In fact, I rarely read and if I do, it is generally non-fiction historical or an academic work picking apart housing or poverty policy in America. It's true. You might be scratching your head, as Summer did when she found out, and thinking, "Courtney, you seem so smart, and smart people read"?
Yeah... it's true.
So, I've got this dare, and I have no idea what to read. I am looking for advice. Please comment and recommend a classic 300+ pages that you think should be my dare read. If you want to add why you think I should read it, that might help sell it to me!
6/20 Update
Woo - finished. Ok, I said I would read Crime and Punishment, but it is so boring. My apologies if it is your favorite book; this is just my opinion.I switched my book during a layover to Catch 22. I chose it based on very selective criteria
1) availability in the Hudson News in the airport,
2) page length, and
3) something a little more up to date than Crime and Punishment.
I read it, all of it. It was all right. It took a while to get the flow of the writing and it jumps around in time, space, location and sanity. It is isn't my favorite fiction book, but it wasn't agony. Youssarian might be my spirit animal; however, I often identified with the establishment in the book. That could be a bad sign.
In summary, I am still a nonfiction girl through and through. Sorry if that's a disappointment. I still own Crime and Punishment, so I'll keep trying to get past page 12.
LOL I LOVE SUMMER!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI was going to suggest "Are you there vodka, it's me Chelsea" but then she said classic and I don't think it's 300 pages. So go with "Emma" by Jane Austen (462 pp) instead. Watching "Clueless" won't count.
ReplyDeleteIf she wasn't so picky about page numbers I'd also suggest "A brave new world" but it's only 288. I just finished that one and it was really intriguing. Plus I think I remember that you didn't hate Orwell at one point.
not sure of page lenght, but i think these 2 are close: "Crime & PUnishment" or "Beloved." if i could, i would erase my memory simply to have the pleasure of reading them again for the first time :)
ReplyDeleteFlowers For Algernon. Sad, but great stuff.
ReplyDeleteNot really fiction but I think the setting is Kansas:
ReplyDeleteIn Cold Blood by Truman Capote
He is my favorite author so anything by him would do.
Marge
I think near 300 pages would be acceptable. The page clause is in there so she doesn't try to read Dr. Suess. Sneaky, that one...
ReplyDeleteThey are probably not 300 pages, but I read Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre every couple of years. I'm big on moors, apparently.
ReplyDeleteThe People's History, by Zinn :)
ReplyDeleteIf not that, at least something by a female author. I think we've probably had enough old white men for 1 lifetime.
oh oops. The People's History isn't fiction. Just read it anyways!
ReplyDeleteI would recommend two books by new, Irish author Tana French, "In the Woods" and "The Likeness." While they aren't necessarily classics, they are two of the best works of fiction I've read in a very long time. Other bonus, not written by an old guy, but by a woman!
ReplyDeleteMy vote is for Crime and Punishment. I think you would like the moral dilemmas and it isn't a schmaltzy romance. The best or worst argument for it is that when I finished it Chris Boyd and I cut off each others hair and wore only grey for weeks...but not everyone goes for that sort of thing. ;)
ReplyDeleteWow! I had no idea this would get such a response. Way to go with the dare, Summer! For this dare, I will read Crime and Punishment, and I will consider a bonus dare read from the other suggestions. Thanks y'all!
ReplyDeleteI wish we were roommates so we could cut each others hair and wear only grey...
ReplyDeleteOh... you know gray is my favorite color
ReplyDeletethe story of edgar sawtelle is a "new classic." it is phenomenal--one of the best books i've ever read. an a real dog-lovers book. crime and punishment is good, but this is more modern--a reward for finishing c & p, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteArgh! I wish I had gotten to this comment sooner. Like you I read academic non-fiction about poverty policy and welfare almost exclusively. I do like to read but fiction is not what I go for.
ReplyDeleteThat having been said I recommend Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist or Great Expectations. If you can get into it enough to get into his prose (his humor is very dry) they are good and offer critiques of social stratification in Victorian society. Except as is applies to the social stigmas that effected Jewish people which Dickens was pretty okay with.
Kate Z.
Oh the irony, I couldn't get through Catch 22...oh well, Crime and Punishment isn't a favorite so I wont cry too much...
ReplyDelete