What Classic lived up to its hype for you?

[StefanB25]

I love The Count of Monte Cristo (Favorite Book hands down! I have read the bridged twice and unabridged once after that) and I found Slaughterhouse Five weird, but good. There is a discussion topic going on about which classic has disappointed the reader, which makes me wonder: What Classic have you read and thought that it did live up to all the hype about it?

[Ant]

Again the term Classic, a classic is surely through the eyes of the beholder, or in our case the reader, for instance I would not put Slaughterhouse Five in the Classic bracket, but getting back to the original question a book that did live up to it's reputation for me was Great Expectations, IMHO a truly great book. I have read quite a few of these Classic books over the years and most of them are no better than modern writers, just my opinion.

[Gannon]

Again the term Classic, a classic is surely through the eyes of the beholder, or in our case the reader, for instance I would not put Slaughterhouse Five in the Classic bracket, but getting back to the original question a book that did live up to it's reputation for me was Great Expectations, IMHO a truly great book. I have read quite a few of these Classic books over the years and most of them are no better than modern writers, just my opinion.

Ahhhhrr, Ant, you beat me to it. "Great Expectations" and also "A Tale of Two Cities" are two classics that really lived up to the hype for me. Also "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Lord of the Flies", "Dracula", "The Picture of Dorian Gray" All of these books jump out at me, there are many more.

[Bighuey]

Id have to say Dracula, War Of The Worlds, The Illiad, and Mallory's Le Morte D'Arthur.

[Gannon]

Id have to say Dracula, War Of The Worlds, The Illiad, and Mallory's Le Morte D'Arthur.

Hey Bighuey, if you still have the book with you, whose translation of "The Illiad" did you read?

[Bighuey]

Id have to say Dracula, War Of The Worlds, The Illiad, and Mallory's Le Morte D'Arthur.

Hey Bighuey, if you still have the book with you, whose translation of "The Illiad" did you read?

I found it, its a Penguin paperback version translated by E.V. Rieu. It came out in 1964. Ive also got a copy of The Odyssey that was printed in the 1890's translated by Andrew Lang.

[Tralala]

Gotta agree with Drac, Lord of the Flies, and Two Cities...I haven't read the other ones mentioned, yet.
Watership Down and Little Women..do they count? They're two of my favorites. And I've loved everything I've read by Camus, so far.

[Gannon]

Id have to say Dracula, War Of The Worlds, The Illiad, and Mallory's Le Morte D'Arthur.

Hey Bighuey, if you still have the book with you, whose translation of "The Illiad" did you read?

I found it, its a Penguin paperback version translated by E.V. Rieu. It came out in 1964. Ive also got a copy of The Odyssey that was printed in the 1890's translated by Andrew Lang.

Hey Bighuey, what sort of condition is your Odyssey edition in, I might have to make you an offer.

[Scott]

Steinbeck's books really lived up to their hype for me.

[Va_treehugger]

Don't know if this is a classic, but I loved The Razor's Edge. I think I enjoyed it so much because I relate to Larry Darrell's plight of seeking enlightenment.

[StefanB25]

I do have David Copperfield on my desk now, would also like to get to Great Expectations and a Tale of Two Cities. The Picture of Dorian Gray I have heard of again and again, but I keep forgetting about it! To Kill a Mockingbird I also loved, was one of those assigned high school reads. War of the Worlds is on my list, I created one of those 100 Books to Read lists. I do like Of Mice and Men a lot and I also do have The Grapes of Wrath on the list too.

-- Fri Feb 24, 2012 2:31 am --

Gotta agree with Drac, Lord of the Flies, and Two Cities...I haven't read the other ones mentioned, yet.
Watership Down and Little Women..do they count? They're two of my favorites. And I've loved everything I've read by Camus, so far.

I'd say that Watership Down (one of my mother's favorites) and Little Women would count.

[swervo513]

I absolutely loved Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Every time I read it I find it beneficial and applicable to my life.

[RuqeeD]

Again the term Classic, a classic is surely through the eyes of the beholder, or in our case the reader, for instance I would not put Slaughterhouse Five in the Classic bracket, but getting back to the original question a book that did live up to it's reputation for me was Great Expectations, IMHO a truly great book. I have read quite a few of these Classic books over the years and most of them are no better than modern writers, just my opinion.

I have to agree. But I have to say, there have been plenty of really really great books that I would have missed out on if they hadn't been labelled as classic.

I think there have been plenty of classic books that cannot be reproduced in this day and age, the quality of the writing, the magic of the story and to me a lot of great modern books can trace their way back to the original classic stories that imo is what makes them classic but like you said it's to each his own really.

[Lon Dee]

I'm not sure what my expectations were of A Tale of Two Cities, but I'm currently reading it and it's certainly proving to be better than I thought.

Another is The Grapes of Wrath. I told my kids that if they want to know why I am the way I am (distrustful of large accumulations of wealth, and concerned for the plight of the commoner), they only need read this novel. It encapsulates much of my life views.

For some unusual classics, there are two (among many) that I'd list: Creation of the Gods (also named Fengshen Bang) is a Chinese classic about how many of the Buddhist gods came into being. It incorporates actual historical events with folklore and religious traditions. It's attributed to Xu Zhonglin and I believe written in the 1500s. The second is Journey to the West (also called Monkey King), written by Wu Chengen in the 1700s. It's a novel about a monk that travels to India to obtain some sacred writings. My kids have a set of animated DVDs telling this story, and it's a lot of fun to watch.

[Bighuey]

@ Gannon, my Odyssey is in pretty rough shape. Water stained, loose pages, in fact its held together with a rubber band. I got it years ago, about 1965 I think from a Salvation Army thrift store for a 25 cents. Ive read it so I would take 50 cents for it. Rubber band included.