Part of the problem in creating the challenge so early is the darn anticipation of its start! So, I thought we could have a little fun with a classics meme (and a little practice for me with Mister Linky). I'm going to start it off as a fill-in, but feel free to change the formatting of the meme to suit your own preferences (for example, you don't have to use this specific wording).
1. My favorite classic is
2. The classic I had the toughest time finishing is
3. I would recommend...........to someone who doesn't read a lot of classics or who doesn't generally like classics because
4. To me, a classic book is a book that
5. The type of relationship I have with classics is
I'm hoping this will allow participants to get to know the other participants AND to get ideas for what to read for the challenge. To participate, simply post your answers on your blog and link them back here using the below Mister Linky. *Make sure to just link to your specific post, not your entire blog, so other participants don't have to search for answers*
I hope to have the sign ups ready to go in the next few weeks (maybe even sooner since I'm impatient!!). Feel free to continue suggesting "should be/will be" classics--the list is such a great one and I'm thrilled with the participation. And if you have any questions, ask away and I'll do my best to answer.
*NOTE: The below Mister Linky is NOT the sign-up for the challenge, just for your meme answers! Sign-ups are coming soon. :)
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Pre-Challenge Fun, I think...
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19 comments:
A great idea to get the challenge started Trish!
Ummm, I made a mistake. I thought this was the official sign up. You may delete my link. Sorry!
Joy--eeks! I don't know how to delete links!! help?
Okay, go to your account for Mister Linky (I have mine bookmarked) and click Widgets at the top - your list of Mister Linkies will come up by date. Click the date and the list of people's links will show up. Click the white box of the one you want to delete, then at the bottom there is a button (Delete Linkies) that you click. TA DAAA! Joy will be gone! (It'll be gone on your blog when you refresh.)
Does this make up for my classic talk? OH . . . I guess not because I'm the one that caused this problem in the first place. :( Well, at least you learned something new today! :)
Joy - no hard feelings. :) I give you sass because you give me sass and I'm glad that we can give each other sass. Ha! And thanks for the help!
What a good idea to get us in the mood and thinking about classics!
cjh
This sounds like its going to be a lot of fun! Thanks!
*CJ - Well, I had been thinking about this for a while, but your recent post definitely pushed me to hurry up with it. Anyway, after reading the posts so far I'm glad to know that I'm not alone in being intimidated or whathaveyou by classics.
*Katherine - I'm glad you'll be joining us! Thanks for playing along with the meme. :)
I love the pre-challenge fun. (And it is fun, by the way.) I'm pumped and ready for July. Thanks for hosting!
I can't wait for this challenge to start!
What a wondful idea! My first classic was Scarlett letter. My favorite i either all of Proust or Henry James's Portrait of a letter.
A first classic for anonclassic reader would be Dicken's Great expectations.
Rachel D.
funness!! i did the meme!! I was thinking of copying your idea and doing a meme for the OT challenge....do you mind???
*Bluestocking - I'm glad you thought it was fun! I've enjoyed seeing everyone's answers to the questions!
*N.Vasillis - July 1 does seem like a long ways away, huh! I can't wait for it to start as well.
*Rachel D. - I really liked Great Expectations as well--and The Scarlet Letter!
*Bethany - No I don't mind!! I think that an OT meme would be a great idea. :)
Here are my modern classic suggestions:
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
Eva - Thanks for the great suggestions! I have Queen Loana by Eco sitting on my shelf but I'm very intimidated by it. :P
Queen Loana was fun! But I can understand the intimidation...when I read books like that, I don't worry about understanding everything and just go with the flow. lol
This is from Carolyn ( I don't have a blog so I have to be annonymous)
My Favorite classic?
Wow! What a decision! I probably have one for every day of the week. The 2 classics I have reread the most are PRIDE AND PREJUDICE( 1st read in 8th grade and reread it probably every couplle of years) and LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy (1st read the Easter vacation the 1st year I was married and have reread at least a dozen time--most recently in 2006 when I led a seminar at my church about it).
The classic I most wish to reread in THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. I read it in both HS and college (not assigned--I just wanted to) and loved it. I would like to see how I would react now.
Toughest time finishing:
THE THREE MUSKKETEERS--tried it several years ago and couldn't get into it and tried it again this year and had the same problem.
Recommendation:
There are lots of children's and YA classics that are worth reading and go quickly--THE SECRET GARDEN by Burnette and A WRINKLE IN TIME by L'Engle come to mind.
I am not a fan of horror novels but there are three 19th century classic horror novels that I have read and loved that are short--quick reads if you are concerned about getting bogged down. This will give you another genre and also 3 countries are represented:
THE TURN OF THE SCREW by Henry James (American)
Eerie and has an open ended ending. This is thought provoking and the scariest of the three in my opinion. Don’t read it if you demand closure; read it at the same time as a friend and you can have great discussions about it. I read this in college when the movie came out—now I’m motivated to read it again and see how it “wears.”
FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley (Great Britain/ England--wife of the poet and written when she was about 19years old—forget the movies; this is a great short novel.)
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE by Robert Louis Stevenson (Great Britain/Scotland) After seeing the musical a couple of years ago I wanted to read the original. Yesterday (Memorial Day holiday) I finally did it so I could include it on this list. This is another one to forget any dramatized versions—this is classic good vs. evil. I only wish I could have read it before I knew the secret. That’s pretty hard to do now but the story still holds your interest especially as a psychological thriller of the 19th century—pre-Freud. It is short—more of a novella—but a great story.
If you want to read a longer 19th century horror story I highly recommend DRACULLA by Bram Stoker.. I have avoided vampire stories all my life—definitely not my thing! When THE HISTORIAN by Kostova came out a couple of years ago I had several people insist I read it so I decided I had better read “the original” Dracula novel first. I was astounded at how much I liked Stoker’s novel—essentially a classic tale of good vs. evil told in a very riveting way. (If you like WOMAN IN WHITE I think you would like this, also.) I liked Stoker’s novel much more than I did Kostova’s. One of my sons suggested I should have read them in the opposite order and I might have enjoyed Kostova’s more—it just seemed pale after DRACULA.
Carolyn
Carolyn--great answers!! I loved Kostova's The Historian and recently passed it on to a friend who has read Dracula. Unfortunately I have not--but hopefully one day.
Brother's K is one of the books I have on my shelf that I am deliberately ignoring because it scares the living...out of me. :) I've heard great great things about it, but it could very well serve as my door stop as well.
I'm so glad that you provided your answers here. I've sent you a few emails to your gmail account but haven't gotten any responses so I'm not sure if you received them.
Have you given any thought to starting a blog? That is how most of the participants are keeping track of their books and thoughts and it would be a great way for you to interact with the other participants since I am only having people leave links on this site not their actual posts like some other challenges do.
I don't know if you'll be reading this comment or not, but please feel free to email me at tstineman AT hotmail DOT com (replace the AT and DOT with the punctuation).
hmmm...that was though provoking.
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