# What classic novel have you read recently for the first time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 3, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947 "2005-12-03T22:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/21 "2005-12-04T19:21:21Z")
My wife and I regularly go to Rio to visit family and relax. One of the most enjoyable things for me to do during those trips is lay in a hammock reading stuff I should have read in high school or college (I rarely read at home since there are too many distractions). This summer I took with me a copy of _Catcher in the Rye_, _To Kill a Mockingbird_, and _All the President’s Men_ (not a classic, but it’s still the Real Thing anyway). I had never read any of them, though I have seen the movie version of the last one. I was pleasantly surprised by To Kill a Mockingbird, though the ending seemed a little bit too Hollywood for a book that is touted by some as the “book of the century” > [@Dolores Reborn](#): > > I read _Catcher in the Rye_. It sucked and I didn’t finish it. I made it through that one, if only because I had lots of time on my hands. The slangy tone of the whole book surely doesn’t stand the test of time: It sounds dated and distracting, though I’m sure that the author intended it to sound current. Nevertheless, I could see where literature teachers could pick this one apart, pointing out literary devices and such. I didn’t like this one as much as the others. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/22 "2005-12-04T19:41:24Z")
_Lord of the Flies_ is a classic, yes? We read it in my English class a few months ago. I absolutely loved it though I was in the minority that did. William Golding is a master at symbolism. Did anyone else see Jack as Draco Malfoy? I’ll be keeping note of this thread, i’ve recently been told to start making my Christmas and there’s nothing like getting a huge pile of books for Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/23 "2005-12-04T19:56:54Z")
_Pride and Prejudice_. I read it back in August when \*\*Dangerosa \*\*and I took our trip to Mexico. She suggested that we exchange books to read – each of us picked one book that we thought the other would like and brought it. We each needed to read at least 30 pages (I think, I don’t recall as I fully intended to just finish the book). I liked it. We’ll do that again, I think. Oh, I picked _A Civil Campaign_ for her. Not a classic novel – she gets enough of those on her own. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/24 "2005-12-04T22:19:39Z")
I’m nearing the end of 1984 now. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/25 "2005-12-04T23:29:22Z")
> [@Dolores Reborn](#): > > I read _Catcher in the Rye_. It sucked and I didn’t finish it. Hear, hear!!! I finally got around to that a few years ago (I’m a geezer, remember), and frankly, I don’t get why Holden Caulfield was so popular, even with teenage boys. He was about the most vapid character I ever read. I must have grown up in the wrong place . . . or time. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/26 "2005-12-04T23:57:27Z")
_Bleak House_ by Dickens. Wow, this was a tough read. It was worth it, but this one made me feel like I was in college again. I had to use notes to keep track of all the different characters. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/27 "2005-12-05T00:08:41Z")
I read _To Kill A Mockingbird_ yesterday. I regret not reading it sooner. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/28 "2005-12-05T01:39:25Z")
> [@Ukulele Ike](#): > > And for years I had heard that it was the Most Boring Novel in All of American Literature. Most of my classmates throughout my education would argue for Thomas Hardy writing the Most Boring Novels in all of English Literature. If you loved _The Scarlet Letter_, give _Far From the Madding Crowd_ a try. I think you’ll like it. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Powell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Billy\_Powell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Powell)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/29 "2005-12-05T04:01:59Z")
I’m not quite sure what counts as a “classic” these days. Here are a few I finally got round to digesting. Flaubert, “Bouvard et Pecuchet” Hawthorne, “The Marble Faun” Pater, “Marius the Epicurean” James, “The Spoils of Poynton” (I feel I finally deserve to enjoy the small fruit of James’s tree) Maybe not likely to be on Oprah’s list, and with the exception of the James and the Flaubert, I’m not sure the remaining two are really classics. I question the arbiters who have judged that “Daniel Deronda” belongs on the big list, and where Conrad is known for “Darkness,” and not his best work. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/30 "2005-12-05T04:23:36Z")
I read **Things Fall Apart** by Chinua Achebe a few months ago. It wasn’t too shabby. Since graduating from college, I’ve averaged about one “classic” a year. (unless you consider The Amityville Horror and The Colour Of Magic Classics by virtue of being 20+ years old) Of all the things getting a degree in English-Teaching did for me, helping me develop an appreciation for Classical Lit isn’t one of them. **Picker** , read Queen next. It’s great too 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/31 "2005-12-05T08:21:55Z")
I read **Dracula** for the first time not that long ago. Very good, I thought. It’s clear why it started/rejuvinated a whole genre and mythos of sexy-yet-horrifying vampires. I’m starting in on **Godel, Escher, Bach** right now, which might not qualify as classic literature, but still, from what I understand, an ‘important’ book. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Powell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Billy\_Powell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Powell)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/32 "2005-12-05T09:07:51Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I read **Dracula** for the first time not that long ago. Very good, I thought. It’s clear why it started/rejuvinated a whole genre and mythos of sexy-yet-horrifying vampires. > > I’m starting in on **Godel, Escher, Bach** right now, which might not qualify as classic literature, but still, from what I understand, an ‘important’ book. If I might recommend as a supplement to your reading of GEB, the “Incompleteness” volume of the new pop science/math series by Norton – Rebecca Goldstein’s “Incompleteness.” It’s mostly fluff, but the central 50 pp. or so which give the usual “Godel lite” are pretty solid, especially given the very thin (but amusing) content of the rest of the book. In addition to the core pop sources Hoftstadter gives major props to in GEB. Hofstadter also has an Introduction to a newer edition of Nagel and Newman which might be fun to have a look at. Have fun with GEB! I never quite “got” the relation of Escher and Bach and KG, but it’s quite an interesting try that DH made. ---
**Author:** ![Billy\_Powell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Billy\_Powell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billy_Powell)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/33 "2005-12-05T09:20:23Z")
I’m very sorry for the double-post, which I understand is not desirable here, but I wanted to apologize if I was condescending in any way to Eonwe – I didn’t mean to suggest you haven’t studied Goedel, but just wanted to share my enthusiasm for the topic. My apologies if I’ve offended. ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/34 "2005-12-05T09:57:25Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Is **Watership Down** a classic? I just read it last January. I liked it, a lot. I’ve read some other stuff where the characters were animals, and have come to the conclusion that it’s hard to pull off, but Adams did it. > > In August, I read **The Woman in White**. Loved that one too. It wasn’t nearly as dated as I feared it would be. > > **War and Peace** has been sitting near the bedstand for about five years now. **I keep picking it up, putting it down, picking it up. I’m afraid.** Bolding mine. I bet you have arms a trucker would be proud of. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/35 "2005-12-05T10:10:55Z")
I read **Vanity Fair** not long ago. At first it was tough to get into, but about a quarter of the way in it gets its hooks into you and you spend your working day wanting to go home so you can read the next chapter. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/36 "2005-12-05T10:51:30Z")
I was never much of a reader when I was younger. I blame this on the fact that my school system force fed us a truly staggering number of supposed “classic” books. I think over my Jr High and High Schools years I read everything written by the Bronte’s, Steinbeck, Dostoyevsky and every other age inappropriate Victorian author of note. I learned that books were to be avoided unless absolutely necessary. However, I then was treated to the Lord of the Rings movies, which inspired me to read the books shortly after the first movie. Since then I’ve been knocking down some of the classic books that actually have a modern audience. I read all the Sherlock Holmes stories this past year, and am currently finishing up _The Chronicles of Narnia_. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/37 "2005-12-05T14:09:24Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I’m starting in on **Godel, Escher, Bach** right now, which might not qualify as classic literature, but still, from what I understand, an ‘important’ book. I have started that book a few times over the past decade. I always seem to bog down about half way through, a shame since it is really a good book full of intense thought. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/38 "2005-12-05T14:12:46Z")
> [@Billy Powell](#): > > If I might recommend as a supplement to your reading of GEB, the “Incompleteness” volume of the new pop science/math series by Norton – Rebecca Goldstein’s “Incompleteness.” It’s mostly fluff, but the central 50 pp. or so which give the usual “Godel lite” are pretty solid, especially given the very thin (but amusing) content of the rest of the book. In addition to the core pop sources Hoftstadter gives major props to in GEB. Hofstadter also has an Introduction to a newer edition of Nagel and Newman which might be fun to have a look at. > > Have fun with GEB! I never quite “got” the relation of Escher and Bach and KG, but it’s quite an interesting try that DH made. No need to apologize, recommendations are always welcome. I’ll definitely look up the Goldstein book. 🙂 Actually, it’s the new introduction that finally got me to read the book. It’s been on my radar screen for a while, and the other day I was in the bookstore and the book was staring out at me from the shelf. I picked it up, read the introduction, and was convinced! There’s nothing like reading work by a person who’s absolutely passionate and convinced about his/her subject. ---
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/39 "2005-12-05T14:25:38Z")
I’ll start out being curmudgeonly. Let’s try and define what we mean by classic. Prayer for Owen Meany? That book’s only fifteen years old. If you can point to a 1975 book that would have been considered “classic” (as opposed to modern literature) in 1990 (when Owen Meany was new), I’ll buy Owen Meany as a classic. I’m not buying it (although I agree it’s one of the great reading experiences of a lifetime). I was also going to nix (at least for myself) Goedel, Escher, Bach, but I see by Amazon that the first hardcover edition came out in 1979. Would a 1953 book be seen as a classic by 1979? I have to confess it probably would, and I’ll just try not to listen to the sounds of my bones creaking and arteries hardening. Use your best judgement, but I recommend my “equal time” yardstick as a decision-making tool. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ By that measure then, I’m going with Confederacy of Dunces which I just read a couple of years ago, having remembered all of my friends gushing over it in high school. A true classic, and funny as hell. I’ll also put up Lolita, which I completed relatively recently. The mea culpa at the end, where the protagonist apologizes to Lolita and pointing out that he indicated the work should not be published until after her death (a moment whose poignancy, owing to specific dates mentioned in the book which when combined with the publication date, indicate Lolita, still a young woman, had died almost immediately after the narrative, was initially lost on me due to the great remove of time) came as too little, too late to cover up the fact that this is basically pedophilic porn for a repressed age. It is definitely a product of its time. I concur with those who give a big “meh” to Catcher in the Rye Didn’t see what the fuss was about, although I confess i might have if I had read it at about age 15. Loved the hell out of Dracula, which so far surpasses any movie version it’s not even funny. I hadn’t known prior to reading it that it was an epistilary novel, and I especially enjoyed the device that some of the passages were transcribed from cylinder recordings for a “modern” feel, even if no one ever talked tlike that extemporaneously. Afterward, I immediately dug out my copy of In Search of Dracula which traces the locations in the novel with an archaeologist’s eye, and enjoyed THAT classic all over again. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947/40 "2005-12-05T15:23:42Z")
> [@Stark Raven Mad](#): > > I’m trying to get through _Ulysses_ right now, since my favouritest author ever (Vlad Nabokov) loves Joyce so much, but boy is it taxing. Hey, I just picked this up over the weekend. I’ve read through chapter three so far. Yeah, it’s tough to follow. But I admit I cheated a bit, and brushed up on the original “Odyssey” beforehand (since each chapter of Joyce’s book supposedly corresponds to an episode in the original greek epic.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classic-novel-have-you-read-recently-for-the-first-time/333947.md?page=3)