Saturday, December 28, 2019

Back to the Classics - 2019 Wrap Up Post



Karen at Books and Chocolate hosted Back to the Classics again in 2019, and I got 11 out of 12 of my books read. I never found time for the tragic category--maybe that was my subconscious protecting my mood!

So I have 2 entries in Karen's year-end drawing, and my email is janetgs05(at)gmail(dot)com.

1. 19th Century Classic: Can You Forgive Her?, by Anthony Trollope - really enjoyed this first in the Palliser series. Will read the next one in 2020...and so on.

2. 20th Century Classic: Brideshead Revisitedby Evelyn Waugh - one of the saddest books I've ever read...and reread. Beautifully written but heartbreaking.

3. Classic by a Woman Author: Agnes Grey, by Anne Bronte - meh! Anne is just not for me. Too whiny.

4. Classic in Translation: War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy - fabulous, although I could do without some of the philosophizing on the history of history. That said, I loved the story, characters, setting, and this was an excellent, readable translation.

5. Classic Comic Novel: My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell - loved, loved, loved this book, and gave it to two siblings for Xmas.

6. Classic Tragic Novel:

7. Very Long Classic: Daniel Deronda, by George Eliot - very good but Middlemarch reigns supreme. I'm looking forward to finally finishing the bio I started years ago on Eliot so I can read what motivated her to tell this story.

8. Classic Novella: Brat Farrar, by Josephine Tey - love this kind of pyschological thriller.

9. Classic From the Americas (includes the Caribbean): Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck - excellent travelogue by one of my favorite authors.

10. Classic From Africa, Asia, or Oceania: Picnic at Hanging Rock, by Joan Lindsay - ambiguous, creepy, gets under your skin.

11. Classic From a Place You've Lived: Song of the Lark, by Willa Cather - lovely warm, interesting book about a young woman from the Colorado plains.

12. Classic Play: St. Joan, George Bernard Shaw - meh - really what was the point of this play? Maybe it works on the stage but very forgettable.




Thanks to Karen for hosting this challenge, which is really the only one I do anymore. 

Happy New Year!

9 comments:

  1. Well done. I also read Picnic at Hanging Rock...enjoyed it much more on this reread. I've got to get to Travels with Charley one of these days.

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  2. Congrats on getting 11 read! I have Can You Forgive Her sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read it...maybe next year. :)

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  3. You did extremely well to read 11 of those categories. Daniel Deronda is one of the books by George Eliot I really want to read but it's very long so need to choose the right moment.

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  4. Eleven out of twelve is very impressive. Can You Forgive Her is one of my favorites. Have you considered reading more books in the Palister series?

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    1. Absolutely, Brian, I have Phineas Finn lined up for early 2020.

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  5. I totally understand about wanting to read all an author's work before digging into their biography. It really is helpful and enriches the experience.

    You have read a fantastic list of classics. I have War & Peace on my list...I have two translations I am hanging onto and will see which one works best for me when it comes time to read it.

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  6. Well done, Jane! I failed miserably in the classics department this year, but will start 2020 with a Trollope.

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  7. Congratulations on reading and reviewing such great novels for the Challenge and that one of the books was War and Peace is so impressive. I must try to read that book as well. Also since I very much enjoyed Daughter of Time I want to check out Brat Farrar.I look forward to the books you will choose in 2020.

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  8. Congrats! I only got 8 classics read this year...I didn't manage the Tragic Classic category either...among others. :)

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