IB's 2015 Old & New Classics Challenge

[IB]

I read the challenge and its rules but I only wrote it on my reading journal, so I'm going to post them here. Please let me know if I did something incorrectly (I recently joined on May).

OLD SCHOOL
1. North and South (1855) Finished: June 15, 2015
2. Mansfield Park (1814)
3. Oedipus Rex (c. 429 BC) Finished: May 14, 2015

NEW SCHOOL
4. The Valley of Fear (1914) Finished: December 22, 2015
5. The Old Man and the Sea (1952) Finished: July 6, 2015

Women of the 19th Century
6. Cranford (1851) Finished: November 1, 2015
7. The Professor (1857) Finished: December 29, 2015
8. Pride and Prejudice (1813) Finished: July 8, 2015

Alternates
A1. The Tempest (1610-11) Finished: September 4, 2015
A2. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) Finished: November 25, 2015

[Sarah]

Hi IB! Your challenge looks great. I've only read a couple of them, and I don't remember Oedipus Rex. I hope you have fun with the challenge :)

[Sarah]

P & P is one of the most brilliant novels ever :) It's a work of art.

[IB]

Sarah wrote: "Hi IB! Your challenge looks great. I've only read a couple of them, and I don't remember Oedipus Rex. I hope you have fun with the challenge :)"

Thank you, Sarah. I will, especially I'm on summer break :D I know! I will finally be able to read it x)

[IB]

Stephanie wrote: "Good luck with your challenge, IB! I read Pride and Prejudice and The Picture of Dorian Gray this year and loved both..."

Thanks, Stephanie. I heard! I've been wanting to read those two for a while.

[Maarit]

I read Pride and Prejudice earlier this year for my challenge and it was a nice book to read. I've also read The Picture of Dorian Gray twice (first time for high school and then the university's literature course) and I think it's an interesting book to read. The others I haven't read yet, but maybe I will read some of them someday :). Have a fun with your challenge!

[Christine]

Welcome to the challenge! I will put in another plug for Pride and Prejudice - I LOVED that book! I hope you're able to join in our group discussion of North and South this month. :-)

[Pink]

Looks like you've done everything right to me. Good luck with your chosen books. I'm reading North and South this month as well :)

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

I just started N&S yesterday.

Of your other books, I've read Cranford, P/P, Mansfield Park, and Picture of Dorian Gray.

I read the two JA titles with JA groups here on GR. I read Cranford and Dorian Gray with this group.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

IB your challenge looks great. I wish more new members would participate. Of the five books on your challenge I've read, my highest encouragement goes to North and South and Pride and Prejudice. Good luck and have fun.

[IB]

Pink wrote: "Looks like you've done everything right to me. Good luck with your chosen books. I'm reading North and South this month as well :)"

Christine wrote: "Welcome to the challenge! I will put in another plug for Pride and Prejudice - I LOVED that book! I hope you're able to join in our group discussion of North and South this month. :-)"

Thank you very much! I got lucky when North and South became this month's read.

[IB]

Maarit wrote: "I read Pride and Prejudice earlier this year for my challenge and it was a nice book to read. I've also read The Picture of Dorian Gray twice (first time for high school and then the university's l..."

Thanks, Maarit. I can't wait to read both novels.

[IB]

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "I just started N&S yesterday.

Of your other books, I've read Cranford, P/P, Mansfield Park, and Picture of Dorian Gray.

I read the two JA titles with JA groups here on GR. I read Cranford and Dor..."

I just started reading it recently, too! I really got lucky when it became this group's reading.

[IB]

Bob wrote: "IB your challenge looks great. I wish more new members would participate. Of the five books on your challenge I've read, my highest encouragement goes to North and South and Pride and Prejudice. ..."

Thank you very much, Bob. Yup, can't wait to read both :)

[Maarit]

Now that I looked again in your list I can't believe that I let two books slip past from me eventhough I've read them. I've read Old Man and the Sea last year, which I enjoyed a lot and also Oedipus Rex, for which I got confused with as it's translated as "Kuningas Oidipus" (King Oedipus) in Finnish. That I read in a whim few months ago and thought it was on OK read, though maybe not that much my cup of tea.

[IB]

Maarit wrote: "Now that I looked again in your list I can't believe that I let two books slip past from me eventhough I've read them. I've read Old Man and the Sea last year, which I enjoyed a lot and also Oedipu..."

I do agree that Oedipus was an OK read, but I have to wait about my thoughts on The Old and the Sea. Lucky for me, they happened to be summer reading for school.

[IB]

Finished North and South today (rather at midnight) and I got to say it's my new favourite. Now, currently reading Pride and Prejudice. I should have started with the latter because lots of people were saying that N&S is similar to P&P. Oh well. :)

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

IB wrote: "Finished North and South today (rather at midnight) and I got to say it's my new favourite. Now, currently reading Pride and Prejudice. I should have started with the ..."

I just finished N&S on Sunday afternoon.

I really enjoyed it!

[Pink]

Glad to know you enjoyed North and South, I'm still reading and enjoying it too. I haven't read P&P either!

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I found North and South to be one of the better 19th century classics I've read and completely hooked me on Elizabeth Gaskell, I hope to read many more of her books.

[IB]

Pink wrote: "Glad to know you enjoyed North and South, I'm still reading and enjoying it too. I haven't read P&P either!"

It's going to be a great one, Pink. Yay! Glad to know I'm not the only one :)

[IB]

Bob wrote: "I found North and South to be one of the better 19th century classics I've read and completely hooked me on Elizabeth Gaskell, I hope to read many more of her books."

I feel the same. I need to start my collection with her works as I did with Austen.

[IB]

Andrea (Catsos Person) is a Compulsive eBook Hoarder wrote: "I just finished N&S on Sunday afternoon.

I really enjoyed it!"

It was indeed a great read. I must hunt other works of her, too.

[Pink]

I plan on reading her biography of Charlotte Bronte some time soon. Plus some more of her fiction at a later point. I think there's plenty to choose from.

[Teanka]

Pink wrote: "I plan on reading her biography of Charlotte Bronte some time soon. Plus some more of her fiction at a later point. I think there's plenty to choose from."

That should cover the entire Bronte family, they were a fascinating lot.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I notice you also have Cranford on your list. while I did not like it as much as North and South it is a solid read and quite funny.

[IB]

Pink wrote: "I plan on reading her biography of Charlotte Bronte some time soon. Plus some more of her fiction at a later point. I think there's plenty to choose from."

Oh, me too, when I saw it!

[IB]

Bob wrote: "I notice you also have Cranford on your list. while I did not like it as much as North and South it is a solid read and quite funny."

I was going to put Mary Barton, but Cranford interested me. I do like funny reads.

[Trudy]

North and South is my favorite novel. I've been trying to find a Victorian author to beat Gaskell for compelling real characters, touching descriptions of human situations and the complexity of relationships, and an overriding sense of hope for humanity's progress. Haven't found anyone I like better. (Thomas Hardy's writing I love, but he's not hopeful.)

Wives & Daughters is also brilliant. She develops an engaging cast of characters and weaves a web of tangled relationships in a small town. I've read it twice and enjoyed the humor, tragedy, angst and sweetness of all her characters. I absolutely love it and think it's a travesty it isn't more widely known. Beats Austen for me any day.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

"Pink wrote: "I plan on reading her biography of Charlotte Bronte some time soon. Plus some more of her fiction at a later point. I think there's plenty to choose from."


Gaskell's biography of CB was the May monthly selecrtion in the Women's Lit Enthusiasts group, but I CNF'd Vol I.

[IB]

Trudy wrote: "North and South is my favorite novel. I've been trying to find a Victorian author to beat Gaskell for compelling real characters, touching descriptions of human situations and the complexity of rel..."

She and Austen are my top authors far if we talk about women writers.

I've been wanting to have Wives and Daughters when I saw it on my local bookstore but fortunately I only have it on my ereader.

Hopefully I have time to read it soon. Thanks for the input, Trudy. :)

[Pink]

Andrea, it does look very long, I think that's what has put me off until now.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Pink wrote: "Andrea, it does look very long, I think that's what has put me off until now."

I stopped reading it because out of sensitivity to CBs still living father and her widowed husband, Gaskell left out some of the things that I most wanted to know about.

[Pink]

Okay, that makes sense. I've previously read The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë by Daphne du Maurier which looked at all the family members and the strange dynamics between them. I'd definitely recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about the Brontes.

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Pink wrote: "Okay, that makes sense. I've previously read The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë by Daphne du Maurier which looked at all the family members and the strange dynam..."

That looks interesting.

[Christine]

Pink wrote: "Okay, that makes sense. I've previously read The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë by Daphne du Maurier which looked at all the family members and the strange dynam..."

I agree, looks very interesting!

[IB]

I finished P&P and The Old Man and the Sea. I most certainly enjoyed the former than the latter. There were lots of fishing terms I did not understand. P&P, however, got me laughing in so many parts.

[Sarah]

Congrats! That's good to know about the Hemingway book. I've been wanting to read that. P&P is such a wonderful novel, I'm glad you liked it!

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I've been thinking about reading Old Man the Sea for years. I had planned on nominating it for the short reads, but for me Jack London is better than Hemingway.

[Pink]

IB, I thought The Old Man and the Sea was okay, but I've much preferred some of Hemingway's other books.

Bob, I haven't read any Jack London, is he similar in style to Hemingway? I wouldn't have connected them, as I think of Hemingway writing about a later era, especially interwar Europe.

[Jessica]

IB what did you think of North and South. I'm about half way through and loving it so far??

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Pink I don’t have the academic capacity to provide a serious comparison between London and Hemingway. It puzzles me that todays readers appear to hold Hemingway in higher regard than London. Their backgrounds were different. Hemingway being upper middle class, London was from much lower down in the social pecking order. However, as grown men both were active and adventurous and that certainly reflects in their writings. My preference is personal. Hemingway writes a good story, but London grabs my attention. To me his descriptions are intense, both his landscapes and characters come alive. In one of his short stories, Love of Life and Other Stories(free from Amazon the title story is around 20 pages), I can visualize the rugged terrain, feel the bitter freezing weather, and sympathize with the man’s struggle to survive. London writes this as if he actually lived through the experience, for me Hemingway just doesn’t compare to London.

[Pink]

Bob, thanks for explaining. I think of Jack London as completely different to Hemingway, but I'm pretty clueless as I haven't read him yet. Guess I better fix that one day!

Perhaps London is less popular now as he suffers from being too popular in his day and has simply gone out of fashion since.

[Desertorum]

I still don´t see why Hemingway is so popular. I do have to admit I have read only to of his books (The Old Man and the Sea and short story collection) but I didn´t like them at all. Maybe I should give him another chance still…but I´m pretty reluctant to use my time to it :/ But London I did like as a teenager and maybe I should see how I feel about him now!

[Pink]

Of Hemingway, I started with A Moveable Feast hated it. Then read A Farewell to Arms loved it, The Torrents of Spring was just ok, The Sun Also Rises I really enjoyed and The Old Man and the Sea I liked, but it was quite different to the others. So it's been quite an up and down journey with him.

IB, sorry for turning your challenge thread into a Hemingway discussion!

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Pink wrote: "Bob, thanks for explaining. I think of Jack London as completely different to Hemingway, but I'm pretty clueless as I haven't read him yet. Guess I better fix that one day!

Perhaps London is less ..."

My opinion on Hemingway’s vs London’s popularity may sound somewhat defiant and bigoted. My honest opinion on why Hemingway is held in higher esteem by the average reader is based on my suspicion that cap and gown academics from more prestigious institutions preferred Hemingway and this attitude filtered down to the lower levels of learning. In my own undistinguished junior college experience the English department was all about Hemingway and Faulkner, London and Steinbeck were relegated to the library bookshelves. Even as early as high school Hemingway dominated. I may be considered narrow minded and ridged in my views, but that’s my take on why Hemingway is more popular than London.

IB, I too am sorry for hijacking your challenge thread. It’s always interesting seeing where conversations will pop up, I do apologize.

[Pink]

Bob, I definitely don't consider you narrow minded or ridged in your views for preferring a lesser read author to a more popular and in your eyes, inferior one. I'd feel exactly the same if I loved an overlooked author. From my side, in England, neither Hemingway nor London seem particularly well read or studied. In high school Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men has been heavily studied in recent years and there's criticism that it's become too popular. I personally don't remember studying any American lit at school, so they're all new discoveries to me.

[IB]

Sarah wrote: "Congrats! That's good to know about the Hemingway book. I've been wanting to read that. P&P is such a wonderful novel, I'm glad you liked it!"

Thank you very much, Sarah! I really loved it! Hopefully, you enjoy Hemingway!

[IB]

Pink wrote: "IB, I thought The Old Man and the Sea was okay, but I've much preferred some of Hemingway's other books. "

Oh I see. I do quite prefer The Sun Also Rises better than this The Old Man, Pink.

[IB]

Bob wrote: "I've been thinking about reading Old Man the Sea for years. I had planned on nominating it for the short reads, but for me Jack London is better than Hemingway."

I was thinking about the same thing about the nomination.