Introduction to Classics Reader's Guides
Reading groups are springing up in communities across North America, enticing and enchanting thousands of people. They offer the opportunity to relax and enjoy the company and ideas of other readers, expand one's knowledge, and discover the wealth of wisdom, wit, and sheer entertainment found between the covers of books. It's hard to imagine a better source of riches for these reading groups than the Penguin Classics and Twentieth-Century Classics lists.
Now, you can broaden the scope of your general reading group by adding favorites selected from the Classics lists, or start a group totally devoted to the masterpieces that have earned the Classics title – a great way, we think, of finally getting to those books you always promised yourself you would read.
Whichever route you choose, Penguin's new series of reading group guides – specifically geared toward the Classics – will enhance your reading experience and stimulate group discussions. The guides include enlightening introductions that set the works within a historical and literary context and illuminate their relevance to contemporary concerns and interests. Questions for discussion focus attention on the themes, expressed or implicit, running through the work, and highlight the use of symbols, recurrent motifs, and other elements of a writer's style. In addition, there are suggestions for further reading, with an annotated list of other writings by the author.
Penguin Young Readers Group