Classic literature for lazy people

classic literature for lazy people

Have you read the classics? I am a voracious reader, but for some reason, the classic are not high on my book list. It's not that I don't want to read them, it's more that I just don't have the time. Well, that's a furfy. It may be more to do with the fact that I am lazy. My page limit for books is around 300, so delving into a 1400 page novel just doesn't quite do it for me.

That's why I was so happy to see these clever 'infographics' from www.boredpanda.com that tell the tale of these epics in 10 words or less. Now at least I feel like I can hold my own the next time some 'intellectual' starts spouting off how they read The Odyssey last year (right, and it probably took them a year to read it!)

classic literature for lazy people

classic literature for lazy people

How do you like that? Share your shortened versions of classic literature in the comments below!

4 comments

Pretty much regard myself as a lazy reader of the classics but in semi-retirement and with more time, have sort of set myself an undisciplined, as 'the spirit moves me' sort of  project of leisurely and occasionally delving into them....In the main using the local public library as the source....

Have at different times over the years tried to wrap my brain around people like James Joyce, Samual Beckett etc. and will continue....Key for me would be to take it slowly and try to understand and be open to that  'stream of consciousness' stuff - but will stick with it.....

Also revisiting people like Dickens, and at this point in my life finding his delicious over-the-top verbosity both hilarious, and sort of silly smart....Have heard he was paid by the word but think that is a myth....But have come across 19th century newspapers over recent years whilst researching the family tree, and they seem to have the same very verbose writing style to some extent...

Similarly quite like the way Thomas Hardy writes in 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' which I've started, stopped, started, stopped over the years but eventually saw the film somewhere....Will pass on the Tee Shirt...

Oh the sheer untrammelled bliss of being 'lost' in a good book is a matter for individual interpretation. Having said that I guess I've blown my (dust) cover.

For the IT savvy souls; mobiles in their many forms have today usurped the pride of place formerly occupied by a book, ie, in hand (with) the reader poring over the prose endeavouring to grasp the plot. In the process we learn a little about the books; author, subject(s), personalities, characteristics, the era, locale etc & etc, with which we 'construct' in our mind a mental image of our comprehension. This in turn may also give us a little insight into our own solipsistic view.

The ability to so immerse ourselves within a good book renders the 'vitual realities' of the current IT counter-part vitually insignificant, by comparison. To be sure, although we have unlimited information at our finger-tips; social interaction sites aside, I would seriously question whether this dearth of knowledge is having any profound effect on mankinds' attitudes, well - being, social mores, language , manners and customs. And having said that, let me say this - 'what price progress ?' 

Here is some highly recommended reading material lazy, not-so-lazy, and highly energetic.

  SELF IMPROVEMENT

1. Creative Suffering.

2. Guilt Without Sex.

3. Mouldings Your Child's Behaviour Through Fear.

4. The Primal Shrug.

   BUSINESS AND CAREER

1. How To Profit From Your Own Body.

2. The Under-Achiever's Guide to Ver Small Business Opportunities.

3. Arson and You.

4. 1001 Methods of Blackmail.

     HEALTH AND FITNESS

1. High Fibre Sex.

2. The Joys of Hypochrondria.

3. Over-Forties: How To Tell Orgasm From a Heart Attack.

4. Skate Your Way To Regularity.

    CRAFTS

1. Gifts For The Senile.

2. Rearranging Your Hate.

3. How to Draw Genitalia.

4. Creative Nail-Clipping Arrangements.

    HOME ECONOMICS

1. Burglar-Proof Your Home With Comcrete.

2. The Repair and Maintenance of Your Virginity.

3. Sinus Drainage at Home.

4. Cultivating Viruses in Your Refrigerator.

5. Christianity and the Art of TV Maintenance.

 

Good luck and happy reading.

Fast Eddie, your reading list - very 'tongue in cheek' (or at least something in cheek). It generated a chuckle & Ella Willcox quote 'laugh and the world laughs with you - ' is apt.

MD, glad you liked it. Have a Happy Easter.

In retirement I still can't find enough time for pleasure reading but audio books on long drives have proved a great way to cover those classics on my must-read list.

4 comments



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