So You Want To Read Modern Classics? (Complete Reading Guide)

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  • Опубліковано 25 лис 2024
  • Hey there! In this video, I'm going to share my top tips on how to read modern classics with ease. Whether you're a literature student or a book lover looking to expand your reading horizons, understanding modern classics can be a challenge. But fear not, I'll walk you through everything you need to know to appreciate and analyze these timeless works. From choosing the right books to identifying themes and motifs, we'll cover it all. So, if you want to enhance your reading skills and deepen your understanding of modern literature, this video is a must-watch! Don't forget to hit the like and subscribe buttons for more literary content.
    Books in this video:
    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    amzn.to/41j5usk
    A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
    amzn.to/42o8nJP
    Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
    amzn.to/44OrSwD
    The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
    amzn.to/42FQg1F
    I Know Why The Caged Birds Sing by Maya Angelou
    amzn.to/3HX33oq
    Orlando, A Biography by Virginia Woolf
    amzn.to/3MgnBuw
    The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
    amzn.to/3Mcydea
    Stoner by John Williams
    amzn.to/3NXXzxz
    Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
    amzn.to/3VQKvvM
    A Little Larger Than The Entire Universe by Fernando Pessoa
    amzn.to/3Mch9F4
    The links provided in this video are Amazon Affiliate links, which means if you buy a book through these links, it will not cost you extra, but it will earn me a small commission, which supports the channel. Do not feel obligated to buy through me, but if you do, thank you for your support.
     Find me elsewhere  ➢my twitter - / cafeaulivrevlog➢my bookstagram - / cafeaulivre_ ➢my goodreads - www.goodreads....
    Royalty Free Music: Bensound.com/royalty-free-music
    License code: ZXQWVMFA7JEJH0O3

КОМЕНТАРІ • 50

  • @cafeaulivre
    @cafeaulivre  Рік тому +1

    What is your favorite Mordern Classic? Which book should you include in an All-Time Favorites list? Let me know and we'll talk some more!

    • @nepenthereads
      @nepenthereads Рік тому +2

      Does One Hundred Years of Solitude counts? I think it is at top of my All-Time Favorite list!

    • @Alpha-Andromeda
      @Alpha-Andromeda Рік тому +1

      I thought The Luminaries was a great book.

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому

      @@nepenthereads Oh, it sure does! Not the easiest one, but cetainly a modern classic!

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому

      @@Alpha-Andromeda Havn't read it yet myself...it is a bit modern to be a modern classic though ☺

    • @Jessicab-u7c
      @Jessicab-u7c Рік тому +1

      Great recommendations, thank you.

  • @mame-musing
    @mame-musing Рік тому +2

    Glad to hear another positive review of “Stoner”. I picked it up at a library sale several months ago. You have reminded me it’s time to read it.
    A few favorite early to mid-20th C novels: East of Eden, The Age of Innocence, Brideshead Revisited, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Winds of War (Wouk),Revolutionary Road (Yates) All Quiet on the Western Front, The Group (McCarthy), The End of the Affair (Greene).
    I just came across your channel and subscribed.

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому

      Thank you, and there are some great titles in that list of yours!

  • @janinetozer
    @janinetozer Рік тому +2

    Another great video, Bart. I've read some Kafka including The Castle, but not Metamorphosis so might try that one day. The Great Gatsby and Lolita both great books, but a very long time since I read them. It's The Old Man and the Sea for me so I need to read A Farewell to Arms as think I missed that one. This has brought up many more memories of modern classics and authors for me like Orwell, Huxley, Fowles and Steinbeck etc and all the science fiction and fantasy books you mentioned - it certainly was the era for those. Happy reading memories! Still so many more to read..

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому +1

      Oh, quite, there are so many good books in the category! I could see why you would go with Old Man and the Sea, but I have the tendency when having to pick one of two books, I often go with the lesser known/least famous. I’m strange like that 😉

  • @Secret413
    @Secret413 Рік тому +2

    I read Stoner this year and I loved it.

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому +1

      It’s quite unique, unlike any other book.

  • @rodrigoparreira6135
    @rodrigoparreira6135 3 місяці тому +1

    Fernando Pessoa was a great, amazing touch. Very good and precise. An extraordinary example of early XX century poetry.

  • @nepenthereads
    @nepenthereads Рік тому +1

    Great content as always! Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to your new videos!

  • @shromonaganguly7393
    @shromonaganguly7393 Рік тому +3

    Really loved your suggestions and how you talk about books❤️✨📚

  • @2134yanto
    @2134yanto Рік тому +1

    I read Stoner and Lolita earlier this year. The title ‘perfect novel’ is absolutely correct re Stoner. I loved it, from start to finish. Enthralling!
    As for Lolita I put off reading it for decades due to the subject matter. And there were sections obviously that are very contentious. But I have to say that it’s beautifully written and my take on Humbert was one of him being delusional. Brilliant writing

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому

      I think a lot of people put off reading Lolita for that reason: because it's 'that book', which is a shame, because it is so well crafted and shows the delusion of Humbert so clearly. And Stoner, yes, Stoner is indeed something special.

    • @2134yanto
      @2134yanto Рік тому +1

      @@cafeaulivre I just remembered, I also read A Farewell To Arms this year! Another thoroughly enjoyable read. Hemingway’s writing style seems so basic in comparison to many other ‘classic authors’. But he just draws you in and is so accessible. Reminds me of Steinbeck a little but maybe Steinbeck is more literary?

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому

      Steinbeck feels a bit more literary to me, but I get the comparison. Hemingway is the master of ‘basic’ really: why use twenty words if you only need five, but he does it so masterfully. He will always remain on that strange edge between being a writer and a journalist for me.

    • @2134yanto
      @2134yanto Рік тому +1

      @@cafeaulivre yes that could easily account for his writing style for sure.
      Re John Williams, I read Butcher’s Crossing immediately after Stoner. Much different but another enthralling read

  • @janinetozer
    @janinetozer Рік тому +2

    A book which almost saved my life was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Think that would be right up there. Too many great books to choose from!

    • @vivisectv
      @vivisectv Рік тому

      A book which saved my life was 100 years of solitude by GG Màrquez. I absolutely love everything about it

    • @Jessicab-u7c
      @Jessicab-u7c Рік тому

      I loved this book too !I was so invested.

  • @3xl255
    @3xl255 3 місяці тому +1

    very interesting choices. Rilke and Pessoa are added to my list of to read.

  • @zetectic7968
    @zetectic7968 4 місяці тому +1

    I was introduce to The Little Prince by a late & much missed friend in Spanish ( he was American & had been to Spain where he got the book & I'm English). He later bought me an English copy.
    I tried Metamorphosis & got about 40% of the way through it & gave up.
    Read The Old Man & the Sea at school so maybe I should try some more Hemingway.
    I'm sure Martin Amis could make a list in future.
    Have you read any from the Booker Prize list? I enjoyed the Siege of Krishnapaur by J G Farrell.
    Possession by A S Byatt is rated highly.
    I have recently bought Kafka on the Shore, If on a Winter's night a traveller ( to try Calvino again) and The Left Hand of Darkness.

  • @VTimmoni
    @VTimmoni Рік тому +1

    Contemporary classic. I like that. That's my lifetime too and yeah.
    Also yes, The Great Gatsby is such a great book. It is just so good. A farewell to Arms is the only Hemingway I enjoy. Hills Like White Elephants scarred me.

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому +1

      I totally understand why Hills Like White Elephants would scar you 😬

  • @lienledegen7455
    @lienledegen7455 Рік тому +2

    Please make one on anthologies as well! As far as Ulysses, I managed to read 50 pages... I heard they're notoriously difficult, but then it gets better... I loved Kafka's The Castle. If I find the time (haha), I'll read The Lighthouse and The Mark On the Wall by Virginia Woolf. Nice video!

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому

      Thank you 😊 and Ulysses…I still think it is one of the best pranks in literature and Joyce is laughing uncontrollably somewhere up there 😝

  • @Jessicab-u7c
    @Jessicab-u7c Рік тому +1

    I love your idea of contemporary classic being born in the 1970"s I'm not classic but not modern I can relate.

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому

      We are contemporary classics! 😉

  • @baeumchen6384
    @baeumchen6384 Рік тому +1

    I've only read two of these (Little Prince & Metamorphosis) but a number of them are on my list - and a few more have made it on there just now. I want to read "Reading Lolita in Teheran" this year and from what I heard it discusses The Great Gatsby, Lolita and Pride and Prejudice so I should read those first probably 😅
    And yes, please do a video on Fantasy & SciFi classics! If I get reminded often enough that I've never picked up Dune I might even end up reading it 😂

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому +1

      A reminder to read Dune, noted! 🤣
      Havn’t read Reading Lolita in Teheran yet, but it sure sounds interesting. I’m going to look into that one.

  • @nepenthereads
    @nepenthereads Рік тому +1

    Oh can you maybe compare tv/movie adaptations of famous classics with the novels themselves? Like how fateful adaptation it is and so on. I think that would be very interesting!

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому

      That's certainly a great idea. I should look into it: can I show any images/clips copyrightwsie and such, but but good idea!

  • @valentinavergaraurrea6759
    @valentinavergaraurrea6759 Рік тому +1

    I really love this channel

  • @dandelves
    @dandelves 6 місяців тому +1

    For me, there is no such thing as a contemporary classic, only contemporary, and I consider a book to be a modern classic for up to 70 years as after that they go into the public domain
    Have not read many modern classics but some which I remember would be Lolita, On The Road, Naked Lunch, Master and the Margharita, and A Confederacy of Dunces

  • @mcrumph
    @mcrumph 4 місяці тому +1

    I am afraid that I stopped your video prematurely. Given your accent, I was hoping you would hit on some European Modernist classics: Hamsun, Celine, Gide, Broch, Musil, Huysmans, &c. Oh, well. My search continues.

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  4 місяці тому

      Best of luck with your search!

  • @TheJewishCatholic
    @TheJewishCatholic Рік тому +1

    As soon as you said “toxic masculinity” you lost me.

    • @cafeaulivre
      @cafeaulivre  Рік тому +4

      I’m sure there are other channels that cater to your views better then.

    • @TheJewishCatholic
      @TheJewishCatholic Рік тому

      @@cafeaulivre surely. I just thought I’d give yours a go since I’m looking fire bookish channels by men.

    • @CeeBee781
      @CeeBee781 4 місяці тому

      … Why? The concept offends you? You don’t believe it’s possible that a strictly gendered patriarchal society may generate certain unhealthy and antisocial traits in a portion of its men?