Classic Novels

[summersong]

I still like Ayn Rand. Her views may not be perfect but it's still commendable that she had been brave enough to voice such opinions at a time when women had not been considered major players in the sociopolitical arena.

Haven't read pre-20th century novels for some time now. I find it tedious kasi mag-translate ng archaic English into current lingo inside my head. But once you get the hang of it, some are really very enjoyable reads.

Favorites siguro would be Les Miz, Count of Monte Cristo, Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice, Candide, Madame Bovary, The Moonstone, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Passage To India, Brave New World. I find Kerouac entertaining, and Dostoevsky too depressing hehe.

[Heatherette]

^^That's what I thought so too. Parang theatrical na nga. Ang bongga talaga nung set kesa sa imagination ko. Nagulat ako haha Sabi ko nga I have to re-read it.

[meimei]

my favorite author of classic books is John Steinbeck. two of my favorites of his work are "Of Mice and Men" and "The Pearl".

[ladychris17]

^^^ah I have Brave New World lying around in here but I haven't gotten into reading it yet. Hopefully, soon!

[mooncake and leaves]

^ Atlas Shrugged? Haha

Ayn Rand is a really good novelist, but fell short as a philosopher. Pero kung sa fiction lang, she really is one of a kind and revolutionary, so I'm giving her credit for that.
She is also, btw, left-wing. Libertarian to be precise, which is exactly why she fell short as a philosopher but was a great novelist. Libertarianism is, though quite debatably, in theory a sparkling diamond, but in practice, quite doubtful.

hehe lisa said that because in american practice, anyone who clamors for limited government is typically associated with the right. this is also why, if you watch mad men, in its first season, bertram cooper was gushing about atlas shrugged lol. i thought atlas shrugged was a decent novel. it was one of my favorites back then. kahit ba she was practically telling me to go fug myself nyaha. she's a persuasive writer although repetitive. atlas shrugged is long not because it's an epic story like say, anna karenina, but because rand likes to preach again, peace sa fans.

[ladychris17]

Lol mahaba nga ang novels ni Ayn Rand, becasue of the speeches, but then again, she was after all, a philosopher over and above being a novelist.
I am not a fan. But I think she is definitely a poor victim of her time who only wanted to be heard(reacting against Communist Russia). She is appealing to most teenagers and that's fine because as teenagers we are rebellious, akala natin lahat alam natin, akala natin tayo pinakamatalino ever(pero as we grow narerealize natin hindi pala - although there are a few who never do, like her, which is sad). She's a good novelist imo, because she manages to represent this phase in our lives quite beautifully, but a bad philosopher because she never moved on. Haha
Kumbaga, good for entertainment and humor, but should not be taken seriously

Yes. I like to prick into the personal lives of great minds. For me, it's interesting because it speaks of why they thought the way they did. The things that are left unsaid, reveal more than the things said.


Anyway, para sa mga di mga makatapos ng Dostoyevsky's Brothers Karamazov(like me!), as primer, I recommend the short story "A Christmas Tree and a Wedding" this captures the themes in Dostoyevsky's works. Grabe, halos kumpleto ko yata mga libro niya pero wala akong matapos nabobore ako at nag ggive ip attention span ko. lol I might skip this muna and read The Possessed, this one has a darker feel baka mas ,aging interesado ako haha

[jenger109]

My top two are scarlet letter and wuthering heights..

[CebuGem]

^^I hated Wuthering Heights when I first read it in college. It was only when i got older that i realized that book is not your typical happily-ever-after story.

[Clair de Lune]

i haven't read a lot of classics but i remember favorite ko nung highschool are catcher in the rye and to kill a mockingbird. other classics i attempted to read hindi ko talaga matapos. next on my list is the great gatsby.

[mrsonthego]

kakaumpisa ko pa lang basahin yung Madam Bovary, sana matapos ko. Plan ko isunod yung Jane Eyre, sana kahit 1 classic lang makatapos ako for this year

[cutiequel03]

gusto ko yung the great gatsby and frankenstein. medyo hirap ako intindihin ang mga jane austen novels pero bumili ako, pang valentines reading ko

[angel_eyes_2nite]

I used to read the classics when I was in grade school and remembered that it was this genre that made me fell in love with reading as a hobby. "Little Women" started it all.

This year I plan to reacquaint myself with my passion for this genre and challenged myself with a book every two months. I started my challenge with "To Kill a Mockingbird" and so far so good.

[carmilina]

wow! kala ko ako lang talaga nerd sa ganyan! madami din pala, been reading Classical Books din, 10years old pa lang ako nun, feel ko i re read lahat ulit sana hindi tinapon ng mom ko yun mga books hanapin ko nga ulit

[sosychill]

My all time favorite is Gone with the Wind. Classic!!!

[orangepulp]

wuthering heights and a tale of  two cities

[muahmuahmuah]

A friend had suggested we read Fountainhead, and so we did. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a novel i felt my blood boil a few times, my jaw drop at unexpected events and laugh at the brewing bromance. Philosophically it made me sick and as it was reaching the end, her speeches were too long-winded almost spreading herself thin in every character--in the middle of it you get the point na or don't - somehow i think i did and didn't, now i think i don't know what her point was :p   Radical republican pa naman yung friend ko he has strong opinions and admires Ayn Rand so sa simula pa lang when i said Roark had aspergers :p  and we had a lengthy discussion about it, that intrigued me more to read on.  After fountainhead i rented the movie and started Anthem di ko pa natapos and read Atlas Shrugged for a bit. babalikan ko sila when i'm ready for it napagod kasi ako kay Fountainhead.

[tree_blind_love]

Who likes The Myth of Sisyphus and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer here? 

Pati huwag nating kalimutan na meron ding klasiko ang panitikang Pilipino, tulad nga mga gawa nina Nick Joaquin, N.V.M. Gonzalez, at Francisco Sionil Jose 

[Bellerina]

I read The Wayward Muse by Elizabeth Hickey. Its really good. The characters in the story & the relationships they had really happened. Im still obsessed at it

[inluvewithmikewesten]

Love in Time of Cholera . I had very high expectation, but after reading it I felt like I wasted my time.

[ladychris17]

I didn't like Love in the Time of Cholera either, but I like Marquez's other works. I want to read Hundred Years of Solitude, too. I don't think he can considered a classic, though, contemporary lang.