I watched a movie last night called Midnight in Paris starring Owen Wilson and he went back in time to the 1920s and hung out with Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, and more. As I was watching the movie I thought to myself that I really missed out on reading some of the classics. I dropped out of high school and when I was there I didn’t do any work, so I decided that I’d branch out from my usual theological and biblical studies bent, and check out some other stuff. So I just ordered a bunch of books with some Amazon gift cards. Here’s what I got:
The Letters of Ernest Hemingway: Volume 1, 1907-1922
Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Other Stories
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
I opted not to get The Great Gatsby because after reading up a little about Fitzgerald and his books I decided that it wasn’t for me. I’m not much into jazz and whatnot. I’m still waiting on my dear friend Esteban Vázquez to recommend some T. S. Elliot, at which time I’ll immediately order it (along with, I think, Douglas Wilson’s Wordsmithy).
I went for the Brothers Grimm and Edgar Allan Poe for both me and my daughter. Some of my favorite short stories when I was a kid were written by Poe, and I know she’ll appreciate the non-Disney version of Grimm’s fairy tales. I’ve also never read a Sherlock Holmes story but I’ve always wanted to and I loved the movie.
I have plans to get some Dickens and some more Twain at a later date. I like the Canterbury Classics volumes that they have but Twain wasn’t available for 1-3 months and I wanna get to Huck Finn before then. I can wait on Dickens since I’m pretty familiar with most of his stuff.
So there you have it. Plenty of stuff to read that’s not related to what I normally read. Hopefully it will help to make me a little more well rounded. Time will tell.
B”H
A lot of the classics are free with a Kindle account, and with the new online Kindle Reader service, you may not even need an actual Kindle. Best of luck…
I read “The Great Gatsby” a few years ago, and didn’t care for it (probably my shortcoming). Dickens I’ve tried to read but can barely understand (again, probably my shortcoming). I liked “Brave New World” by Huxley, and also Bradbury and Orwell’s novels. Pretty much any classical scifi or apocalyptic book is right up my alley. :) Have you ever read Chaim Potok? I’ve enjoyed his novels (all about different types of Jews).
Bill: Thanks for the tip. But it should come as no surprise that I love physical books. I’m not opposed to having digital backups though.
Kevin: I thought about Brave New World but I’ll save that for another time. I’d like to actually read some Jules Verne as well rather than just watching flicks based on his books..