Literary Comments – 100 of the Greatest Books Read and Reviewed

Classic Literature isn’t always easy, or good!

There are many reasons for reading classic literature. For me personally (not that anyone should necessarily care!) is that so many of them have worked their way into general language and discourse, and I wanted to acquaint myself with that. I also wanted to understand what these great works had to say about the human condition since, I despair at the general level of conversation and general decorum in society today. I am aware that sounds pompous. Apart from that I wanted to appreciate how some of our greatest literary geniuses express themselves and put together a story. It teaches us logic, metaphor, symbolism, social commentary, historical context, the zeitgeist and, as I wrote before, illuminates what it means to be human.

I am getting all of that from my reading so far. I have especially fallen for Dickens and although his representation on this list is very limited, I am working my way through his canon in parallel to this challenge. I guess you could say for the sheer enjoyment of his prose and story telling. I have been disturbed by the mind of Kafka, enthralled by George Elliot’s use of language and social commentary and impressed, as ever, with Hemingway’s ability to surprise.

However it isn’t all plain sailing and there have been books I have read already, that I found very hard going and got very little from personally. I guess this is the way with classic literature, especially genre changing prose. I expected to find works such as Ulysses and War and Peace a challenge. Both of these are long, but I have come to realize that length isn’t what makes a book a challenge. If the story is moving and developing, lengthy works can really suck you in. I haven’t tacked either of those two highly rated books yet, but others have been very difficult for me.

There are a number of Faulkner works on this list and if they are all like “Absalom, Absalom!” I am in for a hard time. “Catch-22” was another that passed me by totally and I found hard to follow exactly what Heller was driving at. I own that this is my fault and I don’t understand the literary techniques but when a sentence runs on for a page, or the flashbacks become difficult to follow, I tend to lose the plot.

I am thinking that this is OK. Not al great works, or indeed any fiction, is going to appear to everyone. It is expecting too much to be thrilled and enthralled by all 100 books on this list. I am coming to the conclusion that there is a style with which I just don’t gel. I am in for more of these on this journey, of that I am sure. There is also the possibility that as I read more widely, my skills will improve and these books will become more enjoyable. I am certainly open to approaching them again in the near future. In the meantime though, I will rate them as poor or difficult reads, accept that says more about me than the book, and move on with the quest to read all 100 of these works!

The Dark Side of Classical Literature

I’ve never been a big fan of “Once upon a time they all lived happily ever after” storylines. These seem to be particularly pervasive in the movies but can also afflict literature. I think it would have been especially bold for JK Rowling to kill off Harry at the end of the Potter books. Apparently she did hint at that outcome at one time.

However as I move through this challenge I notice that more and more times, classical authors are not bound by such niceties it seems! Dickens for example is not averse to giving his heroes and heroines horrible diseases of the time as well as killing off fairly central characters and not only antagonists at that. I just finished the excellent Bleak House which is replete with deaths including one by spontaneous human combustion.

Obviously one expects darkness from the likes of Edgar Allen Poe and Franz Kafka but I wasn’t quite prepared for the depths of shadow cast by the plots of stories such as “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Metamorphosis”. However I find this refreshing if that isn’t too perverse a misuse of that word. One also expects this from dystopian works such as Brave New World and 1984 which are, of course, designed to foretell a bleak, albeit fictitious future. The fact that these novels make one think, and have the power to disturb and maybe even to shock, is part of their great strength.

Personally I like this in literature. Watching Hollywood’s offerings, the only element of suspense is really how the heroes and heroines will prevail, and what nasty end will befall the villain. In literature though, one is always on one’s toes, wondering what will happen next to a character that we might even like. I think this makes such works both enjoyable from that aspect of suspense, but also, somehow makes the characterizations and plot lines seem more human and realistic.

Struggling with imagery, metaphor, allegory etc

I have long been an avid reader of nonfiction. Such books have a great deal to teach us about history, society, thought etc. but often times, they are fairly straightforward. Histories of particular events are of especial interest to me, as they place the reader in a given time and, as LP Hartley famously opined: “The past is a different country: they do things differently there”.

However the degree of interpretation needed to read such texts is not the same as is necessary, or at least desirable when reading fiction. Much of the fiction I have hitherto consumed has been popular works (and there is nothing wrong with that) of the Tom Clancy type, or at least easy to read works such as Sherlock Holmes (for which I still have a great soft spot). It soon became clear to me that reading classic literature for enjoyment necessitates a deeper appreciation of nuance, as well as an appreciation of the story itself. In short, I was and am a beginner when it comes to reading these works.

In an effort to improve my abilities in this area, I picked up an interesting book:

It is an easy read and explains much, in top level terms, about classic literary styles and techniques. For example have you ever noticed how many literary figures succumb to either consumption or to drowning? There is a reason for that! I learned a lot, including what I don’t know! You can read a review of this book on my Goodreads profile.

It is a challenge for me. Sometimes imagery is easy to spot. In O’Neil’s wonderful play “A Long Day’s Journey into Night” the fog that frequently shrouds proceedings is akin to the mists that the main characters are fumbling through. However in many cases the imagery and message is harder to identify. Often times there is social commentary and satire built into the prose. There may be references to other classical works or the Bible (“Moby Dick” being a great example of the latter).

I am still struggling with this but it makes the reading experience so much richer and, as with most things, practice improves skills. There are so many stories, they are often deliberately rehashed and due homage paid to those that went before. I am always looking for these references and it is very fun to do so. I have a long way to go but, as always, the journey is as important as the destination.