My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter.*

[bending_sickle]

The Classic Novels Meme c/o of Heatherlo:

What is the best classic you were "forced" to read in school (and why)? A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess tied with The Crucible by Arthur Miller and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. These gave the best experience of class reading, discussion and analysis and were fascinating to boot.

What was the worst classic you were forced to endure (and why)? The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger tied with Bodas de Sangre by Federico García Lorca. I can't remember a single thing about either of them apart from disliking them intensely. (A special mention for Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte which I hated to read but loved to analyze.)

Which classic should every student be required to read (and why)? Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It touches on so many important social, political and scientific topics, many of which have strong current equivalents. Take the article Genes 'R' Us and the baby decision maker, for example.

Which classic should be put to rest immediately (and why)? Nineteen Eight-Four by George Orwell (i.e. Eric Arthur Blair). Kill it dead. This books was horrendously boring and badly written in terms of structure (endless chapters of the fictional book for the faaaaaiiiiil) and an utter embarrassment for the futuristic fiction sector.

**Bonus** Why do you think certain books become "classics"? Some because they're incredibly well-written, or bizarredly written, or present the truths about the human condition in ways never done before, or are innovative in some other fashion. (Or they're just so damn long no one reads them but is to afraid to say so.)

Quotes of the Day: Anon. or uncredited.

Life is a handful of short stories, pretending to be a novel.

Links of the Day:
Lesterhhunt's The Most Overrated Novel of the Twentieth Century: Catch-22
The 100 Best Novels
The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written


* Thomas Helm

Comments

[capn-mactastic.livejournal.com]

Oh Noes! I like Nineteen Eighty-Four! I wish more people would read it...

I agree on Brave New World though. Awesome book, haven't read it in years, really must read it again.

[lienne.livejournal.com]

Hah! I disagree wildly with some of these. I thought 451 was incredibly poorly executed, and I loved 1984. I also despised Brave New World but that was because it came right at the apex of a grade seven unit on Depressing Books That Will Make You Cry (I kid; it was called Dystopian Novels). Seriously, who inflicts that book on a thirteen-year-old?

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

See, I looooove distopian novels, especially the Science Fiction ones, and BNW was all about science in an awesome way made more awesome in retrospect and after some genetic and behavioural courses.

I remember struggling through 1984, which I picked up free from the To Throw Out box of the library. I really hated the chapters that were just quoting the book of whatists, and I remember disliking the concept of chocolate rations and things like that. I guess it was just the world in general I disliked. (Maybe I would've caught more if I'd read it in class.)

451's mah babeh :P I likes it 'cause it's fun!

[bending-sickle.livejournal.com]

See my reply to lienne re: 1984. I guess it just wasn't my thing, and I had no help.

(Like when I read Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steppenwolf_(novel)) on my own. I found it very meh because lots of it went *whoosh* right over my head.)

[capn-mactastic.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay. I guess there are plenty of books out there that aren't my thing either, or have something that just makes me switch off (that's especially annoying if it comes right at the end, because then I have to reverse dislike the books D:<)