Culture Clash + The Epic Book Project

[trinityofone]

I’ve been really craving “culture clash” romantic comedies. I’m pretty sure this started because I’ve been rewatching The West Wing (siriaeve’s fault) and I was reminded of a Josh/Donna fic I read years ago where Josh, the East Coast Jew, meets Donna’s Midwestern WASP family, and amusing awkwardness and eventual romance ensue. (This is, incidentally, the story of my mother’s family—my Grandpa G. was even from Connecticut and my Grandma C. from Wisconsin!) Anyway, I can’t find this fic anywhere. Does anyone:

1) Know what the heck I might be talking about?
2) Have any other recs for culture clash rom coms—be they books, fic, films, or anything else? (Just don’t say Meet the Parents.)

Second, I used to nobly set aside a Large and Intimidating Classic to read in the summer months of July and August; this is how I tackled Ulysses and War and Peace. I want to start doing this again, but I can’t decide what book I should read. Can I beg your thoughts? (I’d make a poll but I just realized you can’t without a paid account. Pooh.)

Trin should read:

1) Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
2) Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
3) Middlemarch by George Eliot
4) Something else that I’ll suggest in the comments
5) The very idea of this project is incredibly pretentious and I think Trin should just read fanfic and more of akukorax’s Star Trek novels

Thanks, as always, for your suggestions!

Comments

[springwoof.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed Don Quixote, which is actually really funny and a very entertaining read if you get a good translation. So you can feel Virtuous for reading a Big Damn Book, but also have a good time....

...and it's not on your list, but have you read Dante's Inferno? It's pretty fascinating, and a real page-turner as I recall--again, a good translation is vital...