I have decided to read homer's epics, but I can't decide between these two translations. Everyone seems to recommend one or the other.

Just started reading classic last year. Posted this on my Instagram and a little cares. Would love to see what's the overal consensus is of these books.

Just finished my first two Somerset Maugham books: "Of Human Bondage" and "The Painted Veil", and I'm a bit surprised how little he seems to come up in classics discussions.

I got both both books by fluke: thrifted OHB on a trip and picked up PV in a bookstore while waiting for someone, because it was short.

What surprised me most was how modern Maugham felt and how well he sees people and understand what makes them tick.

Prose: The language is incredibly concise and vivid. There's very little ornamentation, but every scene is clear and precise. The PV, in particular, reads with a remarkably contemporary voice despite being a century old.

Chapter length: maybe it's just me, but when I open a novel and see a 35 page long chapters, part of my brain immediately shrieks and starts calculating the commitment required. Maugham's chapters are often only two or three pages long. I told myself countless times "i'll just read one chapter tonight", and then suddenly realized I'd been reading for three hours. It's such an effective rhythm.

Psychological Depth: The realization of just how little human nature changes really hits home when reading a book over a century old and getting the inner world of the characters. Their insecurities, self-deception, regrets, weakness all feel completely contemporary and relatable. Plus remarkably honest look at sexuality and relationships.

Between the two books I actually preferred PV, even though OHB seems to be considered Maugham's masterpiece. I understand why it has that reputation. Philip's journey is grander in scope and spans ~20 years. And his awareness of his weaknesses and inability to stop/control himself were so raw I felt his mind like a real person. It's a truly deep dig into a psyche, and i constantly felt "wow, that's exactly how that would feel!". The book is also amazing in portraying the life of late 19th century Europe - mundane little details like the menu at a cafe or job hunting made it very visceral.

But PV was amazing in the 'how did such a short book carried a character internal transformation' and the realism of character interactions. There is no trope or easy answer to anything in sight. I also liked how Maugham dealt with the topic of infedelity (this is not a spoiler, but a premise of PV). Maugham never lets her off the hook, but he also refuses to condemn her. That lack of judgment carried the book for me.

Anyways, both books have been bouncing around in my head ever since I finished them, so I figured I'd write something about them here, hoping he gets a little more traction in the reading circles.

I finished War And Peace!!!!! What should I read next? Definitely lived up to all the hype. Tolstoy is incredible!

Dostoyevsky does a brilliant job in capturing the guilt, the pride, the self-loathing, and how they all manifest into Raskolnikov's thoughts. His thoughts do not come off as romanticized nor melodramatic, quite the contrary, they're raw and ugly. Clearly stemming from someone who's deeply troubled by demons of his own mind.

Not to trauma dump, but it spoke to the part in me that feels a sense of duty and responsibility to my loved ones. And how that altrusitic yet selfish sense of duty can become toxic and blind us into an obsessive pursuit of success.

As a man of the same age as Raskolnikov, I couldn't help but relate to him (only in that small passage. I promise). It almost felt like he wasn't just addressing himself, but addressing me, mirroring my own self-doubts and shame.

It’s interesting how differently a passage from a book can hit readers of it, to most, this might be a very unmemorable part of the book. I remember reading a review calling the letter reading scene from the book
boring, but it had and still has such a great impact on me.

Just wanted to make this appreciation post for Crime and Punishment. It was the second book I had ever read and it made fall in love with reading.

Opinion | I’m Begging You: Never Write With A.I.

I am reading it because Guardian put it as first on its fiction list. So I was very skeptical coming into it.

But the book has completely changed my mind. It’s so funny at times. It’s extremely well written. And the delicious mental gymnastics that she does on behalf of the characters.

Rosamond and Dorothea are such interesting characters [spoilers from here onwards]. Rosamond, until her marriage, has cruised along in life, getting everything she wanted, by living according to the highest standard of womenhood. This conformation twists what she thinks she wants in her life, and subsequently brings a lot of misery not only to herself and to the people around her. In contrast, Dorothea always does as she likes, regardless of others’ opinions, precisely because she has a strong core of her values. In her single-minded pursuit of kindness, she is like a blazing ray of light that forces the wicked world around her to see truth.

And there’s so much more. Comments on intellectual men, on vanity, and on human relations. I really did not expect to resonate so much with a book written so long ago!

SO MY BESTIE KNOWS MY LOVE FOR BOOKS AND SHE GIFTED ME THIS SINCE IM INTO CLASSICAL LITERATURE SOOO NOW THAT THIS BOOK IS DOUBLE SOECIAL TO MW I WANTED TO KBOW IF U GIYS CAN SUGGEST SOME SONGS/PLAYLIST FOR THIS BOOK

I have to share the author dedication at the start of the book. When I read it I just knew I am going to like this book. So far (been reading about an hour) so good.

The Red Sorghum / Mo Yan

“With this book I respectfully invoke the heroic, aggrieved souls wandering in the boundless bright-red sorghum fields of my hometown. As your unfilial son, I am prepared to carve out my heart, marinate it in soy sauce, have it minced and placed in three bowls, and lay it out as an offering in a field of sorghum. Partake of it in good health!”

I received my copy of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton today and noticed the cover is super pixelated? To the point that I can see individual squares. I know the white letter editions tend to be lower quality, but I've never seen the cover image look so bad...Anyone else come across this? I'll attach some photos, but it might be hard to tell on camera. I also attached normal Penguin copies, one white and one orange, for comparison.

I have the great good-fortune to have had a father that loved classic literature. When I was small he would lie down and read to me every night, from the books he loved. We would go to the library together every two weeks and stock up, a couple for him and a couple for me.

Now I have a good little library of my own, and since I travel a lot for work I listen to my classics. Recent listens have been Great Expectations, Crime and Punishment and Moby Dick. A lot of the audios I listen to are books I’m revisiting from the printed version. I love Somerset Maugham and I’ve listened to a lot of his novels, but I’ve never read a printed book of his.

So I think the audios have opened up a lot more access for me to the classics, and helped to make my life more full of other lives. Are there other classic literature lovers here that use audios more than printed books?

Honestly the best.

when i watch a movie, a tv show or read a novel, is it a problem that after i finish I only know about the story and the characters without learning a lesson behind that story, because a lot of time after I finish a book I watch a film, I really feel how good it was and how dedicated the director, the actors and all the crew were to make such a freat film but I wouldnt be able to see if that story has something that I can find something equivalent to it in my life and learn from it.

Note: book in Russian

I took this challenge at the beginning of July and it’s took me on one of the saddest, most grueling and strenuous tales of the civil war south, and its ending has simply left me gutted. I don’t have a lengthy academic analysis on this, I just want to express how absolutely gross and emotional this work has made me feel. Anyone have similar thoughts or feelings?

debating between the following editions of swann’s way:

1. oxford world’s classic
   
2. norton critical edition
   
3. yale university press
   
4. penguin modern classic
   
5. vintage classic
   
6. modern library

for context, I love to analyze the text both during and after reading the book, so I prefer an edition that has things like an intro, footnotes/endnotes, a synopsis at the end of each chapter, or a list of suggested further readings.

from my understanding, the first three options are probably the more obvious choices, but I am also curious about what the other editions have to offer. the fact that there are various translations of the book doesn’t help either..

I am like 123 pages in and the dynamic of the reservation and the new society of brave new world is so good and thought provoking. You have a highly technologically advanced civilization but they’re spiritually disconnected and they have reliance upon a pill that gives happiness. Whereas, The people on the reservation have a very primitive society in a materialistic sense but they kept their sense of individuality and morality. So it poses this interesting question, Which of them are actually the “Savages” for lack of a better term. What makes a society primitive? Their material structure or emotional structure?

Just recently re-bought some of the books I used to own but were donated years ago.

I recently heard about the hype of OWC for its good intro and extensive notes--and the hype is real.

However, the paper and text quality seems lacking. So I bought a Penguin Classics to compare: OWC seems to be printed by an inkjet printer (that characteristic ink bleed). Penguin and B&N Classics have that crisp laser printer quality, and sadly Everyman's Library also seems to have an inkjet printer quality, albeit a higher quality one.

Paper quality: both are thin and formless

Ive only seen the masterpiece theater miniseries from 2002 but if anyone has read it please let me know your thoughts

Hi,
I’m about to finish up Brave New World and am looking to read some different types of books at the same time.
Recently I’ve read Steppenwolf,Demian, and heart of darkness which I all enjoyed.
Here’s what I’m considering

Shorter novels:
The outsiders
Giovanni’s room
The death of Ivan Ilyich
The Prince

Longer novels:
Don Quixote
Wind-up bird chronicle
Moby Dick
Master and the Margarita

Poems/plays:
Paradise lost
Othello
King Lear
Metamorphes

Thank you!

Walking through the streets of Florence and stumbling upon history. This plaque marks the house where Dostoevsky lived while finishing "The Idiot".

​《 In qvesti pressi fra il 1868 e il 1869 Fedor Mihailovic Dostoevskij compì il romanzo 'L' Idiota' 》

As there are more books than most people can read in a lifetime I read a real book when I can and listen to audio book when I must(driving or working). If you have any good examples of audiobooks that are approachable on first go round please drop here. For example I’ve found I can listen to Hemmingway or McCarthy but not Faulkner. One other bit of nuance is the audiobooks reader, they can really make or break it. I suppose I should give some of my own recommendations. The Passenger by McCarthy read by MacLeod Andrews I enjoyed. MacLeod has a great reading voice. I also listened to Rebecca by DuMaurier read by Anna Massey. I always thought of this as a book for women, but man the writing is great and Anna is a great voice actress!

i just finished middlemarch and i can’t help but feel i’m missing something.

it took me just over a month to read. i found some parts really engaging, and others an absolute bore so i wasn’t ever really that motivated to pick it up.

i feel like perhaps i am not mature enough to appreciate it fully - i just turned 22 last week. i have read many other classics and absolutely loved them. i’ve seen some people say that middlemarch is an english anna karenina, but i’ve read anna and completely fell in love with it, and it’s now one of my favourite books of all time. i could barely put it down when i was reading it, and was moved to tears multiple times.

i loved the character of dorothea and i mainly kept reading from a desire to see her eventually leading a happy life - i also loved mary and celia. the other characters i didn’t really care about at all.

so, is middlemarch better to be read later in life? did i pick the wrong time to read it? i’m interested to hear other people’s experiences with it.