Classics

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one of the profound books on human minds is "count of monte cristo" by alaxandre dumas. each one of the characters is so well depicted that one tends to identify with them. dumas' sequence of events is also remarkable in the sense that one can see a logical thread running throughout.

well! the story is of a young sailor (edmond dante) who is a victim of a plot of 3 people and as a result suffers from life imprisonment in a prison on an island and also loses his father and his beloved fiancee. there he comes into contact with a person called abbe faria who introduces him to the mysteries of life and science and also bequeathes to him a large treasure hid in an island called monte cristo. edmond manages to escape and takes possession of the treasure. how he returns to marseilles and takes revenge on the persons who caused him immeasurable grief is the story.

a wonderful book filled with gems of wisdom on human nature, greed et al.

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Hello I really appreciate Ravi for starting this site.I'am an avid reader of classics,both Indian and abroad.I loved to see England through the eyes of all those fabulous English writers.My all time favourite is Shakespeare.The variety of his writing filled with an entire parade of all kinds of human emotions is amazing.
We must not ignore great Indian authors like Rajaji,Tagore,K.M.Munshi,RKNarayan who delivered works of true magnificence,recreating history and mythology. It's amazing more so because of such simplicity of the language used.
"count of monte cristo" is one of my favourites too badri.good choice.O'Henry is also great and renowned for the unexpected turns and surprise endings

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my favourite authors: emily bronte, o.henry, dikens etc. some books which were not mentioned
above which i find are very good : george eliot : mill on the floss wilkie collins : moonstone , the first
detective story anton chekov's short stories. i consider him to be sujatha^10. jane austen : all her
novels.

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Bull

Count me in on O'Henry!

Reg. source for books, there's a shop in Mumbai that is probably one of the few places where u can find old classics, mostly original prints @ unbelievable prices. Years ago, I got some great bargains there, incl. original Thurber's.. I forget the name of this place, only that it's somewhere near Flora Fountain. Will try & recall the name of the shop..
Of course, this is assuming that u have access to Thackeraynagar in some way()

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Just wondering how a book gets into the classic league . Does classic mean that it is difficult to comprehend? or that it has to age for some time ( Shakespeare/Ramayana?)

Does this apply to music as well?

Classic music (whether indian or western) is applicable to music that is complex and has stood the time test, - are these the main/only factors?

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Any PG Wodehouse lovers ?

Ramji

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Ramji: Count me among Wodehouse lovers. I've never seen a better musician of English than him. In fact, I never used to appreciate style much till I read his works.

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Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" is an amazing novel that treads the darker aspects of the human psyche. Conrad was way ahead of exploring the psychological doubles long before Freud ascribed scientific names to them. A fascinating thing about Conrad is that he only learnt English in his late 30s but still went on to become one of the most revered writers in the language.

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My favorite sample of Pg Wodehouse humor. I am not quoting the exact words.

" He went into the room and came back so fast he almost met himself coming out"

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Ramji,
Meet your twin soul, as far as PGW goes , in me. Try this :
"The fascination of shooting as a sport wholly depends on whether you are on the right side or wrong side of the gun"
More :

1. ...fell into the washing machine and did as many revolutions per
minute as a small African republic....
2.Unlike the male codfish which, suddenly finding itself the parent
of three million five hundred thousand little codfish, cheerfully
resolves to love them all, the British aristocracy is apt to look with
a somewhat jaundiced eye on its younger sons.
Rajesh

More when I have time!