Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Since I’m choosing the challenge where I have to promise to clean my plate so to speak, I’m going to try to get it under control before I let my mind wander to all the other tasty challenges!

Challenge #1 New and Old – Off to Ireland
[Trip planning in progress. Departing 1/1/20!]

Old School
✓A Tale of a Tub (1704) by Jonathan Swift ☘ ☘ ☘
✓Castle Rackrent (1800) by Maria Edgeworth ☘ ☘
✓In a Glass Darkly (1872) by J. Sheridan Le Fanu ☘ ☘ ☘ ☘

New School
✓Dubliners (1914) by James Joyce☘ ☘ ☘ ☘ ☘
The Death of the Heart (1938) by Elizabeth Bowen
✓The Country Girls (1960) by Edna O'Brien ☘ ☘ ☘ ☘

Wildcards
✓The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism and Fascism (1928) by George Bernard Shaw ☘ ☘ ☘ ☘
✓Selected Poems (1939) by W.B. Yeats ☘ ☘ ☘
✓Irish Folktales (1985) by Henry Glassie ☘ ☘ ☘
✓Amongst Women (1990) by John McGahern ☘ ☘ ☘ ☘
✓The Sea (2005) by John Banville ☘ ☘ ☘ ☘ ☘
✓The Heart's Invisible Furies (2017) by John Boyne ☘ ☘ ☘ ☘

Alternates
✓At Swim-Two-Birds (1939) by Flann O'Brien ☘ ☘ ☘
Inventing Ireland (1995) by Declan Kiberd

covers
The Country Girls
Irish Folktales
A Tale of a Tub
In a Glass Darkly
Amongst Women
Dubliners
The Sea
The Heart's Invisible Furies
The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism
Castle Rackrent
Selected Poems
At Swim-Two-Birds

Here is where I'm eyeing the other tasty challenges ...

#5 Decade Challenge - Historical Fiction and many new to me authors:

✓1924 - So Big, Edna Ferber Finished 9/5/20 ★★★★★
1933 –Lamb in His Bosom, Caroline Miller
1948 - The Makioka Sisters, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
✓1956 - Palace Walk, Naguib Mahfouz Finished 6/6/20 ★★★★
1963 - The Glass-Blowers, Daphne du Maurier
1978 - Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin
1981 - Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
1995 - The Blue Flower, Penelope Fitzgerald
✓2009 - Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel Finished 4/17/20 ★★★★★
2019 - The Secrets We Kept, Lara Prescott

Another Decade Challenge--Quest for Women Authors from Birth Decade
✓1951 – The Ballad of the Sad Café by Carson McCullers Finished 6/9/20 ★★★★
1952 – The Borrowers by Mary Norton
✓1953 – Jane and Prudence by Barbara Pym Finished 6/26/20 ★★★★
✓1954 – The Ponder Heart by Eudora Welty Finished 8/30/20 ★★★★
✓1955 – The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith *new to me author* Finished 7/12/20 ★★★
1956 – The Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay *new to me author*
1957 – The Comforters by Muriel Spark *new to me author*
✓1958 – The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden Finished 3/19/20 ★★★★
1959 – The Hills is Lonely by Lillian Beckwith *new to me author*
✓1960 – The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien *new to me author* - Finished 1/23/20 ★★★★

Women Authors
Edna O'Brien *new to me author*
Rumer Godden *new to me author*
Carson McCullers
Barbara Pym
Patricia Highsmith *new to me author*
Eudora Welty

You’ve done it again, Kathleen. I’ve only heard of Dubliners and The Hearts Invisible Furies so I’ll be curious as to how your challenge goes. I’m most curious about Edna O’Brien, yet another female author I haven’t heard of before.

I have read both Dubliners and The Death of the Heart and enjoyed both.

Thanks, Brina! I'm excited about the Edna O'Brien, and hope to read that one early in the year.

And Janet, I'm so happy to hear you liked those. I want to read all of them. Now. :-) Still have 2019 books to finish though!

Ooh, I have a spot for one more book in January if you want to buddy read it, Kathleen. It looks like too much fun to pass up.

I liked Amongst Women.

You do have a knack at making selections. I hope you enjoy your challenge and I hope you find something else tasty on the menu.

Brina, I don't think I can commit to January, with Divine Comedy coming up, but hope you can fit it in!

Thank you Marilyn and Bob, and I DID find something else tasty. I'm SO excited--I added a century challenge of historical fiction--see Message 2 above. Oh boy, oh boy!

Now I simply must STOP and get back to my poor 2019 challenges ...

Kathleen, I have been wanting to read Dubliners for over a year now. When you start firming up a plan to read, will you let me know so we can read together? And maybe others would like to read with.

Some really nice Irish choices! I love The Dubliners, and I recently read The Book of Evidence by Banville and enjoyed it. He's a great stylist.

I'm so glad that you were able to fit So Big in Kathleen!

Your list looks great. I plan to read Dubliners and possibly Lamb in his Bosom. Maybe we can get these as group or buddy reads.

Such discipline, practicing restraint at a buffet, my hats off to you.

I love that your O&N challenge has an Ireland theme. I have never considered a country theme but I might have to try that one year. You have some great choices on both challenges. I hope to read a few that you have next year as well, especially Palace Walk which has been staring at me from my bedside bookshelf for a couple of years.

I loved the Dubliners too.

Thanks, everyone!

Cynda--I'd love to read Dubliners with you. We'll keep in touch about that. And Sue, if you decide to read Lamb in His Bosom let me know if you want company.

Laurie, I'm excited about the country theme--hopefully it won't be too much, I've had the same situation with Palace Walk! I'd really like to read it early in the year and not keep waiting. :-)

Okay, I think my Old and New Challenge is close to being ready: Msg 1.

And, I'm SO excited about my Historical Fiction Decade challenge Msg 2.

I just have to remind myself that I'm also excited about the books I still need to finish for this year. :-)

I love your list. Thanks for the ideas for Irish literature. I need to delve into that a bit more. You've given me some inspiration.

I can only speak about two of your books, Lamb in His Bosom and Wolf Hall. Lamb in His Bosom is truly great. I didn't do so well with Wolf Hall.

Loving your lists. So Big is a great book. Can't wait to see what you think of it AND so many here that will be new for me.

I loved Wolf Hall. I'm very excited because the final book is going to be released in 2020...AT LAST.

Thank you Tina, Bob and Sara!

Bob, I chose Lamb in His Bosom because I remembered your comments about it being a favorite.

Sara--glad you enjoyed Wolf Hall. I figured with the new one coming out, I had better get busy and get the first one read! I loved the Masterpiece series.

So did I. I will no doubt read the first two books again so that I am fresh in my mind when I read the last one. Enjoy!

I'm throwing the restraint in my thread title out the window, and adding one more decade challenge. I couldn't go forward into 2020 without the quest for women authors challenge that I usually do every year. Not as much diversity as I'd like, but some new-to-me and favorite authors from my birth decade.

Added to message 2 above.

Kathleen wrote: "I'm throwing the restraint in my thread title out the window, and adding one more decade challenge. I couldn't go forward into 2020 without the quest for women authors challenge that I usually do e..."

Now that’s how you handle a buffet. Over indulge yourself then worry about it tomorrow.

I’ve only read McCullers and Brooks on your decade challenge. I’m looking forward to hearing about the rest of these books. I’ve come to find that there’s no such thing as restraint when it comes to challenges. Either you do nothing- as I’ve done the last few years- or you sign up for all of them and hope to have an enriching year.

Ooooh, you have a number of books on there that I have never heard of. Can't wait to see what you think of them and which you recommend.

No use in restraint, when there is a buffet you just have to sample everything...I mean, you can always leave it on the plate if you don't like the taste of it.

Kathleen wrote: "I'm throwing the restraint in my thread title out the window, and adding one more decade challenge. I couldn't go forward into 2020 without the quest for women authors challenge that I usually do e..."

That's the spirit! Looking forward to your thoughts on your reads.

Sara wrote: "Ooooh, you have a number of books on there that I have never heard of. Can't wait to see what you think of them and which you recommend.

No use in restraint, when there is a buffet you just have ..."

Don't say that! Now you're making me want to check out the other challenges that I haven't added yet! :)

There are only a few on here that I've actually heard of. Dubliners is on my list to read also. I might not get to it next year though, with everything else on my lists. I hope you enjoy them all, and have fun reading!

Thank you all--such good advice. Renee, I think we have to give in. :-) Have fun everyone!

I love the Ireland and women themes. Lots of books I've never heard of, and others I've been kind of curious about for some time now. I'm looking especially forward to your review of Palace Walk.

I hope you enjoy Yeats. I love his poetry but found his Selected Poems a bit too long, so I DNF'ed and settled for a shorter compilation with introductions to each poem.

Lotte wrote: "I love the Ireland and women themes. Lots of books I've never heard of, and others I've been kind of curious about for some time now. I'm looking especially forward to your review of Palace Walk.
..."

Thank you Lotte. I'm very excited about Palace Walk! I am a little worried about the Yeats, but I had two options, the Selected or the Complete, and next to the Complete, the Selected doesn't look too bad! We'll see how I do …

Great lists! I like your themes and wide selection of authors, including several books on my TBR list as well, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on them! Good luck with your challenges and Happy New Year! =)

I'm beginning this feast with The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien, for my Old and New and my Women's Quest challenges. A very quick and enjoyable read.

O'Brien writes in this simple and direct manner (no flowery prose at all), but her descriptions give the most evocative details to really put you in the place. I loved that! And I feel like I've landed in Ireland and gotten a feel for the place.

So four stars (or four shamrocks in the case of my Irish challenge) and off to a good start. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Kathleen wrote: "I'm beginning this feast with The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien, for my Old and New and my Women's Quest challenges. A very quick and enjoyable read.

O'Brien writes in..."

And you're off to a great start.

Congrats for having the first one under your belt. I haven't yet and I did promise myself to do one a month at the least. Sigh.

It does feel good to get one done--thanks, Ila and Sara!

But don't worry, Sara. As much as we plan, we just never know when it will all fall together and just have to go with it. All books in their time. :-)

Congratulations Kathleen! It's especially good to have one off the Old and New list since it's the hardest. Off to read your review!

I was a little disappointed in my collection of folk tales, Irish Folktales. Just didn't have the magic that I expected. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Next up, I'm going old school with A Tale of a Tub. Going to get in a little Jonathan Swift before next month's short story group read.

Love Swift--enjoy the Tale of a Tub.

Hope you enjoy this one

Enjoyed your review and I look forward to anything you will have to say about Tales of a Tub. It looks interesting, a little scary too, with the politics and religion being a little heavy for me.

Thank you Sara and Ila and Bob! I agree that it looks a little scary, but the fact that it's from the 16th century gives the politics and religion a safe distance. :-) I enjoy satire so am keeping my fingers crossed.

I finished A Tale of a Tub, and I think Bob was right.

The idea was really fun, but the execution … well it was over my head. I guess with all satire, you really have to understand what's going on to appreciate it, and unfortunately my understanding of what was going on in the 1700's is severely lacking.

But Swift is clearly brilliant, so I recommend this to folks smarter than me. Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read Swift in a college course, and even with a professor to provide a lot of context, he was sometimes a challenge. I think just tackling it wins you kudos, Kathleen.

Sara wrote: "I read Swift in a college course, and even with a professor to provide a lot of context, he was sometimes a challenge. I think just tackling it wins you kudos, Kathleen."

Thanks, Sara! I have to say, I'm a little afraid of reading Gulliver's Travels now.

An Irish theme is a very cool idea!

What about Maeve Binchy?

Philina wrote: "An Irish theme is a very cool idea!

What about Maeve Binchy?"

Sorry for such a late response, Philina. Maeve Binchy is a great idea! I've always wanted to read Circle of Friends. Do you have a favorite of hers?

I've decided to add the Short Story Challenge, #6. My goal is going to be 24 different writers.



To catch up, so far I have three group reads:
Edgar Allan Poe, The Cask of Amontillado
Robert Louis Stevenson, The Body Snatcher
Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal

Today I read three excellent short-shorts by admired authors:
Alice Munro - Wild Swans. A disturbing little psychological study.
Margaret Atwood - Life Stories. A polished gem of an idea I won't be forgetting soon.
Eudora Welty - Lily Daw and the Three Ladies. Welty packs so much drama into lines of dialogue—I love reading her stories aloud.

More in April:
The Bishop by Anton Chekhov
In June:
In a Glass Darkly (collection) by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
The Country of the Blind by H.G. Wells
There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury
Dubliners (collection) by James Joyce
In July:
Like a Winding Sheet by Ann Petry
The Eldest Child by Maeve Brennan
In September:
The Nose by Nikolai Gogol
Monday or Tuesday (collection) by Virginia Woolf
In October:
Close Range (collection) by Annie Proulx
The Old Nurse's Story by Elizabeth Gaskell
Pumpkin-Head by Joyce Carol Oates
Incarnations of Burned Children by David Foster Wallace
The Romance of Certain Old Clothes by Henry James
The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs
In November:
The Cabuliwallah by Rabindranath Tagore
A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert
In December:
A Christmas Tree by Charles Dickens

That's good progress Kathleen