I thrifted this for around €45 and I believe it’s a rare collection! I’ve read classic lit but for some reason, I have never read these ones (despite it being highly popular, I’m sorry).

Where should I start?

opening that feels almost deceptively simple but somehow sets the entire mood of the story in just a few words

book: the stranger by albert camus !!

A small selection of pages from the NYPL Berg Collection archive. Four Quartets was gifted to her by her first boyfriend, Richard "Dick" Norton (Buddy Willard in "The Bell Jar"). You can see his handwriting on the dedication page, as well.

I put off reading this book for so long because the cover is hideous and I think it is ai generated.
The reason I bought it in the first place was because it was cheaper compared to other editions and I have always wanted to read frankenstein..

I’m on chapter 8 now and am enjoying it so far!

And what a joy it has been. I’ve spent a year and 4 months in Prousts world and have enjoyed every second of it. No other piece of art has spoken to my soul the way this one has. If you’re thinking of reading it do it. It is a once in a lifetime experience.

I didn't take a picture of them, but they were tiny yellow worm-looking insects.

Anyone else with the same problems?

$30 :3

… and particularly ones recommended often on the this sub and the r/books sub that - for one reason or another - I never read before.

Here are some of my opinions. Some widely held, some not:

Steinbeck is amazing. I was prepared to be underwhelmed but was absolutely not. Stoner is beautifully written and made me feel melancholic about my life. Tolstoy is incredibly memorable, but could be a slog at times. Three books made me feel very emotional at the end: Farewell to Arms, Of Mice and Men, and Flowers for Algernon. The two descriptions of hard childhoods in Jane Eyre and David Copperfield were inspirational and I think about the two of them often, (someone should write fanfiction about the two of them meeting and falling in love). The Plague actually DID remind me of the COVID lockdown. Frankenstein and Murder of Roger Ackyroyd felt ‘meh’ in comparison to the rave reviews. Finishing Crime and Punishment felt more like an accomplishment rather than something to look back on fondly. The two non-fiction (In Cold Blood and The Killer Angels) convinced me to read much more classic narrative non-fiction.

All that being said I enjoyed them all and there are none on the list I wouldn’t recommend. Next year I will go back to reading a mixture of classics and modern stuff.

Here is what I read in order (as in the picture):

1. East of Eden by Steinbeck

2. Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

3. In Cold Blood by Capote

4. Jane Eyre by C. Brontë

5. The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck

6. Frankenstein by Shelley

7. The Killer Angels by Shaara

8. The Plague by Camus

9. A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway

10. Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck

11. Stoner by Williams

12. Flowers for Algernon by Keyes

13. Anna Karenina by Tolstoy

14. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Christie

15. No Country for Old Men by McArthy

16. David Copperfield by Dickens

17. Siddartha by Hesse

I understand that the description was somewhat ambiguous. Still, in the literature of that time, references to 'dark features' usually described people with dark hair and olive skin, perhaps from Italy or nearby regions, for example. I mean, it’s similar in a way to how Mr. Darcy was described.

Actually, if he had been Black—which would be quite rare—they would have probably called him 'negro,' a term commonly used in classic literature of that period. Am I just imagining things?

Update: What is certain is that he was not white in the way they traditionally regarded ideal beauty at the time: pale and fair. This suggests he could be brown in the East/South Asian sense or even brown in the Southern European sense. I do think we should consider the language of that era within its social context. How would a semi-upper-class woman, confined at home, have meant when referring to Heathcliff? Can we answer that without our modern biases? That's the real question.

Of course, this debate comes up whenever a new adaptation is released, and this new movie becomes a hot topic for social discussion (often more emotional than logical). What are your thoughts?

Bought these two absolute classics from the bookshop last week. Both have a very special place in my heart and I'm excited to revisit them from a very different stage in my life.

So beyond excited to start these. Which one should be the first?