Five Favorites: Literary Classics w/ Gama Ray Martinez and Brandon Sanderson

[@austinquick6285]

I read Les Miserable in jail, and it literally made me cry, so I have a fond memory of staying locked in my cell with so much emotion, embarrassed to come out, pondering about my own life, and yeah. Never went to jail again. I’m not going to give all the credit to the book, but i definitely wanted to live a life with the same values and humility as Jean Val Jean.

[@iiiiitsmagreta1240]

I’m glad you made it out of there. Fuck prisons.

[@adamscottv]

The Count of Monte Cristo is an incredible book ... everyone should read it.

[@HikingPhalkawn]

absolutely agree - but I don't recommend doing what I did. Back when I was first debating getting an e-reader instead of only physical books I tested out the concept by downloading the kindle app onto my iPhone and reading the entire Count of Monte Cristo on my phone. That is a very thick book to plow through when you are doing it on a phone screen :)

[@adamscottv]

@@HikingPhalkawn I recommend the audiobook narrated by Bill Homewood. Wonderful listening experience.

[@homie4235]

Reading it right now for the first time. Its great.

[@judewakefield7213]

​@@adamscottvHe was good. Small criticism, he made a lot of mouth sounds.

[@Twosocks42]

A fantastic read indeed. Dumas was an amazing writer.

[@sandkiller]

Gama just seems like a really really nice person! I'm glad for the opportunity to get to know new people and writers that I wasn't aware of!

[@Stumblingthroughlife]

Agreed, seems like a great person.

[@jess.smart.smiley]

Amen!

[@reginaldforthright805]

He seems kind of gay

[@robbeneirinck1739]

Yep ​@@reginaldforthright805

[@willardlarkinsnow5622]

I love that Les Mis is a favorite for Brandon. I think that story is the ultimate example of what a story with an ensemble cast should be like. Every character needs depth. They all need their own story. And you can see that in Brandon’s writing as well. He gives each character their story

[@wolfsisterhowls]

I never even knew it was a book first. I'll definitely give it a look.

[@Ruthie888]

I loved the "God of Neverland". Great job, Gama! Also loved "Graveyard Ghost", "Pride and Predjudice", and "Les Miserables". Brandon, I love that you give a leg up and recognition to other writers.

[@Lissy1701]

Gama seems so sweet! Definitely going to add his books to my tbr! Both of these lists were great. A lot of books I still need to read.

[@wolfsisterhowls]

Strongly agree. I'm glad Brandon introduced him to us. I hope he gets to do more of these in future.

[@GoldenYoshi88]

Les Miserables (unabridged) made me fall in love with reading as an adult. It made a pivotal impact on me early in my reading journey years back that has culminated in epic fantasy as my favorite genre today. I can see why you love that book so much Brandon, it's my most cherished classic as well, it will always hold a special place in my heart

[@MH_Ward]

I really love Gama Ray Martinez personality. I am going down to my bookstore this week to put an order in for his books! Thanks Brandon for putting a deserved spotlight on writers in the community.

[@austinquick6285]

I picked classics back up this year, (I’m 28) and my oh my. They are classics for a reason. It’s refreshing picking books back up that you were once forced to read in middle/high school, because you have somewhat experienced life and can appreciate things that you once took for granted. Again, classics are classics for a reason. All wonderful reads, in which I find many other modern novels drawing inspiration from.

[@kagimarp84]

Brandon Sanderson: 5.Dracula 4.Sherlock Holmes 3.Much ado about nothing 2.Pride and Prejudece 1.Les Miserables Gama Ray Martinez: 5.Guliver's Travels 4.20000 Leagues under the sea 3.The Oz books 2.Alice in Wonderland 1.Peter Pan

[@whatyouknowaboutthat2546]

Never heard of this guest before but loving him. His books also sound very interesting. Will definitely give them a read.

[@Twosocks42]

Of all the literary classics, I have the biggest soft spot for Wuthering Heights. I took a literary criticism class whose big project (which took up the back half of the course) was focused on Wuthering Heights. I loved the depth of the characters and the setting as a character, but applying all the literary criticism tools I learned just made me fall into a deeper love with that book. You'd think reading it so many times and studying it down to every individual word would make you hate it, but it never did.

[@TheLordofMetroids]

My list: Frankenstien The Count of Monte Cristo The Odyssey The Great Gatsby Huck Finn Side note, did you know Gatsby and Huck Finn are public domain? I don't know if they should count, but it feels wrong to not include them, as they are on my favorite books of all time list.

[@roxasthegreek]

Eyy, I was going for the odyssey too

[@samhartje723]

@@roxasthegreek Great Gatsby is super boring to me

[@zenthepoet.]

Adoooonalsium

[@Naija_Ninja]

Sandonalsium

[@susanwoodcarver]

Totally and absolutely delightful. Thank you.

[@wolfsisterhowls]

Delightful is exactly the word.

[@jaredsturt8626]

100 Years of Solitude

[@freelancebush]

I did photography for a theatre troupe in Melbourne a few years back. One of their plays was called the ‘Couldron’ and it contains that actual scene from ‘That Scottish play’. As the scene concluded the front of set fell over on to the stage. No one injured and most of the audience and players seem to really like the ‘Curse’ being played out through the Fourth-wall for them👍🍻

[@cammmeel1]

Yes! Love Sherlock too. Read them all! 6:00

[@ProfPyro]

I look forward to God of Neverland and Queens of Neverland now that I know about them! Hopefully we get to see Gama at this year's Dragonsteel! (What can I say, I like to have authors sign my books.)

[@groofay]

I'd never heard of Gama before, I'll look forward to reading his books. I figure I'm due a reread of Peter Pan anyway, so here's my excuse!

[@cphorn15]

The superstition I heard about Macbeth when I was still in theatre is that you are not supposed to say the name in the theatre because it's "The Cursed Play" (another alternative name that folks will know what you mean). Supposedly Shakespeare actually used a real witch's incantation and it's what curses the play and you can mitigate some of the issues by using a ghost light, which helps pacify the ghost(s) of the theatre (it's common folklore that every theatre has at least one ghost that haunts it).

[@brokenredflag]

I just think is so inspiering how brandom started with such humble not much money back ground to now very rich. That in it self alone deserves respect. He wasent born rich. I think is a rare thing. 😎

[@samm8190]

You know this is what I've been waiting for!!!

[@Xarfax321]

My list is: 1. 20 000 Leagues under the sea 2. War and peace by Leo Tolstoy 3. Ivanhoe by Walter Scott 4. The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald 5. The king of Elflands Daughter by Lord Dunsany And some things I want to put here, not sure if they fit: 6. The Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle 7. The Story of King Arthur and his knights also by Howard Pyle 8. Beowulf

[@davidpo5517]

Is Lord Dunsany in public domain?

[@Xarfax321]

@@davidpo5517 No idea! Could very well be.

[@Hammer4840]

Brandon you are amazing, love your work.

[@-clyx-2907]

My list is : - Atala- Chateaubriand - Paul and Virginia-Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre - Candide, or The Optimist - Voltaire - The Little Prince- Saint Exupery - Le Cid - Corneille

[@jaimelouisemiller]

Oh, the sewers in Les Mis! 😂 I do love that book, though. Dumas is also one of my favorite authors. And I've added God of Neverland to my queue!

[@cybersketcher1130]

Ray: My favorite is Peter Pan Murphy: happiness noises*

[@cohort29]

“Dracula,” kept me up until 2am to finish the great chase. So fun.

[@kardia7594]

Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Much Ado about Nothing are 3 of my all time favorites!!! I guess I should try les mis haha

[@joopdinges]

Great build-up towards the end!

[@highcommander2007]

It's interesting to see how some people get drawn to specific writings. Gama Ray Martinez's picks were all so similar. I would have said The Time Machine or War of the Worlds for nostalgia's sake. I would have included The Foundation Trilogy by Asimov, The call of the wild by London, Secret Garden by Burnett, John Carter by Burroughs, Dune by Herbert, the lion witch wardrobe c.s. lewis, And Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Sanderson :) So might not all be considered "Classics" but they are classics to me.

[@Parmandur]

Winter's Tale is Shakespeare's masterpiece

[@jamodonnahan610]

Go see Shakespeare at the RSC in Stratford, you'll find people chuckling with you and having a good time.

[@rsfrogga234]

Oh baby I love these!

[@monkpato]

Fun discussion, thanks!

[@rmsgrey]

I had the opposite of Brandon's experience with Dracula: I read it and was entirely disappointed. Part of that may be having grown up on the many descendants and adaptations, meaning the original has lost whatever originality it once had. I then read Frankenstein immediately after, and was very impressed by it (if a little disheartened by how poorly it has been taken into adaptations and references). For my top 5 public domain books (in alphabetical order rather than trying to rank them), I've gone with: Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass - I don't think I need to add anything here. Frankenstein - a well considered exploration of an idea that deserves much better adaptations than it's gotten. Les Miserables - I think Brandon covered this one Sense and Sensibility - on another day, I might have picked Emma instead, but this is standing in for Jane Austen generally since, like Brandon with Sherlock Holmes, I've only ever read her novels in omnibus form. Tom Jones - arguably (certainly, the text itself argues for it strongly) the first novel, and with each "book" introduced by an essay about novel writing, giving something of the effect of Les Mis's infamous digressions, but in a much more orderly fashion. Honourable mention (not entering public domain until 2030) to the Abbey series by Elsie J Oxenham - a series of 38 books (with almost as many sharing the same universe) following a small group of schoolgirls as they grow up and have daughters of their own in early 20th Century England - the precise date is rarely, if ever, given, and there are a number of anachronisms that creep in, but the first books take place before the Great War, and the series finishes before World War Two gets started, though the war only comes up in retrospect - a couple of husbands fought in the war, and one of a handful of identifiable real people gets lauded for her real actions during the war - several of the real-world founders and leading personalities of the English Folk Dance Society (nowadays the English Folk Dance and Song Society) appear in the books, always refered to only by affectionate nicknames ("the Prophet", "Madam", "the Pixie"...). Despite the author having egalitarian ideals - the first book revolves around the snobbery from the paying "townies" toward the scholarship "hamlets" at Miss Macey's School for Girls - the central characters are all financially comfortable - paying someone else to run a hostel for working girls to come and have a week or two's free holiday in the country - and only some of the servants even have names, so the stakes are comfortably low for the most part (there's one kidnapping - one of the characters marries an Earl and their baby gets kidnapped - and a couple of attempted burglaries, but the biggest drama in the first few books is where one girl kept notes of advice she was given, with her own cheeky commentary, in a notebook labelled as private, and another girl read it and neither would talk to each other for about a term despite being required to appear to be friendly in public school events).That's not to say there are no deaths or injuries - one major character is badly injured in a motorbike accident and has to spend six months recovering between chapters, husbands die overseas or are injured in remote accidents and need to be rushed to immediately, and I'm not sure any parent makes it to their 50th birthday (that's not strictly true - one girl's overseas father remarries someone her age when he's approaching sixty - and then gets ill and dies shortly after getting her pregnant), and later a whole parade of characters visit the Abbey briefly, get injured saving the resident twins from various life threatening situations, and so stay for long enough to be the viewpoint character of an entire book. The titular Abbey is a ruined abbey in the grounds of a stately home, which offers a place of quiet reflection for many characters over the series, and inspires the central characters to emulate the public-spirited tradition of the early monks and to, in their own way, revive the tradition of sanctuary. Also running through the series is an enthusiasm for folk dancing - particularly in the earlier books, written when the English folk revival was sweeping the country, it's practically a perfect panacea - healthful exercise, coupled with mental stimulation; later on, presumably reflecting a development in the author's own ideas, several characters express that they've outgrown their earlier obsession with it - it remains an enjoyable pastime, but it's no longer the most important thing for them. Connected with the folk dance is the annual crowning of the May Queen, with almost every major character of the series who attends Miss Macey's school for any length of time being elected and crowned, a position that is officially entirely outside the school's formal hierarchy, but which carries responsibility to represent the school and considerable unofficial authority - during the period where none of the main characters are schoolgirls, it lapses into the background, but once the second generation starts attending, it's once again a central concern. The final major thread, though very much in the background is the quiet faith shared by the characters - when accident or illness strikes close by, they do explore the question of why bad things happen, but without losing the underlying confidence that there is some loving purpose behind everything.

[@marcospisanis739]

Like Classical Lit? Well I haven't read that much these days but probably Macbeth, Dorian Gray, Frankenstein, The Oddyssey, and Alice in Wonderland would be on my list. But I have many more. 5 authors I'd like to read more if I get off the video games would be Goethe, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Milton, Ursula K. LeGuin, and Terry Pratchet. (Last two arent Public domain yet but still want to read them) Still on the list are Mirror Mirror by Maguire, Persepolis by Marjane Setrapi, and the recent comics I got for Free Comic Day.

[@iiiiitsmagreta1240]

Terry Pratchett’s books _will_ become classics, you’re just ahead of the curve 😉

[@citizensguard3433]

They can't make that argument anymore because the rest of Sherlock has since been entered into the P.D. but yes, for years they tried to basically go after anyone who made a Holmes adaptation.

[@peterkorman77]

I think this has only really been an issue in the UK, whereas in the States they were all in the public domain for some time.

[@austinquick6285]

No way my dudes name is Gamma Ray.

[@igamergirl14]

Suddenly the reason that a "Herlock Sholmes" exists is very understandable xD

[@GentleGiantJason]

Much Ado About Nothing is a great read

[@dragonofelbereth]

My wife and I went on our second date to the recent Emma adaptation so I fall on the other side of the PP/Emma debate 😅

[@seanpijuan9792]

Guess what, my favorite fantasy author's no. 1 classic book is also my favorite.

[@KyleOfTheNorth]

I love that Brandon had Dracula on his list. It's definitely on mine.

[@bertopadre78]

mr sanderson i like those pants

[@TWlaz]

Oh man, the classics are great! Literary works as well. Don’t get me wrong, genre novels are great, (or I wouldn’t be here, lol) But for the same reason people defend genre fiction, we should be reading on “both sides of the isle” or you’re missing out on some of the greatest works and stories mankind has to offer. At the very least, give some a try, you’d be surprised how much not being *required* to read something for school livens the experience, lol Edit: Funnily enough, Moby Dick is my favorite classic, lol

[@rmsgrey]

I believe it's "both sides of the aisle" - referring to the central passage dividing the seating in various parliaments.

[@abnunga]

We call McDonalds 'The Scottish Place'

[@awizardintraining]

Well, of course Les Mis is your favorite classic Brandon. Look at Mistborn. Toppling the government and what not

[@Twisted_Logic]

If it counts, Beowulf has always been my favorite

[@jimmychurch9588]

It has to, right? It’s One of the worlds oldest stories.

[@sandkiller]

What's the SNL sketch? Couldn't find ir:(

[@todanderson9772]

1. The Stranger 2. Summer 3. The Sport of the Gods 4. Great Expectations 5. Heart of Darkness I despise Shakespeare 😢

[@areeweblind]

Time stamps on the video would be great.

[@macarenapi4926]

Waterloo scenes of Les Misérables is the WORST but besides that I absolutely love that book

[@damienphoenix1843]

Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment Brothers Karamazov The Idiot Dostoevsky is the best writer I have ever read. Brandon Sanderson is number 2.

[@GeoGyf]

nice

[@christinaricon2362]

Count of Monte Crisco oil

[@Thomas_Guida]

It's very interesting to see how these books are products of their time. It's around the early 18th century when the literary climate is becoming more relaxed and favoring lighter works of fantasy. satire, and wit. For those who missed the reference, Gulliver's Travels is written by the Irish novelist Jonathan Swift in 1726. Although this is his most memorable work, "A Modest Proposal" is another brilliant satirical work. I also read the collected works of Sherlock Holmes that my parents had in leatherbound when I was young and really enjoyed it. As for Les Miserables, I found it enjoyable when I watched the movie, but after I learned about the French Revolution and the true situation of the French country, I empathize more with the monarchs and restoring order.

[@nickdabbs]

No way he saw that snl sketch - lying

[@plusmanikantanr]

I wonder has anyone ACTUALLY read Shakespeare in the original Ye Olde English? 😂😂😂

[@ragarao2011]

I did Sir ! My dream was to teach Shakespeare but life pulled me away to the advertising field ☺

[@danach_4716]

I’m sure I’m late to this party, but Les Mis is a MUSICAL, not a play.

[@iiiiitsmagreta1240]

Are you saying a musical can’t be a play, or that its status as a musical should be given more weight in defining it than its status as a play? The second one feels like a valid opinion, even if it’s not one I necessarily agree with; I am mighty confused if it’s the first one tho 😅

[@danach_4716]

Plays and Musicals are similar but not the same. One wouldn’t call a ballet a play. All are dramatic performances, and plays can have music and dancing. Musicals have narratives that are driven by the songs. In this context, “Les Miserables” can only be a musical as it barely contains a single line of dialogue. I personally believe musicals do have more “weight” to them as they involve directors, actors, and everything else a play would, along with pit musicians, choreographers, dedicated sound engineers to balance orchestra with performers. It’s like saying mandarins and oranges are the same fruit.

[@ashen_ofc]

Watching this a year later, Gama needs to chill, his nervous laughter after every sentence is driving me crazy.

[@B-MC]

How does Brandon have time to read? Time Management really is everything...I'm wasting so much time...

[@mattcat83]

This man seems to laugh a lot for no reason. It was fun at first but gradually became annoying as the conversation progressed.

[@alexs3973]

Guess he is more of a writer than a speaker...

[@wolfsisterhowls]

I think he was just nervous. Most of us aren't comfortable on camera and I doubt he became any more comfortable as the conversation continued. He also just seems like a delightful person so add nervous laughter to a bubbly disposition and you get nonstop bursts that others find inappropriate. Sometimes it helps to put a kinder lens on behaviour we find odd