Here’s one of the things I love about having young adult offspring: they go out into the world and bring back books I’ve forgotten. My daughter recently finished The Razor’s Edge and was singing its praises over Sunday dinner. I’ve never read that novel, I told her; come to think of it, I don’t recall having read any of Somerset Maugham’s books. How did that happen? My son is currently into books by Aldous Huxley. Brave New World, I mused aloud; always meant to read that.
So many books, so little time. I read a lot of book reviews and tend to focus on what’s been published in the past few years. However, I do on occasion pick up a classic I’ve intended to read for what seems like forever and get the job done. I need a push, though. For example, last year, during a conversation about great acting, I mentioned to my daughter what a great job of Miss Havisham Charlotte Rampling did, and my daughter asked, Miss Who? And I explained that Miss Havisham is a famous literary character, one of the greatest fictional spinsters of all time, etc., and it occurred to me that—though I’d read several other Dickens books—I’d never actually read Great Expectations.
Well, I have now. (And Miss H did indeed live up to her reputation). And though I’m halfway through a novel published last year, on my bookshelf sits another classic I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve yet to read: Madame Bovary. I know the bones of the story, and because other writers mention it in their how-to-write-better books, I’ve read passages of Flaubert’s masterpiece but never the actual book. And beside Madame B sits Jane Eyre. I have, in fact, read this novel by Charlotte Brontë—but it was so long ago, I forget most of it. Which means, I suppose, that once I finally read all the classics on my list, I’ll probably have to start all over again. So many books, so little time…
What about you? Are there any lit classics on your must-read list?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I consider myself fairly well read but I
sheepishly admit I’ve never read Catcher in the Rye. (In my defence, I grew
up in Canada and I don’t think it was necessarily required reading in my
high school.) In any case, I’m 57 now, and I have no intention of spending
my precious reading hours on a coming-of-age novel, even if it is a classic!
Still, though, I wish I’d read it when I was 16 — I kinda get the feeling
I’ve missed out on something.
Yes, I am in quite the same boat, largely due
to the fact that I am a Very Slow Reader and, at 51, just haven’t gotten
around to that many books.
But, I read a delicious book, The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield,
which has many references to Jane Eyre. I pulled my old high school copy off
the bookshelf, and found the print way too small for my old eyes — so I’m
now looking for a more readable version. Madame Bovary — I had also never
read, and am reading now. It is every bit as stunning as everyone has ever
said, provided you have a good translation. I have the translation
recommended by Francine Prose in Reading Like A Writer — funny, Madame
Bovary is not a particularly long book, so I don’t know why it has taken me
so long to get around to it ….
Love to know what you think of Madame B when
you’re done, Slow Reader. (I haven’t started it yet. I guess I’m slower than
you are.)