"I apparently read Jewel of Seven Stars" - that made me spit out my tea in laughter.

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

LOL!

The Marble Faun sounds exquisite.

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

It really is!

You’ve now made me very excited to get on with The Idiot. It’s been on my shelf for a while now but I’ve never got round to it, so now you’ve given me some motivation. There are some other great recommendations here too, so thank you. My personal favourite classics of the year so far are: - Washington Square by Henry James (I highly recommend you give this a go if you haven’t already. It’s one of his early works so his prose isn’t as convoluted as his later works yet it still has incredible finesse, and it’s a masterpiece and a work of genius for me) - Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (I know this is a massively controversial book but it’s a stunning masterpiece. It contains some of the most beautiful prose I’ve ever read and the way he constructs the novel, especially the power dynamics is completely mind blowing. It really isn’t the disgusting book that people will have you think it is.) - My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier - The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton - The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope - The Awakening by Kate Chopin - Shirley by Charlotte Brontë Henry James has become one of my favourite writers, especially after reading Daisy Miller and The American this year which I also thoroughly enjoyed. I think Nabokov will become one of my favourite writers and I want to read every last one of his books now. Happy reading ❤️

Your videos are always a delight Jennifer. You always sell me on so many books! thank you! :D

I remember loving Tartuffe when I read it in college. Oh man, I LOVE the Tempest but I have a personal reason for loving it.

Something that always helps me when reading a humorous play (and plays in general), is reading them out loud to get that performance effect. It comes at least somewhat close to the way the text of a play comes alive on stage. I also often do this with poetry, especially epic poetry.

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

I’m a big advocate of reading aloud too! I read most of Tartuffe aloud and I think that’s largely why I enjoyed it.

@hermesnoelthefourthway

2 жыл бұрын

Nice point. Its meant to be performed/read out loud.

I honestly adore your videos. I feel richer for it having finished one! I just bought Moby Dick when I spotted it in a charity shop because I’d remembered that you’d enjoyed it. I hope some of your zest for it will encourage me to enjoy it. ☺️

I'm reading Moby Dick right now, for the first time, and I am so surprised by his command of language. It's stunningly gorgeous. Chapter 23 literally made me stop and have to take a LONG moment before I could continue. It was just SO beautiful and profound. I am loving MD.

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

Yes!! I was shocked at just how beautifully written it was!

I’m so glad you enjoyed The Idiot! I read War and Peace in march and also wondered how someone would say that about Tolstoy when Dostoyevsky writes so much more about the human condition and other psychological topics. I loved War and Peace but I personally think Tolstoy pales in comparison to Dostoyevsky😅 (mostly because Tolstoy focused so much on the upper class) I hope you’ll also enjoy Dostoyevsky‘s other novels! My personal favourite is The Brothers Karamazov, which is also my favourite book of all time☺️😉

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

I agree completely! Dostoyevsky feels more “real” to me somehow.

Hahaha…it’s truly amazing to see how there is not a single person who stops after reading just one Dostoyevsky. Everyone always seem to go down a rabbit-hole when it comes to his works. Crime and Punishment was the first book of his that I read and I have not stopped reading him ever since. My personal favourite is Notes from the Underground, if you are looking for a recommendation.

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

I just picked up Notes from the Underground! Maybe I’ll make that my next Dostoyevsky

@tanushrisharma5762

2 жыл бұрын

@@jenniferbrooks you definitely should give it a read soon!

@cody4986

2 жыл бұрын

I'm in the same boat! Read The Gentle Spirit and was intrigued, so I started Crime and Punishment and I am currently devouring that book ravenously...... it's so addicting. Can't wait to pick up more by him.

You've made me want to read Eugene Onegin. This was all very interesting!

I read The Idiot decades ago after seeing the most fantastic theater adaptation of the book! Still my favourite theater adaptation and experience! It was simply magical. I would love to reread the book because it was wonderful as well. Long live Count Myshkin :-)

I really enjoyed your video about beautiful literature, I've always thought of literature that way and I have not seen another reviewer or booktuber talk about it

Thank you for your vlog about best paperbacks for reading classics.

I just stumbled onto your channel by chance today, and this is the second video I have watched. I am a lot older than you are, and probably haven't read nearly as much as you have, but the list here inspires me to make a few comments. In my mid-twenties I must have attempted to read Moby Dick at least 8 times, but always gave up after about 30 pages. Then I read Melville's Benito Cereno, a tense and electrifying book that should be read by all. After that, something clicked, and I found Moby Dick to be an overwhelmingly beautiful book. The sound of Melville's language and the pace and beauty of this thought became spellbinding to me. There is nothing else like it. I felt like even if I had 10,000 years, and put in a lot of effort, I still wouldn't be able to write anywhere near as well as Melville in Moby Dick. I really want to re-read it. Ward No. 6 is my favorite Chekhov story, and each time I re-read it, I like it even more. It has some dark comedy, but ultimately is a heartbreaking and oh-so-true story and it is high on my list of works to recommend for those interested in Russian Lit. I have mixed feelings about Dostoyevsky, but have read and re-read a lot of his works, C&P, Brothers K, Idiot, Notes from the Underground, etc. Just recently re-read Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, in a marvelous translation published by Oxford, and loved it. Am just about to re-read A Hero of Our Time. The arena of Russian Lit. is vast, and is a special interest of mine, so I could go on, but will stop, but not without first recommending Leskov. Dante is a vast topic, and he cannot be understood without time and effort. I recommend comparing different translations, and getting a good edition with lots of footnotes. Dante deserves his towering reputation, but it takes a lot of self-education, preparation, open-mindedness, etc., to see why. What a pleasure to read and think about all these great books!

I am intrigued by your recommendation of The Marble Faun. I love Hawthorne's prose but wasn't familiar with that title. I am going to check it out. When you spoke of the heat, and actually feeling it. . . my memory was triggered by Mary McCarthy's book, _The Stones of Florence _. It was a wonderful read for anyone who loves Italy and her art.

Moby-Dick has always seemed like a strange choice for schoolkids because it's so long, but it doesn't deserve its bad reputation. It's definitely about whaling, but it's also about America, with the boat as an analogue for the nation. With the possible exception of The Great Gatsby, it's the best American novel I've read. What a shame you didn't enjoy The Tempest. It's thought to be one of the last plays Shakespeare wrote alone and there isn't much dispute about its authorship. Shakespeare addresses issues relating to art and creativity here more directly than in his other plays and I've always enjoyed that aspect of it. Plus this speech from Caliban is just gorgeous: Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices, That, if I then had waked after long sleep, Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming, The clouds methought would open, and show riches Ready to drop upon me; that, when I waked, I cried to dream again. Thanks for all your videos; they are wonderful and I could listen to you all day.

@tripp8833

2 жыл бұрын

That’s interesting, what makes you think Mobydick is an allegory for America?

@TiffWaffles

2 жыл бұрын

@@tripp8833 Never read the book, not interested in ever picking up the book... But I think I did read some very in depth analysis of the book that mentions the same thing as the original poster, that there is a lot of allusions to America and her people and stuff... But I haven't read the book. American authors are normally something I shy away from since I feel that they do a lot of forcing a story and not enough showing. I read Louisa May Alcott's Little Women and despised the American voice since. It's extremely different than the English voice or even the Canadian voice which is much more simpler than the English.

@tripp8833

2 жыл бұрын

@@TiffWaffles Well if you tend to shy away from American authors, then surely you should try reading Moby-dick to rectify that? It’s considered the greatest American novel. And it’s so much more than just an allegory for America, in my opinion. The prose is what makes it great, but the underlying philosophy is interesting as well. I would say it’s a gnostic allegory if anything.

I was exactly the same as you with Room with a View. I wasn't blown away by it but I keep thinking about it. Particularly the scene with the violets.

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

Yes! The violet scene is one that I constantly think about!

I personally enjoy tangents in books. It's so hard for me to accept criticism about how long The Count of Monte Cristo is (my favorite book of all time) and how many prefer the abridged versions D: .

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

I agree! Totally with you on the Count of Monte Cristo! It’s length is part of the reason it’s so good.

@CourtneyReads

2 жыл бұрын

I've not read an abridged version and I don't think I ever will. I don't see how you could take anything out. There's even a lot I think could be added! I'm not really into abridgements either though.

@TiffWaffles

2 жыл бұрын

I love Alexandre Dumas! He was such an amazing writer and I think he really put French literature on the map again. However, if you want tangents, I totally recommend Victor Hugo. My French literature class had to read Notre-Dame de Paris, and he's gotten an entire chapter dedicated to gothic Architecture that I am still seething about because I had to be forced to read it. My best friend got me an old book called the Gothic Architecture of Medieval France as a joke because she found it funny how much I ranted about Hugo and his stupid and boring chapter. I can deal with Dumas' tangents, but Hugo's made me want to ban all gothic Architecture in existence. I swear to God...

I enjoy your passion for the Pickwick Papers; though I have not read it myself it was a favorite of the Swiss/French author Blaise Cendrars, whom i highly recommend! I have read some of The Pickwick Papers, just as I have read some of many of Dickens' without really feeling the need to finish them. Frankly I don't read Dickens for the story.

Wow! I really like your voice and how you eloquent you are when you speak about the books. You make me want to read more classics. That's a gift! Thanks. Subbed.

I hope, one day, to read these wonderful classics you read. I’ve finished War and Peace but I have the opposite feeling you have about big books. When they are too big, I become impatient to finish. In the end, I had to finish War and Peace in audiobook. It was a good read, but not a masterpiece. I respect Tolstoy’s work though as he had to make an astounding effort to write this.

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

I have to agree with you on War and Peace. It’s fine but the whole time I have expected to be blown away and it just hasn’t reached that for me. I respect him too because it certainly is a feat!

@TiffWaffles

2 жыл бұрын

I am currently reading War and Peace and am entirely overwhelmed. See, I know my history and I know that Tolstoy was writing about the Napoleonic wars and the aftermath in Russia, but I don't know too much about Napoleon's exploits in Russia or any of the other Slavic countries to really care about the book. Now, I do know what he did in Italy and the German states, but Russia and its history are not of much interest to me.

Candide was a struggle when it was required reading for my world lit class. This was assigned after we read Don Quixote, so the transition to this did not go well.

I’ve never read Moby Dick, and your videos have really made me want to give it a try. I think it’ll really help knowing what to expect. Love your classics videos!

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

I hope you enjoy it if you do try it!

I love Tatiana from Eugen Onegin. She's one of my all-time favorite female characters. You make me want to read The Pickwick Papers and The Marble Faun. 📚 I'm so glad you're enjoying your Russian classics!

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

Tatiana is amazing! I would love to hear your thoughts on the Pickwick Papers and the Marble Faun!

I found this so interesting on many levels. I get so many reading recommendations from you and I know we both love Wilkie Collins and I read Tartuffe after your review and loved it. However at the same time, Moby Dick is probably one of the worst books I’ve ever ploughed through and The Tempest is my favourite Shakespeare play. Just shows different facets of human tastes I guess. I’m also starting on a bit of a Russian classics journey as well and enjoying it hugely (apart from War and Peace that is, which I’m still plugging away at slowly) xx

i really liked maurice but ive still not read any more em forster even though i own quite a few, really need to fix that. really interested in the sorrows of young werther after hearing you talk about it. my cousin rachel is my next du maurier and i cant wait, heard so many great things. i enjoyed a hero of our time but i dont remember much now, it didnt stick with me at all

So glad you enjoyed The Idiot! I'm right there with you in wanting to read all the things by him. I started with Crime and Punishment (which I plan to reread soonish) and then moved onto Brothers Karamazov (which I love so much) and I've read White Nights and now The Idiot. I'm trying to space out my Dostoevsky a little so I don't rush through them too much, but I will be picking up more in the very near future! And I do enjoy Tolstoy a lot, but his stories haven't quite fascinated me in the same way as Dostoevsky.

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

I also want to space things out with Dostoevsky but I don't know if I'll be able to!

@CourtneyReads

2 жыл бұрын

@@jenniferbrooks I can understand that! I'm also thinking that I will want to do some rereads of his stuff I've been reading. I think I would get a lot out of the Idiot were I to read it again now.

Not sure if you want recommendations for classics but if you loved Moliere as a playwright then I suggest reading Edmond Rostand's play 'Cyrano de Bergerac'. Though I am not sure if I should label it as a comedy or a tragedy... Or a romance.

Ugh my BF reads a ton. Great vid!

You’ve sold me on Dante, I really want to give the Divine Comedy a try now. Is there a particular edition you would recommend?

Have you read about the social impact of the Sorrows of Young Werther? How the 24 year old author was catapulted into fame over night? How people dressed like the main character? The merchandise that was sold because of the book? The “Werther Fever” being so intense that young men committed suicide. In Germany this novel is considered groundbreaking.

Wow, I love your picks! I'm currently reading Moby Dick and it is super dry, in my opinion, but I do enjoy it and I plan on finishing it. I have read A Hero of our Time last year and ADORED IT. There were many quotes that I liked from it, but one stuck with me and then I saw it again, but worded differently and it wasn't nearly as good as the translation I read. My native language is Serbian so I usually read Russian classics in Serbian, it's kind of better since you don't lose that much in translation because languages are from the same group. But I read Lermontov in English. I need to read Dostoyevsky in English and decide what I like better. Great reviews, I will keep watching your videos :)

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

I always wonder just how much is lost in translation from Russian to English! That's fascinating. I'd love to hear what you think of Dostoevsky in English and Serbian. Translation is so interesting to me.

@ABlurbFromTheSerb

2 жыл бұрын

@@jenniferbrooks Cool, I have Notes from The Underground in Serbian, so I will find a copy in English and read them at the same time and see what I think 😁 Even though my native language is Serbian, I prefer to read in English, I can’t explain it, but I just feel like I can FEEL more things when they’re written in English. It doesn’t make sense, I know 😂

Do the tiny tabs signify ideas by color? Or are they just wonderful quotes/passages?

I've always wanted to read the divine comedy but I heard that you don't get the full experience in translation, would you recommend the Oxford world classic version you had in this video? I own the Oxford world classics version of Ulysses and Finnegans wake and really enjoy them because of the supplementary aid included, does this version of the divine comedy have something like that?

Really great video! Moby dick and Dostoevskij's works are among my favourite! By Melville I also reccomend you the short story "Bartebly the scriveneer" and by russian authors absolutely Oblomov by Goncharov

I'm reading a book called Ratman's Notebooks. A 1960's psychological story that's recommended. Reading it on video for my channel.

What edition do you have of the Tasso? I have been having a hard time finding a good translation.

i'm reading Turgenev's Fathers and Sons really soon, i've decided! my first one by him so very excited. the decision was prompted by reading a Dostoevsky novel (Demons) with a main character who apparently is a pastiche of Turgenev (apparently those two really didn't get on). so if anything i just wanna know Turgenev better so i get all the jokes in Dostoevsky! wonderful and inspiring list here, thank you ~

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

I think Demons might be my next Dostoevsky! I'm really curious about Fathers and Sons after reading First Love--it's interesting that they apparently didn't get on. I hope you enjoy it!

@apocalypsereading7117

2 жыл бұрын

@@jenniferbrooks oh i'd love to be able to discuss Demons with you!! but warning it's nowhere near as accessible as lots of his other stuff, you really need to read the hell out of the footnotes and maybe get a few wikis in for good measure coz it's so much about political/social/ideological stuff going on at that time. it took me months to get into the flow of it.

My own recollection of Jewel of the Seven Stars is rather dim as well. A fairly forgettable novel, though I must have found it gripping enough to finish. It took me at least three attempts to get past the first fifty pages of Moby Dick; glad I persisted as it turned out to be a personal favorite. I often find myself lost in Wikipedia entries while I read, so Melville's diversions served my curiosity quite well.

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

I feel exactly the same way about Jewel of the Seven Stars--apparently it was compelling enough to finish, lol. Melville's digressions do feel a lot like a Wikipedia entry!

I’ve heard that there were lots of suicides because of Werther.

The Aeneid is only interesting to me as a contextual piece to understand contemporary Roman politics and culture. I think it's otherwise inferior to the Greek epics, but its messiness is also source of intrigue. The Aeneid is a slog even when read in Classical Latin, according to a colleague of mine. Crumbs from Homer's table

I noticed you have a couple books on the Russian monarchy, do you have any reviews of them or would you recommend them?

@jenniferbrooks

2 жыл бұрын

You've given me a video idea, Stephen! But I do highly recommend the Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore. It's a good overview. Some historians have a real problem with it but I think it's a great beginners book to the dynasty. I also recommend Peter the Great by Massie--it's a wonderful bio. He actually has several biographies that I think are great, if you are interested in individual members of the Romanov dynasty.

@drunkirishsteve

2 жыл бұрын

@@jenniferbrooks thanks, I'll definitely give those a look.

O, a "pet peeve". Nice. Never heard that one before. A petulent pet peeve. Nice alliteration

I know oliver twist isnt on the list but i read it not long ago and i was abit disappointed, it was pretty good for thr first 100 pages or so then it just became gradually less and less about well Oliver twist! i remember seeing the film as a child and thinking it was brilliant the start is the same as the film but as said past 100 pages it became just angry people rambling and Oliver gettings thrown between households until the end, i didnt dnf it but i wasnt far from it. Also read hand of darkness which once again was pretty good first 50 to 100 pages then just became non stop rambling about everything and anything and i had to dnf it 190pgs in as it was just arguments over a petty feud

Have you read The Decameron?

I really liked Crime and Punishment, but Notes from the Underground was awful. Awful. But that's just me :-)

I really enjoy your channel.. I’m binging them. One audiobook that made me like that kind of book is becoming by Michelle Obama it is also read by her. I wondering whether you have read the love story of Abelard and Heloise. Another thing I’ve done is I’ve bought fabric and leather book covers. When I take my books with me I know that they will be safe in my book cover

Definitely picked up a lot of recommendations from this video 🤍