General Chat

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Have you read any of the Classics, either at school or more recently? The Greaders have always had a Classic as one of their books of the month, and it has given us a chance to revisit old favourites, or try something new From my own experience I can remember reading Great Expectations at school and loving it. I have always been fascinated by the way Dickens writes of the Victorian period Maybe that is why I now have a love of Victorian History. It is even more interesting now, reading some of the classics, as they give an insight into the way of life our ancestors would have known. Several historic events have been incorporated into the Classics. Tale of Two Cities comes to mind, and of course in Vanity Fair the guys go of to the Napoleonic Wars. So, before you write off those stuffy old books that you thought you had left behind in the schoolroom, give them another try, it may give you an insight into the lives and times of your ancestors So how about it?? Why not join us on the Greaders and read a classic book Dee

I love the classics Dee Great expectations is one of my favourites and also The Picture of Dorian Grey. I collect the penguin classic collection and have quite a few of them now. Jax xx

Hi David I think we have similar tastes in literature Some of them can be hard going, but they often give a very true picture of life, especially those written in the 19th century. We need more hours in the day to read them all though, don't we ?? Dee :-)))

Hi Jax, Dorian Grey was brilliant, I enjoyed that The Penguin classics are good, although I have to take care I don't read the notes before I start reading the book, or it can spoil the story There are also DVD's of quite a few of them these days, but they have been adapted with an imaginative flair and are not always true to the book. Dee x

Hello, Dee. Yes, I love reading books by the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, Thackeray, Dickens, and William Shakespeare's plays. I get immersed (if that's the right expression) in non-fiction, too, including Blaxhall's Living Past, and Henry Mayhew's book that can be found online, too: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2000.01.0026 Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor: Volume 1

I have always loved David Copperfield ... especially the parts concerning Betsy Trotwood .... always wanted to live in her house. But I doubt I would have chased away the donkeys!! Read Tale of Two Cities at school and always 'fancied' Charles Darnay. LW

Hi Joy I totally agree about Henry Mayhew, his is one of the set books for a course I am doing in September, you can also imagine you are in Victorian London, smell the smells, taste the tastes I guess I am lucky LW, I live in Kent so have visited a lot of the places that Dickens has written about. David Copperfield is good, I would have loved to have lived on the beach like that Dee x

Hi Lesley Woman in White was one of the books I read as part of a course I started last year. Wilkie Collins was excellent, and of course owes a lot to Dickens, who was for a while his mentor. I had to leave the course in the end, we were given 2 weeks to read each of the classics we were to cover, and it became a headache keeping up Dee xx

Hi Dee As you know I'm one of those Greaders who just can't get along with the classics, although I did enjoy Cider with Rosie, and I struggled along with Far from the Madding Crowd for the simple reason that one of my ancestors was a shepherd! lol However, since joining Greaders I have discovered that I love books wriitten by modern day writers but set in the past....authors such as Elizabeth Chadwick, Philippa Gregory and Sharon Penman spring to mind. And we've also read some books that I wouldn't have normally picked off the shelf but have turned out to be brilliant....I particularly enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha even though I have no interest in anything Japanese whatsoever! I would recommend that anyone who likes reading should give Greaders a go, either the classics section or the ordinary section....or both! Jeanette x

Hi Jeanette Some of the modern writers have done some really good historic novels, which have been excellently researched. I think they realise there is a thirst for knowledge about life in the past, and have found a niche in the market Like you, I also love the books about other cultures, it is all part of the rich tapestry of socail history. I often wonder which of the books we read will be the classics of the future. Dee xx

When I started secondary school, I was handed a fat hardback copy of 'David Copperfield' - our first read - do they have anything as 'heavyweight' these days for 11 year-olds?!! Loved it, and have read many classics since - Dickens, Hardy, Austen and more. I just love books, lol!

Hi Sheila, I think sometimes the more you read, especially of the classics, the more used you get to the old fashioned words and phrases, and it becomes almost addictive Karen, do you find that now you know more about the history of our ancestors and they way people interact that you understand the books better?? I am sure when I was at school I had no real idea of what a workhouse was, for example Dee xx

As with other books there are classics I enjoy and those I can't get on with. I do like the more modern classics such as Cider with Rosie, Rebecca, to Kill a mocking bird. We have to realise that to be a classic does not mean to be old such as Dickens, Hardy etc. I also enjoyed Brave New world. some of Dickens I enjoy, I love Great expectations for example, others I find harder to read. Sometimes I have to force myself to read a Greaders choice, sometimes I actually opt out of a particular book. We are not about force feeding people with books they don't want to read. However, classic and non classic I have read many books over the last 2/3 years that i would not have considered before and for that i have to thank Mike Chambers who fist thought of setting up greaders. Ann Glos

Ah, Dee, I love some of the classics. Even studying literature until I was 22 didn't put me off. I love Hardy, Lawrence, Dickens, some of the Brontes, Orwell, Golding, Huxley, Wilde - I could go on. And as you know I read poetry on a daily basis. *whispers* but even though she comes from just up the road I cannot stand George Eliot. Gwynne

Hi Ann I often wonder how Mike is, wonder if he realises we are still going strong? You are right, the more 'modern' classics should not be overlooked, and we have a host of 20th Century writers whose works are now considered classic. Gwynne, I still have Daniel Deronda sitting here waiting to be read, it was a set book on the course that I dropped. I am determined to read it one day, will let you know what i think of it Dee x