Turn Of The Century Salon - January

This year Katherine from November’s Autumn is hosting an interesting classics literary event called Turn of The Century Salon. The idea is to have “a special club but one where everyone feels comfortable and happy and welcome to share their ideas, wanderings, and discoveries through Literature be you an expert or reading your first work that's been graced by that title: Classic.” Referring to the title, our discussion for the Salon would be focused on the classics written between the late 1880s through the early 1930s.

The salon will take place through the year of 2013, and for our first “meeting”, of course, we will first introduce ourselves to each other….

What draws you to read the Classics?

Hmm…this is always a delicate question, I think it’s because I have a passion to read great pieces from great authors that people from centuries had read and appreciated them. I want to be part of them, but also, I’m interested in learning much about human life, history and existence.

What era have you mainly read? Georgian? Victorian? Which authors?

I think I have been reading more Victorian than others so far, with Charles Dickens dominating the list (he happens to be one of my favorite authors too).

What Classics have you read from the 1880s-1930s? What did you think of them?

Germinal – Emile Zola

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

To Have And Have Not – Ernest Hemingway

Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad

Name some books you're looking forward to read for the salon.

Both La Bete Humaine and The Masterpiece from Zola; I have been very eager to read more from Zola, that I can’t make up my mind which one should I read first… ;)

Which authors do you hope to learn more about?

Ernest Hemingway, I have only read two of him in Indonesian-translation, so now I’m excited to read the original English version. I have 2 books of him for this year: The Old man and The Sea and A Farewell To Arms.

Which literary characters are you most akin to?

Until now, I think, Isabel Archer—the heroine of The Portrait of A Lady. She is a woman of freedom who likes to do things her own way, she doesn’t like to be told by others what to do.

Which authors do you love?

Emile Zola, I’m a big fan of him :)

Is your preference prose? poetry? both?

Prose; I’ve never been successful with poetry.