June 13-Friday

[note:  When I wrote this I didn't have a blog.  It was my difficulty being active in the challenge that prompted me start the blog.]

I’m really falling down on the job for journaling.  I’ve been struggling trying to get active in the Classics challenge I plan to do the last 6 months of this year.  Because I don’t have a blog site I’m experiencing a little difficulty getting my post on.  Also, I’ve discovered that they do not plan to actually discuss the books we are reading but just record them and get credit for them.  I’m disappointed about that because I thought this would be a chance to “talk” about books.  This was the post I left to answer a questionnaire they posted (I’m hoping it made the list):

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 couple of years) and Lord of the Rings trilogy (1^st read during Easter vacation the 1st year I was married and have reread at least a dozen times–most recently in 2006 when I led a seminar at my church about it).

The classic I most wish to reread?

The Brother 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.

Classic I had the toughest time finishing?

The Three Musketeers–tried it several years ago and couldn’t get into it; tried it again this year and had the same problem.  Maybe I should read it for the challenge.

Recommendations for those who are concerned about classics:

There are lots of children’s and YA classics that are worth reading and go quickly-The Secret Garden by Burnett and A Wrinkle in Time by L’Engle come to mind.

I am not a fan of horror novels but there are three 19^th 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 dénouement.  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 just before 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 19 years 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 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 19^th century-pre-Freud.  It is short-more of a novella-but a great story.

If you want to read a longer 19^th 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.