My 2nd Round of The Classics Club

Yayy… I have successfully completed The Classics Club Part 1 (March 2012 – March 2017). It was really a huge commitment to read around 100 classics in five years. When I started it, I kept asking myself, what if I lost my passion in reading classics in the middle of those five years? But I was willing to try then; and now I am grateful I have taken this challenge, because now I can proudly say: I DID IT! I should give myself a nice reward…another (or two?) beautiful book? ^_^

Anyway, my successful first project has inspired me to do a second round. It won’t be as ambitious as the first; I only planned to read 60 books in five years, starting yesterday (1^st March). Here is the complete list:

My Classics Club #2

More than half of them (35 / 60) are from authors new to me. The rest is dominated by two of my favorites—Dickens & Zola—of course! ;) Apart from the list, I also planned to reread several of my favorites, or the ones I thought deserved a second chance. One of them is The Divine Comedy. I have read Inferno few years ago, and quite liked it, but failed with Purgatorio and Paradiso (the later was a total failure because I almost didn’t understand all the cantos -_-). I believe, to read and really appreciate Dante’s poems, one needs to dig deeper and work harder.

Then, two weeks ago, when I was googling for a more suitable translation of The Divine Comedy (previously I read Longsworth’s), I stumbled upon a Youtube video of open course on Dante in Translation from Open Yale Courses, given by Prof.  Giuseppe Mazzotta. I tried the Introduction, and enjoyed it. So, I decided to have a go with the course to reread Dante. In a couple of weeks I will also order Prof. Mazzotta’s translation of Inferno. I am aware that I have only very limited time for my literary activities; but I think I can squeeze this course at office hours when I have finished my works, usually 30-40 minutes before 5 pm. Hey, this can be a nice incentive to get my works done as effectively as possible, so that I can use the extra time to attend the course! ^_^

Other than Dante, I also planned to reread The Great Gatsby this year. To accompany it, two companion books have also been seating on my wishlist shelf: So We Read On by Maureen Corrigan and Careless People by Sarah Churchwell. And maybe, I will attend another Open Yale Course on Gatsby… Yeah, after the Dante’s, of course I’ve been searching for more literary open courses available… and found one on Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Faulkner. Bingo! I did have The Sound and the Fury on my list, and maybe… I should have put To Have and Have Not into…. No. Wait. Remember, limited time! Just one book at a time, Fanda! @_@

I should stop here, or the list will swell to be 100 again…. So, wish me luck with my second round of The Classics Club, everyone! Have you done with the challenge? Will you go for 2^nd round too?

The Classics Club 50 Question Survey

The Classics Club never failed to bring fun to the clubbers. This time they adapted this 50-questions survey about our classics readings. Here are mine….

1. Share a link to your club list.

My classics club list.

2. When did you join The Classics Club? How many titles have you read for the club? (We are SO CHECKING UP ON YOU! Nah. We’re just asking.) :)

I joined the club in March 8^th, 2012, and have since read 81 titles (of 165 I have intended to).

3. What are you currently reading?

Jane Eyre, for the Club’s November event: Victorian Lit! :)

4. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it?

Greyfriars Bobby. Loved it! I have thought it would be childish, but it turned out to be much deeper than that.

5. What are you reading next? Why?

Little House on the Prairie; just because it’s the last classic on my reading schedule this year.

6. Best book you’ve read so far with the club, and why?

Oh…the most difficult question, as always… I think it’s Germinal. If there is a book I can call ‘perfect’, Germinal is.

7. Book you most anticipate (or, anticipated) on your club list?

Perhaps Crime and Punishment; it is the kind of book I know I would love very much.

8. Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding, if any? Why?

1984. I am no dystopian fans, but somehow I felt I should read at least this one.

9. First classic you ever read?

A book from Agatha Christie; I believe it’s After the Funeral; and ever since I have been her fans.

10. Toughest classic you ever read?

Notes from Underground; it’s a novella, but alas! It’s really hard to follow!

11. Classic that inspired you? or scared you? made you cry? made you angry?

Most of them have inspired me in one or another way, but maybe the first classic that inspired me is Agatha Christie’s books. They flicked my curiosity on human’s nature, especially to man’s capability of doing vile things.

12. Longest classic you’ve read? Longest classic left on your club list?

War and Peace is the longest I’ve read, and as I’ve also read Moby Dick, I think my next longest classic left has got to be one of Dickens’….. Bleak House, perhaps?

13. Oldest classic you’ve read? Oldest classic left on your club list?

Aesop’s Fables. And now I have Saint Augustine’s The Confessions left on my list.

14. Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read — or, the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any?

Right now I am very excited to read Zola’s biography: The Life and Times of Émile Zola by F. W. J. Hemmings

15. Which classic do you think EVERYONE should read? Why?

Germinal! Look up at question # 6… ;)

16. Favorite edition of a classic you own, if any?

Penguin Classics hardback edition, I own the Fitzgerald’s (only 2 right now, but I’m planning to collect them).

17. Favorite movie adaption of a classic?

I haven’t watched many; but from them, The Great Gatsby was my favorite so far.

18. Classic which hasn’t been adapted yet (that you know of) which you very much wish would be adapted to film.

I think most of famous classics have been adapted, so I don’t know whether there are any which haven’t. But I noticed that Zola’s are the rarest to be adapted, especially in English. I wish there would be a producer who’d like to work on Germinal soon…! :)

19. Least favorite classic? Why?

Dante’s Purgatorio; I did not understand most of it, as it was too theological.

20. Name five authors you haven’t read yet whom you cannot wait to read.

Thomas Hardy, Wilkie Collins, William Faulkner, Christopher Marlowe, Honoré de Balzac.

21. Which title by one of the five you’ve listed above most excites you and why?

Thomas Hardy. I have heard so many praises over him, and I’m so excited to read Far From a Madding Crowd. Plus, he’s a Victorian… ;)

22. Have you read a classic you disliked on first read that you tried again and respected, appreciated, or even ended up loving? (This could be with the club or before it.)

Yes, The Great Gatsby! My first read was a bit disappointment as I could not relate to it. During my second read, I was constantly consulting with Sparksnotes and other analyses sites, and that’s how I found many interesting things from Fitzgerald. It ended up being one of my favorites.

23. Which classic character can’t you get out of your head?

Maybe Lord Henry from The Picture of Dorian Gray. Everytime I meet someone (in reality or in fiction) who is cynical, a bit harsh, but witty, I always think him as “Lord Henry-ish”.

24. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?

Isabel Archer from The Portrait of A Lady.

25. Which classic character do you most wish you could be like?

I don’t wish to be anybody than myself. :)

26. Which classic character reminds you of your best friend?

None.

27. If a sudden announcement was made that 500 more pages had been discovered after the original “THE END” on a classic title you read and loved, which title would you most want to keep reading? Or, would you avoid the augmented manuscript in favor of the original? Why?

The Portrait of a Lady. I would love to know what Isabel would do after the “hanging” end.

28. Favorite children’s classic?

The Jungle Book; though only I read it just recently.

29. Who recommended your first classic?

My father; he’s a thorough reader as I am, and he said that  would certainly love Agatha Christie’s detective stories. And I did. A lot!

30. Whose advice do you always take when it comes to literature. (Recommends the right editions, suggests great titles, etc.)

You, my fellow clubbers! ;)

31. Favorite memory with a classic?

Reading Wuthering Heights along with my Indonesian blogger fellows in 2011; it’s my early acquaintance with classic works, and we were all troubled by the dark story. It’s good experience to read one work with others with whom we could share our mutual feelings.

32. Classic author you’ve read the most works by?

Charles Dickens (9), followed closely by Émile Zola (8). Next year they might get equal… ;)

33. Classic author who has the most works on your club list?

Dickens again; I have 13 titles of him.

34. Classic author you own the most books by?

Still Dickens! Here are the 14 books of Dickens in my collection. :)

35. Classic title(s) that didn’t make it to your club list that you wish you’d included? (Or, since many people edit their lists as they go, which titles have you added since initially posting your club list?)

Ha! I have edited my list numerous of times! Some titles that were not included in my earlier list: If on a Winter Night a Traveler, Little Women, Slaughterhouse-Five, Cicero’s Defend Speeches, The Walden.

36. If you could explore one author’s literary career from first publication to last — meaning you have never read this author and want to explore him or her by reading what s/he wrote in order of publication — who would you explore? Obviously this should be an author you haven’t yet read, since you can’t do this experiment on an author you’re already familiar with. :) Or, which author’s work you are familiar with might it have been fun to approach this way?

I tend to read an author’s masterpiece or at least his most famous works first. If I am interested in reading him/her other works, I would read them usually in random order. But Zola’s works might have been fun to be explored from first publication, especially his Rougon-Macquart series.

37. How many rereads are on your club list? If none, why? If some, which are you most looking forward to, or did you most enjoy?

Have only two rereads: The Great Gatsby (which is proved to be a huge success!), and Oliver Twist (still on the list).

38. Has there been a classic title you simply could not finish?

Yes, Gone with the Wind. I was so bored with it in the end (two last chapters) that I skipped many pages to read only the ending. I didn’t regret it, and actually felt quite relieved to put it down.

39. Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving?

The Jungle Book. I thought it would be childish and “Disneyland-ish”, but it turned out to be much deeper than I expected. And at the end I loved it!

40. Five things you’re looking forward to next year in classic literature?

• To explore the literary movements through my Literary Movement Reading Challenge. This would be my biggest challenge ever!
• To read more plays—I have joined Listra’s Plays On event next year, have you? 
• To read my first biography of classics author (Zola’s biography—see question #16).
• To read classic authors I haven’t read before (St. Augustine, Atwood, Thoreau, Marlowe, etc).
• To read more non-fictions.

41. Classic you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?

St. Augustine’s The Confessions.

42. Classic you are NOT GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?

Cicero’s works. I must delay his works yet another year; next year is going to be tough enough without him.

43. Favorite thing about being a member of the Classics Club?

This kind of things… Fun events like monthly meme, classics club spin, this survey, etc. And of course, to find so many readers who love classics, and with whom I could discuss about classics.

44. List five fellow clubbers whose blogs you frequent. What makes you love their blogs?

Ruth

Adam

Melissa

Exploring Classics

o (Behold the Stars)

They share my tastes in classics; and with Ruth I am exploring The Well Educated-Mind.

45. Favorite post you’ve read by a fellow clubber?

Classic Club September Meme: Jane Austen and Émile Zola by o. 

46. If you’ve ever participated in a readalong on a classic, tell about the experience? If you’ve participated in more than one, what’s the very best experience? The best title you’ve completed? A fond memory? a good friend made?

I have only participated in one readalong: The Color Purple, and it’s rather quieter than I have expected.

47. If you could appeal for a readalong with others for any classic title, which title would you name? Why?

Something by Dickens. His books have many interesting aspects to be discussed. So, anyone want to read Bleak House along with me on June next year? ;)

48. How long have you been reading classic literature?

Not very long ago, maybe 3 or 4 years.

49. Share up to five posts you’ve written that tell a bit about your reading story. Reviews, journal entries, posts on novels you loved or didn’t love, lists, etc.

The best way to tell about my reading story is perhaps by sharing my Book Kaleidoscope posts of last year, and another interesting yearly meme. If you are interested, I am hosting another Book Kaleidoscope this year. The announcement will be up next week!

• A Year in First Lines 2013
• Book Kaleidoscope 2013 - Day 1: Top Five Book Boy Friends 
• Book Kaleidoscope 2013 – Day 2: Top Five Most Memorable Quotes 
• Book Kaleidoscope 2013 – Day 4: Top Five Underappreciated Secondary Characters 
• Book Kaleidoscope 2013 – Day 5: Top Five Most Favorite Books 

50. Question you wish was on this questionnaire? (Ask and answer it!)

Share your classics (or some of your classics) collection! :)

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Why Reading Classics: Classics Club October Meme

I think The Classics Club’s prompt for October meme is the basic thinking we ought to reflect when we decide to dedicate our times and efforts to read classics. But before coming to why I read classics, maybe we ought to describe ‘what is classics’ first. I believe the exact description of “classics” itself will vary among us, but I think it’s basically the same. These are what for me classics represent,

"A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say." ~Italo Calvino

“A true classic, as I should like to hear it defined, is an author who has enriched the human mind, increased its treasure, and caused it to advance a step; who has discovered some moral and not equivocal truth, or revealed some eternal passion in that heart where all seemed known and discovered; who has expressed his thought, observation, or invention, in no matter what form, only provided it be broad and great, refined and sensible, sane and beautiful in itself; who has spoken to all in his own peculiar style, a style which is found to be also that of the whole world, a style new without neologism, new and old, easily contemporary with all time.” ~Charles Sainte Beuve

For me personally,

Classics are books that hit at the heart of its readers; that their influence continue to resonate long after the book was published or the author passed away. Classics are books that continue to be read for generations, because what is in it is universal, even though times have changed. Classics also contain things that teach values worthy of being role models.

Now we come to this month’s prompt:

Why are you reading the classics?

Looking at ‘what is classics’ stands for me, I read classics because they speak about valuable things in life: humanity, love, friendship… ; because they show us the reality in human life: passion, kindness, hatred, poverty… I read classics because I can learn something from the past that I can use as a compass or barometer for the future; because the authors wrote it in their era but their works resonate until now. Or, I read classics merely because they were beautifully written, and I love them… :)

So, why are you reading classics, then?....

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?

The Classics Club Project: Progress #1

It’s been two months since I started The Classics Club Project, hosted by Jillian, of which I’m proudly announce that I have read six of 100 books from the list, and right now am in the middle of the seventh. Yayyy!!

On March, 8^th I posted my original list of 100 classics for five years reading. However on the progress, I can’t help to—somehow—add more and more books to the original list. The expanded list has now reached thirteen. At this moment I won’t change the original list yet, and will just add any books I find interesting to the expanded list time to time. When the expanded list should reach 50, then I will update the original list. So far, this is my progress report:

March

The first book I read after joining the project was L’Assommoir (The Drunkard) by Emile Zola. I spent two whole weeks to finish it, and that’s why I only read one book that month. L’Assommoir has been shockingly affected me, that I could not turn into any other classics for sometime. I only grabbed some light readings until April came…

April

The second book for the project was The Great Gatsby. Although it’s only 200 something pages, I really enjoyed it that it took me a week or so to finish it. I often re-read a paragraph that I didn’t quite get the meaning or I just loved the scene. Overall, The Great Gatsby has been the most enjoyable reading for the project so far.

After that I read A Midsummer Night’s Dream of Shakespeare, which—I must confess—I didn’t quite enjoy. It’s been the first Shakespeare I read, and I have mistakenly picked the comedy one while I know I never quite fond of comedy or satire.

End of April I went into Alexandre Dumas’ The Man In The Iron Mask. Despite so many obstacles to read it, I found the book quite enjoyable.

May

This month I managed to finish two more books: Nobody’s Boy by Hector Malot and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Actually I have expected quite much from Nobody’s Boy, I thought it would be quite emotionally, however I’m quite disappointed that Malot seemed to write it for children or pre-teen. The story is good, but I cannot deeply moved by it.

I have a personal habit of posting my classics book review on the birthday of the author. It’s like my personal gift for those great authors. For May, I read TheAdventures of Sherlock Holmes for an event I have hosted together with Melisa for Indonesian classics reading community (Baca Klasik). And as Arthur Conan Doyle’s birthday is on 22 May, I will post my review only on that date, although I have finished the book last week.

Right now I am in the middle of The Color Purple, participating in the readalong hosted by Bettina. As the readalong will end on May 31^st, I will surely finish this book by this month. So far I like it, not as shockingly as L’Assommoir perhaps, but very touching.

Well, that’s it. Six books for two months, and if I can keep up the pace, I’ll finish my 100 books list by three years! That’s why an expanded list seems reasonable, no?