yes some classic childrens works are extremely grim. the grimmest one i've read so far was pinocchio (didn't like it at all though). the land of green ginger is possibly the most hilarious book i've ever read.

hammers what classics lack in action (compared to pulp) the make up for in psychological depth (real life characters) and usually a playfulness of language. it's a matter of preference really. as far as pulp goes i've always liked lovecraft.

yeah, the studios just take the bare bones of a story,if that when they make an adaptation.reminds me of Roald Dahl's dad,he was fixing his roof,fell off,broke his arm and a drunk incompetent doctor twisted his arm and it had to be amputated

Dragonlance had some great characterization, I identified a lot more with Sturm Brightblade and Tanis Half-Elven than I did with protagonists of many other works. As far as classier literary tradition goes, I love Chivalric Romances like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and folk sagas like Beowulf or the Kalevala.

Isn't Beowulf the oldest poem in existence?thats what i heard

It's the oldest written song in English tradition, the oldest is probably Gilgamesh in Sumerian.

yes gilgamesh is the oldest i believe.

don't quite see what that remark about dahl had to do with anything. but i like some of his books a lot too :p

can't really get into really old literature. i just can't identify with it at all i guess. i'm mostly about modern classics. the last century and a half :)
mostly english and german works

I always loved the Norse mythos and stories growing up,like all the gods spitting into a bowl,creating a god who had 'the gift of the gab'

Goethe's Faust is pretty great as far as German literature goes. I don't like most of the earlier versions of Faustus though.

Ahh..faust have you heard the ring cycle by wagner?

Alas, I have only heard of it. Care to educate me?

Its a classical adaptation of faust,like an opera.mind you Wagner's music was hijacked by the nazis and is associated with them

Ah, I'll give it a listen in a bit.

Give Glukoza-Schweine a listen.

A good old piece of russian music. :D

i want!!!

Dang, this is one conversation I did not expect to see here.

Anyway, to participate a bit - I'm a fan of fantasy, Tolkien doesn't write children's books only despite "The Hobbit" being very famous this year (due to obvious reasons). Favourite author - Raymond E. Feist by far. The "Riftwar Saga" is amazing. Other good reads - the classic "Song of Fire and Ice" is extremely entertaining, George R. R. Martin has a very unique style. Robert Jordan's (and his friend's who is finishing his series) "The Wheel of Time" are awesome reads with a rather "different take" on the fantasy world. (quite long tho)