Recently, it came to my attention (and that of several horrified friends) that there is an appalling number of 80's movies that I have never had the pleasure of viewing. There's no acceptable excuse for this. Even LESS so is the number of books which might be considered classics that have never made it onto my reading list. As one with a passion for reading and writing I consider myself rather well-read. However, if I honestly copped to how many "classic" works of literature I've never visually ingested, well, the word "fraud" comes to mind. And so I am creating the Classics Challenge for myself. At least every other book that I read in the coming year needs to have been deemed a classic by some source I consider reliable. That's where you guys come in. Now, seeing as I'm massively delinquent about updating this blog, I would be surprised to have hung on to any shred of readership (you know, all 3 of you who have visited on a regular basis). However, if you're reading this now, and have a "classic" work I just HAVE to read (or re-read, if by some chance it's already in my vault of "have read"s) then I would ask you to please leave a comment with your recommendations. Or, if you'd rather not hassle with signing in, etc. here on the ol' blog, please feel free to let me know via Facebook, Instant Message, email, text....whatever technological avenue floats your boat. I guess there's that whole seeing people face-to-face thing too, right? Huh.
Anyhoo - I'm just looking for help in getting this challenge underway and then keeping the ball rolling!
Thanks, fellow readers!
Where do I begin, for you know I am a lover of classics! David copperfield. Pride and Prejudice. Dracula. I'm serious. It's SO good. But if you really want something fantastic: Ishmael and Self Raised both by Eden Southworth are two of my favorites of all time. Hard to find because they are no longer in print except from Lamplighter Publishers. Lucky for you I own them. And trust me, you will not put a non classic in between the reading of these two. They are truly inspiring. Life changing even. If you want to read what they're about go to the Lamplighter website and read their description.
ReplyDeleteI really, really like John Steinbeck. "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men" are 2 of my all time favorite books. I tried Moby Dick but the only thing I liked about it was that it has Dick in the title. You can (in my opinion) totally skip The Great Gatsby too. But never "Little Women", "Cry, the beloved country" or "To Kill a Mockingbird". Although her stories tend to be dark, Flannery O'Connor gives excellent insight into american southern living and I would highly recommend, "The Violent Bear it away". I once read, "All Quiet on the Western Front" after hearing it was my grandfathers favorite and wept through the whole thing. Excellent! Then there is my absolute beloved jewel, "A Christmas Carol". One of the most redemptive stories of all time. Good for you Julie! I really think you'll find there are reasons these stories have captured so many. The underlying truth of humanity resonates in them all. ENJOY!
ReplyDeleteThank you, ladies! What a WONDERFUL list to start with! And, Steph, yes please, I would very much like to borrow your Lamplighter recommendations. Thank you!
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