Leni's Old and New Classics Challenge

[Leni]

I only joined the group a week or so ago, hence the slightly delayed entry. I have so many Old Classics lined up for this year, I need something like this challenge to make sure I read some of the newer classics I've been meaning to get to as well. (Plus, one does occasionally need a break from Victorian literature. Or at least I do.)

I hereby pledge to find the time and concentration to read the following:

1899 and earlier
1. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (read in January)
2. The Moonstone (read in January)
3. Middlemarch (read Feb.-April)

1900-1999
1. Catch-22 (read in Aug-Spt.)
2. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (read in Jan-Feb)
3. Love in the Time of Cholera

My Wildcard Six
1. White Fang (read in April)
2. Little Women
3. The King of Elfland's Daughter (read in April)
4. On the Road (read in July-Aug.)
5. Like Water for Chocolate (read in Aug.)
6. A Brief History of Seven Killings

My alternates (which I fully intend to read as well):
A1 The Woman in White (read in Feb.)
A2 A Room with a View (read in June)

Wish me luck, and fortitude!

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Welcome to the group and to the challenge Leni. Happy Reading. Nice list too.

[Philina]

Welcome to the group and the challenge!
Your selection looks wonderful, especially the old ones and the two Latin American ones.

[Susie]

Have you seen the group is reading Middlemarch now for our first quarter long read...will you be joining us?
I like your list...

[Leni]

Thank you all :)
I hope to be joining the Middlemarch group read. However, I am reading the Moonstone in another group (don't worry, it was started in January, not before!) and the library wants Portrait of an Artist back. Oh, and I'm a hundred pages into The Tenant. While I do enjoy multi-reading, I'm intimidated enough by Middlemarch that I think I need to make it my sole focus when I start it. So... I'll jump in there when we reach March and make a concentrated effort to catch up!

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Welcome to the group and the challenge. You have a terrific selection of books, I hope you enjoy the challenge. Good Luck!

[Philina]

Don't worry about making Middlemarch your sole effort!
I don't do that, either, and I actually prefer it that way. It's not an action book you rush through. I enjoy reading a few chapters at a time, digest them and savour them.
I think I would miss a lot with too much speed.

[Leni]

Ah. I know it's not an action book, but I thought I might lose my thread and forget who's who and said what if I took too long reading it. I'll get hold of a copy sooner rather than later then, and give it a try.

[Susie]

I hear you...I cleared up most of my current reading in December so I could start Middlemarch without any distraction(s).

Now that I've gotten into it, I'm able to read a couple of other books at the same time without losing my way...

[Philina]

I'm not loosing my way, either.
The main set of characters is under 10, I believe, so really, don't worry!

[Leni]

I have taken your advice and started Middlemarch. Reading it on the Kindle is great. So easy to look up unfamiliar words. I'm taking it slowly and haven't gotten far, but I'm enjoying it.

I have also completed my first book, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which fits into so many of my challenges. I'm glad I have some overlap!

My review here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I enjoyed your review. I read Wildfell Hall last year and thought it was great. I differ with you on one aspect I think the quality of Anne's work when compared to her sisters is certainly equal if not better. I think Anne was every bit as talented as her sisters. Reading this book made Anne my favorite Bronte. I just wish she had been able to write more.

[Leni]

It made her my favourite Bronte too. I think I enjoyed the writing style and composition of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights more, but those qualities were pretty much all I liked. I hated Wuthering Heights with a passion. I wrote reviews of both of those works too. I'd like to read Anne's other novel and I might give Charlotte another go. But I think I've had my fill for now!

[Leni]

This comic summarises my view pretty well:

http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php...

[Leni]

That's the Moonstone done. Did I like it? Read my spoiler free review and see:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Pink]

Great review :)

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

The Moonstone is on my list for this year. I'm hooked on Collins and your review only makes me want to read it sooner than planned.

[Leni]

It's my first Collins so I don't know how it compares to his other work. But I'm looking forward to finding out!

[Leni]

And there was the end of A Portrait of the Artist аs a Young Man as well. That one was a bit of hard work. A short book, but concentration and diligent use of footnotes needed. Glad I had other things to read in parallel with this. I finished it an thought, how on earth am I going to rate this? What do I say? And then I sat down and poured out half a school essay on it. :P

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Susie]

I read it in high school and don't remember much other than being very confused.
I am recommitting to Joyce to see what I think now, but I'm starting 'easy' with Dubliners, which I'm enjoying but the stories are depressing, yet illuminating if that makes sense...
I do like his writing...so different from Hardy or Austen and definitely George Eliot (see Middlemarch ;)), but I love the contrast!

[Laurie]

A very nice review of A Portait. I wish I had read it before I read Ulysses. And a tiny spoiler alert of Ulysses. You hope Stephen grows up some, but he is still a young man in the book. And since it takes place over one day, he doesn't have time to grow up during the story. But knowing his background will be quite helpful.

[Leni]

Laurie: Thanks for the heads up. Because of the title I guess I sort of assumed it would be a ten year journey, not "A Day in the Life of the Artist".

Susie: You read Portrait of the Artist in high school? Wow, you must have had an ambitious teacher! you need a certain amount of background knowledge about history and literature to even begin to get anything out of the book. Dubliners... Yes, I might do that as well before tackling Ulysses.

[Leni]

Reading time has not been abundant lately, but I have finished The Woman in White. If I had realised how much I would like Wilkie Collins I would have put both books on the list instead of making one an alternate. But I'm still hopeful I'll get through the whole list, alternates and all.

Next up: Lord Dunsany. I love his short stories, and I've been really looking forward to reading one of his novels.

Review of The Woman in White:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Leni]

I finally have an update here. (I'm feeling like maybe I have too many challenges. Makes progress in each one slow, even though some books count towards multiple challenges.)

Review, sort of, of the excellent The King of Elfland's Daughter.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Next up: White Fang, and actually finish Middlemarch! I haven't had the required peace and frame of mind for Middlemarch for a few weeks, but I feel like getting back to it now. There's nothing like a bit of Dunsany to give you back your reading zen.

[Kathleen]

Oh! This looks like my kind of fantasy, Leni. A must read, thanks to your beautiful review.

I know what you mean about spreading yourself too thin in the challenges, but you are making fine progress here. Hope you enjoy the rest of Middlemarch!

[[deleted user]]

Love that you got back your "reading zen"! :)

[Leni]

Turns out I had already read "White Fang"! It was slowly coming back to me as I read it. Clearly it didn't make much of an impact on me, unlike "Call of the Wild" which is seared into my memory.

Verdict: More than twice as long as Call of the Wild, but not half as good.

And yes, I read Call of the Wild again too for comparison. That one was much shorter than I remembered from my childhood reading experience. I also found it odd that I read these as a child. I couldn't give these books to my 9-year old to read. She'd be sobbing by the third page and not let up until a week after the end!

[Leni]

And that's Middlemarch done. Whew. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself now. I'm resisting the somewhat masochistic temptation to just start over again. Instead I have resolved to read one George Eliot book every year. At some point I'll then come back around to Middlemarch, and hopefully greet it as an old friend that I can spend a bit of time each day getting reacquainted with.

[Pink]

Well done, I'm glad it turned into such a rewarding reading experience for you. It was my first book by Elliot and I loved it. Since then I've read Silas Marner, but it didn't have the same impact. I'd like to try her other books at some point.

[Kathleen]

Leni wrote: "And that's Middlemarch done. Whew. I'm not quite sure what to do with myself now. I'm resisting the somewhat masochistic temptation to just start over again. Instead I have resolved to read one Geo..."

So glad to hear how much you enjoyed this Leni, and I understand that feeling of not wanting it to end. I am almost done with George Eliot, and I have even more respect for her now and the effort she put into each book. Love your plan to read one every year!

[Leni]

Time for another update at last. I've finished . That was quite a slog, oddly enough considering the book barely allows you to draw breath. The breakneck mania just wore me out. And the characters were so loathsome.

Review here.


I have also started Catch 22, and technically completing that will make ten books if I count my alternates. But I have Like Water for Chocolate ready and waiting, and I'll see if I can't get through the whole list yet.

[Kathleen]

I think Like Water for Chocolate might be just what the doctor ordered after On the Road!

[Brina]

I love Like Water for Chocolate, hope you enjoy.

[Leni]

Kathleen wrote: "I think Like Water for Chocolate might be just what the doctor ordered after On the Road!"

You are absolutely right! I took a break from Catch-22 (entertaining but bewildering and demanding) and read Like Water for Chocolate. Lovely! But unfortunately I know have a craving for food I have no ability to cook! lol

[Kathleen]

So funny Leni--I remember that frustration. Glad you enjoyed it!

[Leni]

And now I've finished Catch-22 as well. Wow, what a finish! I want to quote half of the final 50 pages. lol

Review with no quotes here.

Only three more books to go! (Or one, in a pinch.)

[Leni]

I thought I would manage to squeak by with the help of my alternates, but I'm not going to make it. I am currently reading Little Women, but I am quite sure it will be a day or two into January before I finish it. But it is being read, at least!

As for the remaining two books, they will also be read in 2017. They are part of my Around the World challenge, and I overestimated how far I would get. (I've also realized that one of them is a very recent book, and doesn't really belong in a classics challenge.) I didn't plan this challenge very well. Just jumped on the band wagon with enthusiasm and a bunch of books I knew I wanted to read. Next year's challenge is better planned, but I'm not sure that's going to help... X´D

[Pink]

Sounds like you've had a successful challenge overall, with 2017 challenges filling in the gaps!

I didn't notice that you read Catch 22. I just checked out your review and had a very similar reaction to it. I only read it a couple of years ago and after a slow start I ended up loving it. In fact I really want to re-read it and that almost never happens with me, even with books I love!

[Leni]

I very rarely reread books. I might go back to read select passages, but not the whole thing. But this year I have actually read no less than three books that I think I will want to reread in the future (whether I will actually read them again is another matter, but the urge is there and that's rare). Catch 22 is one of those books, the other two are Middlemarch and In the Name of the Rose.

[Pink]

That's interesting that you'd like to re-read Catch 22 as well. I think it's the sort of book that would benefit from a second reading, especially to appreciate the beginning parts, when I had no idea what was going on! I could also re-read Middlemarch as I absolutely loved it. I suppose I should really get around to reading The Name of the Rose, as I passed on it this year!

[Leni]

Yes, you should! Once I started reading it I was kicking myself mentally for having put it off for so long. Years in fact. That happens when I see the movie first. But the book is so much more.