Classic Literature
 

Anyone here enjoy classic lit at all? I'm fond of the Brontes and Shakespeare myself.

Yeah, I enjoyed reading Frankenstein. It gave me a completely different idea of the monster than the one in popular culture. Actually, I drew what I thought he looked like after I read the book.

I also began reading (haven't finished) Around the World In 80 Days by Jules Verne.
I haven't read Shakespeare since high school (mid-90s), but we read parts of Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar.

Maybe I missed it, but that was one thing that disappointing me about Frankenstein. I figured Shelly'd do a very detailed description of the monster, but I never got a good mental image. I've always loved the "Who is really the monster?" aspect of the story though.

Working on Dracula, but I've never much of a reader so I'm going at a snails pace...

I could never get into Dracula. I think I read up until the part after they kill vampire Lucy and then stopped. Vampires have never really been my thing. One book I couldn't stand reading in school was The Hobbit. Normally, I can read at least ten pages within a fifteen minute interval, but when going through that thing-- completing two pages alone seemed to take hours.

As for Shakespeare, in high school we read Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth. While I hated R&J at first, finding it annoying and cliche, as time has passed I find the writing of the play to be extremely beautiful and moving. Also, I see the story in a somewhat more allegorical light than I did before. After reading Macbeth, I became interested in the Bard, and have since read a few of his other works on my own time. So far, my fave's Hamlet.

Hamlet is my favorite too. I didn't like Macbeth when we read it in high school, but when I read it later in life, I found it much more engaging. I'm not a fan of reading his comedies though. They're more enjoyable to see because some of the humor is lost in just reading it.

Very true about the comedies. Though I enjoyed A Midsummer Night's Dream reading it on my own time, it must be a thousand times more hysterical seeing actual actors portraying the madness.

The only Shakespeare play I've not taken a liking to so far is Julius Caesar. It just doesn't engage me all that much.

Oh, I almost forgot about Poe! I didn't like his stuff at first, but he has grown on me a bit! :tgrin: Who cannot love The Raven?

I never cared for Poe. All his poems are so depressing and really creepy.

Dracula is easily one of my favorite novels. Off-hand, can't think of any other classic literature that I really got into. I've never particularly enjoyed reading Shakespeare, but I loved performing it in the shows I've done.

I enjoy classic lit every now and then. I have collected a handful of the Barnes & Noble Leatherbound classics series. I completely read the 7 H.G. Wells Novels collection as well as the complete Sherlock Holmes. I'm now slowly getting through the Jules Verne and Charles Dickens collections. They have a pretty nice price for the amount of content. Plus they look great on the shelf.

Yes
 

While Shakespeare is good, I'd easily argue that Dickens' works are superior. I also love reading non-English traditional works, translated of course. I know they lose in translation, but many world literature works are equal to or better than many of the classics.