Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

2025 Reading Schedule

January The Princesse de Clèves by Madame de Lafayette (France, 1678) 288 pgs
February The Wide, Wide World by Susan Warner (U.S., 1850) 608 pgs
March Hester by Margaret Oliphant (Scotland, 1883) 512 pgs
April The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner (South Africa, 1883) 304 pgs
May Trilby by George Du Maurier (France and England, 1894) 368 pgs
June The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare by G.K. Chesterton (England, 1908) 182 pgs
July Iceland's Bell by Halldór Laxness (Iceland, 1943) 425 pgs
August Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina, 1944) 174 pgs
September Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang (China, 1943) 321 pgs
October Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey (Scotland, 1946) 238 pgs
November The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (U.S., 1924) 320 pgs
December Quicksand by Nella Larsen (U.S., 1928) 192 pgs

The Slaves of Solitude, by Patrick Hamilton (England, 1947)
Ficciones, by Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina, 1944)
Snow Country, by Yasunari Kawabata (Japan, 1935-7)
Quicksand, by Nella Larsen (U.S., 1928)
Kristin Lavransdatter, by Sigrid Unset (Norway, 1920)
Return of the Soldier, by Rebecca West (England, 1918)
Dream of the Red Chamber, by Cao Xueqin (China, mid 1700s)
The Princess of Cleves, by Madame de Lafayette (France, 1678)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North, by Matsuo Basho (Japan, 1694)

I've read 42 of them. I highly recommend Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and Miss Pym Disposes, just to name two.

I've read 20 of these books, mostly with our group! I'm interested in:

Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey
Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang
A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
Quicksand by Nella Larsen
Frost in May by Antonia White
The Slaves of Solitude by Patrick Hamilton

If you books that tend to the weird, there's The Invention of Morel and The Street of Crocodiles.

I'm interested in The Home-Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher and The Wide, Wide World by Susan Bogert Warner.

Swamp Angel by Ethel Wilson. She was one of the earliest published Canadian literary novelists once Canada started to get over the colonial mentality that nothing good could come from such a small country. She is one of the authors read and admired by Margaret Atwood, among others (I prefer Wilson to Atwood.) It's set in Canada, but the it's a reference to an American gun that had that as a nickname.

Interesting backstory, thanks for sharing, Karin. Adding to TBR

Do you find any of these of interest? List which ones you would like to read? Please do not make a list of ones you have read.

To be honest I found this list and noticed a great many that we have not read. I was hoping to get a nice selection that we could use for 2025 reads for suggestions.

Lolly Willowes is an upcoming read already for December in the Fantasy/Sci-Fi thread. I'm looking forward to that one.

I'm interested in The Wide, Wide World by Susan Bogert Warner.

Done. The list I made was for the books I am interested in. Thanks

I'm looking forward to Lolly Willowes too. Also we're reading Letters Written During A Short Residence In Sweden, Norway And Denmark for Nonfiction classics in December.

I'd want to read in 2025 any, but not all (I over-committed in 2024 so I can't read all of them):

Swamp Angel
The Home-Maker
The Wide, Wide World
Quicksand
The Slaves of Solitude
Frost in May
Miss Pym Disposes

I’ve been meaning to read Hunger. I’m interested in that one.

I did not modifiy the list. It does contain ones we have read and to read. I thought it was a good reference list for suggestions though.

From your comments of the classics you are interested in, I will make into the official list of suggestions for 2025 to choose from. Of course, will except others you would like to suggest as usual. Thank you for baring with me on my thought process :)

The ones I noticed were already on my long to be read list:
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, by James Hogg (Scotland, 1824)
Trilby, by George Du Maurier (France and England, 1894)
Snow Country, by Yasunari Kawabata (Japan, 1935-7)
Iceland’s Bell, by Halldór Laxness (Iceland, 1943)


Plus Letters Written During A Short Residence In Sweden, Norway And Denmark for the December non-fiction reads.

I’m interested in Trilby & Beware of Pity

Some I was already curious about include

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Street of Crocodiles
Ficciones
The Makioka Sisters

Probably others would interest me too if I were to look into them more deeply

I am interested in these:

Brief Lives, by John Aubrey
Letters of a Peruvian Woman, by Françoise de Graffigny
The Female Quixote, by Charlotte Lennox
Letters of Mistress Henley, by Isabelle de Charrière
A Simple Story, by Elizabeth Inchbald
Jacques the Fatalist, by Denis Diderot
Cranford, by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Story of Avis, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
Hester, by Margaret Oliphant
Elizabeth and Her German Garden, by Elizabeth von Arnim
The Man Who Was Thursday, by G.K. Chesterton
The Home-Maker, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Bread Givers, by Anzia Yezierska
Doña Bárbara, by Rómulo Gallegos
Dance Night, by Dawn Powell
A Note in Music, by Rosamond Lehmann
Journey by Moonlight, by Antal Szerb
The Death of the Heart, by Elizabeth Bowen
Miss Pym Disposes, by Josephine Tey

Keep your thoughts coming please!!!

Lesle, that is an interesting list! As you can see, it was impossible for me to whittle it down to less than 10.

I'd love to read Charles Reade's best novel:
The Cloister and the Hearth (1861). (0.79 cent on Kindle!)

Melanie wrote: "Lesle, that is an interesting list! As you can see, it was impossible for me to whittle it down to less than 10."

It is not a problem. I hope to work on the suggestions from everyone this weekend.

Thank you everyone. Some interesting suggestions!!

Nancy wrote: "I'd love to read Charles Reade's best novel:
The Cloister and the Hearth (1861). (0.79 cent on Kindle!)"

So would I.

Nancy wrote: "I'd love to read Charles Reade's best novel:
The Cloister and the Hearth (1861). (0.79 cent on Kindle!)"

This looks like a good one.

Above all, I'm interested in Elizabeth Bowen's The Death of the Heart.

I named a few in a previous comment but forgot these two

Cane by Jean Toomer
Dust Tracks on the Road by Zora Neale Hurston

I'd like to read:
Oroonoko
Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes
Hester
The Man Who Was Thursday
Kokoro
Herland
The Home-Maker
Bread Givers
Street of Crocodiles
The Invention of Morel
Dust Tracks on a Road
Iceland’s Bell
The Makioka Sisters
and more but unfortunately I can't read everything!

I'm interested in
Diary of a Madman by Lu Xun
Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig
Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb
Love in a fallen City by Eileen Chang
Quicksand by Nella Larsen

I'm interested in Jakob von Gunten by Robert Walser and Brief Lives by John Aubrey.

Updated 10/5/24

Hyperion by Friedrich Holderlin
Wang Yangming's books

I have updated message one with the everyone's suggestions.

Updated 10/20/24

There are over 40 so I think we should just support the ones that have two (2) or more suggestions for them>

You can use the number listed as the ones you would like to support and I will add to the totals for each.

Please see message 33

We will be taking supporting votes for the ones in BOLD only.

Thank you!!

How many votes each do we get?

Rosemarie wrote: "How many votes each do we get?"

I really think at this point maybe 3 would be good to help dwindle down? What do you think Rosemarie??

Sounds good, Lesle.

I'm supporting 13, 27 and 47.

I support 13, 27, and 29.

I support 1, 18, and 43.

I support 3, 16, and 44 please.

Oh...some great choices already!

I supported books before the current tally so ignore this if I can't vote again.

I will support 21, 27 and 35.
Thanks!

I support 36.

I support 29, 36 and 46. Thanks Lesle

I support 27, 45, 47.

I support 29, 38, and 44

I support 47.

Updated

We have read 6 of the ones on the updated list. I have striked through those.

Elizabeth and Her German Garden https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Journey by Moonlight
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Kokoro
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The Invention of Morel
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The Makioka Sisters
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Snow Country
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Your votes have been updated as well.

Here is our 11 contenders as of this update

1. The Princess of Cleves, by Madame de Lafayette (France, 1678) III
16. Hester, by Margaret Oliphant (Scotland, 1883) III
18. Trilby, by George Du Maurier (France and England, 1894) III
21. The Man Who Was Thursday, by G.K. Chesterton (England, 1908) III
43. Iceland’s Bell, by Halldór Laxness (Iceland, 1943) III
46. Ficciones, by Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina, 1944) III

13. The Wide, Wide World, by Susan Warner (U.S., 1850) IIII
44. Love in a Fallen City, by Eileen Chang (China, 1943) IIII

47 Miss Pym Disposes, by Josephine Tey (Scotland, 1946) IIIII

27. The Home-Maker, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (U.S., 1924) IIIII I
29. Quicksand, by Nella Larsen (U.S., 1928) IIIII I

Still taking votes till next weekend ending EST on Saturday, November 2.

I would like to support:

17. The Story of an African Farm, by Olive Schreiner (South Africa, 1883)