Back to the Classics 2019 Challenge

Books and Chocolate is hosting an awesome read-the-classics challenge for 2019, and as one of my reading goals is to continue to read more classics, I thought this would be a fun way to encourage myself to continue to read broadly.

There are twelve challenges, so one book/month, roughly. I’m going to aim for all of them, but if I can get to half, that would be great!

Here are my (tentative) books:

1. A 19th century classic: The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (1860).
2. 20th century classic: The Moviegoer by Walker Percy (1961). I’ve been meaning to read this for ages.
3. A classic by a female author: Romola by George Eliot
4. A classic in translation: Either The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, or Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset. I’d like to read both next year, but they are Very Large, so we’ll see which one I’m in the mood for. Or maybe I’ll unearth something shorter.
5. Classic comic novel: Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
6. Classic tragic novel: Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
7. A Very Long classic: Daniel Deronda by George Eliot (around 750 pages). You’ve noticed there’s a lot of George Eliot on this list? It’s because of another 2019 goal of mine.
8. Classic novella: A Dickens Christmas story. I’ve been reading one each year, so my 2019 story will count for this challenge.
9. Classic from the Americas: Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. I keep intending to read this novel and never getting around to it.
10. Classic from Africa, Asia, or Oceana: The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata.
11. Classic from a place you’ve lived: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (Georgia!)
12. Classic Play: Tamburlaine by Christopher Marlowe

And that’s it! Since I know my selections will change, I’ll come back and update as I go, and will write a review of each book here. I’ll also review and discuss these on my YouTube channel, so go and check that out (*shameless plug*).

In fact, if you are interested in my thoughts on classics and all sorts of books, definitely check out my YouTube channel. School has kept me very busy, so I’ve not been as active as I’d like to be in either place, but I’m more active there than here.

That said, stay tuned for some 2018 wrap-up and 2019 reading goals posts!

 

** updated 19 April — changed #10 from The Tale of Genji, 11 from ??, and 12 from “something by Shakespeare idk.” Still not sure about the “classic in translation” choices.