Tuesday, March 07, 2017

The Classics Spin... and A Comment On My List


I'm not going to make it.  This is why I don't do challenges... For those not familiar, the Classics Club Challenge is to read a minimum of 50 classic books in 5 years.... and I don't think I will be able to do it.  I was even trying to be ambitions, stating I'd read 60 "titles", meaning I was including poetry and short stories. I've read some great book, stories and poems that I might not have gotten to if not encouraged by the Classics Club, but with less than a year left in my personal challenge, and only 27 titles read, I just don't think it will happen. What I'm going to do is try to see how much of the list I can get completed in the next 10 months. Now, I've just finished The Satanic Verses and there is no way my brain is ready for another classic. What I really feel like reading is some of the new Young Adult novels I've picked up. After my brain has rested, well, I imagine I'll be reading my Spin book, as well as The Handmaid's Tale, 1984, and Brave New World as I feel like classic dystopians are called for these days. While I don't think I'll be able to read 23 (or 33) classics by January 3, 2018, I do think I'll get to quite a few. I will also continue to work on my list after I pass my "deadline". 

The only thing left is to put up my list. On March 10, a number will be generated and I'll read that book!

Spin List, as generated with Random.org

1. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, by Beatrix Potter
2. The Cat In The Hat, by Dr. Seuss
3. Under The Knife, by H.G. Wells
4. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
5. A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
6. Discourse on Method, by Rene Descartes
7. The Big and The Little, by Isaac Asimov
8.  Dracula's Guest, by Bram Stoker
9. Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson
10. Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery;
11. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard
12. Sherlock Holmes #1: A Study In Scarlett, by Arthur Conan Doyle
13. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum
14. Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
15. The Daemon of the World, by Percy Bysshe Shelley
16. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
17. The Stone Angel, by Margaret Laurence
18. A Tale of Two Cities, by Dickens
19. The Wings of the Dove, by Henry James
20. Medea, by Euripides

It's a pretty varied list. There's genre, children's books, plays and poetry. I'm excited to see what number will be reveals on March 10. I'm also excited to keep working on my list, no matter what number I end up with.

4 comments:

  1. Aw! Well, I hope you're able to find some treasures in your remaining time. I didn't recognize that Asimov title and had no idea it referred to one of the Foundation stories.

    (Kudos for even THINKING about reading Descartes.)

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    1. I'm sure I'll keep going, even when that deadline is long gone.

      The Asimov title is a short story. I've always been a lover of short stories, so I included a few in my classics list. It's part of a collection called something like "The Golden Age of Science Fiction". I plan on reading the entire thing, but wanted to give special attention to Asimov.

      I've read Decartes before, his Meditations, but I've never read the Discourse on Method. I've always meant to. It's not that long, so I hope I can work myself up to it this year.

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  2. ...and I've read only *one* of those....! [lol] No wonder I feel badly read at times..... [grin]

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    1. Reading at all it what counts! There's a couple rereads in there for me, so if you need a suggestion, I'm here :)

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