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The Classics…an area that I’ve been wanting to delve into for a while, but never seem to get to. I remember in high school reading the requisite books for English classes. There were the Shakespeare plays – Romeo & Juliet, Julius Cesar, Macbeth – and then the books – A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations both by Charles Dickens, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald to name a few.
Since then I’ve read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen at least 3 times. I love this book. And I’ve read the Anne of Green Gables series a few times – I loved that series when I was young.
I’ve been wanting to read more classics but never seem to get to them. This year I went as far as signing up for a Classics Reading Challenge – and am hoping to read at least three. Some of the ones I want to read are Anna Karenina and some of Jane Austen’s other books like Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion, and Northanger Abbey – all of which I have sitting on my bookshelf.
I’d also like to reread some of those books I read in high school – having to read a book and wanting to read a book are completely different. I think I might have enjoyed some of those high school reads more if I didn’t have to tear them about, answering questions about them or taking a quiz on them.
Do read the classics? If so, which are your favorites?
Is it Armchair BEA already? Classics are always a good choice, I think.
Yes, it is…are you participating?
Not really, Kristin. I've read a few posts about it, and have left some comments.
If you read Persuasion i'll read along with you 🙂
I'll let you know when I get to it!
wow, you read Pride and Prejudice 3 times!! that's a feat!! I had to study it in depth for some tough classes in France when I was younger, and how I hated this book.
But I do like Classics, Dickens, Steinbeck, Victor Hugo and many others.
I think the first time I read it was for a college lit class, but then the other 2 were for my enjoyment – much better to read it because you choose to than to "have to" for an assignment!
Love your Classics choices! I can't believe I forgot A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens…an absolute favorite of mine. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Yes, and it's one I hope to read again in the future!
You can never go wrong with Jane Austen. My goal is to re-purchase all of my favorite classic novels (they have all been destroyed or misplaced now)so that I can all of those pretties lined up on my bookshelf, just waiting for when I want to re-read them.
That's the great thing about classics, you can read them 100 times and they never disappoint.
I bought a bunch of classics – 6 Jane Austens, Anna Karenina and Little Women – Barnes and Noble had a special deal on their classics. Now I just need to read them!
Austen and Shakespeare are my favourites. I was very lucky to have a wonderful literature teacher when I was doing my A Levels (I think equivalent of the High School in America) and she inculcated in me my love of literature.
A good teacher makes all the difference!
Ah! You have some great ones waiting on your shelves! Another fun classics sort of challenge that I've joined is The Classics Club. Look it up. We are having way too much fun over there! 🙂
I heard that mentioned a few times – will have to check into it.
I'm the same way with classics – I want to read more, but I never do. I think I just have to be in the mood, which I'm not yet.
Tanya Patrice
Girlxoxo.com
I think that's the case with me – plus there are just so many books in general that I want to read.
I never seem to get to them either. There's just too many books! Nice to meet you!
Exactly…too many books and not enough time!
Jane Austen frequently makes the classic list, which makes me very, very happy 🙂
Great to meet you, Kristin.
Yes, I do like her writing – as much of it as I've read in Pride and Prejudice!
I agree that it's easier to read the classics now that I'm not in school. I actually joined a book group that reads classics to push myself to read them. I love the Anne of Green Gables books. I also like Little Women, Ethan Frome, Great Expectations, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, To Kill a Mockingbird, Gone With the Wind, etc. I'm actually reading Anna Karenina right now. So far it's good. A few parts are slow but overall I'm enjoying it. I would recommend it.
Weren't the Anne of Green Gables books fabulous? I just loved them!
I am definitely planning on reading Anna Karenina – it's just a matter of when! I'm bummed that I missed the read-a-long last year – that would have been a great way to read it.