which novel should I read next?

[Clare Quilty]

Last night I finished reading a true classic of modern literature--the one on which my Lit. Persona is based. Now I have to shake off this wistful pensive mood and decide what to read next. I want to avoid the banality of Oprah book club selections and similar popular trash, *cough* DiVinci Code *cough* Rule of Four *cough*. The amount of time I can devote to recreational reading is limited, so I want to concentrate on books of considerable merit and esteem—books of such intertexual significance as will serve as an elucidative foundation in further forays into serious literature, as both reader and writer, yadda yadda yadda.

Given the books that I have readily at hand and/or on order, which should I dive into next?

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Non-serious literature can have its props as well. A little Farenheit 451 or I, Robot or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or The Last Dragonlord can do the body good even though they are not "literary" enough. As for your choices, I'd go with the Kafka. It's nice and absurd, the plot moves quickly, the messages are haunting and sarcastic, and it'll slide well with your politics.

P.S. If you ever move out into the more recently literary books, allow me to reccomend "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Farenheit 451", or "War of the Worlds".

 

[Xelebes]

Kafka. Definitely Kafka. One of the few authors who can keep me interested with every sentence in the book.

 

[Clare Quilty]

P.S. If you ever move out into the more recently literary books, allow me to reccomend "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Farenheit 451", or "War of the Worlds".

I've actually read all three of these books. I read them ages and ages ago. I've never read "I Robot" though. I used to like Asimov as a futurist but I never cared for him as a novelist.

For now, fiction wise, I'm sticking with the classics. There are so many titanic works of fiction that are relevant beyond the purely literary. Not having a liberal arts education, I haven't read enough of these culturally and literarily ubiquitous texts.

 

[oggbashan]

I voted for Candide

Candide is short, deceptively simple, yet has a serious message.

It needs reading several times to understand what Voltaire is saying about humanity.

Og

 

[gothgodess]

Why do people always have to enjoy certain types of things to fit in. I have seen it with music and films and here I now find it with books. Why do we have to read certain books to be concidered intelligent. I have read many of the "Classic's" and yes some of them were enjoyable. Intelligence comes from the ability to understand something not how much you liked or disliked something.
Just because I read LOTR or Terry Prachett doesn't make me stupid it just means I enjoy books which make me laugh. Read because you enjoy it not because someone else says "You have to read this"


I personally would read them all one at a time. Just close your eyes and pick one up.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Re: I voted for Candide

Candide is short, deceptively simple, yet has a serious message.

It needs reading several times to understand what Voltaire is saying about humanity.

Og

Candide...Ah yes, the succession of utopia failures. Perhaps Amicus should read it sometime, could be eye-opening.

 

[sirhugs]

" The World According to Garp"

or "Lolita"

 

[Somme]

Kafka. Definitely Kafka. One of the few authors who can keep me interested with every sentence in the book.

Amen, but I didn't vote for him because the political scene's too Kafkaeque.......

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Read "Ulysses". It's light and fun, perfect for summer reading at the beach, and will keep you in stitches.

There's no sense in waiting for the movie to come out.

---dr.M.

 

[bg23]

Can't stand James Joyce. Did anyone ever read "Portrait of the Artist"? Awful.

 

[Clare Quilty]

Why do people always have to enjoy certain types of things to fit in. I have seen it with music and films and here I now find it with books. Why do we have to read certain books to be concidered intelligent...
Just because I read LOTR or Terry Prachett doesn't make me stupid it just means I enjoy books which make me laugh. Read because you enjoy it not because someone else says "You have to read this"

It's not an issue of reading certain books to appear intelligent or fit in. Certain books are of such great influence in literature and in the larger culture that they form a foundation of sorts for further literary and cultural studies. Certainly someone who has aspirations of becoming a writer could do worse than to critically read the greatest examples of the written word.

By the way, I've read LOTR, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion four times, first in the early mid-1970s. I spent years and years reading these kinds of books.

I am going to take your advice and read all of the books listed in the poll. These are largely books that I already have in my possession.

 

[Clare Quilty]

Read "Ulysses". It's light and fun, perfect for summer reading at the beach, and will keep you in stitches.

There's no sense in waiting for the movie to come out.

---dr.M.

I actually have the VHS version of Ulysses. It's some British production or another.

Whenever I get around to reading Ulysses, I'll have some sort of annotation/study guide close at hand.

 

[Clare Quilty]

" The World According to Garp"

or "Lolita"

I just finished Lolita and I've long since read every John Irving book. Irving was a favorite of my youth.

The Enchanter, by Nabokov, is the short story precursor to "Lo-Lee-Tah." I'm seriously considering moving this to the head of my list.

 

[cantdog]

Candide. Voltaire is a wizened little word factory when he writes this. It's absurd, but in a pre-absurdist, farcical way, and it is very subtle in its delivery. Plus the unforgettable buttock.

Good in French, too. I hope you have the Penguin translation.

cantdog

 

[pop_54]

Last night I finished reading a true classic of modern literature--the one on which my Lit. Persona is based. Now I have to shake off this wistful pensive mood and decide what to read next. I want to avoid the banality of Oprah book club selections and similar popular trash, *cough* DiVinci Code *cough* Rule of Four *cough*. The amount of time I can devote to recreational reading is limited, so I want to concentrate on books of considerable merit and esteem—books of such intertexual significance as will serve as an elucidative foundation in further forays into serious literature, as both reader and writer, yadda yadda yadda.

Given the books that I have readily at hand and/or on order, which should I dive into next?

Ulysses cos it's the aniversary this month of Joyce publishing it.... they're celebrating all over Ireland.

 

[Clare Quilty]

Candide. Voltaire is a wizened little word factory when he writes this. It's absurd, but in a pre-absurdist, farcical way, and it is very subtle in its delivery. Plus the unforgettable buttock.

Good in French, too. I hope you have the Penguin translation.

cantdog

I was reading about M. Arouet last night. That brings to mind another failing of my technical vocationally oriented education that I have considered redressing. I have little French and no Greek or Latin. Consequently, reading Voltaire, Flaubert or Proust in the original is, for now, out of the question.

I have the Barnes & Noble Classics version of “Candide.” The translated was by Henry Morley and revised by Lauren Walsh. The introduction and closing notes are both by Gita May (French department, Columbia University).


http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/6900000/6902851.gif Candide (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

 

[Clare Quilty]

Re: Re: which novel should I read next?

Ulysses cos it's the aniversary this month of Joyce publishing it.... they're celebrating all over Ireland.

I thought it was the centennial of events that transpire in the book. In any event, I noticed the Bloomday motif on Google's main page last week.

(I see now that it is the 70th anniversary of its first legal publication in an English speaking country)

http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/3060000/3069363.gifUlysses

 

[pop_54]

Re: Re: Re: which novel should I read next?

I thought it was the centennial of events that transpire in the book. In any event, I noticed the Bloomday motif on Google's main page last week.

(I see now that it is the 70th anniversary of its first legal publication in an English speaking country)

http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/3060000/3069363.gifUlysses

Sounds about right dear...love it or hate it... now's the time to read it while it's topical.

 

[Clare Quilty]

Amen, but I didn't vote for him because the political scene's too Kafkaeque.......

Define Kafkaesque? Does it nightmarish and surreal? If so, I agree.

http://a1055.g.akamai.net/f/1055/1401/5h/images.barnesandnoble.com/images/6900000/6902853.gifThe Metamorphosis and Other Stories (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

 

[Clare Quilty]

Re: Re: Re: Re: which novel should I read next?

Sounds about right dear...love it or hate it... now's the time to read it while it's topical.

Feel free to continue calling me dear, you cheeky devil. However, I feel it's only sporting that I disabuse you of what appears to be a misapprehension regarding my femininity, or rather the lack thereof.

I'm a 2 meter tall 17.5 stone bloke.

 

[Guest]

Clare, hombre, I voted for Jude but I have to say (yet again) that for me a fave and regularly reread book is Hardy's The Return of the Native. Eustacia Vye is not quite Anna Karenina, but she's up there among my literary heaven heroines. I found a better fit betwixt nature, art and passion in Hardy than in D.H. Lawrence (got over him long ago). Someone was gauche enough once to put forth the opening sentence of Native as akin to "It was a dark and stormy night", but perhaps he was taking the piss.

If you want two jewels of novellas, for those in between times, read Turgenev's First Love and Diary of a Superfluous Man. Nevermind the reason, just read them. I guarantee you will be satisfied.

Perdita

 

[Xelebes]

Why do people always have to enjoy certain types of things to fit in. I have seen it with music and films and here I now find it with books. Why do we have to read certain books to be concidered intelligent. I have read many of the "Classic's" and yes some of them were enjoyable. Intelligence comes from the ability to understand something not how much you liked or disliked something.
Just because I read LOTR or Terry Prachett doesn't make me stupid it just means I enjoy books which make me laugh. Read because you enjoy it not because someone else says "You have to read this"


I personally would read them all one at a time. Just close your eyes and pick one up.

I actually have not read any of the books listed but I have read Kafka's short stories and all. Most classics I have not read nor intend to bery much.

 

[sweetnpetite]

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

 

[haldir]

There's soooo much to choose from. What is it you're looking for?

"Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gamen would be one of my choices.

Life's too short to struggle thro something you hate just so you can try and understand it.

By the way, the guy who said "Ulysses" was a light summer read needs some help.