Sarah's 2016 Exciting & Wondrous Classics Challenge

[Sarah]

Old School
1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 5*
2. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo 5*
3. Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert 4*

New School
4. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James DNF
5. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald 1*
6. Light in August by William Faulkner 5*

My Wild Card Six
7. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe 4*
8. Out of Africa by Karen Blixen 2*
9. Maurice by E.M. Forster 5*
10. The Winds of War by Herman Wouk 3*
11. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer 2* DNF
12. Salammbô by Gustave Flaubert 2*

Alternates
1. Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo 1* DNF
2. Mason and Dixon by Thomas Pynchon 4*

[Sarah]

My challenge is still light on women but I'm trying to use books that I already own. Maybe I should make up for it by doing the Women's Challenge :)

[Sara, New School Classics]

You have a lot of books on your list that I have not yet read. I will be interested in seeing what your opinion is of them. Still working on my list for 2016.

[Sarah]

I've been scheming and planning my list for a couple of weeks :) I'm quite excited about my list. I'll make sure to post my opinions!

[[deleted user]]

I started planning my list a couple of weeks ago too! I'm hoping I've made some better choices this year.

[Sarah]

Yeah, you had a pretty rough year last year. I hope you fare better this year. I do love Austen and I think you're probably safe there.

[Amanda]

Woo hoo!! Love your list :)

[Sarah]

Thanks! I'm looking forward to it. I really enjoyed the challenge this year :)

[Desertorum]

Great list! Need to start really planning my books, and which challenges to participate (all of course...who am I kidding ;) )

[Sarah]

I know! They're all so terribly tempting! I'm going to take a look later today.

[Desertorum]

Les Mis is one of my favourites and I also enjoyed Anna Karenina but the others I haven´t read! But I´m reading Robinson Crusoe from Daniel Defoe, if I enjoy his writing I might read Moll Flanders as well.

[Pink]

Great list, I've only read This Side of Paradise, but I've been halfway through Les Mis for about 2 years! Perhaps I should add that one to my 2016 challenge list!

You've got a couple of books that I keep meaning to get around to, but never seem to find time, which is always the problem...

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Sarah I've been distracted lately and haven't looked over everyone's list, always looking for reading ideas, but I couldn't help notice your title. It certainly has style!

[Sarah]

Thanks Bob :) I was just so excited about the challenge that it has to come out somehow!

Pink, in going to try Les Mid on audio. I've heard that the one that was translated by Julie Rose is quite good.

Desertorum, I'm hoping to do a reread if Crusoe someone this year. I was going to say something specific about one part but I'm not sure if it's a spiker or not. I'll keep an eye out for when you're done. It's quite a fun book.

[Katy, Old School Classics]

Sarah you've got some great books on this list. I think it will add to my TBR list!

[Sarah]

That's what these are actually for, right? ;) I do love looking at everyone's lists.

[Maarit]

Interesting list, Sarah :). I've only read Anna Karenina and Les Mis from your choices, but the rest of the books in your list look very interesting, maybe I just put some of them in my mental TBR-list ;).

[Desertorum]

Sarah wrote: "Thanks Bob :) I was just so excited about the challenge that it has to come out somehow!

Pink, in going to try Les Mid on audio. I've heard that the one that was translated by Julie Rose is quite ..."

I´ll come to ask about it when I´m done! :)

[Janet]

Five of these are on my TBR list. I read This Side of Paradise this year. It was ok but of Fitzgerald's work Tender Is the Night is my favorite.

[Sarah]

I'm hoping to do both of those but my priority is This Side of Paradise. Tender is the Night seems to be the most critically acclaimed but there's some perverse twist to my character that means I tend to dislike the most popular ones. I don't think it's intentional on my part! It's like Greatest Hits albums - they have all the wrong songs on them. So I'm treading very warily around that one right now. I read The Beautiful and Damned this year and completely loved it. It's good to hear that This Side of Paradise is at least okay. :) I would be fine with a two star review.

[Janet]

I have yet to read The Beautiful and Damned. It is on that "oh so famous" TBR list, however.

[Sarah]

I had never heard of it :) I stumbled across the Barnes & Noble edition and it was very pretty. I wish this was always a sound basis for picking books I love.

[Sara, New School Classics]

The Beautiful and the Damned is also on my list this year. I have had great luck and very bad luck picking books by covers. :)

[Sarah]

That's the way it tends to work :) It was especially pretty so I couldn't pass it up. Plus, I have quite a collection of Barnes & Noble classics so it looks lovely. That collection includes Les Miserables and Anna Karenina and I won't be reading those editions. Now I'm not sure if I should keep them anyway and therefore have two of each, or take some pretties out of my collection.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Sarah wrote: "That's the way it tends to work :) It was especially pretty so I couldn't pass it up. Plus, I have quite a collection of Barnes & Noble classics so it looks lovely. That collection includes Les Mis..."

Keep them, something of beauty has a value all its own.

[Sarah]

Thanks :) I feel much less silly now.

[Miikka]

Light in August might be the single best book I have ever read. Its also the only one I have read from these books.

Any particular reason for selecting two books by Gustave Flaubert? I was not particularly impressed by Madame Bovary myself. I am under the impression it was a unique book for its time and I was not able to appreciate it fully though. I have Sentimental Education in my bookshelf, its gonna have to wait some time.

Tolstoy, Mailer, Pynchon & E.M Forster are all authors I have thought about reading, along with 100 other authors :D.

[Teanka]

Good luck with your new challenge Sarah! And I hope we'll be reading some of them together since I see a lot of interesting titles on your list.

[Sarah]

I really liked Madame Bovary. I was impressed with his masterful use of pacing to make us feel how she felt. The first most-of-the-book was quite dull since that was how she experienced things but it always shocked me when what seemed like a day that he was describing ended up being years. Talk about boring! I was amazed by his writing. I hesitated to have two books by the same author but I really want to read those.

[Sarah]

Thanks Teanka! I'll be happy to buddy read any of them :)

[Teanka]

I believe I'm in for some BR already! :) And I've read Les Mis and Anna Karenina, great choices both of them. I'd be happy to plan Light in August for sometime next year. My mum always recommended it to me as her favourite Faulkner, so I should finally read that. And I seem to remember that you want to read The Naked and the Dead on your own, right?

It's nice to see other people's lists, I'm still hesitating on what to choose for my own though. Too many choices!

[Sarah]

I'm just making sure I get The Naked and the Dead in there somewhere. Nobody else was interested but a buddy read works be great. I'm reading it in May if you want to join me. I'm doing Light in August on audio but I don't remember what month I have it scheduled. It's pretty flexible. The Naked and the Dead is less so because of the length.

[Desertorum]

I was positive not to add anything on my TBR shelf for a while but again I must take that back...you guys make these books just sound so good!

[Teanka]

Sarah wrote: "I'm just making sure I get The Naked and the Dead in there somewhere. Nobody else was interested but a buddy read works be great. I'm reading it in May if you want to join me. I'm doing Light in Au..."

OK Sarah, that's great. I'll let you know if I can fit it in :).

[Sarah]

They're all terribly tempting! I ended up adding both of those Robin Hood books.

[Desertorum]

Sarah wrote: "They're all terribly tempting! I ended up adding both of those Robin Hood books."

:D

[Sarah]

Well, there are a couple where I'm using the word "classics" a bit loosely. Just to save your TBR, of course ;) Actually I wanted the extra incentive since they're long.

[Sarah]

I swapped out The Tower: A Novel for The Winds of War. I know I'll have no trouble reading The Tower but I think I need a little extra incentive for Winds of War and I really want to read it.

[Sara, New School Classics]

I did the same, Sarah, putting the books on the list that I might find reasons to put off. Never read Winds of War, but have thought about it now and again. I'll be interested to see what you think.

[Sarah]

It's one that my mom has been a fan of the mini-series for as long as I can remember. I'm curious to see what the book is like. It does seem like this list is incentive for actually finishing some of those been-on-my-tbr-forever books.

[Sarah]

My first one is done. Out of Africa - 2 stars. A bit of a disappointment.

[Sara, New School Classics]

Out of Africa is not anything like the movie, so for those who have seen and loved the movie it fails to meet expectation. I read the book first and then they made the movie, so not as disappointing I think.

[Sarah]

I barely remember the movie. I just spent most of the book fairly bored. Her descriptions of Africa were very interesting and you could see how much she grieved to leave it, but while it was interesting, I can't say I liked it.

[Pink]

Shame you didn't enjoy your first book so much, but it's one crossed off the list.

[Sarah]

Yep. I'm actually in the middle of the very time consuming Mason & Dixon and I'm enjoying that one very much.

[Darren]

ooh (puts M&D on TBR list!)
I read The Crying Of Lot 49 last year and really enjoyed it, so Pynchon is now on my "Author-More" list, although I am intending to read V this year and then probably (gulp!) Gravity's Rainbow
will be interested to hear what you think of M&D...

[Sarah]

That a good plan :) I've only read Inherent Vice before this. This one is definitely wacky and sometimes confusing but it's also made me laugh out loud several times. I'm 250 pages in and they're only just now headed to America for the Mason-Dixon line. It's great so far. It does take an absolutely astonishing time to read.

[[deleted user]]

1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
2. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
good books , i plan to read them in 2017

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Sarah wrote: "My first one is done. Out of Africa - 2 stars. A bit of a disappointment."

I hate to hear this I have been thinking about this one for Bingo and it catches me up one more book on the group bookshelf.

[Sarah]

I've actually been in a reading funk and I'm not really enjoying things. It may be better than my experience. I believe Sara read it and enjoyed it.