Tag: The Classics Club

Meme, The Classics Club

The Classics Club – May 2014 Meme

Geoff W

Classics ClubThis month’s question from The Classics Club is finally an easy question! Seriously for once they’ve asked a question I readily have answers for!

Which classic work has caused you to become a master in avoidance? It’s not necessarily because you’re intimidated but maybe there are works out there that just cause you to have the Dracula reaction: cape-covered arm up in front of face with a step back reaction?

Prior to starting the Classics Club I would’ve spouted any number of the Russian novels (Doctor Zhivago, War and Peace and Anna Karenina to name a few), but I’ve read those already. I think for me the final big hurdles will be actually finishing an unabridged Don Quixote (Part 1 & Part 2), making it through a Steinbeck (I put The Grapes of Wrath on my 30 x 30 list so this WILL be done this year) and James Joyce’s Ulysses. We’ll see when these readings occur, I’m not afraid so much as I am wary of them!

2014 Challenges, Books, The Classics Club

Book 276: Dracula – Bram Stoker

Geoff W

Welcome back Classic Club! I apparently needed a four, almost five, month break from the club. There wasn’t a specific reason other than perhaps the epic-ness of War and Peace, but I’m glad I took the break. I think this was an even better break because I came back with such a wonderful book! There were so many cool things that I learned that I didn’t know, or some how avoided knowing, came from Dracula!

I thought for sure I was familiar with the plot of Dracula, we all are aren’t we? But I was so wrong! I’ve never seen a film version of this and most of what I know is what pop culture has co-opted over the years. One of my favorite podcasts, Good Job Brain, even did an episode titled Very Superstitious which included a lot of fun trivia (some I think might’ve been wrong) about the myriad versions of Dracula. However, what I found out that most caught me off guard was that although the book was about Dracula he wasn’t the main character AND there was a bad ass female protagonist who rocked. There are spoilers, the book is over 120 years old so get over it! 😀

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Meme, The Classics Club

The Classics Club – April 2014 Meme

Geoff W

Classics ClubThis month’s question from The Classics Club is super specific, but after almost two years I guess they would have to be start getting specific.

Contemplate your favorite classic to date. When was the book written? Why would you say it has been preserved by the ages? Do you think it will still be respected/treasured 100 years from now?

My immediate thought was any of Jane Austen’s novels and those will definitely be around for many years to come. Her wit and way with words is excellently placed when she was living but her stories and characters have a timelessness about them. So I went to my next thought, the works of Anne Brontë: Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

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Meme, The Classics Club

The Classics Club – March 2014 Meme

Geoff W

Classics ClubThis month’s question from The Classics Club is a great one! I’ve struggled with many of the other questions and this one wasn’t any different. I loved the reflection required and as with the other questions asked so far, I’ve looked outside of what I’ve read for the club to find an answer, but perhaps not the answer. This month the moderators have asked us

What is your favorite “classic” literary period and why?

For me it’s hard to explain as geography/location/setting plays a bigger role in books for me than time period, but I realized that a lot of the books I thoroughly enjoy that qualify as classics are from the mid 1900s, but not the standard books. I was thinking along the lines of Bastard Out of Carolina, The Color Purple, To Kill A Mockingbird and anything by Carson McCullers and Truman Capote.

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Meme, The Classics Club

The Classics Club – February 2014 Meme

Geoff W

Classics ClubFair warning: 1) This isn’t meant to be offensive or dismissive; 2) I got distracted and went off on a tangent; 3) This is probably not the most well thought out post I’ve ever written; and 4) I think these types of dialogue building questions are important and as I mention near the end, this is just a gut response.

“Dead white guys” are all too often the focus when it comes to discussions of the Western Canon. We’d love to see members highlight classic works or authors that are overlooked in the canon that deserve recognition. Pick one/or more and tell us how their work resonates for our century and/or for you. As always, you determine what is a “classic” in your point of view, including works from 2000+, and works from anywhere in the world. // Or, if you have trouble thinking of an author/work to highlight, you could simply discuss the topic itself: What is “The Western Canon” — have you thought about who/what determines which works are recognized from human history?”

As someone who is pale (white), male (born), and will one day be stale (old) not to mention western (American), I’m not sure how to think about this question. I do completely understand the necessity of asking the question and the vital importance of broadening the definition of classics, but for some reason the way the question is phrased it got under my pale skin. 😉

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