Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I will challenge myself with Bob’s Buffet #1,#2,#3,#4,#7,#9,#11.

Challenge #1

My fabulous 12 + 3 Old & New Classic Challenge

1899 and earlier/Old School
1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Anonymous (FINISHED 01/08/23)
2. Macbeth Shakespeare (FINISHED 01/09/23)
3. The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare (FINISHED 02/24//23)

1900-1999/New School
4. Under Western Eyes Joseph Conrad (FINISHED 06/23/23)
5. Islands in the Stream Ernest Hemingway (FINISHED 04/11/23)
6. Acastos Iris Murdoch (FINISHED 01/11/23)

My Wild Card Six
7. Orlando Virginia Woolf (FINIISHED 04/29/23)
8. The Books of Jacob Olga Tokarczuk (FINISHED 05/30/23)
9. Oliver Twist Charles Dickens (FINISHED 05/27/23)
10. Down and Out in Paris and London George Orwell (FINISHED 01/28/23)
11. Beowulf Anonymous (FINISHED 01/15/23)
12. The Swiss Family Robinson Johann David Wyss (FINISHED 01/29/23)

Alternates
A-1. Howards End E.M. Forester (FINISHED 02/27/23)
A-2. Emma Jane Austin (FINISHED 06/23/23)
A-3. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë (FINISHED 06/24/23)

Challenge #2 - Second Place or Worse
1. New School - A Town Like Alice (July 2019) Neville Shute (FINISHED 02/19/2023)
2. Old School - The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories Sarah Orne Jewett (February 2019) (FINISHED 08/05/23)
3. Short Story/Novella - The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories (February 2020) (FINISHED 09/10/23)
4. Quarterly Long Read - The Red and the Black (2017 4th Quarter) Stendhal (FINISHED 08/17/23)

Dave wrote: "Challenge #1

My fabulous 12 + 3 Old & New Classic Challenge

1899 and earlier/Old School
1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
2. Macbeth

So many great choices Dave!

As far as Gawain, I really liked the poet Simon Armitage's newer acclaimed translation Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation.

Like Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf, it's beautifully done and a great read as well.

Challenge #3 - Decade & Century Challenges

Decade
1950 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis (FINISHED 06/09/23)
1951 Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies (FINISHED 04/15/23)
1952 The Courage to Be Paul Tillich (FINISHED 02/17/23)
1953 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury (FINISHED 04/27/23)
1954 Go Tell It on the Mountain James Baldwin (FINISHED 07/22/23)
1955 The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit Sloan Wilson (FINISHED 09/23/23)
1956 Peyton Place Grace Metalious (FINISHED 05/27/23)
1957 On the Road Jack Kerouac (FINISHED 03/13/23)
1958 Dr Zhivago Boris Pasternak (FINISHED 07/23/23)
1959 Lolita Vladimir Nabokov (FINISHED 08/14/23)

Century
1850 Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) Harriet Beecher Stowe FINISHED 07/01/23)
1860 Great Expectations Charles Dickens (FINISHED 04/02/23)
1870 Devils Fyodor Dostoevsky (FINISHED (05/29/23)
1880 The Death of Ivan Il'ich (illustrated) Leo Tolstoy (FINISHED 04/29/23)
1890 Jude the Obscure (1895) Thomas Hardy (FINISHED 05/28/23)
1900 The Golden Bowl (1904) Henry James (FINISHED 0622/23)
1910 Oh Pioneers!(1913) Willa Cather (FINISHED 07/15/23)
1920 The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927) Thornton Wilder (FINISHED 03/12/23)
1930 Tobacco Road (1932) Erskin Caldwell (FINISHED 02/22/23)
1940 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn & Maggie-Now (FINISHED 07/25/23)

Challenge #4 - Members Choice Challenge

1. 19th Century - Germinal Émile Zola (FINISHED 06/28/23)
2. 20th Century - Beloved Toni Morrison (FINISHED 08/10/23)
3. A book is originally written in a language other than your own - Thousand Cranes Yasunari Kawabata (FINISHED (09/05/23)
4. Current or Past Group Read - Waiting for Godot (June 2018) Samuel Beckett (FINISHED 01/28/23)
5. An Author not read before - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Fannie Flagg (FINISHED 07/23/23)
6. Diversity Classic, read a book from a religion, culture, country, or race different than yours - The Satanic Verses Salman Rushdie (FINISHED 04/22/23)
7. Science Fiction/Fantasy Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Bladerunner) Philip K Dick (FINISHED 07/21/23)
8. Action/Adventure - The Cruel Sea Nicholas Monsarrat (FINISHED 02/18/23)
9. Childrens/Young Adult -The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame (FINISHED 06/11/23)
10. Nonfiction - Sicily: Three Thousand Years of Human History Sandra Benjamin (FINISHED 02/18/2023)
11. Mystery/Thriller Death on the Nile Agatha Christi (FINISHED 08/15/23)
12. Horror or Humor Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade Patrick Dennis (FINISHED 05/23/23)

Challenge #7 - Expand Your Horizon With New Authors

1. The Periodic Table Primo Levi (FINISHED 5/22/23)
2. Whiskey When We're Dry John Larison (FINISHED 03/05/23)
3. A Fine Balance Sarah Thankham Mathews (FINISHED 07/01/23)
5. Last Bus to Wisdom Ivan Doig (FINISHED 05/26/23)
6. The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Nifenegger (FINISHED 04/24/23)

#9 – Fiction/Non-Fiction

1. Third Reich - The Third Reich Robert Bolaño (FINISHED 06/20/23)/The Third Reich in Power Richard J Evans (FINISHED 05/27/23)
2. Fishing - A River Runs Through It and Other Stories Norman Maclean (FINISHED 01/17/23)How to Think Like a Fish: And Other Lessons from a Lifetime in Angling Jeremy Wade (FINISHED 07/21/23)
3. Cairo - The Last Watchman of Old Cairo Michael David Lukas (FINISHED (08/23/23)/Midnight in Cairo: The Divas of Egypt's Roaring '20s Raphael Cormack (FINISHED 07/22/23/)
4. Quantum Mechanics - For Every Action: The Quantum Mechanic Series Book 1 Jason Faris (FINISHED (09/11/23) /Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime” Sean Carroll (FINISHED 01/22/23)
5. Food - The Food of the Gods H.G. Wells/FINISHED 09/10/23) Taste: My Life through Food Stanley Tucci (FINISHED 08/18/23)

Challenge #11 - Old and New Linked Categories

1. Daring Enterprise - The Adventures of Roderick Random Tobias Smolett (FINISHED 08/16/23)/Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Exploration of America's Wild Frontier Stephen Ambroise (FINISHED 07/30/23)
2. Crime Pursued by Vengence -Moby-Dick or, the Whale by Herman Melville (FINISHED 05/28/23)/ The Godfather Mario Puzo (FINISHED 09/29/23)
3. Mental Illness - King Lear Shakespeare (FINISHED 09/19/23) / Mrs. Dalloway Virginia Woolf (FINISHED 08/09/23)
4. Enemies in Love - Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare (FINISHED 08/06/23)/ The Tiger at Midnight Swati Teerdhala (FINISHED 08/16/23)
5. Enmity of kin - As You Like It Shakespeare (FINISHED 08/30/23)/ The Things We Cannot Say Kelly Rimmer (FINISHED 07/26/23)

Dave wrote: "Greg wrote: "Dave wrote: "Challenge #1

My fabulous 12 + 3 Old & New Classic Challenge

1899 and earlier/Old School
1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
2. Macbeth

Thanks Greg! It is very helpful to have reliable translation recommendations,

Some marvelous books in your planning, Dave. Good luck!

Sara wrote: "Some marvelous books in your planning, Dave. Good luck!"

Thanks Sara.

Wow, some really great selections, enjoy!

Bob wrote: "Wow, some really great selections, enjoy!"

Thanks Bob, as I mentioned, the challenges you build are a favorite part of Goodreads. I might have to make some adjustments on 2,3,4,7,9 and 11. I didn’t make sure all my selections are available in Audiobook. But challenge #1 is good to go.

i have finished 12 of my Challenge books.

Dave wrote: "i have finished 12 of my Challenge books."

That's such great progress!

What did you think of the Stendhal? I've never read anything by him and I'm curious about that one.

Hi Wobbley, I haven’t yet reread Stendahl for this challenge. I read The Charterhouse of Parma more than 50 years ago when I was in college. I finished it so my impression is that I found it worthwhile. Among the many things that I put in my challenges are authors and books that I read long ago and want to get a new perspective in my retirement.

Oh, sorry! I was skimming, and I must have seen the date above it (for The Ballad of the Sad Cafe) and associated it somehow with the Stendahl. Oops! Well, I hope you'll enjoy it in any case.

I also read The Red and The Black this year. I thought it was really good. I hope to try Charterhouse of Parma, someday???

Thanks Bob, that's good to hear!

I finished one of four of #7 challenge.

A good reading month. I finished 8 challenge books in April.

Fantastic!

Dave wrote: "Hi Wobbley, I haven’t yet reread Stendahl for this challenge. I read The Charterhouse of Parma more than 50 years ago when I was in college. I finished it so my impression is that I found it worthw..."

Exactly Dave, I have also been looking at books with my older eyes. It is a very rich experience to do that.

I keep moving The Charterhouse of Parma around on my lists but never seem to get to it. Really, really need to correct that. I love rereading the books from my youth and they are often like a new experience when it has been so long.

You have read some top tier classics. I read The Red and the Black earlier this year and hope to get to Charterhouse someday. Congrats on your progress.

Dave wrote: "Challenge #3 - Decade & Century Challenges

Decade
1950 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis
1951 Tempest-Tost by Robertson Davies (FINISHED 04/15/23)
1952 [b..."

In May I finished eight of my challenge books. The books marked with an “*” indicate the books I am reading for June.

Eight is terrific! I didn't even finish eight books this month. You are are a reading machine, Dave.

Thanks Sara. Being retired and dedicated to reading gives me lots of time.

Eight is a great month. I hope June is just as good. Of your “*” for June I remember “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” well. For me Anne Bronte was a better writer than her sisters.

So many good ones lined up for June, Dave. I'll be especially curious what you think of The Golden Bowl. Enjoy!

Wow, your June looks like it will be amazing (and very ambitious)! Of the ones you've earmarked, I have a special fondness for The Wind in the Willows, and I'm most curious myself about the Zola. Enjoy!

I have completed another 10 books among the seven challenges that I took up at the beginning of the year. This month I completed challenge #1 and #7. An asterix indicates those books that I am reading in July.

Wow! You're moving right along, Dave. Great job!

Very impressive, Dave! Especially finishing Challenge #1 -- I find that one really hard.

Terris wrote: "Wow! You're moving right along, Dave. Great job!"

Thanks Terris.

Wobbley wrote: "Very impressive, Dave! Especially finishing Challenge #1 -- I find that one really hard."

Thanks Wobbly.

Terrific, congrats!!

Bob wrote: "Terrific, congrats!!"

Thanks Bob.

I have finished another 10 of my challenge books. That was marked with an Asterix are those that are on my reading plan for August.

10 books in a month -- that's so impressive! What did you think of Doctor Zhivago? I remember really enjoying that one.

Hi Wobbly, I thought Dr. Zhivago was surprisingly poetic, but on reflection I realized that was because the title character was a doctor and a poet. I enjoyed it very much.

I'm so glad to hear it! I've known some people who didn't like it at all, but for me it only took about 15 or 20 pages to realize I was in a good literary place.

Well done on all your progress!

I have finished another eleven books in these challenges in August. I have 5 relatively short books left and expect to finish all my Baker’s Dozen challenges next month.

Amazing progress!

Dave wrote: "Hi Wobbly, I thought Dr. Zhivago was surprisingly poetic, but on reflection I realized that was because the title character was a doctor and a poet. I enjoyed it very much."

I cannot add up all the times I've put Dr. Zhivago on a list of to-read books, yet I have not read it!! Sigh. I'm glad you liked it.

Lynn wrote: "Dave wrote: "Hi Wobbly, I thought Dr. Zhivago was surprisingly poetic, but on reflection I realized that was because the title character was a doctor and a poet. I enjoyed it very much."

I cannot ..."

Lynn, I read it a few years ago and, I don't usually do this but it helped me -- watch the movie first! It really helps to keep the names straight, and you also have a face for each person. AND you get to see all the beautiful scenery ;)

Terris wrote: "Lynn wrote: "Dave wrote: "Hi Wobbly, I thought Dr. Zhivago was surprisingly poetic, but on reflection I realized that was because the title character was a doctor and a poet. I enjoyed it very much..."

This was my grandmother's favorite movie. She had the soundtrack on an album and a nice quality turntable to play it. I have seen it multiple times. Perhaps it is a bit too familiar, and I get lost thinking about her. Then I just don't read the book LOL!

One of my long term reading goals is to read books of my favorite movies. I have seen Dr Zhivago multiple times - it is a great movie.