Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I am never very successful with this challenge, but maybe this year will be my year.

B1: 18th Century or Earlier Classic Robinson Crusoe or The Monk
B2: Book Chosen by the Cover Lucky Jim or The Moonstone or A Passage to India
B3: European Classic Sophie's World or Journey to the End of the Night
B4: Telegraph’s 100 Novels List All Quiet on the Western Front
B5: 20th Century Classic Look Homeward, Angel The Magic Mountain or The Trial

I1: Book from the Group’s Bookshelf Prior to 2019 The Last of the Mohicans or Great Expectations or Gulliver's Travels or The Hound of the Baskervilles
I2: New-to-You Author Under the Volcano or A House for Mr Biswas or Tropic of Cancer
I3: Classic Play
I4: Literary Prize of Your Country The Joy Luck Club
I5: Classic on Your Bookshelf For over a Year Moby-Dick or, The Whale or Pride and Prejudice or Swann's Way or The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

N1: South American Classic The House of the Spirits or The Savage Detectives or The Time of the Hero
N2: Short Story Collection The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
N3: FREE SPACE The Ox-Bow Incident
N4: Poetry or Essay Collection The Prophet
N5: Asian Classic Dragon Seed

G1: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize
G2: Classic By a Female Author The Age of Innocence or Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre
G3: Classic Non-fiction Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Out of Africa or The Diary of a Young Girl
G4: Written by Nobel Laureate Tortilla Flat or For Whom the Bell Tolls or To Have and Have Not
G5: Book from the Group's 2019 Bookshelf

O1: 19th Century Classic Heart of Darkness
O2: Classic Sci-fi or Fantasy The Sirens of Titan or Foundation
O3: Classic Comedy or Satire Lucky Jim
O4: Classic Romance Gone with the Wind
O5: 21st Century Potential Classic The Revenant or The Last Samurai

You have a nice start on your list with lots of good reading!
Have fun with your challenge :)

Shawn wrote: "I am never very successful with this challenge, but maybe this year will be my year."

You can do this. Remember that you can do the challenge to just a Bingo -- you don't need to blackout the entire grid.

Does anyone have suggestions for the South American and Asian classics?

I like the way this is shaping up for you, Shawn! Some great titles.

As far as South American - I've considered The Tunnel or The Hour of the Star. And for Asian classic I've added Kokoro or Spring Snow. Something by Pearl S. Buck maybe? I've enjoyed her books in the past.

Good luck!

Thanks Candi! I think I may go with your Pearl S. Buck suggestion. I've never read anything by her, so I'm excited to give it a try.

Pearl Buck writes a good novel. I've enjoyed the few of hers that I've read. I don't think you can go wrong if you enjoy stories about people coping through Life.

Nice reading list, Shawn.

Petra wrote: "Pearl Buck writes a good novel. I've enjoyed the few of hers that I've read. I don't think you can go wrong if you enjoy stories about people coping through Life.

Nice reading list, Shawn."

Perfectly stated, Petra.
She has several to choose from, but The Good Earth is always a great choice :)

Completed my first book for the challenge. N3 - Free Space. I read The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark.

I can honestly say I have never read a "western" book before. I found this to be very enjoyable. I was a little shocked the book takes places over a very short period of time. I also found the detail in certain parts of this book extraordinary. Reading certain passages, I felt like I could see exactly what was being described.

On to the next one...

Extraordinary is a good word to describe The Ox-bow Incident. I think it is a powerful book.

Congrats on your first square read Shawn; and another book for me to read.

I have completed my 2nd book from this list! I'm off to a much faster start than the previous years.

O1 - 19th Century Classic: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

For such a short book, I found this to be challenging. I found the writing in some parts to be superb, but others fell a flat for me. I am intrigued to read some of Conrad's other works.

I wanted to like this a bit more than I did. I teetered between a 3 and a 4, but ultimately settled on a 3. I am glad to have gotten through this one and checked it off my list.

On to book number 3...

I liked Lord Jim by Conrad. It has more substance than Heart of Darkness, which I also enjoyed.

It is a challenging book but fertile ground for tons of analysis (had it at uni). Weird how often short books end up being so hard to get into... Putting Lord Jim in my tbr.

Nice start :0)

Shawn wrote: "Does anyone have suggestions for the South American and Asian classics?"

Hi, Shawn! If you want to move away from the typical South American choices, for example Isabel Allende or Gabriel Garcia Marquez, you can try Carlos Fuentes, Elena Poniatowska, Mario Vargas Llosa, Julio Cortazar or Rosario Ferre. The majority of them have their works translated to English.

It has been a while since I crossed one off, but I just completed B4 for my third classic! I chose All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

This one was well worth the wait! I absolutely loved this book. The descriptions of war felt so real and vivid. I can understand why this is so highly regarded as a war novel. I feel like this is a book I will spend quite a bit of time thinking about even though I have finished reading it.

I would highly recommend this novel to others.

Shawn wrote: "It has been a while since I crossed one off, but I just completed B4 for my third classic! I chose All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

This one was ..."

I totally agree. All Quiet on the Western Front is one of my all-time favorite books.

All Quit on the Western Front is really great!

I also loved The Moonstone which is on your list.

For a past Bingo I read The Good Earth and it was good as well.

Just have fun with it 💪🏻😉

Shawn wrote: "It has been a while since I crossed one off, but I just completed B4 for my third classic! I chose All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.

This one was ..."

I share the same feelings. I needed a bit of time after finishing that one. the sequel is even better.

Congratulations on another completed Shawn! I loved All Quiet on the Western Front also.

I felt the same as you about Heart of Darkness.

I've completed my 4th book from this list. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan for I4.

This was not something I would usually pick, but I really enjoyed it. Although the book is about daughters and their mothers, I found this book made me think of my mother and our relationship. Much of this book felt deep and thought provoking to me. I spent quite a bit of time thinking of my mother and all the things she must have given up on my behalf.

I'm not sure if this book really meets the criteria of a "classic" but I really enjoyed it. I'm also proud to say this is the furthest I have made it in a classics challenge! So much of the year to go and so many more books to check off.

Congrats on your progress, Shawn!

Shawn wrote: "It has been a while since I crossed one off, but I just completed B4 for my third classic! I chose All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.
..."

I agree, highly recommend that everyone read this book.