Tammy's Blacking Out in the Last Weeks of 2017

[Tammy]

In March of 2017 I entered into a self imposed exploration of more challenging literature. I'd grown tired of thrillers, best sellers and books that didn't make me think, care, or feel one way or the other. I have trouble with the term classic because many newer books just haven't been elevated to the status of classic simply based on the fact that they aren't old. I tried to pull my selections from various awards lists, notable author recommendations, and other lists that threaten that my life will be incomplete if I die without reading certain books. Please let me know if the boundaries have been pushed too far. I still have to read a classic play, a tragedy, an 18th century classic and a group read (Walden is still causing heated debate, so there is always that one).

B1: Written by Nobel Laureate: Chronicles, Vol. 1 by Bob Dylan 3.25 Stars (For extra credit I read it while listening to Blood on the Tracks, Blonde on Blonde, and Oh Mercy - All albums received 5 Stars)
B2: Classic Comedy or Satire: Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (3.75 Stars)
B3: Classic Tragedy: Macbeth by William Shakespeare. (4.75 Stars)
B4: Classic Made into a Film/TV: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (4 Stars)
B5: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize: Disgrace by J.M.Coetzee Disgrace won the Man Booker Prize (UK) in 1999. It was also awarded the "Best of the Booker Award" in 2008. (4.25 Stars)

I1: 20th Century Classic: Native Son by Richard Wright (4 Stars)
I2: New-to-You Author: The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien (5 Stars) AND Jakob von Gunten by Robert Walser (3.75 Stars)
I3: Classic Play: No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre (5 Stars)
I4: Classic of More than 500 Pages: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (4.5 Stars)
I5: 18th Century or Earlier Classic: The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

N1: South American Classic: By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño (4.5 Stars)
N2: Short Story Classic: Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (3.5 Stars)
N3: FREE SPACE: Suttree by Cormac McCarthy (4.75 Stars)
N4: Poetry Collection: The Wasteland, Prufrock and Other Poems by T.S. Eliot (3.75 Stars)
N5: European Classic: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce (4.25 Stars)

G1: 19th Century Classic: Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (4.5 Stars)
G2: Bokklubben (Norwegian Book Club) World Library List Book: The Tin Drum by Günter Grass (4.25 Stars)
G3: Classic Non-fiction: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby (4 Stars)
G4: Group Read: For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway AND The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas
G5: Classic Recommended by a Friend: The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon (4.5 Stars)

O1: Literary Prize of Your Country/Region: American Pastoral by Philip Roth 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (4.5 Stars)
O2: Classic Folklore or Mythology: Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis (4 Stars)
O3: Asian Classic: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (5 Stars)
O4: Classic Romance: Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin I think this modern classic is a beautiful spin on the traditional love story. (4 Stars)
O5: Prize-Winning Female Author: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (3.75 Stars)

[Pink]

This looks like a great list to me, good luck with your last few categories :)

[Terris]

Nice list and good job on getting all that read! I'm like you, I'm so close to blacking out -- just a couple more!! Keep reading :)

[Sue]

Great list. I'm a fan of Dylan, Cormac McCarthy and C.S. Lewis also. You have a lot of god stuff here. Good luck on the last few.

[Sarah]

Nice list...I also liked Suttree and plan on reading Native Son before the year is over.

[Tammy]

You guys are swell! Thanks for the encouragement.

I managed to knock out Macbeth today. At first I was shaking my fist at old Bill because I was having a bit of trouble with the language. Bless me it has been 25 years since I've read Shakespeare and I somehow made it through HS and college without reading Macbeth. By the end of the tragedy I couldn't put it down. I give it 4.75 stars ( .25 taken off for kind of confusing me with all that fancy prose....which isn't really fair to the author, but this is my gig, so he'll just have to make do with my unreasonable deductions).

[Tammy]

Here is an update of the first block of books completed:
B1: Written by Nobel Laureate: Chronicles, Vol. 1 by Bob Dylan 3.25 Stars - This year I have read books by four different Nobel Laureates and I picked my least favorite work out of the bunch to represent this category. I enjoyed Bob's book, but what I really love is his music. His words have woven their way into my heart and I think he is very deserving of this award.

B2: Classic Comedy or Satire: Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis (3.75 Stars) - Cracking good satire of collegiate life and post-war manners. What wouldn't the bumbling Jim Dixon do to keep his job and win the girl?

B3: Classic Tragedy: Macbeth by William Shakespeare. (4.75 Stars) Boil, Boil, Toil and Trouble. Those witches sure did stir the pot and Bill really turned up the heat under the cauldron of this classic tragedy!

B4: Classic Made into a Film/TV: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (4 Stars) Oh man, I really loved this little book. Mr. Stevens is funny, albeit unintentionally, and sad all rolled up into one. I have never seen the movie but I am going to hunt it down as soon as possible!

B5: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize: Disgrace by J.M.Coetzee Disgrace won the Man Booker Prize (UK) in 1999. It was also awarded the "Best of the Booker Award" in 2008. (4.25 Stars) What a grim and devastating novel about a man and a country's disgrace. Beautifully written and thought provoking.

[Tammy]

Here is part two of my challenge. I finished it up this weekend by completing the classic play and the 18th century classic.

I1: 20th Century Classic: Native Son by Richard Wright (4 Stars) A modern classic and still relevant to this day. I should have read this years ago.

I2: New-to-You Author: The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien (5 Stars) This book is crazy...and funny...and totally bizarre. It was one of my favorites that I've read this year!

AND

Jakob von Gunten by Robert Walser (3.75 Stars)
I don't really know how to feel about this little book. It was tedious and enjoyable in equal measure.

I3: Classic Play: No Exit by Jean-Paul Sartre (5 Stars) I flew through this one. Really glad the challenge forced me to pick a play.

I4: Classic of More than 500 Pages: Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (4.5 Stars) This is not an easy book, but by the end I really couldn't stop thinking about it. The story was so painstakingly pieced together.

I5: 18th Century or Earlier Classic: The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (2.75 Stars) I really didn't like this. It was very easy to read and there were spots that really made me chuckle, but I just couldn't get past the whinging.

[Rosemarie]

I studied Werther in university ages ago, and we all agreed he over-reacted and didn't feel much sympathy for him. Apparently Napoleon was fond of this book.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Tammy wrote: "Here is part two of my challenge. I finished it up this weekend by completing the classic play and the 18th century classic.

Hooray for you.

[Pink]

Well done :)

[Tammy]

Rosemarie wrote: "I studied Werther in university ages ago, and we all agreed he over-reacted and didn't feel much sympathy for him. Apparently Napoleon was fond of this book."

Glad I'm not the only one. By the end I just wanted him to get it over with (I know that is horrible to say, but I just wasn't going to be able to put up with him for much longer)!