Task 22: A Book Published Before 1850

[Samantha]

I think I will be reading Jane Eyre. I am terrible with understanding classics but I've heard this one is a little bit easier to understand. ;)

[Judith]

That's the way I feel about self help books.

[Karin]

I'm reading Jane Eyre now. I'm not very far, she's still young. I am hoping it picks up because right now it feels pretty overwrought.

[Rosemary]

Suzanne I'm reading Journal of a Plague Year too!

[Bonnie]

I read the Count of Monte Cristo for this category. It took me 15 chapters to even get interested in the book and then it ebbed and flowed from then on. I felt that it was very formulaic and predictable. I persevered through it, but it definitely was not a favorite.

[[deleted user]]

Lady Susan - Jane Austen

[JeNee]

Candide - Voltaire

[Judith]

JeNee wrote: "Candide - Voltaire"
Good choice. I loved Candide

[Samantha]

I almost wish I hadn't read all of Jane Austen's works already so i can use one for this task.She is by far my favorite author and I am jealous of everyone who gets to read Emma or Northanger Abbey or Mansfield Park for the first time!

[Brianna Graham]

Judith wrote: "If you loved Jane Eyre you should also read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. It is the story of 'the wife' and her roots in the Caribbean. Don't know if this would work for the category of retelling..."

Judith, I will definitely have to check that one out and possibly switch out my re-retelling of a classic story.

[Bonnie]

I'm switching The Count of Monte Cristo out of this category and into the originally written in a foreign language. I'm replacing it with Emma by Jane Austen. This classic literature is not for me. I find it so verbose, but I'm persevering. I'm not seeing the attachment others have to this novel.

[Mindy]

I'm going to try Fanny Hill for this one. I want to see what our forebears found sexy. LOL Also, it's a free e-book.

http://www.amazon.com/Memoirs-Fanny-G...

[[deleted user]]

I just finished A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

[Anissa]

I'm planning to read Moby Dick this summer with Rincey Reads anyway. It's 1851, but I'm going to slide it in here because I don't think I'll be reading another book that old this year!

[Joana]

Kathryn wrote: "I have a copy of The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling I've owned forever and never read."

Oh! I have a copy of that one too...It's day may have just finally come.

[Melissa]

Hi

Maybe I'm overthinking this! But I wanted to ask for a little clarification. Does the book have to be a genuine version which was printed before the year, or can it be a reprint and still count because it meets the criteria of original print in terms of timeline?

Thanks
Mel

[Bonnie]

I interpret it as original print.

[Melissa]

Me too, but where am I going to get my hands on an original?! I'd better start visiting a few books stores and let go of my crutch (also known as Amazon!) :-)

Thanks for the reply.

[Judith]

Melissa wrote: "Me too, but where am I going to get my hands on an original?! I'd better start visiting a few books stores and let go of my crutch (also known as Amazon!) :-)

Thanks for the reply."

Melissa - I don't think you need to read an original copy. Any copy will do as long as the book was originally published prior to 1850.

[Melissa]

Thanks, Terri and Judith, I really appreciate the help. I'm glad I don't have to go hunting for rare collections or battle die hard collectors!

And, Kenneth, some say that moderation is the key to most things!

[Robin P]

Definitely any edition is fine, I imagine an original Jane Austen or Dickens would be astronomically expensive. I read a time travel romance once where the modern heroine ends up in the 19th century and buys up those first editions to stockpile for her descendants.

[Erika]

Right now I have Frankenstein on my list for this one.

[Jo]

Ugh, I just got really excited because I've been struggling with this and then realised I've got North and South waiting on my Kindle.. and THEN realised it's published in 185-bloody-5. Dang. First time ever I've wished I hadn't already read a lot of classics.

I'm also jealous of all of you getting to read things like Austen and the Brontes etc for the first time.

[Stacey]

Jo wrote: "Ugh, I just got really excited because I've been struggling with this and then realised I've got North and South waiting on my Kindle.. and THEN realised it's published in 185-bloody-5. Dang. First..."

You could go back even further, and read Shakespeare (it's on my mind because that's what I'm going to read for this category). Or, Sir Walter Scott's Rob Roy was first published in 1817, and James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans was first published in 1826.

[Jo]

I'm suffering from an excess of studying English, so I've done Shakespeare pretty comprehensively. Last of the Mohicans might be a winner though... thanks :)

[Jo]

*English Literature :3

[Anissa]

Count it anyway! It's close enough!

[Bonnie]

I read Emma by Jane Austin. I was very disappointed in it and found it to be boring female dribble that highlighted the fake behavior I deplore.

[Judith]

Bonnie wrote: "I read Emma by Jane Austin. I was very disappointed in it and found it to be boring female dribble that highlighted the fake behavior I deplore."

I thought I was the only one who didn't like Jane Austin.

[Danielle]

Done. Wuthering Heights.

[Christina]

I have a question...if Beowulf and Chaucer count, does Sir Gawain and the Green Knight count? Or should I move that to poetry?

[Judith]

Christina wrote: "I have a question...if Beowulf and Chaucer count, does Sir Gawain and the Green Knight count? Or should I move that to poetry?"

The challenge only states 'a book' published before 1850. It doesn't designate what type of book. I'd say, if that is what you want to read, go for it.

[Anushree]

I have been meaning to read Antigone for a really long time, but since it is a play, I am not sure if it would count. Would it? :(

[Marie]

Amii wrote: "Northanger Abbey-Austen"

I read Northanger Abbey too! Loved it. Loved all the sarcasm.

Marie

[Robin P]

Anushree wrote: "I have been meaning to read Antigone for a really long time, but since it is a play, I am not sure if it would count. Would it? :("

People have said they were reading Shakespeare so I think a play is fine. When I was a college freshman in 1968 we were all to read Antigone and discuss it in the light of unrest at the time. It's still relevant today and is worth reading.

[Angie]

I was so happy to find a Jane Austen I hadn't previously read. Northanger Abbey--such a fun read.

[Martha]

I'm thinking of reading The Tale of Genji, the most recent translation. I'm ahead of schedule for the challenge so I may take a few months to read this. I'm not committed yet, just thinking about it at this point.

[Loreen ☕️]

I have gone back and forth on choosing either a book by one of the Brontes (I think I need to read Anne)or Austen. I think Jane Austen has won:

[Tatiana]

I think I'll read La reine Margot by Alexandre Dumas for this task.

[Book Riot]

Feel free to use plays or lengthy poem sequences (like Sir Gawain) for this one. Those were often forms of their respective eras.

[Grace]

I'm currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo for this challenge and loving it.

[Kari]

As an English major I read tons of pre 1850 works. I was feeling stuck until reading here. Thank you to all of.you posting Emma.Y sweet nine year old just asked to read something by Jane Austen as her favourite author, Shannon Hale, writes Austen and Shakespeare as her main influences. My daughter has read lots of Shakespeare. So I will be reading Emma with her, celebrating 200 years, amd watching a movie adaptation.

[Kathy]

I just finished Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I've started this book probably five times before and finally made it through thanks to this challenge. It took me half way through to really get into it but now I see what all the fuss is about. 5 stars. Loved it.

[Rachel]

I'm going for The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo

[Karen]

Danielle wrote: "Done. Wuthering Heights."

I read "Wuthering Heights," too. However, I have a question, which I have asked in my other Goodreads group -- are we supposed to like these characters? Popular culture has portrayed Catherine and Heathcliff as the most romantic couple evah, but they seemed to me to just be selfish people who don't give a damn about anyone but themselves. I like to think that this is how Bronte meant them to be seen, but I'm not so sure.

[Danielle]

Karen: I feel the same way! In my actual review of the book, I said it was a well written book about unlikeable people! There wasn't one character that I was rooting for. I have know idea why it is considered a great love story...not even close to a favorite of mine! Give me Jane Austen any day!

[Robin P]

I've never cared for Wuthering Heights either, or understood why Heathcliff is supposed to be such a romantic hero. Seems more like a chronicle of a dysfunctional family to me!

[Bonnie G.]

I just re-read Pride and Prejudice last month. I am generally not a re-reader, but this was, perhaps, my tenth time reading the book, and it gets better every time.

[Glenn]

Anne Tyler once complained about this book, questioned its place in the canon, pretty much for the reasons you've listed. I love Wuthering Heights, but not as a love story. The main character, for me, is the moors, the setting, and not the "lovers." V. S. Pritchett said (approximately) that it was a wild, pagan novel written in a country that had adopted a domestic form of Christianity.

[Judith]

I have planned to read Wuthering Heights for this challenge too. Have always thought of this book as being about obsession or obsessed love and power struggle, not a true romance which is why I haven't planned it for the Romance category. Of course, I haven't read the book yet, can't wait to add my two cents to this discussion once I have read it.