I read that in eighth grade English, and loved it.
The Sea of Fertility tetralogy by Yukio Mishima. It’s a good read, though his philosophy makes Nietzche look calm and bourgeois.
I’ve read Ulysses five times, for some reason. Never tried the Wake, though, and probably never will.
I read it as a freshman in high school. Awful book. After I’d read the wonderful Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities, I couldn’t believe the same guy had written Hard Times, truly a hard slog.
I mentioned this once before on a SDMB thread as one of my least favorite novels, and was told that Dickens hadn’t much liked writing it, either.
I’ve read quite a few of the books in this thread. (FWIW, Three Men on the Bummel isn’t a patch on its predecessor; Dracula may start slow, but it’s definitely worth sticking with it; Frankenstein or Algernon Blackwood I can take or leave, but Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is first-rate stuff.)
I don’t think many people have read the whole of The Faerie Queene. I did. I liked it.
Does Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina count? Probably not, since I can think of two friends who also have read it.
I’ve read most of the books mentioned, some for school and some not.
The ones I don’t share with anyone IRL: Boccaccio’s The Decameron, Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, Vergil’s Aeniad, or Ovid’s The Metamorphoses.
I’ve read these, and much of The Decameron. But I’ve never even truied The Faerie Queene, mentioned a couple of times now. I was told it was incredibly dull and boring. Have I been misinformed?
That’s a hard question to answer. Spenser is very descriptive, very sensuous, and extremely long-winded. If you like the sound of poetry, enjoy reading it aloud, I think Spenser is a delight. If you want to get on with the plot, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Can I ask you if it’s worth it? I am having a really hard time with the Purgatory - it’s so boooooring.
All of you out there who have read Giants in the Earth, raise your hand!
Now let’s hear from all you Nicholas Nickleby fans! A little louder, please. We can’t hear you…
Woo hoo! Count me in on the Nicholas Nickleby love.
Yes, it is definitely worth it. First, whose translation are you reading?
Second, if you don’t really have a background in classical and medieval poetry, it really does help to have some lit-crit at your disposal or at the very least a good commentary. The Divine Comedy makes rather more sense if you are aware of the politics of Florence, ecclesiastical controversy over Aristotle, and the reception of classical poetics in the 13th century. Without some background, it is not an easy work to make heads or tails of.
If you have access to nothing else, at least try to read Erich Auerbach’s essay on Dante in Mimesis. It is pretty accessible and should at least help you to appreciate why Dante is so amazing. If you are a little more committed, look at Dante’s Vita Nuova for insights into Dante’s life and times and his de Vulgari Eloquentia for his analysis of vernacular poetry in general.
It is very rewarding stuff.
I am reading John Ciardi’s translation, and it is very good. There’re lots of detailed descriptions and commentaries, and I had a great time with Inferno, but I am having an enormously hard time having any interest in this one.
Alright Twickster!
Now let’s hear it for The Last of the Mohicans. Shout it out!
I was force fed that one in High School. I did not enjoy it.
Now I feel like I have to come up with something that will stump everybody. Okay, how about this?
Romany Rye and Lavengro, by George Borrow
The Old Wives’ Tale, by Arnold Bennett
A Laodicean, by Thomas Hardy
One of Ours, by Willa Cather
A Sentimental Education, by Flaubert
Lots more where that came from. This seems to be a particular deviance of mine.
Read that at school. Much of it in the original. Unfortunately I’ve forgotten just about all of it.
I’ve read both. I chose to read the Dickens book, and many others by him. Giants was a 10th grade reading assignment,
I’ve read The Song Of Roland but, sadly not in the original French. I’ve also read Howard Pyle’s Robin Hood. I’ve never met anyone else who has.
No Coins, Please by Gordon Korman is a children’s book that REALLY think they should make a movie out of.
Until a few years ago when an online friend said she enjoyed it, I had never met a single human being who had ever heard of it.
I read all three way back when. Inferno is the only one I’ve ever re-read.