Monday, December 19, 2016

BACK TO THE CLASSICS CHALLENGE 2017

Its official! Karen at Books at Chocolate is graciously hosting the Back to the Classics Challenge again.  Below is a list of the 2017 categories with some of my potential titles:

A 19th Century Classic – I will probably read a Dickens’ novel. I only have a handful left: The Old Curiosity Shop, Dombey and Son, Nicolas Nickelby, or Barnaby Rudge.

A 20th Century Classic –I will definitely choose something from the Modern Library’s 20th Century best of list. I still have 30 of those left to read.   Just based on books I already own, possible choices might be Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin, Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald or the Wings of the Dove by Henry James.

A classic by a woman author – I am totally spoiled for choice on this one but I think I might make it The Professor’s House by Willa Cather because I so loved My Antonia which I read in November of this year.

A classic in translation – Again, there is a lot to choose from in this category, but I think I would like to try Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant or if I end up reading Le Rouge et Le Noir by Stendhal, that would also fit.

A classic published before 1800 – This would provide me with an opportunity to read something from ancient Greece or Rome. Maybe Metamorphoses by Ovid? I really have no clue and might need to think on this one a while longer.  

A romance classic – I am going to see if my next  planned Trollope will fit here…either Phineas Finn or The Way We Live Now .  All the Trollope I have read thus far has had a strong romantic plot (or two or three), so I suspect either book will work for this category.   However, I may read Dragonwyke by Anya Seton since I recently purchased a used copy on the strength of a review over at Lark Writes and which appears to be a more traditional romance in the vein of DuMaurier.

A Gothic or horror classic – I am definitely going for gothic over horror and I have two contenders: The Monk by Mathew Lewis or The Castle of Otranto by Walpole. Actually, both were published in the 1700s so they could also work for #5 in a pinch.

A classic with a number in the title – I might re-read Slaughterhouse 5 since I only read it the one time. But I am also considering The Three Musketeers by Dumas Pere or One Hundred Years of Solitude (published in 1967 it JUST squeezed by at being 50 years old in 2017)by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

A classic about an animal or which includes the name of an animal in the title – I might read The Yearling. I can’t remember if I read it as a child or if I just saw the movie. I will be sure to have tissues handy. I am sure it will make me weep (again).

A classic set in a place you'd like to visit – At first I was going to choose a literary location…but I have already read all the Barsetshire books by Trollope and the Miss Marple books by Chrstie and those are the only two fictional places I can think off the top of my head.  So perhaps I will read Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay in this category (another squeaker first published in 1967) which is set in Australia .

An award-winning classic -  I would like to read The Wapshot Chronicle by John Cheever  which won the National Book Award in 1958. This is another book that is also on the Modern Library’s 20th Century best of list, so  if I complete it, it is a twofer.

A Russian Classic  There is an off chance that I might read War and Peace in 2017, but if not, I also would like to try The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky or Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol OR if I am pressed for time, A Day in the Life of  Ivan Denisovich by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn, which is under 200 pages.


I look forward to staring the New Year with one of the above mentioned titles.  I will definitely also be checking out the sign-up page regularly to see other bloggers’ choices.   

19 comments:

  1. That's a good list of books you've picked out: I'm always partial to any Henry James book so I'm rooting for that one, but Tender is the Night is a good read, too, and shorter! I also really liked The Professor's House by Cather, and of course, Dragonwyck. :) Good luck...and happy reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment Lark! I have never read any Henry James...well maybe The Turn of the Screw, but I have no real memory of it. I hear he is tough, so I hope I am up to the task!

      I am looking forward to both The Professor's House and Dragonwyk...they will get read regardless of whether or not they fill a category on the 2017 challenge!

      Delete
  2. Great picks! I'm going to have a hard time narrowing down what I want to read for these categories (even if I can just change them later, heh). I should probably add a Dickens to my list as well. I haven't read anything beyond A Christmas Carol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment Rob. I encourage you to try a Dickens' novel for the 19th century category. I would suggest Great Expectations. It is one of my favorites and for Dickens, it is fairly short (around 500 pages).

      Delete
  3. Of all of these, I am most intrigued to see what you make of Picnic at Hanging Rock. It's definitely a divider!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment Simon! I remember your review of the book on your blog and the nutty "alternative ending" to Picnic at Hanging Rock.

      Delete
  4. I imagine most of Trollope's novels have some kind of romance, or at least a match ... but in The Way We Live Now it's definitely done with a dark, cynical slant. Dragonwyck was another twisted sort of romance! It would also fit the Gothic category. Have fun with your list!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment Lory. Nice to know you have read Dragonwyck too! I am leaning more and more towards choosing that one for the Romance category.

      Delete
  5. I love the categories this year--Karen got very inventive! I am reading The Old Curiosity Shop in January with the GoodReads Victorians group. I've read it once and didn't like it at all, but I was miffed with Dickens at the time (having recently read the Ackroyd bio) and so had no patience for him. We're back on good terms these days, so I am looking forward to revisiting OCS. I've been meaning to read Picnic at Hanging Rock for years so that I could finally watch the movie.

    Happy holidays, and happy reading!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment Jane! Yes, as a person Dickens was in many ways unpleasant, in particular in his treatment of his wife. I get you.

      I saw the Picnic at Hanging Rock Movie years ago. However, it has been so long that I should re-watch it once I have read the book.

      Delete
  6. Some interesting titles & a few I haven't heard of. Picnic at Hanging Rock - I don't remember if I read the book but I did watch the movie, a long time ago. And I really should read Tolstoy but Anna K would be plenty long enough for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment Carol. I read Anna Karenina years ago and loved the Anna parts and hated the Levin bits. I wonder if I would feel differently now?

      Delete
  7. Nicolas Nickelby was great for its comic character Mr. Mantalini when I read it 20 years ago, though I'm not sure how his shtick will wear in our stricter, more easily perturbed day. I had to put down Barnaby Rudge after 200 pages, but of course your mileage may vary. Happy New Year!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment Major. Happy New Year to you too! We'll see how I fare; sometimes Victorian mores bother me in novels and sometimes they don't.

      Delete
  8. I'd like to highly recommend 100 Years as well as either Bros K or W&P. Nice choices.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment Joseph! I think I will save W&P for another year since I recently decided to tackle Proust's Remembrance of Lost Time cycle in 2017. But Brothers K or 100 Years are both still in the running!

      Delete
  9. Yes to The Yearling - tho do know I did NOT cry and I think I am more the crier than you might be. Agree or disagree?
    And pls give me any sugs for Russian - short as possible and funny if also possible because me and the Russians do NOT get along. Ugh!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment Care!

      I might not cry, but I know I saw the film as a child and cried buckets (at Old Yeller too).

      For the Russians, maybe you could try Memories: From Moscow to the Black Sea by Teffi? I haven't read it but it sounds good, it is a memoir and it is less than 300 pages.

      Delete
    2. Fabulous! off to add to my tbr and see if the library has. :)

      Delete