I love Classic literature and adore many genres within the classics. Once I started reading them I was hooked, and have forever been changed as a reader. I have read many classic books and so I’ve developed much in skill and maturity. As I broaden my scope, reading more and more amazing books from the greats, I find myself looking at a few that I keep putting off. The books that I find either a bit daunting, or time consuming, or just find myself hesitating on aimlessly. I need to address these books that challenge me from my shelf.
Here are a few Challenging Classics calling to me in anticipation:
War and Peace
This is the book of books to read for any person interested in classic literature. It is a well known challenge, and one I think I am up for. It’s a book that although I may find challenging or time consuming, I do actually think that I will really enjoy. I think I just need to commit to reading it, and get to it. Oh and did I mention it is a whopping 1296 pages, no small feat. Hopefully a worthwhile one.
Rated 4.4 on amazon.com
Book Bean: Russian Tea
Within Russia, tea usually includes lemon, and sugar or jam. Tea sachets are widely popular, but when a teapot is used it is very common to make a strong brew, then pour some into a cup and top it with hot or boiling water, adding milk and sugar afterwards.
Utopia
A utopia is a community or society possessing highly desirable or near perfect qualities. The word was coined by Sir Thomas More in Greek for this 1516 book Utopia (in Latin), describing a fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt to create an ideal society, and imagined societies portrayed in fiction. I don’t know if this classic book is a challenging one or not, but I do know I’ve been meaning to read it for a very long time.
Rated 4.3 on amazon.com
Book Bean: Café de olla
Traditionally brewed in large quantities over a wood fire in a heavy earthenware Mexican cooking pot called an “Olla”. Place 4 cups water, 2/3 cup dk brn sugar, 1tsp molasses, and 2 cinnamon sticks (and aniseed optional) in a saucepan. Slowly bring to a boil, and stir thoroughly to dissolve sugars. When the mixture reaches boiling, stir in 2/3 cup drk rst coffee (med. grind) remove from heat, cover, and steep for 5 minutes. Strain into stone cups, and enjoy with cinnamon sticks.
Moby Dick
It’s a whale of a book! Or so I hear 😀 This book does not really speak to me, as far as content I feel compelled to read. However, it is so well known as a literary masterpiece that I feel I must one day challenge myself and read it. It’s a novel by Herman Melville, in which Ishmael narrates the monomaniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on the albino sperm whale Moby Dick
Rated 4.2 on amazon.com
Book Bean: Seafoam Tea
In a blender blend; 1/2 can coconut milk (cold) till frothy. Add in 2 cups of white tea (cold) and re-blend. Last add a pinch of finely ground lavender leaves (and/or mint, is a nice option) and 1 cup of cool whip (or ice-cream.)
The Scarlet Letter
I have always wanted to read this book, but for one reason or another I just never do. I hope that one day I will, but it’s not looking promising. I always start reading it, but then I set it down and don’t pick it up again. It’s bothersome really. I don’t know if in the end I will like, love, or hate this book, but I do know that I will be glad I read it!
Rated 4.4 on amazon.com
Book Bean: Sinful Cinnamon Dulce
Temper white chocolate in a mug. Steam and Froth milk of choice (I like rice for this recipe) and pour over chocolate. Top with a small zip of whip and sprinkle with cinnamon. Stir and enjoy.
These are the formidable classics on my shelf, what are yours?
If you don’t read the classics, what challenging books have been haunting you?
I love the Scarlet Letter! I read it in 11th grade and it really stuck with me.
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I have a feeling I will really like it, I need to find it, and finally read it. 🙂
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Well, if you don’t mind reading ebooks, I found it on iBooks for free.
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On amazon?
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Unfortunately, I’m not sure.
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I’ll look around a bit. 🙂
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Watch out for Hawthorne’s portrayal of the puritans though. Apparently very historically inaccurate.
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I will, thank you for the heads up! 🙂
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Really? I’ve never studied puritans so I took his information quite verbatim. Whoops.
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I have long wanted to tackle “War and Peace.” Thanks for adding “Utopia” to my wish list. I am rather fond of “The Brothers Karamazov” from Dostoevsky and “The Peloponnesian Way” from Thucydides. Although the latter is a historical account of a 30 year long war, the author’s habit of leveraging speeches (perhaps somewhat embellished) provides for plenty of remarkable philosophy and human strengths and foibles as well.
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That sounds good to me! 🙂
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I’m currently watching the mini tv show War and Peace and really enjoying it! 🙂
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I didn’t know about that. 🙂
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I’ve wanted to read war and peace for a long time now but haven’t taken the plunge yet. Like you I love the classics and have read a few including Moby Dick which I reviewed too! It’s a bit of tough reading. I won’t give spoilers, just warn you that it’s a combination of story plus factual information. It’s that which makes it tough reading, but I’ve got to say I loved the ending! 🙂
Good luck with your classics, hope you take the plunge and read one of these. 🙂
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I did not know that about Moby Dick! That makes it more intriguing for me 😀
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I’m glad you find it intriguing. I still think it’s worth the read, just persevere through the more technical info chapters. Like I said I really like the ending 🙂
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I’m definitely going to give it a try. 🙂
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I really like Moby Dick, despite the many lessons on whale anatomy in the book. It’s an engaging storyline. Also, I had to read The Scarlet Letter for English class and enjoyed it despite myself.
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That is really good to hear! 🙂
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Delicious classics to get into! I plan to read War and Peave some time soon…. 😀 I also have Eliot’s Silas Marner in my 2016 challenge list. Oh, how those classics call!
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Yes they do! I’ll have to look that one up.
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Is the Scarlet Letter a hard read? Or do you lose interest in it when you put it down? I’m interested in reading it is why I ask. 🙂
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I’m not sure, I’ve heard mixed things about it. It seems you either love it or hate it… I haven’t yet committed to reading it, so I can’t put my two cents in. 🙂
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I should have added Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad to my list of classics I have been meaning to read for a long time.
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They are definitely a tbr of mine as well. 🙂
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The translation of “War and Peace” you pictured if far and away the best available. Well done. I’ve read all of the above. Good post!!
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That’s great! Thank you 😀
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You’re welcome. I have written a number of posts about “Great Books,” including this one http://hughcurtler.com/2014/02/20/why-great-books/
(For what it’s worth!)
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I’ll check it out. 🙂
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I suggest starting with “The Scarlet Letter.” It’s not very long, and once you get into the imagery and symbolism, the story becomes easier to follow. “War and Peace,” on the other hand. . .
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Exactly… 😀
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It’s worth the read, though. I would also strongly recommend “The Brothers Karamazov.” Freud called it the greatest book ever written!!
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Really? Intriguing.
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I’m currently readying War and Peace and I’m pleasantly surprised by just how easy reading it is. So much so that a week later and I’m almost a third of the way through.
Vanity Fair is my next big challenge. I’ve started it a couple of times and got no where but 2016 is the year!
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I have that one too, I’d like to get to it as well. 🙂
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Much of Dickens work. I love his style, but he always wears me down. Bleak House, David Copperfield, Our Mutual Friend…so long.
The Brothers Karamazov is another one. Never gotten around to Dostoevsky.
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I do better watching Dickens then reading his work. I would like to get better and reading it though…
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I have two of the same classic challenges as you, Moby Dick and War and Peace. Another classic challenge that I have is The Illiad and the Odyssey. I’m extremely intimidated by War and Peace, and The Illiad and the Odyssey. I had to read the Scarlet Letter in high school and it wasn’t too bad to read, there are definitely some lessons that can be learned from reading it. I read the Argonautica, which was only 155 pages and it took me a while to get through because of the way it was written. The Illiad and the Odyssey is 720 and if it’s written in the same style as the Argonautica, it will definitely be a challenge. One of my reading goals for this year is to read more classics, so I’m thinking of dedicating a full two months of just reading the classics, because I know how time consuming they can be.
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I originally had included The Illiad and Odyssey in this list, but I took them out. I do really want to read them though, just not as urgently as the once listed. 😀
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I’m not as urgent to read them as well, just because of how intimidated I am by them. I have them in a bind up, so it’s both books in one. I guess a lot of classics intimidate me for some reason.
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Which have you read that you really like?
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For classics that I’ve read and loved: Little Women, The Great Gatsby, The Hobbit, Scarlet Letter, Candide, Tartuffe, Canterbury Tales, and Beowulf.
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I have read some of those, The Hobbit is a favorite for sure!
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I have a list of books that I want to ReRead this year and the Hobbit is on that list along with some others!
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The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Pride and Prejudice are books I love to re-read.
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I love the Chronicles of Narnia, it always takes me to a magical place when I read it, I always find myself ReReading it. I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice yet, I do have it and it is on my TBR.
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It really does, it’s such a great read!
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I also forgot that I loved the Huck Finn books!! They represent important times in American history!
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Yes 🙂
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Read The Scarlet Letter back at uni. Hawthorne’s never been my favourite writer but it’s a very symbolic book.
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I really like symbolic stuff, so I think it has potential to be something I’ll love… We’ll just have to see. 🙂
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I’m reading Pride and Prejudice right now, and I’m really loving it. I also really want to read The Scarlet Letter
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That is by far my favorite classic! 🙂
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Wuthering Heights is a good one as well. Also, Frankenstein.
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Love Wuthering Heights! Haven’t read Frankenstein.
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If you liked WH, you will like Frankenstein too. And I think it’s a bit easier and faster read. Not as many characters with the same names lol
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🙂
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The Scarlet Letter is one of the few books I actually remember reading in high school. Add Huckleberry Finn and Kafka’s Metamorphosis to that short list. But I, too, have W&P on my wish list (and The Brothers Karamazov as well).
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Metamorphosis! Awesome book! Love Kafka’s work! Good call !
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🙂
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The Brothers Karamazov is one I would also like to read. 🙂
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Johnathan Livingston Seagull, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series and books on Progressive Rock, all with Raspberry Ice Tea. Sunday afternoons when it rains is best. I know they’re not “classics” in the literary sense but I walk a really different bookend road! But I have ideas for when I do want to read something else that is brilliant thanks to your lists and others! Cheers!
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I would consider them classics of more specific genres. 🙂 Raspberry Ice Tea! Yum, I can’t wait for spring!
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Always time for Raspberry Ice tea or when I make my own Sun Tea, best with books!
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I love sun tea!
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Giant jug, 16 tea bags, let the sun do the rest AND then when it comes back inside instead of adding sugar…… Put in two frozen minute maid lemonades and stir till dissolved and voila! perfect blend !
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Sounds lovely. 🙂
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War and peace is totally worth the read. 10 / 10
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It’s becoming a more imminent goal!
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Ugh I could NOT get into Moby Dick. It took me forever just to read thee first 100 pages. I had to stop, and I don’t regret it.
I read The Scarlet Letter in high school and remember liking it then. I may give it a reread someday. (Have you ever seen Easy A? A modern retelling starring Emma Stone.. A comedy!)
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One of my all-time favorite classics that I reread every couple years is Jane Eyre.
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I have not read it yet, it’s on my list though!
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You should definitely read it!
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Here I am making another movie suggestion, when I typically don’t care for movie versions! But a recent version of Jane Eyre starring Michael Fassbender is a good adaptation. (I think it’s from 2012 or thereabouts)
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That’s good to know, it’s hard to find a good adaptation. 🙂
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Agreed!
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I have not seen that movie, I never put that connection together.
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I love Emma Stone so recommend it. It’s Scarlet Letter with a modern high school twist 🙂
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Sounds intriguing 🙂
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Wanting to read Oliver Twist!
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Me too.
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Books? What books? Those last two tea recipes are mouthwatering! 😀
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:D!
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I’m reading ‘War & Peace’ now for the second time – it’s even better this time around. It’s well worth the time and effort!
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SO good to hear that!
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You have some big books on your TBR!! Moby Dick and War and peace
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Indeed! 🙂
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I struggle with Shakespeare. The shorter plays I made it through, but the longer ones are real hard. I struggle with the language, as I am not a native English speaker, but really want to read the original.
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I know what you mean. I love his sonnets and can manage some plays, but I do struggle.
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The problem with reading Shakespeare’s plays is that they weren’t meant for reading. I enjoy the plays in live or movie form much more, it’s what he would have wanted. I don’t care how great a modern writer is we don’t tend to sit down with his screenplays and read them cover to cover, I’ve always found it odd that we treat Shakespeare that way.
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You are spot on! Never occurred to me…
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I didn’t realize people tried to read Shakespeare’s plays like a book. I can imagine that would be even more difficult. I’ve only ever read them out loud with other people taking various roles. Interesting.
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That sounds like way more fun!
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It was a bit of a stretch outside my comfort zone, but good fun none-the-less. 🙂
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Both War and Peace and the Scarlet Letter are waiting on my bookshelf for me… But for some reason I’ve been avoiding them! Your post has reminded me that I should get reading 🙂
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It’s comforting to know I’m not alone! I think I’m going to wait till summer to tackle “War ans Peace.” It just seems like that kind of book.
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Crime and Punishment is my favorite classic and Dostoevsky is my favorite Russian classic! Lovely selection of books!
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I haven’t heard of Dostoevsky, I’ll have to look it up. 🙂
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Three of the four classics you described–War and Peace, Moby Dick, and The Scarlet Letter–are in our family library and I’ve read them (but don’t plan to reread them). I don’t remember reading Utopia. Best wishes in taking up their challenge!
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Thank you. 🙂
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I enjoyed everything on your list, except Utopia, which I found a little boring – but it’s short :). I have also enjoyed most of Dostoevsky. Dickens is a great story-teller. Les Miserables is also worth a read.
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I love Les Miserables.
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I’m also a fan of Elizabeth Gaskell. Does she count as a classic writer? The complete set of Trollope awaits
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Why not 🙂
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OK – count her in 🙂
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🙂
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I love The Scarlet Letter. I read it in high school and hated it, but then I read it again on my own in college and absolutely loved it. I’d advise you to skip the intro, though. It doesn’t really add to the story and it’s the only part of the book that’s hard to get through.
I’ve read Moby Dick a couple times and didn’t like it either time.
The other two are on my list to read. I love reading the classics.
Have fun reading!!
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Thank you for the advice! 😀
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Of the above, I’ve read The Scarlet Letter, and enjoyed it. W&P is on my tbr list, but I’m not really interested in Moby Dick or Utopia. I’ve got a blog post on classic women authors coming up, and I’d be curious to see which books you’ve read and enjoyed.
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I curious too 🙂 looking forward to the post.
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The classic book I most highly recommend is The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence. It’s so beautifully written that it’s an emotional experience, not a book. In fact Winston Churchill called it one of the greatest books ever written in the English language.
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I have heard of that… I think I’ll look it up, and evaluate it, I may need to move it to the top of my tbr list 🙂
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You won’t regret it! While I don’t agree with some of T. E. Lawrence’s views on certain matters (he lived 100 years ago after all), his mastery of the English language is astounding.
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Sounds wonderful.
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I read War and Peace a few years ago and really enjoyed it but it took me ages. Moby Dick I started but never finished, I just couldn’t get past all the “Whales in Art” type chapters that are interspersed with the proper story. Maybe I’ll go back to it one day.
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I can understand that.
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Haven’t read any except The Scarlet Letter. I really liked it. Society can be so cruel to people.
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All too true.
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Reblogged this on Janet’s thread and commented:
I’m stirred to read War and Peace for the 3rd time and Moby Dick for the 2nd time.
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🙂
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I’m going to Dublin for nine days in September so I feel it’s my duty to try to read Dubliners by James Joyce. If I manage through that, I might tackle Ulysses. “Might” being the key word.
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Sounds like a great trip! Enjoy 🙂
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The Scarlet Letter is definitely on my list too! I think I will read it soon. I had started War and Peace several years ago, but then put it down and never returned 😦 One day maybe! On my formidable classics TBR list is Middlemarch, A Tale of Two Cities and The Divine Comedy.
What I have read and enjoyed is Wuthering Heights and Silas Marner. What I have read and didn’t really enjoy is Madame Bovary.
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I have Middlemarch and A Tale of Two Cities on my shelf as well.
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I also want to read The Scarlet Letter. I tried reading the unabridged version of the Count of Monte Cristo but couldn’t get through it. I’d like to read Sherlock Holmes. Some of the other classics I’ve managed to read are Anne of Green Gables, Lord of the Rings and all the Jane Austin books (but I suggest not reading those all back to back because after awhile they start to blend together!) I enjoy switching genres and trying to read stuff out of my usual…Comfort zone.
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I love Anne of Green Gables, and all of Austen’s work! 😀
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“Brave old” books and quite a challenge. You might add Dostoïewski’ “Idiot”.
(Café de olla? My, my, you are a connaisseur) (Or connaisseuse)
😉
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😀 I am not quite that knowledgeable, not yet anyway!
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Haha! Do not underplay yourself. 🙂
Dostoïewski’s Idiot is quite manageable. Much better than Crime and punishment which I never could finish… 🙂
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I meant that I wouldn’t call myself a coffee connoisseur 😀 but I am glad to know that Dostoïewski’s Idiot is manageable, I may otherwise have bypassed it. 😀
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Well, “Café de olla” is not that common, so a connaisseur you are. What other Russians have you read? Or plan to?
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None yet, but a few on my tbr list: The obvious Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, but also Nabokov and Bulgakov.
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Good choice. Try Soljenitsin. Not sure how it is spelled in english.
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I’ll look it up, thank you for the suggestion. 🙂
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De rien mon amie.
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😀
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Tchekov too.
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Excellent choices Abbie. Some I have had the opportunity to read; others not yet – War and Peace being one I have not read. Great beverage choices too. As a child I loved reading Enid Blytyon and I am not saying they are classics in the true sense of the word but what great books. I still have the hard cover books from my childhood.
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Thank you, I hope to read them all! 😀
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Just yesterday started on War and Peace. The BBC have just done an excellent adaptation, which does help, although I generally prefer to visualise the characters for myself. This is despite having sworn not to read anything in translation, as I’ll never read everything I want to in English. I read Moby Dick as a teenager… though surely this must have been an abriged version, as with Roninson Crusoe and Gulliver’s Travels. I would like to finish all of Austen and all of Dickens although I wouldn’t necessarily call them challenging.
However, I decided a long time ago that I would stop reading something if I wasn’t enjoying it.
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I hope you like it! I heard about the BBC “War and Peace.” I am tempted but I will wait till after I read it to start watching it.
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Loved War and Peace. I read it for a class my freshman year of college. We spent the whole semester reading it. I never would have gotten through it without my terrific professor! So glad I did!
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Positive encouragement is always a good help.
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Loved War and Peace, Tolstoy’s observations on human nature are stunningly well put. I would highly recommend adding Middlemarch to your list if you haven’t read it yet. I put Moby Dick down after a good solid try, it bored me to tears.
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Middlemarch is definitely on my tbr! 🙂
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The other day I realized I’ve never read Sherlock Holmes, so that’s next on my list. The classics you’ve chosen are a good mix. The Scarlett Letter is worth it; Moby Dick is not – 185 pages into the novel and the ship hasn’t even left the harbour yet?! Puh-lease.
As for War and Peace, I don’t think I’ll ever tackle it, but I admire those who do.
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I haven’t either, not completely, but I would like to!
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I have nothing to say about the books…but that Seafoam tea….that…sounds awesome. Stupid question though…how does someone get “two cups” of white tea? Is that white tea that’s been steeped and chilled? Or is there some sort of powder you’re talking about here. (sorry…I’m not really a big tea/coffee drinker…so I’m quite retarded in this area.)
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Good question and I’m happy to clarify. 🙂 I was just referring to 2 cups of steeped tea. The more condensed the better (in my opinion.) 😀
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Okie…follow up to prove my ignorance; how is tea..condensed / more condensed?
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Just not too watery. So make sure the water is boiling when you add the tea and that it sits for at least 5 min to steep. Also, loose tea (using an infuser) is better than tea bags, but if you are using tea bags I would just throw in one extra. 🙂 If you have an espresso machine (for loose coffee, not pods) you can put loose tea where the espresso usually goes, and it’s more condensed. 🙂 Hope that is helpful.
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Thx. I’ll let you know how it goes. =p
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Good luck!
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Those are all books I still have to read 🙂 The Book Thief, Mila 18, The Shining and all three books by Khaled Hosseini would be my favourite books and recommendations! War and Peace and Moby Dick are both classics I’d like to read. I have War and Peace, but it’s just so long! But I do plan to read it some day.
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I feel like I need a summer beach vacation to tackle “War and Peace” 🙂
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I know! Anna Karenina was long and took me ages to finish it but I really liked it. It was more the chapters with Levin that I found such a chore to get through.
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That is another one that I’d really like to read. 🙂
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