Kristal vs. The Classics

A few weeks into being here, we discovered our bookstore. In the back of said bookstore, there is a little shelf, with English books. It was just about the greatest discovery ever. I love reading. Always have, and always will. I haven't ever been really able to get into 'the classics' though. I guess I'm just kind of a hater that way. But since these books are the only ones we had, I decided to give it a go, and it's been awesome! I made a goal to read all the English titles they have.

I started with A Tale of Two Cities, and admittedly it took me awhile to get through the beginning of that book, but the end was really epic... and got me really excited to read more.

I have to say that I am REALLY suprised how much I have loved some of these books. I know it sounds totally cliché, but there is a reason (some) of these books have lasted. I'm just about halfway finished with the books there, so I have to fly to finish (but I calculated the pages per day, and I think I can do it!), but I thought I would give my opinion on the ones that I have read so far. Let me just say right now, that I read primarily to be entertained... so thats how I judge books.

Highly, HIGHLY recommend:
The Counte of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (the movie is bubkis compared to this book, I think it's my favorite ever)
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas(okay, so basically anything written by Alexadre Dumas, he's BRILLIANT)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

Worth the read (still awesome):
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen(anyone who knows of my former resentment of all things P&P, Emma and Sense and Sensibility should know how much this means)
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Hard Times by Charles Dickens
The Great Gatsby by Scott F. Fitzgerald
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

They were okay:
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Tender is the Night by Scott F. Fitzgerald
The Oz Series by Frank L. Braum(I only read books 1-3)

Only High School English Classes should be sentenced to read:
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky (maybe I should have picked a more popular Dostoevsky for my first one? This one was painful to get through)
The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne(I 'read' this one in High School, and thought I would give it another go while I wasn't being forced. Still didn't like it)


Sorry for the ridiculously long post... I'll try to keep more up to date as I finish books. Right now I'm working on Plato's The Republic, and taking breaks with Edgar Allen Poe's complete short stories collection.