50 Classics Club Questions

So because I’m so tired and have been so busy I wanted to do something fun and easy. I’m not sure I’d call this either but here are my responses to the 50 Classic Club Questions. Yeah.

1. Share a link to your club list. My List
2. When did you join The Classics Club? How many titles have you read for the club? I joined March 8, 2012 and have read 32 of 100.
3. What are you currently reading? Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring
4. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it? The Blood of Olympus – it was great!
5. What are you reading next? Why? Will Grayson, Will Grayson because it’s a library book and will be a good break between Tolkien tomes.
6. Best book you’ve read so far with the club, and why? The Color Purple. Even though it bothered and upset me it really was a moving an incredibly powerful piece of art.
7. Book you most anticipate (or, anticipated) on your club list? Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quartet. It’s been far too long.
8. Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding, if any? Why? Dickens or Steinbeck, both because I’m not a fan of their style, but they’re all off my list now. Ulysses is the final big hurdle and the rest should be similar.
9. First classic you ever read? The Wind in the Willows, I remember it when I was younger but it was read to me.
10. Toughest classic you ever read? Dickens – he really really needed an editor
11. Classic that inspired you? or scared you? made you cry? made you angry? I’m inspired by many of the southern writers and a lot of the female writers who write well ahead of their time.
12. Longest classic you’ve read? Longest classic left on your club list? War and Peace (which I thoroughly enjoyed) and left is probably Ulysses.
13. Oldest classic you’ve read? Oldest classic left on your club list? Read: The Acharnians/The Clouds/Lysistrata by Aristotle. Left to read: Plato’s The Symposium
14. Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read — or, the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any? I have quite a few about Jane Austen that I’m super excited to read.
15. Which classic do you think EVERYONE should read? Why? Bastard Out of Carolina even though it’s not on my list. It’s a modern classic that tells the tale of poverty in the American south and it’s an incredibly moving story.
16. Favorite edition of a classic you own, if any? Either my Jane Austen paperbacks or any of the multiple copies of Wuthering Heights I own 🙂
17. Favorite movie adaption of a classic? The 2005 Pride and Prejudice with Kiera Knightly and Matthew Madfadyen. Probably more for the music and it’s watchability than any other reason.
18. Classic which hasn’t been adapted yet (that you know of) which you very much wish would be adapted to film. Either of Anne Brontë’s novels. She’s far too overshadowed by her sisters.
19. Least favorite classic? Why? The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Ugh. So boring and trite.
20. Name five authors you haven’t read yet whom you cannot wait to read. E.M. Forester, Rigoberta Menchu, Toni Morrison Salman Rushdie, Jules Verne
21. Which title by one of the five you’ve listed above most excites you and why? Howard’s End by E.M. Forester because it’s such an early work about homosexuality and even though it was published posthumously the courage it took to write it is inspiring.
22. Have you read a classic you disliked on first read that you tried again and respected, appreciated, or even ended up loving? (This could be with the club or before it.) Without a question, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. I HATED it in high school, but have grown to love it over the years and now own multiple editions of it.
23. Which classic character can’t you get out of your head? Either Bone from Bastard Out of Carolina (pre-Classics Club) or Cellie from The Color Purple.
24. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself? Francie from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn or Lizzie Bennet from Pride and Prejudice both because of their bookish natures 🙂
25. Which classic character do you most wish you could be like? Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird.
26. Which classic character reminds you of your best friend? Anna Karenina.
27. If a sudden announcement was made that 500 more pages had been discovered after the original “THE END” on a classic title you read and loved, which title would you most want to keep reading? Or, would you avoid the augmented manuscript in favor of the original? Why? I would love to see the ending of some of Jane Austen’s unfinished works. I’m not sure I’d want to see a continuation of any of her current works as they all wrap up very nicely.
28. Favorite children’s classic? Probably Peter Pan, but only from the Disney film obviously.
29. Who recommended your first classic? My grandparents.
30. Whose advice do you always take when it comes to literature. (Recommends the right editions, suggests great titles, etc.) Anyone and everyone – I’m a pretty open and diverse reader so you can’t really go wrong.
31. Favorite memory with a classic? Reading Wuthering Heights while spending two years in West Yorkshire not far from where the Brontë’s lived and wrote.
32. Classic author you’ve read the most works by? Jane Austen
33. Classic author who has the most works on your club list? Jane Austen
34. Classic author you own the most books by? Jane Austen
35. Classic title(s) that didn’t make it to your club list that you wish you’d included? (Or, since many people edit their lists as they go, which titles have you added since initially posting your club list?) I wish I would’ve included a broader diversity of translations, but I’ve seen how difficult it is to find many so I think I did a decent job.
36. If you could explore one author’s literary career from first publication to last — meaning you have never read this author and want to explore him or her by reading what s/he wrote in order of publication — who would you explore? Obviously this should be an author you haven’t yet read, since you can’t do this experiment on an author you’re already familiar with. 🙂 Or, which author’s work you are familiar with might it have been fun to approach this way? I would want to do a living author so that you could keep in sync with them. Maybe Toni Morrison or Salman Rushdie so that you could then catch up to where they are and then wait while they wrote  more.
37. How many rereads are on your club list? If none, why? If some, which are you most looking forward to, or did you most enjoy? 18 (14 left to read). I’m most looking forward to re-reading the rest of my Austen novels, but also L’Engle’s Time Quartet.
38. Has there been a classic title you simply could not finish? Not yet and that’s saying something as I’ve gotten through the Russians on my list AND Dickens.
39. Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving? War and Peace I was astonished at how beautiful and how like everywhere else Russia was. I was also really shocked at how great a writer Tolstoy was especially when he wasn’t posturing about Communism.
40. Five things you’re looking forward to next year in classic literature? I’m looking forward to just reading more of them. I’ve taken a long break this year and gave up on the five year goal, but plan to finish at some point in the future.
41. Classic you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? Definitely Austen and L’Engle – at least one of the first and all four of the latter.
42. Classic you are NOT GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? Ulysses – I will probably save that for last.
43. Favorite thing about being a member of the Classics Club? The diverse community and the ridiculously broad books we’ve all decided to read.
44. List five fellow clubbers whose blogs you frequent. What makes you love their blogs? Adam, Heather, Sarah and many others. These are just the first few that come to mind.
45. Favorite post you’ve read by a fellow clubber? No idea. I do like reading everyone’s takes on the memes as they really do show how diverse we are as readers.
46. If you’ve ever participated in a readalong on a classic, tell about the experience? If you’ve participated in more than one, what’s the very best experience? the best title you’ve completed? a fond memory? a good friend made? N/A
47. If you could appeal for a readalong with others for any classic title, which title would you name? Why? I’m not sure I would want one, but if forced to choose I’d pick something I loved and something I would be re-reading. I read so fast that breaking it up into small chunks over a long period of time I would want to already know the story.
48. How long have you been reading classic literature? Since high school.
49. Share up to five posts you’ve written that tell a bit about your reading story. Reviews, journal entries, posts on novels you loved or didn’t love, lists, etc. I’d recommend checking out my list and any of the reviews listed there, or clicking here and seeing my answer to any of the memes that have been asked!
50. Question you wish was on this questionnaire? (Ask and answer it!) If you were being forced to write a fan-fiction novel (A spin-off, a sequel, prequel or anything else) what novel would it be and why? – I would probably go with a Jane Austen novel as I already am doing one, but mostly because they’re so much fun and there are so many out there you can use as guidance for both good and bad.