Wednesday, August 22, 2012

My Favorite Classics (Classics Club Meme August)



This is the first monthly meme for The Classics Club (yes, we have our own meme, and it only makes classics reading for the next five years becomes more fun!). Actually topic of this month is quite simple, favorite classics, however I find it difficult to pick only ONE favorite. I have a lot of favorites, and have managed to narrow the list to four, but could never decide which one I love the most. So, here are my favorite classics until now… (it could change now and then!)

The Curtain by Agatha Christie



Agatha Christie’s were the first adult novel I read when I was in junior high school. Before that my readings were of Enid Blyton’s or Alfred Hitchcock’s adventure novels. Then someday I found “After The Funeral” in school library, and was suddenly intrigued to read a murder case. That was my first ‘love’ with Agatha Christie. After that, every time my parents took me to bookstore and let me choose one novel to buy, I always picked Agatha Christie’s. Agatha Christie has opened my eyes for the first time that life is not black or white as in children tales, where the good people do good deeds and bad ones do evil things. No, in true life, good ordinary people can commit a murder because of many reasons, not because they were born evil. I love almost all of Hercule Poirot’s series and several other stories with no detective (And Then There Were None), but my most favorite is always The Curtain. I have read The Curtain for several times, and still cried every time at the end. The Curtain is not only our farewell to Poirot, but it made me realize that in life we cannot win every battle, that sometimes the evil must win, and what we can do is only trying to minimize the damage as best as we can. Just as Poirot did.


To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee



To Kill A Mockingbird was among the first classics I have read when I was an adult, and it was one of the reason I am now delving into classics works [and join The Classics Club :) ]. This book is not only entertaining, it’s also touching. I have read To Kill A Mockingbird few times, and would re-read it again for The Classics Club. A book that is entertaining is a good book. A book contains high moral value or deeply touch you is a great book. But a book which can entertain and deeply touch you at the same time is the greatest book! To Kill A Mockingbird is within the last one, which I would recommend to everyone over and over again.

Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas



When I was a child (I think my readings at that time was Enid Blyton’s Famous Five or Herge’s Tintin), my dad bought me a big-thick book contained of three stories, Florence Nightingale, The Three Musketeers and another story which I forgot. It was kind of novel with many illustrations, meant for young readers. I was so fond of that book, that I remember read it again and again, particularly The Three Musketeers which I read most often. I was so amazed with the story, to the musketeers’ spirit and friendship (every time they gathered their sword tips and yelled ‘all for one and one for all!’), and to the royal nuances throughout the story (the illustrations helped my imagination a lot). In short, I have fell in love with it right then. And then, around two years ago I re-read The Three Musketeers again (now the complete novel, translated to Bahasa Indonesia). It’s a completely different experience this time, and I found myself fell deeper in love with it. Finally I completed my thirst of Dumas’ Three Musketeers series by reading The Man In The Iron Mask and Twenty Years After. Then I found a new favorite…Twenty Years After! This is the best part of the series, where the four devoted friends had their reunion after twenty years separation. Twenty Years After have more actions than Three Musketeers, and in this part their friendship were hardly tried. I got to know more about each personal character through this novel, and the emotion remains with me long after I finished it.


L’Assommoir by Emile Zola



What can I say? After the first Zola’s I’ve read last year (Therese Raquin), I fell in love with his writing. Reading Zola is not at all fun, but his books (I’ve read two so far, and am reading the third) always trouble my soul. So far I liked L’Assommoir better than Therese Raquin, but as I am reading Germinal right now, my favorite could still change :)

That was for books of my favorites, what’s yours?

10 comments:

  1. Honestly, I have only read To Kill a Mockingbird, and it was about ten years ago. It's on my re-read list for The Classics Club. I do remembering liking it, but because it's been so long I can't tell you exactly why. Good choice either way! :)

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    1. Maybe you should give To Kill A Mockingbird another go, Jenna, and perhaps you would like it even better.

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  2. Oh my, you just had me remember how grown up I felt choosing Agatha Christie books at the library when in junior high! But I don't think I've read any of her books since... hmmm...

    To Kill a Mockingbird is my go to favorite, and I can't wait to read it again for the club!

    -Sarah

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    1. haha...that's exactly what I have felt when I first brought home my first Agatha Christie copy home from the library!

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  3. What a wonderful list! My first and favorite Christie was And Then There Were None. I haven't read The Curtain yet, but now I definitely will! To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorites as well.

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    1. And Then There Were None is one of my favorites Christie too, but Curtain was very emotional, it's different from any other detective stories. You'll gonna like it!

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  4. (smile) I did the same thing in Year 7 - I read about 30 Agatha Christie's in a row...and then I discovered Tintin!
    I always consider To Kill A Mockingbird to be my first adult read though. I read it for school in Year 9 - it was a revelation on so many levels, including the one where I went "ahhhh this is what they mean when they say 'literature'."

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    1. Oh, Tintin was always my favorite! I wonder why we didn't put it as a classics? About To Kill A Mockingbird, it's also my first award winning novel, and you're right, it's quite a revelation :)

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  5. A lot of people like Zola and I never tried anything by him. Must remedy that. (I will not say anything about how your Christie entry made me suspect sth bad happens to Poirot and, if so, I had no idea and now I'm just a little heartbroken :)

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    1. You MUST try Zola :) The best is perhaps Germinal.
      Well, to get to know about Poirot, you must read Curtain. It's not just about Poirot, but the case is very interesting, like I said, it's not like any other detective case.

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What do you think?