Classics you read as an adult that surprised you

[annegables]

As a spin off from the books you hated thread, I have been reading classics that I never read before. I am so pleasantly surprised that I like so many of them!

Frankenstein: I thought I didnt like books where a bunch of people die. But this book isnt sad, it is tragic, which I now know is different. Plus, it is short, so I feel like I have accomplished something smart.

Hard Times by Dickens: After seeing it referenced in a few threads, I thought I should work through my school-inspired dislike of Dickens by reading this book. Very, very good and interesting. As a plus, it is his shortest book (that isnt Christmas Carol), clocking in at under 300 pages. 

Shakespeare. This was the biggest surprise of all! I started out with the side-by-side translations like No Fear SHakespeare for about 8 plays until I got comfortable just reading them. This is how I learned that tragedies are not really sad. I mean, people die, but I dont have a long, vested interest in them. Plus, did I mention that they are fairly short?😁 In the volume I have, Julius Caesar is 40 pages, and it is one of the longer ones. So I can read a play in about 4 hours, really start to understand it, and feel like I have accomplished something smart (notice a theme here?)

Flannery O'Conner: very weird and tragic. Took me a while to understand her point. But, again, drumroll please, the short stories are short!

Roughin' It by Twain: I now understand why he was called America's humorist. This book was really, really funny, especially the part on the gold/silver rush. 

All of P.G. Wodehouse: Now, I doubt these are classics, but they do make me feel British-y and smart, and the allusions to books I just read (mainly Shakespeare) are so rewarding! I love his stuff!

[Matryoshka]

I've kind of had an ongoing project since finishing school way back in the dark ages to read classics that weren't assigned.  I read lots of other stuff, so there are still many to go!

Some of my favorites - I think I already mentioned Moby-Dick, 😉 that was the biggest surprise because I had had such a previous bad experience with Melville.  Also loved Anna Karenina and Jane Eyre.  I did really like The Good Earth, but I loved another of her books, Pavilion of Women.  I did really end up liking Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men.  I also enjoyed Willa Cather's books, esp. O Pioneers!.

I'm not sure these count as I originally had them assigned in a college Chinese lit class, but I have recently reread two Chinese classics in better translations than the ones that I'd had assigned, and really loved them - Monkey (aka Journey to the West) and Story of the Stone (aka Dream of the Red Chamber)

I have yet to tackle any Hardy or Trollope, and have not really delved much into the French doorstops...  I did love The Plague, but that doesn't count for this question, as it was assigned in high school...  You mention Flannery O'Connor - also still haven't gotten there.  Did try Faulkner, hated the one I tried, but am willing to give it one more go; trying to figure out which to pick.

On Shakespeare, I tend to like to watch performances rather than read the plays, but I've really come to love Hamlet, having now seen many versions and having realized that, as you say, although a tragedy, it's also full of humor.  I did not get that out of it when we read it in high school...

I love all the Austens, but that isn't surprising, lol...

I've read and re-read Dracula, but I didn't love Frankenstein when I finally read it.  Someone else suggested trying it as an audio, so I'm planning to try again this October.  Or it might just be that I don't really like the writing of the Romantics.  Not a big fan of Naturalism, either.  The first too floridly sentimental and the second too darn relentlessly depressing...

[Lori D.]

Here are a few off the top of my head:
- The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) -- I totally went into it expecting to hate the depressing worldview of the Lost Generation -- but was entranced by the lovely writing
- Wuthering Heights (Bronte) -- jaw-dropped that such a young, physically fragile, and socially sheltered woman could write something so strong, brutal, and complex
- Northanger Abbey (Austen) -- I was giggling in parts; it felt like watching teens in a modern high school jockeying for relationships, with all the attendant angst and dashed hopes
- The Iliad and the Odyssey (Homer) -- I wasn't expecting to enjoy these as much as I did!
- All Hallows Eve, and esp., Descent into Hell (Charles Williams) -- rich, deep, subtle; I go back for re-reads every so often
- G.K. Chesterton -- his Father Brown mysteries, but especially his mystery parody collection of short stories, The Club of Queer Trades -- laugh out loud funny

BTW -- Frankenstein -- ug, for me, there is so much about that book is highly annoying, it was hard to pick through it to find the worthwhile parts. I didn't read it until as an adult, doing it with DSs. Wow -- the author is so erratic in her worldview... And pages and pages and PAGES of travelogue description of the Swiss scenery (and monologuing). And most of all, we wanted to give Victor Frankenstein a very serious dope slap of reality: "Man up and take responsibility for choices, dude! If you're going to go out on an ethical limb scientifically, at least have the courtesy to acknowledge that you made a mistake or went to far and do something responsible about this living being you have created!" Grrr.... 😂

Edited August 8, 2020 by Lori D.

[Miss Tick]

I have had a modest goal in this direction also. I finished a couple of engineering degrees and then thought I would use some discretionary time "reading all the classics" - thinking 1) how many could there be? and 2) there must be a master list somewhere.... 😂

I liked Moby Dick! I've been 9 chapters from the end of Don Quixote for many seasons - each chapter is it's own short story! While I like it, the over all arc had not been compelling enough to finish. Yet.

I won't be rereading Wuthering Heights if I can help it, but I'm looking forward to revisiting Jane Eyre and I've always meant to read Persuasion. The Iliad and The Odyssey were good with Dr. Vandiver's guidance, but I didn't love the Aeneid.

 

 

 

[Matryoshka]

5 minutes ago, Lori D. said:

Here are a few off the top of my head:
- The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) -- I totally went into it expecting to hate the depressing worldview of the Lost Generation -- but was entranced by the lovely writing
- Wuthering Heights (Bronte) -- jaw-dropped that such a young, physically fragile, and socially sheltered woman could write something so strong, brutal, and complex
- Northanger Abbey (Austen) -- I was giggling in parts; it felt like watching teens in a modern high school jockeying for relationships, with all the attendant angst and dashed hopes
- The Iliad and the Odyssey (Homer) -- I wasn't expecting to enjoy these as much as I did!
- All Hallows Eve, and esp., Descent into Hell (Charles Williams) -- rich, deep, subtle; I go back for re-reads every so often
- G.K. Chesterton -- his Father Brown mysteries, but especially his mystery parody collection of short stories, The Club of Queer Trades -- laugh out loud funny

BTW -- Frankenstein -- ug, for me, there is so much about that book is highly annoying, it was hard to pick through it to find the worthwhile parts. I didn't read it until as an adult, doing it with DSs. Wow -- the author is so erratic in her worldview... And pages and pages and PAGES of travelogue description of the Swiss scenery (and monologuing). And most of all, we wanted to give Victor Frankenstein a very serious dope slap of reality: "Man up and take responsibility for choices, dude! If you're going to go out on an ethical limb scientifically, at least have the courtesy to acknowledge that you made a mistake or went to far and do something responsible about this living being you have created!" Grrr.... 😂

I should have added the Iliad - we listened to it, but yes, I enjoyed it!

Frankenstein, LOLOLOL.  I read that Percy heavily edited Mary's original to make it, I think, more florid.  Wish I could read the pre-edited version, it was likely better.  Those Romance poets were over the top!  Especially with the scenery descriptions and overwrought internal monologues... 🙄

[Mommalongadingdong]

My favorite classics are Wuthering Heights and Brave New World. I also recently read Othello and loved it, so I'm going to give Shakespeare more of my time. I just remember classics being such a slog when I was younger, but now I think I can appreciate them more for what they are. I read A LOT, but usually only read less than 10 classics a year. It also depends on what's considered a classic I guess. 

[Matryoshka]

3 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

Awwww, I love Frankenstein. It's one of my favorites. It figures, because I like Percy too though. 

LOL, I feel like I want to give all those Romantics a dope-slap of reality and tell them to man up.  Swanning about in fields gazing at trees and over-analyzing their Deep Feelings without any apparent need for sustenance other than their Love for some woman who does not reciprocate their feelings. 🤢

Quote

Anna Karenina was one of those books I think I'd have done well to read every decade of my life, and plan to from now on. I really don't quite have words for that book. I am so glad I read it though. 

That's my favorite of Russian lit so far... W&P was also good, but got a bit slow in the War parts.  I'll read more Tolstoy.  Haven't been as impressed with Dostoevsky thus far, and didn't see what others love so much in The Master and Margarita...  didn't hate it but, meh...

Quote

I've enjoyed what I've read of Don Quixote, but I always stop at the same place and never finish. Then I forget and have to restart and stall out again. 

Ugh, that is one that is sitting on my shelf glaring at me.  I did finally get to One Hundred Years of Solitude this year, and it was okay but I'm not going to say it was a favorite.  Also finally read Metamorphosis and The Trial; the former I did like but the latter was a painful read.  I kind of hate-read Werther - I knew going in that I would want to dope-slap him twelve ways to Sunday.  I minored in Spanish and German, so I have felt the need to work my way through all those classics I missed as well...

[Matryoshka]

6 minutes ago, Æthelthryth the Texan said:

What gets me most about the Shelleys is what complete and utter train wrecks they were. Especially Percy. I mean, seriously, what a dick. But I think there's something about knowing that and still his writing just gets me. And Mary's- I just loved Frankenstein from the very first read. I don't know why, I just love it, but I always know in my head it's such a facade for their real lives. I mean, he was about as despicable as it gets. What a train wreck couple. 

I have told all my children- Never marry musicians or poets. You are only asking for trouble. The examples are legion. 😂

If you like the Shelleys, I read a absolutely fantastic dual biography of Mary and her mother Mary Wollstonecraft (of whom I had not even previously heard).  Really, really good. Romantic Outlaws.   And yeah, Percy, sheesh.  And Byron was much worse...  he comes up a lot.

[annegables]

I would do so much better with Russian lit if they had a translation which called each character by only ONE name. Not three names plus random nicknames. Not half of a name only mentioned once. I cannot keep each character straight and it turns me off from Russian lit. I might have to give Anna Karenina a shot. I read A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch and The Brothers Karamazov. The latter was the worse for everyone being called by a bunch of names-I couldnt keep characters straight and thought that one character was several different people until halfway through. 

[annegables]

5 hours ago, SusanC said:

I have had a modest goal in this direction also. I finished a couple of engineering degrees and then thought I would use some discretionary time "reading all the classics" - thinking 1) how many could there be? and 2) there must be a master list somewhere.... 😂

I liked Moby Dick! I've been 9 chapters from the end of Don Quixote for many seasons - each chapter is it's own short story! While I like it, the over all arc had not been compelling enough to finish. Yet.

I won't be rereading Wuthering Heights if I can help it, but I'm looking forward to revisiting Jane Eyre and I've always meant to read Persuasion. The Iliad and The Odyssey were good with Dr. Vandiver's guidance, but I didn't love the Aeneid.

 

 

 

I adore Persuasion. But I also like Northanger Abbey (my kids call it "North and Grabby"). The only Austen I actively dislike is Mansfield Park, mainly because I like zero of the characters. 

I got through all of the Iliad wondering when the Trojan Horse came in. The Iliad reminded me of reading the chapters in the Old Testament that just list the "begats" of names, except the list of names was punctuated with different terrible ways to die in battle. I could understand how The Odyssey is highly thought of, but I think I need to read the Iliad again to better appreciate its specialness. I also thought the wrong person died in the Iliad. I much preferred Hector to Achilles. I liked the Aeneid much more, especially because I finally found where the Trojan Horse is mentioned. 

I agree with your whole first paragraph and am also an engineer by training.

[annegables]

Just now, square_25 said:

Hah, diminutives and patronymics getting you down? You're saying that Anna Arkadyevna, An'ka, Anya, Anna, and Anechka aren't OBVIOUSLY all the same name? How strange... 

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! Noooooooo!!!

I remembered something else about Russian lit. I read it when I was young and green, and thought that the whole "Russians drink lots of vodka" trope was just exaggeration. And then I read The Brothers K. Good grief. I think their only sustenance for half the book was hard liquor. I wondered if a person can get drunk just reading about excessive drinking bc I was starting to feel woozy while reading. But that might also have been all the extra names:).

[Matryoshka]

3 minutes ago, annegables said:

I adore Persuasion. But I also like Northanger Abbey (my kids call it "North and Grabby"). The only Austen I actively dislike is Mansfield Park, mainly because I like zero of the characters. 

I've read and loved I think all of the Austens except Mansfield Park, and I've heard enough comments like this to be in no hurry, lol... 

I got through all of the Iliad wondering when the Trojan Horse came in. The Iliad reminded me of reading the chapters in the Old Testament that just list the "begats" of names, except the list of names was punctuated with different terrible ways to die in battle. I could understand how The Odyssey is highly thought of, but I think I need to read the Iliad again to better appreciate its specialness. I also thought the wrong person died in the Iliad. I much preferred Hector to Achilles. I liked the Aeneid much more, especially because I finally found where the Trojan Horse is mentioned. 

Yes. Hector is great, and Achilles is both whiny and ego-inflated. Most of the Greeks were jerks. Well, Paris was too...

I did really enjoy the audio we listened to... Fagles translation read by awesome British actor (Jacobi??). And it judiciously edited down some of the battle scenes so there was a bit less of who lanced who through which organ... 

[Matryoshka]

1 minute ago, square_25 said:

Can I just say that this is the funnest thread ever? 😄 I should be mucking with my AoPS script and I'm on here instead... 

I got nothing else done today, lol!

[Shoeless]

I loooooved The Great Gatsby. Still do. 

And Walden has been appealing to me a lot more lately. 

So I tried to re-read Billy Budd today.  "Maybe I'm not being fair!", I thought. "Maybe I'll appreciate this more now that I'm older!". Nope. 😆

Edited August 9, 2020 by MissLemon

[Shoeless]

@square_25

Here you go! Billy Budd

[LMD]

My surprise was that classics are classics for a reason. They're really good. I remember getting sick of picking up crap from the library, picked up one of those 'what should you read' anthologies and went from there. I made an alphabetical list, well, I tried to, I got stuck at A 😄

I also read The Awakening, Anna Karenina, Agnes Grey, Age of Innocence... loved them all.  *dons flame retardant suit*  I really loved Atlas Shrugged.

I learned that persevering was usually worth it - Anna Karenina and Age of Innocence taught me that, I adore those endings.

I've moved on from A 😁

Edited August 9, 2020 by LMD

[Lori D.]

16 minutes ago, LMD said:

My surprise was that classics are classics for a reason. They're really good. I remember getting sick of picking up crap from the library, picked up one of those 'what should you read' anthologies and went from there. I made an alphabetical list, well, I tried to, I got stuck at A 😄

... I've moved on from A 😁

If you get tired of the Alphabetical approach 😉 , you can also check out the list of classics in Invitation to the Classics (Cowan), or in SWB's The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had (her WTM for adults, lol).

[Matryoshka]

1 hour ago, LMD said:

My surprise was that classics are classics for a reason. They're really good. I remember getting sick of picking up crap from the library, picked up one of those 'what should you read' anthologies and went from there. I made an alphabetical list, well, I tried to, I got stuck at A 😄

I also read The Awakening, Anna Karenina, Agnes Grey, Age of Innocence... loved them all.  *dons flame retardant suit*  I really loved Atlas Shrugged.

I learned that persevering was usually worth it - Anna Karenina and Age of Innocence taught me that, I adore those endings.

I've moved on from A 😁

Okay, but now we all need to know what letter you're up to... 😅

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I just finished Dracula, and it's probably now on my top 10 list of favorite books.  I was not expecting to like it, as I don't do horror or "dark", but it was actually so full of light and human virtue that it was just beautiful.  

 

[El...]

I really like Treasure Island. 

[purpleowl]

Some that I expected to dislike but ended up liking: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Paradise Lost, Animal Farm. 

I expected to dislike Moby-Dick, but it was...fine. There were good parts, and there were parts that dragged on. I'm not eager to read it again, but I didn't hate it.

I expected to like Pride and Prejudice. I found it dull and boring. *runs for cover*

 

[Wheres Toto]

Many of the ones mentioned I read in Middle or High School but I didn't read Frankenstein or Pride and Prejudice until I was an adult.   I really enjoyed both.  

I also didn't read The Secret Garden until my kids did.  

[ALB]

I'm 3/4 through War and Peace now after starting and quitting two previous tries years ago.  I really, really love Anna Karenina and have reread it several times, so I know Tolstoy is worth it.  That book struck something inside my heart and I feel like I'm constantly applying truths that I gleaned from it to real life relationships.   W&P is surprisingly readable after persevering (with a who's who list of characters) and I'm even somewhat comprehending the political scenes.  It's such a great book for learning more about Napoleon, too!

For some reason, books set around the French Revolution seem to become favorites: Tale of Two Cities, Les Miserables, Count of Monte Cristo.  It sure inspired great literature!

I have to say Moby Dick didn't do it for me and I will not assign that one to my kids, as thrilling as the plot line is.  

I have grown to love Charles Dickens and most things from that era (Austen, Bronte, Thackeray, Eliot).  I'm trying to appreciate older things like Beowulf but that's a struggle.  Shakespeare is great, as long as I read it out loud.  Iliad was a bloodbath and hard to get through in most chapters (books), but Odyssey was great.  I'll probably just assign a retelling of the first for my next kids and an actual translation for Odyssey.

[annegables]

Something I am just starting to realize is that I thought, honest-to-goodness, that after high school, the window for reading the classics had closed. If I didnt read them between the ages of 14-18, I would never read them. In my defense, it was never explained to me that classics are introduced at those ages in the hopes that it will inspire a life-long reading of great lit. After all, Mrs Galloway was hardly written with a teenage audience in mind. In my mind, I have been "too late" to read these great books. What a sad way of viewing things! Of course it isnt too late! I am literally the authors' target demographic! After all, that is what we mean when we say that we finally understand many of the themes in these books only after we have some real life experience under our belts.

[Matryoshka]

54 minutes ago, ALB said:

I have to say Moby Dick didn't do it for me and I will not assign that one to my kids, as thrilling as the plot line is.  

I have grown to love Charles Dickens and most things from that era (Austen, Bronte, Thackeray, Eliot).  I'm trying to appreciate older things like Beowulf but that's a struggle.  Shakespeare is great, as long as I read it out loud.  Iliad was a bloodbath and hard to get through in most chapters (books), but Odyssey was great.  I'll probably just assign a retelling of the first for my next kids and an actual translation for Odyssey.

I'm going to tie the two bolded phrases together.  I tried a few times to read Moby-Dick and never got past the first chapter or two, and it felt like a slog.  So I decided to try listening to it, and someone recommended the Hootkins audio.

I can.not.recommend this more highly.  The language of Moby-Dick is, in fact, quite Shakespearean, and big chunks of it are written like a play - complete with stage directions.  And like with Shakespeare, emphasis and timing of delivery are key, and Hootkins nails it.  I had a smile on my face the whole time, and sometimes laughed out loud.  I can guarantee you that if I'd read it, I would have missed most of the humor in the long sentences and such.  But it's not the plot that has me love it, at.all.  It's just a really fun read (well, listen), and Ishmael is so snarky!  Without an animated narration, I could see the same text being read as a slog.  Anyone that wants to tackle Moby-Dick, for the first time or to give it another chance, do try the Hootkins audio!!  He even managed to make the cetacean chapter engaging.  I was actually kind of sad when it was over...

[Lori D.]

20 minutes ago, annegables said:

Something I am just starting to realize is that I thought, honest-to-goodness, that after high school, the window for reading the classics had closed. If I didnt read them between the ages of 14-18, I would never read them. In my defense, it was never explained to me that classics are introduced at those ages in the hopes that it will inspire a life-long reading of great lit. After all, Mrs Galloway was hardly written with a teenage audience in mind. In my mind, I have been "too late" to read these great books. What a sad way of viewing things! Of course it isnt too late! I am literally the authors' target demographic! After all, that is what we mean when we say that we finally understand many of the themes in these books only after we have some real life experience under our belts.

Yes! We can participate in the Great Conversation that is Literature through the ages for the rest of our lives!
Yes! MANY books are BEST waited for until later in life. 
There are SOOO many worthwhile books out there, that I see it as a lifelong adventure. 😄 

[ScoutTN]

The Odyssey, Gatsby, Middlemarch, A Tale of Two Cities.

[LMD]

16 hours ago, Matryoshka said:

Okay, but now we all need to know what letter you're up to... 😅

My A list was over a hundred, and once I had some good momentum I decided not to limit myself 😄 

After Atlas Shrugged, I read Grapes of Wrath. I think that's a good way to do it.

I'm currently reading Jude the Obscure, I haven't read Hardy since highschool and I'm remembering how much I enjoy him!

[madteaparty]

Good thread! I’m reading Grapes of Wrath now and can’t put it down. This is not my normal reaction to a classic 😉

others I’ve had a similar reaction to are

Anna Karenina (this needs read or reread in middle age)

Fathers and Sons
count of Monte cristo

 I read Jude the Obscure and Wuthering Heights with DS. Also Medea the play ❤️

Edited August 10, 2020 by madteaparty

[Momto6inIN]

My Antonia was wonderful and poignant. After reading Death Comes for the Archbishop (boring!) I didn't expect to like it but it might be one of the greatest books I've ever read.

Don Quixote was fun for a little while but then it started dragging. I forced myself to finish the first book but never started the second one. 

[madteaparty]

On 8/9/2020 at 1:56 PM, Matryoshka said:

I'm going to tie the two bolded phrases together.  I tried a few times to read Moby-Dick and never got past the first chapter or two, and it felt like a slog.  So I decided to try listening to it, and someone recommended the Hootkins audio.

I can.not.recommend this more highly.  The language of Moby-Dick is, in fact, quite Shakespearean, and big chunks of it are written like a play - complete with stage directions.  And like with Shakespeare, emphasis and timing of delivery are key, and Hootkins nails it.  I had a smile on my face the whole time, and sometimes laughed out loud.  I can guarantee you that if I'd read it, I would have missed most of the humor in the long sentences and such.  But it's not the plot that has me love it, at.all.  It's just a really fun read (well, listen), and Ishmael is so snarky!  Without an animated narration, I could see the same text being read as a slog.  Anyone that wants to tackle Moby-Dick, for the first time or to give it another chance, do try the Hootkins audio!!  He even managed to make the cetacean chapter engaging.  I was actually kind of sad when it was over...

Oo. We do have a 20 hr drive and DH seems receptive. Might try this.