Thank you Karen K at Books and Chocolate (please see the link to her website under Blogs I Follow) for taking on the 2020 Back to the Classics Challenge I was debating about whether I wanted to do the Classics Challenge this year but when I learned a few days ago that the Challenge was on a big smile appeared on my face.
The Challenge prompts us to read great books we otherwise would never have read. Even those books that weren't my cup of tea I'm still proud I read them. But also I have read some wonderful books New Grubb Street by George Gissing, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston, The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope, Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder and this year who knows what new suprises await. So thank you once again Karen K.
19th Century Classic - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - This is a book I've been curious about n which Jane Austen pokes fun at the world of gothic novels. Austen was as far from being a gothic writer as one can get and so I will be interested in what she has to say on this topic.
20th Century Classic - The Plague by Albert Camus - I read The Stranger two years ago and Brian at BriansBabblingBooks.com said that The Plague is even better so I definitely want to give this novel a try.
Classic by a Woman Author - Middlemarch by George Elliot - I've never read her before and Middlemarch is not only her best book but one of the greatest classics ofi world literature.
Classic in Translation - Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant - Ruthiella at Booked for Life chose this book two years ago I think for her Back to the Classics Challenge and she gave it high praise so I definitely want to check it out.
Classic by A Person of Color - Narrative of the Life of A Slave by Frederick Douglass. A definitive biography of Frederick Douglass has recently been published. He was a giant of American history but before I read his biography I should read his classic autobiography.
A Genre Classic - The Leavenworth Case by Anna Katherine Green. A classic mystery novel written by a woman in the 19th century.
Classic With a Person's Name in the Title - Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - I've been hearing about this book forever. It's a slim little book and yet it has gone on to be one of the great classics of world literatur so I'm curious.
Classic with a Place in the Title - To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf - I loved A Room of One's Own but I have heard that To The Lighthouse though a great book is difficult. My plan is not to rush through a book like this but to take it slow.
Classic with Nature in the Title - The Jungle by Upton Sinclair - When this novel was published at the turn of tne 20th century it alerted the public to the terrible conditions for workers in Chicago's meat packing industry. The book made quite a splash with Teddy Roosevelt and Winston Churchill weighing in.
Classic about a Family - The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkinton. Saw the movie which I was quite impressed with and the book won the Pulitzer Prize back in the 1920's so I want to give it a read.
Abandoned Classic - Dracula by Bram Stoker - I've made attempts to read this novel over the years and the parts I've read are very well written but 50 or 60 pages in I end up putting it down amd I'm not sure why.
Classic Adaptation - Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie - A number of films have been made of this novel but I've never read the book.
I wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Thanks for the mention. I hope you like The Plague. I would love to know what you thought about it after you read it.
ReplyDeleteYou have such an interesting list of books here. I thought Northanger Abby was another great Austen novel. The gothic connection had a lot to do with Ann Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho. Austen’s book kind of parodied that novel in an affectionate way. I do not think reading Descr Mysteries of Udolpho is mandatory before reading Austen’s book but it enhanced the experience for me. I am hesitant to recommend Radcliffe’s book. It is long, not very substantive and silly. With that, I found it entertaining and amusing.
Happy New Year!
Thanks Brian, I look forward to reading the Plague and finding out more about Camus' philosophy. From watching the movie Becoming Jane it seemed that Anne Radcliffe was a bit of a mentor to Austen and so I can understand that she
Deletewould want to parody Mysteries of Udolpho but in an affectionate way. I think that's great that you have read Mysteries of Udolpho I have thought about reading it too but its the size of the book that has always gotten to me. I'm not adverse to reading long books but I have to see myself completing them and I wasn't sure with Udolpho.
Oooh! I hope you like Bel Ami! Just remember, everyone in it is pretty despicable!
ReplyDeleteWow, you’ve never read The Great Gatsby? I am really interested to hear what you think of it. I had to read it in high school. But it is pretty short, so that will help since Middlemarch is a TOME!
I didn’t love Dracula. My expectations were probably stratospheric but I also think it does drag in parts, so it is not just you.
I’ve never heard of The Leavenworth Case. How’d you come across that one?
Thanks Ruthiella, I am looking forward to Bel Ami and I am interested in reading a book where the main character is not a good guy. It seems to me too that back in the 19th century despicable characters were created with more nuance whereas nowadays the narrators in books like Gone Girl or the Dinner are off the charts crazy.
DeleteI look forward to reading Gatsby. People say its tne quality of the writing that makes it so powerful. Determined to finish Dracula this time!
I first learned about The Leavenworth Case in an issue of Ellery Queen Magazine. They recommended it and said its a shame this book isn't better known. But so many 19th century writers and their novels have gone into oblivion and it is a shame.
There are so many books on your list that I love! Northanger Abbey, Dracula, Middlemarch, Murder on the Orient Express. I love V. Woolf, too, and I don't think you'll have problems with To the Lighthouse. It's introspective and thoughtful, but not super difficult. Happy reading this year!!! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks Lark, Very pleased to hear that you love many of the books I chose for this year's challenge because that gives me confidence that I am going to enjoy them as well. Excited to read To The Lighthouse. I like thoughtful introspective books. Hope you have a great year of reading ahead for this year too!
DeleteThe Great Gatsby is one I have said for so long I am going to read. I read Bram Stoker's Dracula ages ago and would re read that. Happy New Year and here is to some great reads.
ReplyDeleteI am doing two challenges this year, Goodreads (so I add one more that my total amount read the year before) and this is my 3rd year doing the book jar challenge xxx
Lainy http://www.alwaysreading.net
Thanks Lanny. Happy New Year and great reading to you too! I have heard so much about the Great Gatsby and its not a long book so I figured this year I would give it a try. Glad to hear you liked Dracula and that book I am looking forward to reading.
ReplyDeleteChallenges can be alot of fun and good luck with the book jar challenge which I will check out.
Lots of great books - Middlemarch is one of my all-time favorite books and is a superb introduction to Eliot. NA is not my favorite Austen but is a delightful story. I have read The Great Gatsby many times--it's easy to see why it stood the test of time--95 years old this year!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the challenge and happy reading.
Thanks Jane, The Great Gatsby particularly interests me and the fact that you have read it many times tells me its a very powerful novel. Something tells me the film versions of this classic are no substitute
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