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[chemchick]

Jackit-thanks for the correction.  I read W&P about 15 years ago during grad school and clearly forgot Tolstoy's entire message!  How embarrassing.

Elsie-thanks for the blog URL.  I will definitely check it out.  Thanks also for the explanation of Old vs. Middle English.

See why I'm a chemist?  *creeps away in shame from the people who are so obviously better educated in literature*

[aristof_ns]

Incidentally, how difficult is The Wife of Bath to get through? 

Nowhere near as difficult as The Tale of Sir Melibee!!!

[octoprof]

OK, I have checked three of the books mentioned here out of the library. I love a challenge... We'll see what happens.

[liquidambar]

A Tale of Two Cities
Les Miserables (I plan to finish it eventually, but it's been missing since before my last 2 moves.)
Shogun
The Three Musketeers
some book by Kurt Vonnegut
Robinson Crusoe

Not books, but:
Macbeth
King Lear
I've decided that Shakespeare is best left to the stage.

The list of classics I haven't bothered to attempt is far longer.

[firecracker]

Great Expectations.

I've started it at least four separate times. Dickens' plots are really quite interesting. However, his writing is so drawn out and ungodly wordy that it takes fifty pages for a character to get up and answer a knock at the door. Move it along, already! (I did finish a Tale of Two Cities, but only because it was required reading. Never again.) I have a feeling I would enjoy the Cliff's notes version.

On the other hand, I love Wuthering Heights. The characters are so sick and twisted--how can you not enjoy it?

AMEN! to those who have posted about Dickens. I just can't get through anything by the man.

As an undergrad, my best friend and I had a prof we adored who loved Dickens. When we sheepishly admitted the big D was not a favorite, he recommended _Our Mutual Friend_ as very readable. We rushed out to buy our copies. I got through about 10 pages before succumbing to Dickens' fatigue...

Maybe someday.

Maybe not.

[porcupine]

Ulysses; War and Peace (though I enjoyed Anna Karenina); Being and Time.

[aristof_ns]

almost any 20th century lyric poet -- I've slogged through The Wasteland at least 5 times and still have NO idea what's going on. And that's one of the more straightforward poems of the 20th century! Same with Stevens and WC Williams -- they go right over my head. But once I get to the post-War authors, I am completely lost.

[daurousseau]

almost any 20th century lyric poet -- I've slogged through The Wasteland at least 5 times and still have NO idea what's going on. And that's one of the more straightforward poems of the 20th century! Same with Stevens and WC Williams -- they go right over my head. But once I get to the post-War authors, I am completely lost.

Time to switch to haikus. At least you'll get to the end.

[aristof_ns]

true, though I usually have no idea what the haiku is trying to SAY.... So a frog jumps in water -- and????  Guess I'm not Zen enough, but I really prefer narratives, preferably involving people -- I don't do well with nature writing...

[camera]

Add me to the Moby Dick list. I did get through Billy Budd, since it was assigned in high school, but hated every dreadfully boring second of it. I also could not get through The Sound and the Fury.  Also, I have twice tried to read DeLillo's Underworld and twice failed to get past the first quarter of the book.