with the discussion, I thought some people may find this Great Books list and site interesting. It has links to other sites in the left column, including "The Great Books Foundation, whose goal is 'to build communities of readers who explore important ideas through enduring literature.'"

this must smaller list is basically my experience with canon.

But I've always found, the more ways I have of approaching a work, the greater and deeper my potential enjoyment thereof. It can make the difference between being entertained and being overwhelmed

Oh, yes. And I can't tell you how many books I read while in high school or college I have read later in life, and the difference of opinion I have is so much different -- not necessarily because I took lit or crit classes, but because I have lived and looked at people and situations, and been adjusting my knowledge and opinions about things.

I would be the first person to say that what formal training you or may not have receieved concerning books matters not a whit on how much you enjoy them. It may impact HOW you enjoy them, but not the degree of pleasure you receive.

IMO, arguing about the ways to enjoy a book is as pointless as arguing about what sexual position you prefer. Dude, it's still sex! It depends on how well you get off, not how you do it.

I am a big book ho. All Hail Literary Hedonism!

Also, Tristram Shandy, of which I've only read the first 11 books.

I've always wanted to read that. It looked so inventively clever and self-referentially hilarious for a book that old.

Lyra, I need direction for a recommendation. Kazuo Ishiguro's Remains of the Day and anything by Lorrie Moore are my knee-jerk recs.

I WORSHIP Lorrie Moore. Tried Remains of the Day in high school and didn't like it, but maybe I would now.

I'm drawing a blank on describing what I want to read, except "fiction" and "not too boring." I like Charlotte Bronte, Haruki Murakami, Barbara Gowdy and Shirley Jackson, if that helps at all.

I can't believe people have been talking Dickens and no one mentioned "David Copperfield." It's got a sweeping story, a great portrait of a marriage which is still wrong, even though both parties truly love each other, and Mr. Micawber! It's also the most autobiographical of Dickens' books.

I don't have aproblem with mawkish, weak, overly noble, sentimental protagonists in older books. Sure, I see that they would be simps if they were around now, but they're NOT. If they're well-written, I don't mind them following outdated, even painful, social mores. I like trying to wrap my mind around world views so radically different than my own--it's my form of time travel. The very core values of Victorian or Jacobean or Elizabethan or Russian society are not my values and books give me a glimpse into that world. I often feel deeply grateful I didn't live back then, but glad for the insight.

I usually have two or three books going, plus the poetry books in the bathroom. When I'm multi-booking, it's usually a non-fiction or two, a new fiction, and maybe an old "comfort book," either fiction or non.

Right now I'm reading a book on the Canadian maritimes, a Tanya Huff vampire mystery (old comfort book), and I'm between new fics. I have a couple new fiction works from the library that I'll probably start this weekend. The bathroom poetry is a collection of Walt Whitman's stuff at the moment. "Song of Myself" sure does go on. I see what the fuss is about, but the last two poetry books were sonnet collections. Still, I'm looking forward to "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking," which is one of my favorites.

Occasionally I'll stumble on one of those books I just can't put down, and the multi-booking gets sidelined for a while. The Lovely Bones was like that.

I WORSHIP Lorrie Moore.

Eeeeeeee! Me too. I heard her read. I met her. I have her autograph. Eeee.

Tried Remains of the Day in high school and didn't like it, but maybe I would now.

I read it two or three times in high school (Ac Dec book again) and discovered something new each time.

I like Charlotte Bronte, Haruki Murakami, Barbara Gowdy and Shirley Jackson, if that helps at all.

Hm. Maybe we should both read Wuthering Heights this weekend.

JZ, weren't you going to post a literature-something something?

I don't have aproblem with mawkish, weak, overly noble, sentimental protagonists in older books.

Then may I recommend the Gospel According to John?

Another reader of 2 or 3 books at a time here. Usually (but not always) they break down into one new non-fiction, one new fiction, and one old favourite or re-read. Right now the three are The Ringed Castle (fiction re-read), These Old Shades (fiction new to me), and The Two Income Trap (new non-fiction), which I am about to abandon as it has absolutely no relevance for anyone living outside the States AFAICT. Actually, I should bring it up in Natter, because I'm intensely curious whether the situation the authors describe is really that bad down there.

ETA: Lyra Jane, if you like Barbara Gowdy, have you already read her latest ( The Romantic )? What else, hmm... maybe you'd like The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe.