Sunday, December 21, 2014

Challenge #1

I am ready to commit to my first challenge of 2015.  I stayed out of the challenge loop in 2014 mainly because I set my blogging aside, but here I am jumping in again.

My first challenge is the Back to the Classics Challenge being hosted by Karen K.  There are twelve categories; however, she has designed three levels of competition.  I am going for all twelve.  I had already made a promise to myself to read more classics so this is just the impetus I need.  Without further ado, here is my list:

1.  A 19th Century Classic - Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
2.  A 20th Century Classic - Age of Innocence  by Edith Wharton
3.  A Classic by a Woman Author - Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
4.  A Classic in Translation - Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert
5.  A Very Long Classic Novel - Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (I have Middlemarch by George   Eliot on my TBR list so I may substitute this.  I guess it just depends on which I go to first.)
6.  A Classic Novella:  Metamorphosis by Franz Kalfka
7.  A Classic with a Person's Name in it -  The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (This    one may not qualify; however it fits the 50 year qualification as it was published in 1961.  Ok  just barely.  I will find a substitute if it is disqualified)
8.  A Humorous or Satirical Classic -  Penrod by Booth Tarkington (This is a difficult category for me.  I do not like satire and don't usually drift toward comedies.  In addition, the titles I would have chosen were written too recently.)
9.  A Forgotten Classic - All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
10.  A Nonfiction Classic - Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
11.  A Classic Children's Book - Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
12.  A Classic Play - This is the only category that stumps me.  I just haven't been able to choose. If I can't come up with one Shakespeare is a fall back.  I will choose and post it later.

Here it is.  I am excited and can't wait to get started.  Ideally, I will do one a month but more than likely I will get on a kick and do two or three.  I do plan to participate in two or three more challenges so that may define reading patterns more clearly then.

Luckily, I have a stack of books from the library for the end of the year.  I won't be tempted to cheat and begin early.  I don't want to be disqualified from my first challenge.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, Janet,

    Thanks for your comments on my Intro. They made me smile. It is great to meet up with other classic book lovers.

    Good luck on this challenge. I think I have All Quiet on the Western Front on one of my challenges for 2015. I feel like I read it when I was younger, but I cannot remember. I was stumped for plays, also, and listed Shakespeare; but I had a couple of suggestions that I will research.

    Ruth @ Great Book Study

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