I have only been to the Louvre once. To work there would be amazing.

It just came to me, My Family and Other Animals by Gerry Durrell. Who wouldn’t want to grow up on the island of Corfu in the Mediterranean Sea. I loved the book and the setting.

EvenB wrote: "It just came to me, My Family and Other Animals by Gerry Durrell. Who wouldn’t want to grow up on the island of Corfu in the Mediterranean Sea. I loved the book and the setting."

This is perfect, EvenB. I'd live there in a heartbeat.