You make me smile, Muhlenstedt! I must remeber to let you know when I start selling carpets or cutlery😂 As for Paradise Lost, it can be quite traumatic, can't it? I only take it in smaller sections. It takes such time to think about.

I'm reading Paradise List right now and loving it! I have an annotated edition, which helps a lot. It *is* slow, and I read everything twice - once silently, to understand it, and once aloud, to hear the poetry.

That's great, Rachel. I first read Beowulf at school, but I don't think I appreciated it or its importance. Utopia is not an easy read. It is quite stodgy. Don't feel that you must read all of these straight away though. Reading is always first for pleasure. Reading books for educative purposes should also be enjoyable, but if they are not ones you would naturally want to read, I'd suggest spacing them out between other works. Otherwise, one runs the risk of tiring out and asking reading a chore.😀

David Copperfield. 💯 You cannot even be considered for heaven unless you’ve read that. So get cracking …

I thought David Copperfield was booooring. Maybe I need some guidance, but i thought it was a total snoozefest. There is only one passage I liked in the book, which was a scene where Copperfield went and saw a production of Julius Caeser. That one quote alone is worth all the drudgeery.

There isn't a book on the list I would even remotely be interested in-the bible is utter nonsense.

I'd add Blood Meridian to this list, among others.

Amen. I can't stand watching a 20yo uni student talking about the classics where they say stuff like, "urgh, Dickens. He just rambles on!"

The Woman in White is ENTHRALLING.

i remember with fond memories perusing the used bookstores

I would love to read Beowulf. But I'm scared... English isn't my first language and there isn't a translation available to my language. My English is good but I'm not sure it's good enough. I struggled a lot with paradise lost and ended up dnfing it for this reason so I'm afraid Beowulf would be the same. Would love a suggestion for an easy translation for both or one with explanations.

@Noa2020 Hi Noa. I understand your concerns. I will say that Beowulf is easier than Paradise Lost. The most recommended translation is the one by Seamus Heaney. There are quite a few movie adaptations which may be of use. Though, some of the more recent ones are particularly bloodthirsty and graphic. Hope this helps.

Hi Rebecca! Im pleased that you arrived here. So pleased to meet another literature lover. And thank you for the compliments and positivity.

Just found you and subscribed. I agree with Rebecca. Your enthusiasm for literature is infectious. It is so needed in a day and age where I hear people say they don’t read which makes me think they didn’t have a figure like you in their lives.

Thank you Todd, that's really kind of you to say. I appreciate your being so encouraging and taking the time to comment.

Shakespeare was the Michelangelo of literature.

Followed closely by Milton and Andrew Marvell

Thank you Mr Quixote! That is a really kind thing to say. Sorry not to reply to you sooner, life is so busy. But I truly appreciate your graciously taking the time to comment and be so encouraging. Thank you again.

Thank you Michelle. How wonderful to be 'deliriously excited to start reading.' Your comment has given me a buzz inside. Keep in touch, Michelle.

Couldn't agree with you more, Grace. 1&2 Samuel is a good shout too. Many many allusions are made to King David through later literature. As for Shakespeare, even his plays are liberally doused in allusions to the Bible accounts.

Excellent presentation, Tristan. At age 68, four years ago, I started reading the classics from the ancient Greeks through the early 20th century. Your videos have helped along the way. It's never too late to get started. BTW, The Geneva Bible, housed in the Shakespeare Folger Library, is loaded with marginalia reflecting passages in Shakespeare's works.@@tristanandtheclassics6538

Wonderful, Tim! I hope that you enjoy it. I personally love Eliot's way of writing. Let me know how you get on.

Me too. I think that Robinson Crusoe set the template for everything that followed.

Oh I am thrilled that you want to make this a year for the Classics, Niamh. You have an Aladdin's cave of treasures before you.😀❤️

​@@tristanandtheclassics6538Thanks Tristan, hope you have a wonderful day 🙏

People like you gross me out with how small minded you are

That's superb. 😂😂😂

It was great to see you on the group discussion earlier, Mandy. Totally relate to your feelings about Paradise Lost. It intimidates me, too. While there is a lot of beauty, there is a lot of head scratching as well. I only take it in increments. But in a way, I thoroughly relish that.

I am in the middle of Beowulf too it is really cool

Of all my 'A' Level books, Paradise Lost was my favourite. Obviously it been years since I read it and now bought a copy to re-read it. As for Dickens, having read all his works,my favourite is Great Expectations. Bought Canterbury Tales (illustrated)...again to remind me why I liked it ! The problem is the number of unread books vs re-read s 🤔 Never enough time !

Can you recommend a modern translation?

Get ready to enjoy yourself, Callum. A wonderful work from the 'Shakespeare of the novel.'

Amen to the heating bills. 😂 Thank you.

I took a class on U.S. history since 1945. Wouldn't it be interesting to do those courses at the same time.

Here's an example: O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

But much less accurate than the Revised Version.

As a cultural Catholic I want the King James plus the so called “apocrypha.” Seems incomplete.

I read Middlemarch 2 pages per day (since it was serialized) and took about 170 pages of notes. I'm doing the same with Infinite Jest.

I prefer the King James version for the beautiful language.

I'm so pleased that you enjoyed it, Susan. Let me know what you read next.😀👍

Pleased that you approve, Ralph. Moby Dick has been the gateway book for many into the Classics. It is a great work.

Hi Jason!!! Great to hear from you, buddy. So the verse I was referring to was Genesis 3:15. It is the thread that runs through the whole.

@@tristanandtheclassics6538 interesting. Have you heard this? I feel kinda funny sharing this but here goes(not sure I think this means anything but someone pointed it out to me... interesting if nothing else. Psalms 117 is the shortest verse in Psalms, 119 is the longest. Verse 118 is in between. There are 594 chapters before 118 and 594 after. If you add the two together they equal 1188 (or verse 118.8). I've heard it said this is the theme of the Bible, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans." Psalms 118:8 Kinda silly...but a great verse...lol

@Lowman 621 I've never heard that before. I love the kind of mind that sits down and works this kind of stuff out. 😀

It’s unfortunate that the “final years caps with…ancient pegan Greek and Roman authors seen through a Christian lens. [sic]” and not just read as there are, divorced from a deliberate Christian bias-reading deliberately with reference to Christian doctrine is a surefire way to misinterpret and distort those Greek & Roman authors. For instance, understanding hedonism from the works of Epicurean thinkers, say, Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things, would be impossibly anachronistic if done through ‘a Christian lens’ because the principle of maximal pleasure as the good, for Epicureans, entailed, counterintuitively, a life strictly lived in the most rigorous of moral virtue that rivaled the most ascetic monks of the middle-ages. This is a view at odds with Christian conceptions of pleasure and suffering, especially since the concept of sin in Ancient Greek & Roman thought is virtually non-existent and considered to be absurd. Imagine I said, “read the Ancient Greek & Roman authors through a Satanic lens…” Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it.

I got mad at Mr. Melville and couldn’t finish Moby Duck.

Has anyone ever edited Moby Dick? Editing out all the tangents. Leaving just the story . I would like to read that.

Many thanks!

Oh that's tragic, that you never got to Hamlet. I'd have been upset with Chaucer to, if he'd held me back from Shakespeare.😀

@@tristanandtheclassics6538 will read it this year but first currently reading King Lear. There's a fantasy retelling of that one called The Queen's of Innis Lear. I'm excited to read about one that I haven't heard as much about.

​@@tristanandtheclassics6538p

My first ever book was Dickens - David Cooperfield. And till today, as I aged 24, still my most favorite piece!! ❤

Wow, 3 weeks of Dickens! That's like heaven. As a matter of fact, I do consider font size and spacing. I dislike tight lines and paragraphs. I like to think of my eyes roaming through the story as though in wide plains, not being confined in a cupboard.😀

Meant to say "it: the Bible should be..."

Thanks, Jane. You are right. Whatever ones personal views about the Bible (and there are many and varied ones), one cannot argue against the monumental effect it has had on literature as a whole. The same can be said for other works too, which I might discuss in a later video.

Can you suggest a particular edition of Middlemarch? Publisher, etc?

It is so true that our age and changing experiences affect our love of characters. Ones we admire in youth often appear hollow when we are older. Those we disliked when younger often become oddly astute upon a reading later in life.

Read: Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart D. Ehrman It will shock you. It did me.

@@purplesprigs I’ll look for it

In many ways I agree with you, Sinisa. Paradise Lost is certainly a hard work. It daunts me, and I can only take it in stages. Utopia, by Thomas More, is also a fairly stodgy work although fascinating. As for the others, they are not as hard as some expect. The Gospels and the book of Genesis, from the Bible, are very easy and can be read in up to date translations. Though the rhythm of Tyndale's translation is beautiful. Shakespeare, after a little patience, becomes easier than many suppose. The Tragedies may be tough in places, but the Comedies and Histories can be quite a smooth ride, with a little practice. The biggest obstacle with Shakespeare, I think, is getting used to the speech pattern. Once you get familiar with it, the plays begin to open themselves up to delight and wonder. Thanks for taking the time to comment, Sinisa, I really appreciate it.

@@tristanandtheclassics6538 English is not my mother tongue, so Shakespeare is even harder for me than for someone who was born in English speaking world. I haven't read any Shakespeare this year, but I read Macbeth and Richard II last year. I remember that it took me about one hour to read (and understand) 10 pages of text. That is painfully slow 🙂 By the way, your channel is one of the best BookTube channels and I really appreciate your work. I know it's not easy. Thank you for all your hard work! I hope you will continue like this in the new year.

You are a brave soul. I found that watching a play first helped me with the reading of it. I got videos from my library or streamed them on TV. The better films allow you to see the expression on the actor's faces which helps one understand the emotions behind the words. I recommend The Hollow Crown to understand the History plays. There were two seasons that you might find on PBS or at your library. Brilliant acting by many people you my recognize.

Hi Matt! Both books that you mentioned came under consideration. Both deserve places to be honest. Crusoe especially. This is the bog problem with lists of only 10 books. One inevitably has to leave out obviously magnificent works.

Ulysees and Absalom are both 20th century works, and for this video I arbitrarily kept myself to pre-20th I love Bleak House. It is brilliant. I chose Copperfield as the epitome of Dickens works, because he was such a giant of literature. The Shakespeare of the novel. The problem with these lists is, of course, that there cannot truly be a top 10. Subjectivity doesn't help either. What would your full 10 be, Dan. No 20th century though. Just because that is the restraint that I placed upon myself.

Hi, Katie! And thank you. I have yet to finish the course because of some personal issues which have got in the way. However, your asking after it will spur me on. Thank you.

A beautiful piece of work indeed! It captures the very essence of Romanticism.