BACK TO THE CLASSICS CHALLENGE 2015

I’ve decided to put this neglected blog to good use for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2015 hosted by Karen at Books and Chocolate (link here http://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2014/12/announcing-back-to-classics-challenge.html ). I participated in the Back to the Classics Challenge 2014 by linking to my goodreads pages, which worked ok, but the reason I wanted a blog was to be able to take part in/keep track of these types of on-line challenges.

The categories and the books I plan on reading are as follows:

1.      A 19th Century Classic -- any book published between 1800 and 1899. – This should be pretty easy, considering all the unread Dickens, Collins and Trollop books that I want to read. I think I will choose Framely Parsonage, the fourth book in the Barchester Chronicles.

2.      A 20th Century Classic -- any book published between 1900 and 1965. Just like last year, all books must have been published at least 50 years ago to qualify as a classic. -  Here, I have to take advantage of my quest to read all the books on the Modern Library’s “100 best English-language novels of the twentieth century” which I have been working on since 1999 or so and choose one from that list.  Only 34 more titles to go!  I think I will read either Appointment inSamarra by John O'Hara or Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

3.      A Classic by a Woman Author --  This was a tough one to choose because there simply is so much to choose from, but based on Simon at Savidge Reads’ glowing review (http://savidgereads.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/east-lynne-ellen-wood/) I think I will give East Lynne by Ellen Wood a try.

4.      A Classic in Translation -- This was also difficult, but I finally decided on Siddhartha by Herman Hesse because (a) I have a copy in English already, (b) it is very short and (c) I think I might try to also read it in the original.

5.      A Very Long Classic Novel – I have the doorstop of TheMysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe awaiting me in this category.

6.      A Classic Novella -- Here I opted for One Fine Day by Molly Panter-Downes which has been championed by a variety of bloggers, but most important to me, by Simon at Stuck in A Book (http://www.stuck-in-a-book.blogspot.com/2012/03/one-fine-day-mollie-panter-downes.html).  

7.      A Classic with a Person's Name in the Title -- Since I chose the Radcliffe novel for the chunkster category, I thought I would read either Armandale by Wilkie Collins or Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens for this category.

8.      A Humorous or Satirical Classic -- The easiest by far! I will read Lucia’s Progress by E.F. Benson, which is the fourth book published in the Mapp & Lucia series.

9.      A Forgotten Classic --  Karen pointed out that Virago or Persephone titles would probably be a good fit here, so I have chosen to read Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple.

10.   A Nonfiction Classic --  I think I will try American Notes by Charles Dickens.

11.   A Classic Children's Book – I am pretty sure I never read A Little Princess by  Frances Hodgson Burnett and The Secret Garden is a childhood favorite, so that will probably be the book I read for this category.

12.    A Classic Play – Yikes! The hardest category of all! I have some Shakespeare plays on my shelves, but hopefully Lady Lady Windermere's Fan will be more amusing than King Lear, if I can get my hands on a copy.

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

 

photo credit

Well, you might not have heard that Adam Johnson’s The Orphan Master’s Son won the 2013 Tournament of Books, but you are probably aware that it did just win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. And well deserved in my opinion; TOMS is one of the best books I have read this year.

The story takes place in North Korea, a country shrouded in mystery; what is real and what is imagined, who can say?  All I know is I couldn’t stop reading. The story follows the life of Pak Jun Do, an orphan who through a series of fantastical circumstances experiences the absurdity and the despair of life under a totalitarian regime.  “The idea seemed impossible, preposterous, to him. What person could shift allegiance toward their oppressor? Who could possibly sympathize with the villain who stole your life?” Imagine an entire country of over 20 million suffering from Stockholm Syndrome and you’ll have an idea of life in the DPRK as depicted in the book. Remarkably, however, despite the brutality and tension inherent in the subject matter, the story was neither disheartening nor hopeless.

Only time will tell, of course, but I think this is a work of dystopian fiction that compares favorably to classics such as Orwell’s 1984 or Huxley’s Brave New World.

Tournament of Books 2013

My progress on attempting to read all the 2013 ToB contenders  before March 1, 2013.

I stumbled on the Tournament of Books in 2012 through a post on Citizen Reader's blog. All but four of the books were available from my local library, which was helpful. I couldn't have managed it otherwise! Check out the Morning News site: http://www.themorningnews.org/tob/ for some of the smartest, most honest and funniest commentary on these 16 books published last year. 

1. HHhH by Laurent Binet (currently reading)
2. The Round House by Louise Erdrich (checked out from the library)
3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (read in 2012)
4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
5. Arcadia by Lauren Groff
6. How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti
7. May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
8. The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
9. Ivyland by Miles Klee
10. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
11. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller  (read in 2012)
12. Dear Life by Alice Munro
13. Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
14. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
15. Building Stories by Chris Ware
16. Billy Flynn’s Half Time Walk by Ben Fountain **

**read after the deadline