Posts
Remember the cool Teaching Company courses I received as a birthday gift? After much reflection, I decided the best place to start is with Classic Novels: Meeting The Challenge of Great Literature. I haven't listened to any of the lectures yet, but I have started on the first book, Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe. In case you're curious, here is the reading list for this course:
Moll Flanders
by Daniel DefoeThe Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
by Laurence SterneDangerous Liaisons
by Pierre Choderlos de LaclosPere Goriot
by Honoré de BalzacWuthering Heights
by Emily Emily BrontëMoby-Dick
by Herman MelvilleBleak House
by Charles DickensMadame Bovary
by Gustave FlaubertWar and Peace
by Leo TolstoyThe Brothers Karamazov
by Fyodor DostoyevskyHeart of Darkness
by Joseph ConradDeath in Venice
by Thomas MannThe Metamorphosis
by Franz KafkaThe Trial
by Franz KafkaRemembrance of Things Past
by Marcel ProustUlysses
by James JoyceTo the Lighthouse
by Virginia WoolfAs I Lay Dying
by William FaulknerOne Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia MarquezI have my work cut out for me! I've only read two of them already -- Moby Dick and War & Peace (my thoughts on W&P) -- so I've got a lot of good stuff to look forward to. It's going to take me some time to work through this course as I do intend to read each book before listening to the lecture, with the exception of Proust. I've read Swann's Way (my thoughts), but I will try to maybe read the second volume in the series before the lecture. I won't try to read all seven. I think that would make me cranky. I do want to read them all eventually, just not back-to-back. And I'm scared to death of Ulysses. I see a heavily annotated edition of that book in my future! :-) This is going to be way too much fun!!!
13 comments:
That looks like a really interesting course. I'm actually a bit jealous! You're reading some of my favorites (and some of my least favorites, incidentally) and I bet the lectures will be fascinating. I hope you'll let us know what you think as you go along!
Meghan ~ I will definitely do that. I'm excited to get started! There are a few here that I'm intimidated by, but knowing I'll be listening to lectures on them helps me to fear them less. :-) Which ones are some of your favorites?
Lezlie
Wow, you're going to be busy!
It sounds so interesting!!! So glad you are embarking on something that you really love to do. I hope once I finish school and job gets settled in - I can grab some of those classics and dig in!!! LOL.
Bermudaonion ~ And happily so! :-)
Kara ~ I hope you can to! I'm having so much fun with all of this!
Lezlie
That's quite the reading list. I've read Moll Flanders and really liked it. Others read Wuthering Heights, Madame Bovary, As I Lay Dying and One Hundred Years of Solitude. I really want to read WAr and Peace one day--it's on my shelf. Surprisingly enough I've not read Moby Dick. lol.
Happy Reading---you'll be busy.
Wow! What a list! Enjoy your class :o)
Dar ~ You're way ahead of me! :-) I loved War & Peace, and Moby Dick I liked reading, but there were chunks that made my mind wander.
Terri ~ Thank you! I think I will!
Lezlie
Hey, I'm kind of jealous too! You will share what you've learned, won't you?
I would love to try one of their lecture series. What a great reading list--I look forward to hearing all about the books and the lectures!!
Chartroose ~ I will. That will be a big part of the fun!
Danielle ~ I hope you have a chance to try them sometime. I've have learned so much interesting stuff from the courses I've listened to. One of my favorites was The History of Ancient Egypt. The professor was Bob Brier, the first person to make a mummy in modern times using actual ancient techinques. National Geographic did a story on it called "Mr. Mummy."
Lezlie
I haven't read any of those except Ulysses (I think). I did however attempt to read Moby Dick & Wuthering Heights a few years ago. I might retry the latter but the former was too dense for me.
Ladytink ~ You read Ulysses? Do I need to be scared of that one? I've been looking at books of annotations thinking I should pick one up. I liked Moby Dick a lot, but it isn't one I run around recommending to people. It can be a snoozer.
Lezlie
Post a Comment