Friday 12 March 2010

The Classics Challenge

One of the things I wanted to do this year, but haven't so far, is read some classic books. I'm quite a lazy reader in that I tend more towards genre reading rather than reading that will stretch my, all too few, lonely brain cells. Thus, when I saw this challenge on another blog, I realised it would be a perfect way to make myself read some classics. So, I'm going to do The Classics Challenge which will be hosted by Trish.



The challenge runs from the 1st. April to the 31st. October. There are three levels of participation and I'll be doing the first level, The Classics Snack - which is to read four classics. The list can change at any time but at the moment these are the four books I'd like to read:

No Name - Wilkie Collins
The Warden - Anthony Trollope
The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

I'll also be taking part in the bonus read but haven't decided which to read yet.
~~~oOo~~~

10 comments:

Whitney said...

I'll be stretching my brain cells with this challenge too. I read The Age of Innocence earlier this year, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

DesLily said...

I have a Wilke Collins book and 2 Dickens books in the tbr pile.. so I have good intentions..but I have to really be in the mood I guess as I haven't grabbed them yet! lol I hope your reads are good ones!

Cath said...

Whitney: I'm really excited to read The Age of Innocence as I loved The House of Mirth so much. Edith Wharton's writing is so wonderful.

Morning Pat! I wanted to read a few classics this year, I just need a kick up the proverbial to actually do it. heheh. I picked up Collins's 'No Name' in a charity shop a couple of days so it seems like I was meant to do this challenge. But believe you me I intend to double up a bit with the books and challenges...

Val said...

Thanks Cath
Sounds like fun
Goes off to wrack brain for suitable books!

Stacy said...

This is a really great challenge. I read books that I never thought I would read, and loved them. I hope to be reading Collins and Trollope some time this year as well. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

What a great set of books. The three I've read I loved and I intend to start on Trollope as soon as I've finished this year's Dickens. I was planning The Warden too , but then I saw Cousin Henry described as "one of the most unusual and intriguing of Trollope's shorter novels" and that is calling. Decisions, decisions! Good luck with the challenge!

Danielle said...

I am contemplating starting a Wilkie Collins novel at the moment myself, but probably not No Name as it is a long novel. Maybe one called Man and Wife (well, think it's called that). I'm also ready to start a new classic, but greedy as I am it would be in addition to the Collins. Haven't decided yet what that will be. I've only read The Age of Innocence and Loved it!

Cath said...

Val: look forward to seeing your choices. Have fun!

Book Psmith: for some reason I've never done this challenge previously and I can't think why. I've read Collins before - The Moonstone and The Woman in White - but he's written other, less famous, books which have to be interesting as well. Trollope I haven't tried except for his travel writings which I loved. So, we'll see...

Fleurfisher: I know, the decisions are hard. But at least the choices can be changed if we want, which is just as well as I'm bound to want to do that. Cousin Henry I've not heard of. In fact, aside from his travel writings, Trollope is pretty much an unknown quantity to me, although I've obviously heard of The Barchester Chronicles.

Danielle: I've been keen to read more Edith Wharton for ages now so hopefully this will be the spur to make me do so.

I haven't heard of Man and Wife... so many books I haven't heard of, it's shameful. To tell the truth I hadn't even heard of No Name until I saw an almost pristine copy in a charity shop last week. Yes, it is quite big, so I probably won't start the challenge with that one...

Tara said...

No Name is a book I've been meaning to read for years. It's still sitting on the shelf though!

Cath said...

Tara: I have *so* many books I've been meaning to read for years that are sitting on my shelves too. We need to start a support group...