Back to the classics challenge 2020

Uncategorized 2 Minutes
I have signed up for the Back to the Classics Challenge 2020, hosted by Karen from Books and Chocolate blog. The categories I have chosen for the challenge, together with my book choice, are set out below:
THE CATEGORIES: 
 
1. 19th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1800 and 1899.
I am going to read Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy published in 1874. 
2. 20th Century Classic. Any classic book originally published between 1900 and 1970. All books in this category must have been published at least 50 years ago. The only exceptions are books that were published posthumously but were written at least 50 years ago.
I am going to read The Screwtape Letters a Christian apologetic novel by C.S. Lewis and dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien. It was first published in February 1942.
 
3. Classic by a Woman Author.
I am going to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. This is the one book by the Bronte sisters I have not read so I am ceasing the opportunity to do so. 
 
6. A Genre Classic. Any classic novel that falls into a genre category — fantasy, science fiction, Western, romance, crime, horror, etc.
I am going to read Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding and published in 1954. It is an allegorical novel.
7. Classic with a Person’s Name in the Title. First name, last name or both. Examples include Ethan Frome; Emma; Madam Bovary; Anna Karenina; Daniel Deronda; David Copperfield, etc.
Greg is reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald as a set work this year, so guess which book I chose [hehe]. I am also going to read Lord Edgeware Dies by Agatha Christie because I fancy a bit of Aggie. 
 
8. Classic with a Place in the Title. Any classic with the proper name of a place (real or fictional) – a country, region, city, town, village, street, building, etc. Examples include Notre Dame de Paris; Mansfield Park; East of Eden; The Canterbury Tales; Death on the Nile; etc.
I am going to read Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. Not because it is mentioned here, but because I am currently listening to Evil under the Sun and there are references to Death on the Nile. 
9. Classic with Nature in the Title. A classic with any element of nature in the title (not including animals). Examples include The Magic Mountain; The Grapes of Wrath; The Jungle; A High Wind in Jamaica; Gone With the Wind; Under the Volcano; etc.
I am going to read Animal Farm by George Orwell published on 17 August 1945
If you are interested in reading classics, you can join in this challenge here:

https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2020/01/back-to-classics-challenge-2020.html

Happy reading!

Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

Published

44 thoughts on “Back to the classics challenge 2020”

      1. Bit by bit I think. But yes, so far so good. 70 hours–good grief, Robbie, when will you have time for anything else?

        Like

        Reply

  2. I am glad to say I have read a good few of those, Animal Farm and Lord of The Flies we did at school. I saw the first film of Far From The Madding Crowd when I was at high school in Australia then read the book. Thomas Hardy is a native of Dorset where we live now and I can now see the rolling green countryside and heathland he wrote about in his novels – he was looking back to a rural life fast changing. I always thought I would have preferred Gabriel Oak in the first place, but I’m not going to give away the plot!

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

      1. It would be boring if we all liked the same things! Good luck with the challenge – I haven’t decided whether to do it yet. Plenty of time to put it off till the deadline 😉

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

    1. Have you read The Coral Island, Priscilla. There are some interesting comparisons between Lord of the Flies and Coral Island because they both feature English boys who end up alone on a remote island. In Lord of the Flies the boys make a dismal mess of it all and in Coral Island, a rip roaring success. It is quite interesting to compare them.

      Like

      Reply

  20. I have read all of those, though some so long ago I remember reading them, but not much else. I do very well remember “The Screwtape Letters” probably because I’ve read it several times and also have it from Audiobooks. It may be “apologetic,” but it is also hilariously funny in a weirdly Christian way. I think I’ve read almost all of C.S. Lewis’ works, which might sound odd coming from me, but my interest in religion and religious philosophy has never dwindled through the years. I know C.S. Lewis is a bit stodgy and more Catholic than most protestant groups like, but he was a deep thinker with a lot to say. Some of his books are better than others too and for adults, I’d say Screwtape is the funniest, Out of the Silent Planet, the weirdest piece of sci-fi written, and then there are the Narnia books which I read, but were really more directed at my son. HE loved them and didn’t even realize they were novelizations of Christian theology for kids.

    Notes: Hated Lord of the Flies AND Animal House. I got their point but didn’t need it pounded into my brain. I loved everything Agatha Christie wrote, both as books and as movies. Her plots have been copied by every mystery writer everywhere. She invented the modern mystery. Acorn and Britbox both have her whole Poirot and Miss Marple series’ playing. We watched them all. I keep hoping someone will remake them.

    I always think of Great Gatsby as a tragedy. I’m not sure it was supposed to be, but I think it is. The wasted lives of the rich and would-be rich. It’s easy to see why no one has been able to make it work as a movie. It’s too much thinking with too little action. It’s much better for reading than viewing.

    I’m also not a Jane Austen fan. Neither, thankfully, is Garry so we skip the movies and the books. I thought the books were torturous reading. At least I’m in good company. Many people hate them as like them. They apparently make good movies. Can’t get through the movies, either.

    Happy reading!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s