Thursday, April 28, 2016

Fighting to Complete My Classics Club Project by Next Year!

Okay, time flies, indeed, too fast! When I started The Classics Club Project in March 2012, five years seemed so far away, I believed this project would be quite an easy one. I was wrong! Yes, the first two years my progress was quite fast. Since then I have updated and added a lot of books to my original list of 100. But today I realized for the first time, that my deadline would be 8th March 2017—only 10 months from now! If I still want to complete this project, I must work out very diligently…starting today.

So, after reviewing my list, here’s the statistic: 

Books I have read so far (reviewed or not) = 105
- Novels =    79
- Plays =       21
- Non-fiction = 5

My current list is 165 (I know… I was too ambitious then!), which is impossible to complete all in 10 months. With my current speed, 2 books a month, I think, is the most realistic. So, I trimmed down my list to 125, which means I have 20 classics to read by March 2017. It would not be an easy conquest—not with my current activities, plus I am selling our old family house and buying a new apartment this year. No, it would be very tight, but I’m prepared to push myself to the limit. Then, let’s see what I can achieve by March next year!

And, as I would soon need a lot of money to furnish the new apartment, my trimmed-list consists only of books on my TBR pile. Here they are in random order:

Novels:
  1. The Pickwick Paper, Dickens – currently reading, originally for o’s read along, but I decided not to follow the timeline, as I found it difficult to reconnect with the characters after leaving them for a month.
  2. Our Mutual Friend, Dickens
  3. The Age of Innocence, Wharton
  4. The Belly of Paris, Zola
  5. The Conquest of Plassans, Zola
  6. The Earth, Zola
  7. The War of the Worlds, Wells
  8. The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck
  9. Ben Hur, Wallace
  10. Defense Speeches, Cicero
  11. The Swann’s Way, Proust
  12. Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Hardy
  13. The Hobbit, Tolkien
  14. Tales of the Jazz Age, Fitzgerald
  15. On the Origin of Species, Darwin
  16. The Trial, Kafka

Plays:
3 plays, each from Marlowe, Ibsen, and (perhaps) Wilde

Non-Fiction:
  1. The Dreyfus Affair: J’Accuse & other Writtings, Zola – currently reading 

So, 20 classics in 10 months. Read read read! And minimize the social media! Wish me luck!...


18 comments:

  1. I feel your pain! I had a similar realisation earlier this year...my solution was to create a CC List #2 for the next 5 years. I transferred some of the titles from #1 to #2, but I'm still only halfway through *sigh*

    Good luck :-)

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    1. Hmm... creating another CC list? Not for me, I think... It's exciting, but I'd need a time-break before moving on to next (big) challenge. Anyway, good luck to you Brona! ;)

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  2. Wow, Mbak Fanda, good luuuuuck!!! :')))

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  3. Very best of luck, Fanda! Yes, "and minimize the social media." I'm realizing this as well. :)

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    1. Thanks Jillian. Yeah, socmed robs a lot of our valuable time, but it also needs strong discipline to minimize it. :D

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  4. I think that I'm going to be you. My original list was 170, and at my present pace I would need to read 4 books per month to finish. Not going to happen. So I'll have to do some trimming too in about a year and a half. Best of luck to you!

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    1. Whoa Cleo.... 170! But yeah... classics is really addictive; you couldn't stop adding new titles to your list! Maybe we can adopt Brona's idea (above), to create second list for 5 more years. Meantime, best luck to you too! ;)

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  5. You can do it! And you have some great choices on your list: 3, 9, 13, 16, lots of Zolas! Should be a great experience.

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    1. Haha... it's because I keep buying more Zolas every April, so he domintaes my TBR pile now. Him and Dickens, but Dickens are so thick, so...

      Thanks for your encouragement, Ruth! And best luck to you too!

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  6. Good luck :) I'm sure you'll finish it!

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  7. Bener juga. *liat daftar sendiri*

    Arrrgghhhh!! How am I supposed to finish all these books?!!

    Semangat ya Mbak! :D

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    1. Memang daftarmu masih kurang berapa Lis? Cut aja! *evil grin

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  8. Hahaha... awalnya listku juga 100 lalu di-cut 40 jadi sekarang cuma 60. Banyak yang belum direview terutama di tahun 2013-2014 (tapi kayaknya gak bakal ditengok lagi utk bikin reviewnya, aku mau konsen baca & review yg baru aja).
    Posisi sekarang masih kurang 12 buku sampai Maret 2017. Kayaknya mau baca buku yang gampang2 aja wkwkwkwk

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    1. Sama, aku juga yg blm kureview ga bakal kureview, dah lupa juga.
      Jadi itu salah 1 alasan beli Penguin LBC yaa? ;)
      Semangaat Mel! ;)

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