Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Looking forward to these challenges! Gives me a chance to wander into areas/genres that I usually only have good intentions to read. Thanks for cooking up so many tasty challenges Bob!

# 1 New & Old TBR

Old School
1. Dead Souls Dead Souls FINISHED 02/18/22
2. Nicholas Nickleby Nicholas NicklebyFINISHED 05/10/22
3. Persuasion Persuasion FINISHED 01/25/22

New School
1. The Custom of the Country The Custom of the Country FINISHED 03/01/2022
2. To the Lighthouse To the Lighthouse FINISHED 03/24/22
3. The Golden Notebook The Golden Notebook FINISHED 05/03/22

Reader’s Choice
1. The English Major The English Major FINISHED 01/17/22. New author, rated 4.
2. The Illiad The Illiad Of Homer FINISHED 03/14/22
3. The Life of the Mind The Life of the Mind FINISHED 05/2/22
4. A Way in the World A Way in the World FINISHED 3/17/22
5. East of Eden East of Eden FINISHED 03/31/22
6. To Kill a Mockingbird To Kill a Mockingbird FINISHED 03/14/22

Alternates
A. The Thanatos Syndrome The Thanatos Sydrome FINISHED 12/14/22
B. The Beautiful and the Damned The Beautiful and the Damned F Scott Fitzgerald FINISHED 02/28/22
C. The Eustace Diamonds The Eustace Diamonds FINISHED 09/04/22

#2 Second Place or Worse (since a book polled second or below may subsequently have been chosen to read, I will indicate the month & year I found the book to have been “also nominated”.
New School
1. The Bell Jar The Bell Jar (Dec ‘21) FINISHED 05/30/22
2. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Dec ‘21) FINISHED 05/30/22
Old School
1. Northanger Abby Northanger Abby: With 16 Illustrations and a Free Audio Link. (Oct ‘11) FINISHED 04/22/22
2. Frankenstein Frankenstein: The 1818 Text (Oct ‘11) FINISHED 01/15/22 (Rated 5 stars, see my review on AMAZON)
Short Story/Novella
1. Brokeback Mountain Brokeback Mountain (July ‘21) FINISHED 03/09/22
2. Letters to a Young Poet Letters to a Young Poet (April ‘21) FINISHED 01/19/22
Quarterly
1. He Knew He Was Right He Knew He Was Right (Oct -Dec ‘21)FINISHED 10/19/22

#4 Members Choice
1. 19th Century - The Red Badge of Courage and Selected Short Fiction FINISHED 03/22/22
2. 20th Century - I Know Why the Caged Bird SingsFINISHED 05/30/22
3. 21st Century possible future Classic - Oryx and Crake FINISHED 7/03/22
4. Current or past Group Read - The Alchemist The Alchemist
5. An Author Not Read Before - Watershed Watershed FINISHED 05/10/22
6. Diversity Classic - The Kite Runner The Kite Runner FINISHED 2/2/22
7. Science Fiction - Fahrenheit 451 farenheit 451--60th anniversary edition FINISHED 08/01/22
8. Translated book - Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead FINISHED 05/29/22
9. Banned Book - The Awakening The Awakening FINISHED 06/07/22
10. Nonfiction - Norte El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America FINISHED 03/25/22
11. Mystery - The Glass Key The Glass Key FINISHED 01/24/22
12. Horror/Humor - Dracula FINISHED 04/30/22

I love your selections, Dave! I read East of Eden last year and couldn't believe how good it was. So many here I've read or want to read. Oryx and Crake is excellent too. Hope you enjoy them all!

Jillian ❀‿❀ wrote: ""DAVE’S 2222 CHALLENGE BUFFET"

My goodness! Are we in 2222? How long has Covid lasted? 😂

This challenge looks awesome, Dave! Like Kathleen, I enjoyed East of Eden. Very good luck. :-)"

Dave is from the future!
I downloaded Northanger Abby: With 16 Illustrations and a Free Audio Link. thanks to your link!

Jillian ❀‿❀ wrote: "CindySR wrote: "Dave is from the future."

I didn't realize. I retract my remarks."

As an esthetic choice, I too believe you can never have too many twos.

Thanks for all the comments and complements. I am racing to finish books in progress to start gnawing on these challenges.

How do I edit my challenge? “The Beautiful and the Damned” I will read is by Scott Fitzgerald, not the book I linked to.

I completed the first book of my challenge, “Frankenstein.” It totally astonished me. I posted my review on Amazon.

Dave wrote: "I completed the first book of my challenge, “Frankenstein.” It totally astonished me. I posted my review on Amazon."

You hear so much about it and then when you read it, you realise how much more there is to the story. I was also completely unprepared for the actual book. Definitely on the list to reread at some point.

Finished “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rilke. Short, beautiful, and profound on a number of the big questions of life.

This is the third of these challenge books read and two more will be finished within a week.

I challenged myself to read 31 here, but numbers are deceiving. I’m starting out hitting the slow, low, short reads over the fence. Length will came in good time. Plus, I signed myself up read “The Eustace Diamonds” which is the third novel in Trollope's Pallister series. I still need to read the last 3 of The Barsetshire Chronicles novels, which overlap the Pallaster novels so that will take time.

Tracking on Audible, I’ve read 114 hours since the first of the year, sometimes 12-14 hours a day. But my wife is out of town so my daily time with her and chores are minimized.

My annual Bookreads goal is 49 books. Currently reading ten of which only three are of these challenges. I may need to increase the Goodreads goal, but I can contemplate that later in the year.

Finished “The Glass Key”.

Dave wrote: "Finished “The Glass Key”."

Nice, I have been wanting to read this one for quite awhile. Great selection of reads for this year!

Dave wrote: "Finished “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rilke. Short, beautiful, and profound on a number of the big questions of life.

This is the third of these challenge books read and two more will be finished ..."

That's an impressive amount of audiobooks Dave!

Dave, I am a movie buff that loves old classic movies. Film Noir is a favorite genre. I wanted to read a Hammitt Book that I had not seen the movie. Its a great book, and I am now looking forward to seeing the movie, produced in 1942 with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.

Greg, retired with a lot of leisure time, my retired career is listening to audiobooks, typically from 11AM to 9PM. Finally a “job” I love. The commute is short, plenty of parking, and and a “help yourself” policy in the cafeteria.

Dave wrote: "Greg, retired with a lot of leisure time, my retired career is listening to audiobooks, typically from 11AM to 9PM. Finally a “job I love. The commute is short, plenty of parking, and and a “help y..."

Ha ha, love it! :)

Finished “Persuasion”, masterful stoy telling. Rated 5 stars

Dave wrote: "Finished “Persuasion”, masterful stoy telling. Rated 5 stars"

I do love that one Dave! I think it's my favorite of hers actually, though I find Pride and Prejudice immensely entertaining and I've enjoyed pretty much every book of hers that I've read.

I have only read P & P and Persuasion so far, I enjoyed both, but give preference to Persuasion because it set up emotional tension early and resolved it so cleverly just before the end.

I’ll read Northanger Abbey as part of these challenges, but will get to the others in time.

Dave, how did you find The Kite Runner?

Angela wrote: "Dave, how did you find The Kite Runner?"

Angela, to be honest, I don’t remember. I put it in my 2022 challenge because I bought it some years ago and it was in my library only partially read. It fit the requirement for that slot in the challenge and I already owned it. That I stopped is not indication that I was not enjoying it. Most often I get into reading binges and stop when we go on a lengthy trip. So there are a lot of partially read books that I can use to fill challenge slots.

I found it even more poignant now that we have withdrawn from Afghanistan. I plan to read “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by the same author at some point.

I found it even more poignant now that we have withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Absolutely, Dave. I thought of these books as well. I liked A Thousand Splendid Suns even better than Kite Runner. Both are excellent reads.

Sara wrote: "I found it even more poignant now that we have withdrawn from Afghanistan.

Absolutely, Dave. I thought of these books as well. I liked A Thousand Splendid Suns even better than Kite ..."

Your endorsement will move the second book up to “near reads.”

Finished Dead Souls yesterday. An interesting story. It is regretable that up to half the novel was either destroyed or never written.

Dave wrote: "Finished Dead Souls yesterday. An interesting story. It is regretable that up to half the novel was either destroyed or never written."

Dead Souls, by Gogol? Thanks for mentioning that.

I finished “The Beautiful and the Damed” by F Scott Fitzgerald yesterday.

I finished “The Custom of the Country” by Edith Wharton this morning.

I really loved The Custom of the Country, Dave. What did you think of it?

I did too Sarah. Undine was certainly an interesting character.

I finished “To Kill a Mockingbird” this morning and “The Iliad” this evening.

Whoa, Dave! You're really moving along! And to finish two great books -- on the same day! Keep enjoying your reading :)

Thanks Terris. I listen to multiple audio books in two hour chunks. I don’t recall ever finishing two on the same day. An interesting coincidence..

Looks like it's working for you!

Finished “A Way in the World” by V S Naipaul. Interesting but not recommended.

Dave wrote: "I did too Sarah. Undine was certainly an interesting character."

It's a good one!

Finished “To the Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf, a marvelous word painting written as stream of consciousness of a female painter.

I finished “east of Eden”. It had a powerful effect on me, more so because I’m in my 70s and have children and grandchildren of my own.

East of Eden is a powerful book, Dave, but I do find that books I read when young and read again now that I am older hold a different kind of power.

Good job, Dave!
I didn't love "To the Lighthouse" (I'm not a big Virginia Woolf fan) but I was glad to finally read it.
But I am a big John Steinbeck fan and I loved "East of Eden!"

You're moving right along on your challenge. Keep it up -- you might be finished by the end of April! haha! ;)

Sara wrote: "East of Eden is a powerful book, Dave, but I do find that books I read when young and read again now that I am older hold a different kind of power."

Absolutely Sara. I now look forward to rereading books I read when young.

Terris wrote: "Good job, Dave!
I didn't love "To the Lighthouse" (I'm not a big Virginia Woolf fan) but I was glad to finally read it.
But I am a big John Steinbeck fan and I loved "East of Eden!"

You're moving..."

Thanks for the encouragement Terris. I am feeling my way into stream of consciousness writing.

Don't get me started on "stream of consciousness!" That and "magical realism" are my downfalls! I just don't like them :/

I have finished “Northanger Abbey”. I enjoyed it. Several others challenge books in progress.

On my Reader’s Choice Challenge I changed from P G Wodehouse to Dracula. I started several Bertie Wooster novels recommended on discussion in the group.

I love P.G. Wodehouse and hope you were enjoying him too, but -- Wodehouse to Dracula?! That's about the biggest jump you can make in the reading realm!!! haha! ;)
I hope you like Dracula. It's really a trip! I loved it and think everyone should read it once (also Frankenstein!)! :)
Enjoy!

Terris wrote: "I love P.G. Wodehouse and hope you were enjoying him too, but -- Wodehouse to Dracula?! That's about the biggest jump you can make in the reading realm!!! haha! ;)
I hope you like Dracula. It's rea..."

I was quite surprised that I couldn’t get into PG Woodhouse. I had very much look forward to it. There are many books that I have found screamingly funny. Catch 22 comes to mind. when I am reading a book that I find funny, I am actually screaming out loud with laughter and anyone that’s around me is totally astonished.

As I posted before, I am reading a number of books by Anthony Trollope this year. I’ve actually laughed out loud at some of his writing.

On Frankenstein, it was the first of my challenge books that I read this year and I was completely astonished that the book was unlike anything like I had been familiar with in the movies. I loved it.

Yes, I can see your point about the dramatic shift from PG Wodehouse to Dracula, but the challenge specific to that read was to read a book of either horror or humor.

I chose Dracula because I’m already halfway through it. It is a very long book which surprised me, and it is genuinely horrific.

Dave, I couldn't get into Woodhouse either. Humor is a hard medium. While most of us see tragedy the same much of the time, what makes one person laugh leaves another cold. I like Trollope's humor, although I generally snicker rather than belly laugh at it.

Also loved Frankenstein and Dracula, neither of them being anything like the movies they inspired.

Sara wrote: "Dave, I couldn't get into Woodhouse either. Humor is a hard medium. While most of us see tragedy the same much of the time, what makes one person laugh leaves another cold. I like Trollope's humor,..."

Yes Sarah I agree, I find Trollop humorous in a subtle way. I find myself chuckling at things like the interestingly satiric names of characters and the satirical “editorial comments,” and he makes about a story as he writes.