Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Here is my old and new 12+2 challenge 2019:


old school:
1. The Bhagavad Gita (approx. 2-5th century BC) ⭐⭐
2. A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595) ⭐⭐
3. Nathan der Weise (1779, en: Nathan the Wise) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
4. The Time Machine (1895)⭐⭐

new school:
5. Steppenwolf (1927, en: Steppenwolf) ⭐⭐
6. Lord of the Flies (1954)⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. Mother Night (1961)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8. Drehn Sie sich um, Frau Lot. Satiren aus Israel (1961, en: Look back, Mrs. Lot!)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

wild cards:
9. The Selfish Gene (1976)⭐⭐⭐⭐
10. The Three-Body Problem (2007) ⭐⭐⭐
11. Ready Player One (2011) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
12. Fast ganz normal (2018, en: ~almost entirely normal) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

my two alternates:
A-1. The Handmaid's Tale (1985)⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A-2. Love in the Time of Cholera (1985)⭐⭐⭐

here's my bookshelf containing all 14 books of this challenge.

Here is an identical copy of the list above. While the latter will be modified to indicate my reading progress, this one will stay unedited to show I didn't modify any of the books in 2019.

(view spoiler)[
old school:
1. The Bhagavad Gita by anonymous (approx. 2-5th century BC)
2. A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (1595)
3. Nathan der Weise by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1779, en: Nathan the Wise)
4. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (1895)

new school:
5. Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse (1927, en: Steppenwolf)
6. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)
7. Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut (1961)
8. Drehn Sie sich um, Frau Lot. Satiren aus Israel by Ephraim Kishon (1961, en: Look back, Mrs. Lot!)

wild cards:
9. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (1976)
10. The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin (2007)
11. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2011)
12. Fast ganz normal by Ben Segenreich (2018, en: ~almost entirely normal)

my two alternates:
A-1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (1985)
A-2. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez (1985)
(hide spoiler)]

The first book is finished:
A Midsummer Night's Dream

Another book is in progress:
Fast ganz normal
However, I'm reading this one the old-fashioned way, from a hardcover book, so it will take longer than the audio books.

I have Love in the Time of Cholera on my list, it's my big if book, scares me to death. I read Ready Player One a few months ago, I liked it. The Time Machine is a true favorite, book and movie version. Good luck!

I'm reading Love in the Time of Cholera right now and it's not bad. And it's only about 350 pages long. I'm about 1/3 way through -- don't be afraid ;)

I hope you have fun with book #8. I have read a number of Ephraim Kishon's books in German and found them very entertaining.

Love in the time of cholera is a book I've been meaning to read for a long time. I'm not sure I really want to, though. Seems like a good choice as a plan B book. If I want to do the bingo as well, I'll probably have to read it anyway.

I am really looking forward to the time machine!

Careful readers might have noticed that there are two Israel-themed books in this list. No 12 is a book by two Austrian-born journalists who are foreign correspondents for Israel and have lived there for 30 years. It's a book about everyday life in Israel from the perspective of someone who grew up in Austria.
The reason for this is that I moved to Israel one and a half weeks ago (temporarily, for a research project). I hope these books will help me navigate and understand my new environment.
I've only read one short section of another Kishon book so far. I'm really looking forward to this one. I'm reading it in German as well.

How exciting to live in another country and learn about it. Enjoy your time in Israel. How long will you be staying?

Thanks! :-)
It's hard to say, depends on the project, but at least a few years.

My worry about not finding enough time to read did not turn out to be the case. I've already read 6 of the books on my list.

I tried to start reading The Bhagavad Gita, but had problems with the archaic and/or poetic language. It was very hard for me to understand what's going on, so I gave it up and read The Handmaid's Tale (one of my alternatives) instead. I'm glad I did! What a book!
I plan to make another attempt at reading the Bhagavad Gita, but it might happen that I'll have to replace it by my alternative. There's no point in going through it without being able to follow the plot.

Looks like you have this challenge well in hand. Six books left to read and more than ten months to read them all. It was also nice to see that two of your first six were 5 star reads, that’s always an added bonus.

Yes, I'm really enjoying it so far! :-)
Thanks for setting up the challenge, Bob!

Just when I thought old school books just aren't for me, Nathan the Wise proved me wrong. A great book, which, although written over 200 years ago, might still be considered too progressive by some people today.

Sounds like a good one, Petrichor. I'd never heard of it before.

That is one of my favourite plays, Petrichor.

MK wrote: "Sounds like a good one, Petrichor. I'd never heard of it before."

It's dealing with the relationship of the three large Abrahamic religions to each other, playing in Jerusalem at the time of the crusades. I'm not religious myself, but I found this book quite profound. It is really short, you should give it a try.

Rosemarie wrote: "That is one of my favourite plays, Petrichor."
Mine as well! :-)
The most interesting part for me was the famous ring parable.

That part stands out as well.
Years ago I saw a production of the play in English. It was okay but I think it lost a lot in translation.

Petrichor wrote: "It's dealing with the relationship of the three large Abrahamic religions to each other, playing in Jerusalem at the time of the crusades. I'm not religious myself, but I found this book quite profound. It is really short, you should give it a try. "

It's sounds like something I'd really like. I will try to fit it in this year. TY :)

You have made quick work of this only one left to finish. Congrats!

MK wrote: "It's sounds like something I'd really like. I will try to fit it in this year. TY :)"

If you get to it, et me know what you think! :-)


Bob wrote: "You have made quick work of this only one left to finish. Congrats!"

Thanks, Bob!
It turns out I had a lot of commuting time during the past few months and some other activity that keeps my eyes, but not my mind busy. Both perfect for audio books. I only manage around two "normal" books a year.

Petrichor wrote: "If you get to it, et me know what you think! :-)"

I will :)

I guess technically I've finished the challenge, but I'm not done yet.

I'm about a third through Drehn Sie sich um, Frau Lot and plan to read Lord of the Flies as well.
Strange to think I worried about not having enough time!

Wow, you’ve done amazingly!

Thanks, Pink! :-)
I still have the BINGO challenge to finish as well.

Congrats! Having enough time is always a worry. Way, way to many books I want to read and never enough time.

Ok, NOW I'm done :-D

Congratulations, Petrichor! 🏆You read them all!

Congrats! So early in the year and you've already finished!

Well done and you even read both alternates!

Congratulations Petrichor!

Congrats on finishing!

Thank you very much, everybody!
<3

Good luck with your own challenges!
I still have my BINGO challenge to finish.

Congratulations on your completed challenge!!

Congratulations on finishing this Challenge. That's a wonderful accomplishment.