It's back! Karen
at Books and Chocolate is hosting the Back to the Classics Challenge for2018. Like most if not all of the
participants, I think making up the list is half the fun of the challenge. So
here are some I might choose to satisfy this year’s categories:
1. A 19TH
CENTURY CLASSIC - any book published between 1800 and 1899. This is the
easiest category for me to fill. I will
for sure read both a Trollop (The Eustace Diamonds and/or The Way We Live Now) and a Dickens title (next on my list is The Old Curiosity Shop) in 2018.
2. A 20TH CENTURY CLASSIC - any
book published between 1900 and 1968. As in
previous years, I will try to pick a book here that fits with the Modern
Library 100 Best of List; probably it will be Winesberg, Ohio by Sherwood
Anderson which was published in 1919.
3. A CLASSIC BY A WOMAN AUTHOR – I have a lot of unread Barbara Pym on my shelves. A few other
options among the books I already own are Passing by Nella Larson, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale
Hurston or Evelina by Frances Burney.
4. A CLASSIC IN TRANSLATION. Any
book originally written published in a language other than your native
language. My
native language is English. Now I could of course choose Les Miserables for this category and maybe I will, but I would also like to read a
translation from the French of Guy de Maupassant’s Bel Ami.
5. A CHILDREN'S CLASSIC. I may try The Jungle
Books again by Rudyard Kipling. They
didn’t grab me the last time I tried them for this challenge but maybe the
second time will be the charm?
6. A CLASSIC CRIME STORY, FICTION OR
NON-FICTION. Another very easy read for me
to fulfil; I can binge read Agatha Christie titles like nobody’s business and I love a
good classic whodunit. I also have a handful of Josephine Tey titles
on my shelf to read and may try The Man in the Queue since Jane also has this one lined up for 2018.
7. A CLASSIC TRAVEL OR JOURNEY NARRATIVE,
FICTION OR NON-FICTION. I will try Orient
Express by Graham Greene, first published in 1933.
8. A CLASSIC WITH A SINGLE-WORD TITLE. Both Passing by Nella Larson or Evelina by
Frances Burney would work here as well.
9. A CLASSIC WITH A COLOR IN THE TITLE. I think I might read The Scarlet Letter by
Nathanial Hawthorn or maybe The Red Badge of Courage by Stephan Crane.
10. A CLASSIC BY AN AUTHOR THAT'S NEW TO YOU. Any of my women
authors noted above with the exception of Barbara Pym would fit this category.
11. A CLASSIC THAT SCARES YOU. Light in August by
William Faulkner. Apparently this is one of his more accessible titles.
12. RE-READ A FAVORITE CLASSIC. Too many to
list. I will say that if possible I will
listen on audio rather than read with my eyes.
I am a bit weird about audio books but for re-reads they work really
well for me.
So that is my preliminary list. All of the specific titles listed above are
BOOKS THAT I ALREADY OWN! It has been a goal of mine in recent years to acquire
less and read more of what I already have at home. I am comfortable with unread
books on my shelves, but at the moment I have "too be read" piles obscuring the spines of other books which does
bug me. I want those piles to be wrangled into something more manageable over the next few years.
I really liked Passing by Nella Larsen! Evelina isn't a bad read; I enjoyed that one, too, but I read it right after I read Belinda by Maria Edgeworth which I liked better, so Evelina suffered in comparison for me. Good luck with this challenge! You've picked some great reads. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Lark! Good to know you liked Passing. I look forward to reading it (and bonus - it is really short!).
DeleteI know how that can be reading too similar books back to back...it can diminish one's enjoyment of one or the other for sure. On the plus side, I have never heard of Belinda, so I will add this to my TBR for possible future Back to the Classic categories.
Hi Ruthiella, Great List. I too put There Eyes Were Watching God on my list and am looking forward to reading the book. I put Faulkner down too as writers who scare me. I chose Sound and Fury. I read Winesberg OH years ago. It wasn't my cup of tea but its a very important book in that many noted writers of the 20th century mention that book as being very influential. Good luck with the list!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Kathy! Even if I dislike Winesberg OH, it is super short.
DeleteThanks also for reminding me that you too have There Eyes Were Watching God on your 2018 list. I will then read it for sure, so I can compare my impression with yours! :D
Light in August - Yeah, fairly accessible, but still Faulkner. I did like this best of the four Faulkner titles I've read, but he takes some getting used to, and this was my fourth, so I wonder if I was just getting more used to him. Regardless hope you enjoy. Nice choices all around.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Joseph! Light in August will be my first Faulkner. I am hoping it will help me build my reading muscles because I also "need" to read As I Lay Dying and The Sound and the Fury.
DeleteAnother wonderful list. Yes, I never have any trouble filling the 19th century category--so many wonderful novels and authors to choose from. I liked Old Curiosity Shop the second time I read it, and no longer make disparaging remarks about it. I always forget about Sherwood Anderson, but I did like the one book I read of his in college. I loved Their Eyes Were Watching God--what a powerful book. Light in August scares me too, but I've heard it's worth reading. Good luck with the challenge, and kudos to sticking to your shelves!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Jane! Glad to hear you loved Their Eyes Were Watching God! I will read it either for the Classic by a Woman Author or the New to You Author for sure.
DeleteGreat list! I may have to borrow Passing as my single-word title entry. I drew a bit of a blank on that one.
ReplyDeleteLove that it's a list of books you already own. That's something I really need to start focusing on.
Thanks for the comment Rob! Borrow away! Also, Passing is a novella, so very short which will be a plus since some of my other choices are chuncksters.
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