Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

B1 A Classic by a Nobel Laureate or a Pulitzer Prize Winner. - The Secret History
✓B2 A Classic Book in Translation - We ***/*
B3 A Classic Comedy or Satire
✓B4 A Classic Written Before 1700 - King Lear ****/*
✓B5 A Classic of Asia or Oceania The Devil's Flute Murders ***/*

✓I1 A Classic from our Short Story Group Shelf - Brokeback Mountain *****
I2 A Classic from your Personal Bookshelf - A Lear of the Steppes
✓I3 A Classic Historical Fiction or a Nonfiction History - The Princess of Cleves **/*
I4 A Classic Prize-Winning Female Author - Nights at the Circus
I5 A Book Recommended by a Group Member - Zorba the Greek

✓N1 A Classic Made into Movie/TV - Contact ****
✓N2 A Classic you've been meaning to read - The Stand *****
✓N3 Free Space - A Winter Jaunt to Norway, with Accounts of Nansen, Ibsen, Etc. ****
N4 A Classic on or about the Sea/Ocean
N5 A Literature Class Book - Crime and Punishment

✓G1 A Classic of North or South America - The Outsiders ****/*
✓G2 A 21st Century Potential Classic - What I Loved *****
✓G3 A Classic from our Old School Group Shelf - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ***
✓G4 A Classic New-to-You Author - Ice *****
G5 A Classic Play or Classic Poetry Collection

O1 A Classic Book you begged, borrowed, or stole. - Kristin Lavransdatter
O2 A Classic Children's Book
O3 A Classic Book found by using Literature-map.com
✓O4 A Classic from our New School Group Shelf - Orlando ****
O5 A Classic Book that Reminds You of Someone

Planning

B1 - I have a lot of Nobel laureates and a few Pulitzer Prize winners on my shelves, and I think I'll probably go with one who has won both: Pearl S. Buck Alternatively Saul Bellow.

B2 - We I'm planning to read We, then re-read 1984, then read the non-classic Julia, for a full set. So I might as well use We for Bingo.

B3 - Maybe Breakfast of Champions

B4 - I'm due a re-read of the Odyssey. But I might make another attempt at reading Journey to the West.

B5 - The Devil's Flute Murders

I1 - I just found the Annie Proulx Wyoming stories in a charity shop the other day! Brokeback Mountain it is.

I2 - Oh, I have so many... but I'm thinking No Name or Barchester Towers because I've been meaning to read them for years now and I don't understand why I haven't!

I3 - Hm, maybe a classic non-fiction history? History of the Peloponnesian War

I4 - Maybe a pre-2000 Booker winner. I have Arundhati Roy, A. S. Byatt, Anita Brookner. Also Iris Murdoch. I have already read her Booker win, but I have more of her books.

I5 - I still haven't read the recommendations I got the last time we had this category. Oops. So probably Zorba the Greek

N1 - I'm thinking My Cousin Rachel because I would also like to see the movie!

N2 - LOL omg, that does not narrow it down! But basically whichever one I don't pick for I2.

N3 - Something else from my bookshelf

N4 - If I don't use the Odyssey for B4 I can use it here. Alternatives: The Summer Book The Waves

N5 - I remember DNFing The Golden Bowl by Henry James in uni, and I still don't feel compelled to try it again. But I've been meaning to read An Inspector Calls (I love the movie) and it is often assigned in British schools.

G1 - I could pick another Pulitzer winner... but I feel like maybe I should branch out and read something from South America. Need to check what I have.

G2 - Hmm, The Sea? Fingersmith? White Teeth?
Maybe I should read them all three and pick my favourite?

G3 - Maybe some Sherlock Holmes? There are quite a few on the group bookshelf and I've only read the Hound of the Baskervilles. Other options: Madame Bovary (meant to read last year), Crime and Punishment (tried reading when I was too young for it, but that was 30 years ago(!) and I should try again), Mary Barton (I love Gaskell, so why haven't I read this yet?)

G4 - There are still plenty I haven't read, but I think I'll see if I come across someone who hasn't even been on my radar. Should be interesting.

G5 - No poetry. I do have several plays to read. I'm thinking Waiting for Godot. Alternative: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead

O1 - Kristin Lavransdatter! It's borrowed, but since I have failed to actually read it for the past three years, and have even moved towns since I borrowed it it is starting to feel stolen. I will return it! And I will read it first!

O2 - Um... The Giver? The Twenty-One Balloons?

O3 - I'm not sure what to use as a starting point here. Will work on that later.

O4 - So many appealing options! Will probably go for Stoner or The Secret History. I really want to read both of those.

O5 - Need to think about this one. Not quite sure how to approach it.

Have fun with your planning! I really enjoy that part.

Glad you'll be here, Leni--have fun!

Welcome Leni! I am glad you joined the challenge.

Thanks! I normally have things planned out in December, but I'm slow off the mark this year. Having trouble shaking off 2023. Probably because I left so many challenges incomplete! I've done some planning now, and that helped get me in the right frame of mind. Bingo feels doable now.

You have a lot of good ideas for what you're planning to read, Leni! Enjoy your reading in 2024!

Stream of consciousness planning! I'm not a fan in books, but your thoughts here are fun to follow.

Laurie wrote: "Stream of consciousness planning! I'm not a fan in books, but your thoughts here are fun to follow."

Haha, I actually added stuff out. I had some crazy lists trying to organize my thoughts. My mind tends to go in five directions at once, so I think better in writing.

I can relate to thinking better in writing, Leni, and it's fun to see your thoughts here. I especially like your O5--that one has us all pondering! Enjoy your choices.

Lots of great titles! Looking forward to seeing what you go for.

Regarding O5, I have an idea :O) My grandfather would use this book to 'give me dictations’ during the summer holidays, which was as enjoyable it sounds (lol). He was otherwise wonderful, taking me to the cinema, parks, museums, bookshops (!). It is one of the few things I have of him and I just looked at it because of this bingo, and thought 'why not'. It is an old 1940s novel that was famous at the time.

Someone in your family might have a favourite book? Or you may have a similar anecdote?

It's a shame really. I read The Possessed last year. That would have been perfect. The moment I heard that an English translation was coming out I thought of my mother, as her favourite book is Ferdydurke by the same author. I had to buy her a copy and send it to her. But that was last year, so I need to find something else now. Snap.

Ok, something will come along, the year has barely started.

I love how that category makes us think of books and people and how they are tied together. I hope everyone will tell the story of why they picked the book they picked!

January summary, three done.
B2 - "We" gave me a lot to ponder. I'm looking forward to my 1984 re-read now, so I can compare the two books. I remember 1984 as having more of a focus on society, even if it does follow one character. "We" has the focus on the individual where individuality has been removed, and on interpersonal relationships where the only relationships deemed of value is that between the whole of society and its interchangeable parts.

I1 - Brokeback Mountain. I have never been tempted to watch the movie, but the short story was exactly as sad as I expected and even more devastating. The whole collection is 4+ stars. It's really not selling Wyoming as an attractive destination though! Every story is about misery and death by misadventure or disaster. Fortunately some of the stories have a hint of humour about them, which makes them a really good read instead of too darn bleak.

G1 - I ended up with "The Outsiders" for my American classic. That one hit hard too. It's in that odd place where I can't believe it was written by a 17 year old, but I can simultaneously tell that it was written by someone without a lot of literary polish. Some of the dialogue and the earnest insights that the characters come up with would have made me roll my eyes if the book hadn't hit me so hard in the feels. It describes a youth culture that is limited to the USA (and Canada) in the 1950s and 60s, and yet I recognised the characters from my own youth in Norway in the 1990s. Different hair and clothes, sure, and no one in Norway carried a gun. Knives were rare too. But those marginalised and temperamental boys and their equally lonely and distressed upper class rivals? Yeah, they were there. I knew them.

Love reading your thoughts on your reading, Leni. I have had Outsiders on my TBR for forever. It is nice to know you thought it had some universal relevance...I might read it yet.

Outsiders was new for me last year. I found it a worthy novel for such a young girl to have written however, it did veer into the unbelievable for my adult taste. Good luck with the rest of your challenge, Leni!

I agree about Brokeback Mountain, and felt like you about the other stories. Wyoming--yikes! A nice haul for January--well done.

Well done with your progress. It sounds like you picked three pretty depressing books! I read We years ago and I think I liked it better than 1984. Pretty devastating.

edit: Hang on, no I'm confusing We with Darkness at Noon. Darkness at Noon was devastating. "We" was pretty clearly a strong influence on 1984.

1984 is extremely similar to We. Basically a re-telling.
I looked at the blurb for Darkness at Noon and that looks too grim for me. I don't really do feelgood, but there are limits to the misery I can handle. Lol

Leni wrote: "I looked at the blurb for Darkness at Noon and that looks too grim for me. I don't really do feelgood, but there are limits to the misery I can handle. Lol"

Fair. I think Darkness at Noon was too grim for me too.

Congratulations on your progress, Leni. I've been wanting to read We for a long time and I'd love to reread The Outsiders.