Friday, March 6, 2020

It’s So Classic



I got tagged by Joseph from The Once Lost Wanderer last year to post this, have prepared the draft, but then forgot it in the year-end frenzy at work. I have found the draft again when rummaging my notes. It's too nice not to post, so here it is:

What is one classic that hasn't been made into a movie yet, but really needs to?
Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas. We have seen several adaptations of The Three Musketeers, but none of its sequel - though it's a much better story than Musketeers!

What draws you to classics?
Its relevance with our struggles in life today, for one. The way it opens our eyes to things (humanity, social, cultures, religions, etc) which would otherwise been only a vague theory for us. Classics have layers of stuffs that we can keep digging in every read (and reread), and it tends to mature together with the readers. And most importantly classics shape us to be better persons.

What is an underrated classic?
Karl May's Winnetou

What is one classic that you didn't expect to love, but ended up loving anyway?
Austen's Persuasion

What is your most favorite and least favorite classic?
Most favorite: Zola's Germinal
Least favorite: can’t decide between Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind or Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights

What is your favorite character from a classic?
Helen Graham from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Who is your favorite classic author?
That's easy: Émile Zola

Relating to newer books, what attributes does a book need to have in order to be worthy of the title "classic"?
Same as my answer for no. 2: the relevance with our struggles of life today, and the layers to dig deeper from.

Thank you, Joseph, for the tag! And for you who haven't done this thing and feel inclined to, you are welcomed to tag yourself.


4 comments:

  1. I came back to this, because wanted your opinion on Zola. I have not yet read Zola - I know, I'm so ashamed - and I was going to ask where to start. I was thinking probably Germinal, but wanted your opinion nonetheless. So, would that indeed be your recommendation?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Joseph, I always think that reading a masterpiece from a new-to-you author is the best start. If that doenn't make you love him/her, you don't need wasting time reading the rest of his/her books. So, I would recommend Germinal as your Zola starting point too.

      I hope it means you'd join Zoladdiction in April? :)

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