On
Readerbuzz I found a post about 50 questions put forward by
The Classics Club. They want to know why, how and what you read when it comes to classics. I am not able to find the questions on the Classic Club web-site, but copied from Readerbuzz. Always a fan of questionnaires I can not resist this one. Here we go.
- Share a link to your club list. The Classics Club: Fifty Classic(ish) Books I Will Read in the Next Five Years
- When did you join The Classics Club? I think I joined in 2014 or 2015 . So far I have read 22 of 50 titles. It seems I did not properly registered, which I have now done!
- What are you currently reading? Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and Shirley by Charlotte Brontë. Both of them hard to get through although I love their other books.
- What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it? My latest classic was Richard III by Shakespeare. Not an easy read, but I managed.
- What are you reading next? Why? Whatever comes up in the next spin.
- Best book you’ve read so far with the club, and why? I have actually not read that many books for the club. But if I look at my list of 50 classics, I would choose two books; Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann and The Go-Between by J.P. Hartley. Both wonderful books.
- Book you most anticipate (or, anticipated) on your club list? The Wings of the Dove by Henry James. Just love James.
- Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding, if any? Why? A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. I started once but could not continue. However, it is not a very thick book so I will probably go through one day.
- First classic you ever read?
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë? Possibly.
- Toughest classic you ever read? I think it has to be Shirley and Mansfield Park. I just don't like any of them.
- Classic that inspired you? Wuthering Heights.
- Longest classic you’ve read? Longest classic left on your club list? Probably Buddenbrooks. Still there on the list, probably Forever Amber. I read it when I was young, but decided that I wanted to re-read it.
- Oldest classic you’ve read? Oldest classic left on your club list? Oldest left on the list is probably Tom Jones by Henry Fielding. Oldest I have read? Hmm...The Odyssey by Homer.
- Favourite biography about a classic author you’ve read — or, the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any? The Brontës by Juliet Barker. Covers the whole family.
- Which classic do you think EVERYONE should read? Why? The old Greek classics. They seem to have things to tell us even after all these years.
- Favourite edition of a classic you own, if any? Non specific.
- Favourite movie adaption of a classic? Gone With the Wind.
- Classic which hasn’t been adapted yet (that you know of) which you very much wish would be adapted to film. Can't think of anyone.
- Least favourite classic? Why?
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and Shirley by Charlotte Brontë. I just can't find anything interesting in them.
- Name five authors you haven’t read yet whom you cannot wait to read. Henry Fielding, Sigrid Undset, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, Willa Carter.
- Which title by one of the five you’ve listed above most excites you and why? Anything by Willa Carter, mostly because the name pops up everywhere, and I have not read anything by her. On my list is Death Comes for the Archbishop.
- Have you read a classic you disliked on first read that you tried again and respected, appreciated, or even ended up loving? I seldom re-read books and especially classics, so none. If I don't like it, I rather give it up.
- Which classic character can’t you get out of your head? I have to say Heathcliff. He is such a strong character and the more you read the book, the more complex and nastier he seems to be. Yes, this is a classic I have read several times.
- Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?
Can't think of anyone.
- Which classic character do you most wish you could be like? Scarlett O'Hara, with all her good and bad sides. But she has a survival instinct that is impressive.
- Which classic character reminds you of your best friend?
Can't think of anyone.
- 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 favour of the original? Why? Although there has been sequels written by other authors, I would say Gone With the Wind. I would definitely have liked to read something else by Margaret Mitchel. It is difficult to judge a person for one book.
- Favourite children’s classic? The books on Emil and Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
- Who recommended your first classic? Probably no one.
- Whose advice do you always take when it comes to literature? I trust a lot in my blogging friends. They are the most initiated readers I have around.
- Favourite memory with a classic? Although a bad one, but I remember being so in to Gone With the Wind that I was reading it during class. Bad, bad...!
- Classic author you’ve read the most works by? The Brontë sisters and Jane Austen.
- Classic author who has the most works on your club list? I try to diverse the authors, but it is probably Henry James.
- Classic author you own the most books by?
I have one book of several classic authors, but not a lot of books. I tend to read classics on my ipad.
- 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?) I edit the list, take away those I have read and add another title. Although on my 50s list I tend to keep them, and move titles from there to the spin list.
- 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? Maybe Walter Scott. I have not read anything by him (seen the movies), but that could be a possibility.
- 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? I seldom re-read classics or books in general. Only my very favourite ones.
- Has there been a classic title you simply could not finish? Nana by Émile Zola.
- Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving? Lancelot by Chrétien de Troyes. Quite refreshing for such an old book.
- Five things you’re looking forward to next year in classic literature? I am thinking on maybe concentrate on one author and read, if not all, most of their production.
- Classic you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? I have wanted to read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoj for a long time. Maybe I will make i happen next year! Yay.
- Classic you are NOT GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? James Joyce's books.
- Favourite thing about being a member of the Classics Club? Being "forced" to read classics. Sometimes one looks more for modern literature. I also like the different memes, the interchange with other members, and that there is a goal in reading. The exchange of views often opens up a whole new world.
- List five fellow clubbers whose blogs you frequent. What makes you love their blogs? I follow and love Brona's books, The Travelling Penguin, Dolce Belezza, The Reading Life, My Reader's Block and many more. Their posts contains a variety of reviews on books, travelling and anything cultural.
- Favourite post you’ve read by a fellow clubber? Can't remember any specific post. I tend to enjoy people's posts on classics. It always brings something new to the reading, as well as inspiration to read more classics.
- 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? I did participate in Dolce Belezza's readalong on Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady, otherwise I seldom participate in these kind of challenges.
- If you could appeal for a readalong with others for any classic title, which title would you name? Why? The Illiad by Homer. It would be interesting to read such a book with support from others and the possibilities to discuss such a classic tale as you read along.
- How long have you been reading classic literature? Maybe 10 years. It all started when I joined the Brussels Brontë Group in Brussels. They have a classics reading group, in principal 10th century English literature.
- 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. An Arundel Tomb by Philip Larkin; The Last Kings of Norse America by Janey Westin and Robert Glen Johnson; Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann; The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. I hope it shows my different interests in history, poetry and classics.
- Question you wish was on this questionnaire? (Ask and answer it!) I can't find the question, at least not clearly spelled out of; what is your favourite classics book? I will go for two - Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. They raise above everything else for me.
GONE WITH THE WIND IS THE BEST NOVEL EVER!! Have you read her novella Lost Laysen? She wrote it at age sixteen. It's an entire story & was published several years ago. You can also read her collection of juvenile writing: "The Girlhood Writings of Margaret Mitchell." Search it at Goodreads. You'll find it. There are a lot of stories from her very early years in it, but there are also a couple very wonderful short stories she wrote in her late teens which show her mastery as a writer. I'd also strongly recommend "Dynamo Going to Waste: Letters to Allen Edee, 1919-1921" for her gigantic personality on paper. She talks about life at home, her yearning for education, as well as some thoughts on a story she was writing. She was in her early twenties, and would begin writing GWTW five years later.
ReplyDeleteApparently she had a few completed novels/novellas when she began writing Gone with the Wind. One was about a quartet of girls at a boarding school (if I recall). One was a novel about the jazz age featuring (if I remember right) a heroine named Peggy and some scrapes. Another was a story about a romance between (again, pulling this from memory, so I may have it wrong) a black woman and a white man. These were referenced in biographies I've read (Road to Tara, Southern Daughter, Margaret Mitchell, John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone with the Wind.)
Unfortunately the stories were burned at her request when she died. She wanted to be known for Gone with the Wind.
I read that she was considering a couple more novels (though she shrank from the work involved in taking on a project given how busy she'd been since GWTW's publication): a novel about the American Civil War through the soldiers' eyes, and a novel about a girl who goes wrong, and regrets it. (She didn't offer specifics on the latter. She was just contemplating it.) I read about that in Harwell's "GWTW LETTERS." She also gave a writer (Evelyn Hanna was her name, I think, author of Blackberry Winter?) advice and reference suggestions for a novel about Confederate exiles in Brazil. I read about that while skimming the contents of the Margaret Mitchell collection at Emory.
Too much information? :)
Jillian can sniff out a GWTW fan anywhere!! So I will leave the rave to her.
DeleteLike you, my first read of Mansfield Park felt torturous and I never thought I'd try it again....until an Austen in August a few years....and I changed my completely about MP. All I ask is that you force yourself to finish it as quickly as possible and despise it for about 5-10, but then please promise me you'll try it again later. I know so many bloggers now who have come to love MP after the second read. It is probably her most perfectly crafted novel, even if the characters aren't as endearing as some of her other books.
I will also then reread Wuthering Heights (which is one of my least fav classics - I hated it with a passion as a 20 yr old and have never been able to make myself read it again). But after MP I'm thinking there are a few classics I should try again now that I'm older.
The 50 Questions post is on the Club website under 'Club Games' - 'Book Tags' - next week I will actually be posting about, so you've beaten me to the punch :-)
I'll add your name to the participants list.
Wow, I did not know that she has actually written something else than Gone With the Wind. Thank you so much for giving me all this information. Quite interesting and I will definitely look for it. Maybe even read a biography, that would be interesting as well. Thank you, thank you!
DeleteI am quite excited about all the information about Margaret Mitchell, and my favourite book!
DeleteI am nearing the end of MP, reading a chapter a day. I am horrified by the idea to read it again, but I am thinking that there might be a twist in the end that make it worth reading. I really hope so.
As for Wuthering Heights, it is up there with Gone With the Wind. I have read it several times, since I am a Brontë fan. If you haven't read it for 20 years, I think you should try it again. The story is of course as gruesome as before, but I, at least, see it differently every time I read. The funny think, or maybe not so funny, is the a lot of people (when discussing this in the Brontë Reading Group in Brussels), all thought that Heathcliff was a sort of hero, when reading the book as a youngster. However, reading it again, with a little bit of life experience, he really is not.
I am just so amazed that someone like Emily Brontë could write such a book, with such strong characters. The story, the family relations and other features of the book is built up in an almost scientific way. I always wonder wether she though of that while writing it. Well, lots of things to discuss here.
You're welcome! I'm always excited when I see someone else loves her work. :D I just read the 1950 Memorial issue of the Atlanta Historical Bulletin, which was a novella-sized historical periodical dedicated that year to Mitchell. There were personalized articles in it from the men who knew her: her older brother (who wrote about her childhood), her husband (who discussed the world-wide reception of her novel), a reporter friend (who discussed her innovative life as one of the only female reporters on an Atlanta paper in the 1920s, & another close friend who described the day and details surrounding her death. The last article was very emotional because she'd died only months earlier, and he was clearly still reeling. It also includes four of her articles on Confederate generals, the writing of which many believe inspired her to write GWTW.
DeleteQuite a rewarding read! Though it ended sadly.
If you only choose one biograph, I recommend Margaret Mitchell and John Marsh by Marianne Walker. It's very accessible and well-researched, through the author is a little hard on Mitchell, in my opinion. Darden Asbury Pyron's is also extremely good, though not as accessible: it's written very academically. I wouldn't recommend Road to Tara as a serious biography: it's very accessible and fun to read, but it's not particularly accurate, n my humble opinion. Reads like a novel though. Including the lack of notes! :P
I'm encouraged by your experience of rereading WH - I found it such a juvenile story as a 20 yr old I was concerned that that would only be worse as I got older!
DeleteThe ending of MP annoyed me even more second time round - my review for my reread is - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com/2013/08/mansfield-park-by-jane-austen.html
Good luck
Hi Brona, just left a comment on your excellent review. I agree partly with you, especially about the characters.
DeleteI think we might se WH in another light as we grow older. The romantic idea of the eternal love has gone away for a more realistic approach to love. I am though, still quite hooked on this story of eternal love.
Thank you Jillian for the local news of MM. I have noted your tip for a biography and will look for it.
Delete