10 years ago this month, The Classic Club Blog was born! I don't remember when I first joined but it can't have been much later than that.
To celebrate 10 years of blogging about Classics, the moderators have put together a list of questions.
Here are the rules:
Share a link to you blog and/or classic club list/s.
Answer the 10 questions below.
As always we are very flexible about how and when you do this.
Tweek, add or subtract the questions to suit you best.
Have fun!
The Questions
When did you join the Classics Club?
What is the best classic book you’ve read for the club so far? Why?
What is the first classic you ever read?
Which classic book inspired you the most?
What is the most challenging one you’ve ever read, or tried to read?
Favourite movie adaptation of a classic? Least favorite?
Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?
Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving? Respecting? Appreciating?
Classic/s you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
Favorite memory with a classic and/or your favourite memory with The Classics Club?
Before I get to my answers, I found the questions quite tough. But I tried to answer all of them as faithful as I could.
When did you join the Classics Club?
Must have been shortly after they started because my first ever mentioning them is from 2012
What is the best classic book you’ve read for the club so far? Why?
Undset, Sigrid "Kristin Lavransdatter" (NO: Kristin Lavransdatter) - 1920-22
I absolutely loved reading about a woman even before the middle ages and how their lives was. And the fact that this book was written a hundred years ago makes it even more interesting.
What is the first classic you ever read?
Spyri, Johanna "Heidi" (GE: Heidis Lehr- und Wanderjahre + Heidi kann brauchen, was es gelernt hat) - 1880/81
This was the first "real" book I ever owned. It wasn't a hundred years old because it was in 1965, I was in second grade and just had my appendix removed and my parents gave it to me as a present.
Which classic book inspired you the most?
Mann, Thomas "Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family" (GE: Buddenbrooks) - 1901
This book doesn't just happen in my part of the world, I could draw so much from the experience of the people in it, especially the women. I did not make the same mistakes.
What is the most challenging one you’ve ever read, or tried to read?
Joyce, James "Ulysses" - 1922
Very challenging but very deserving.
Favourite movie adaptation of a classic? Least favorite?
That's a tough one. Movie adaptation or tv series? For the former, I'd probably go for
Pasternak, Boris "Doctor Zhivago" (RUS: Доктор Живаго) - 1957 (this one from 1965 with Omar Sharif)
for the latter:
Austen, Jane "Pride & Prejudice" - 1813 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen) (this one from 1995 with Colin Firth)
Those are my favourites, of course. Worst, oh my, I could name so many.
Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?
Anne Elliot
Austen, Jane "Persuasion" - 1817 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)
It's hard to explain but I was the only girl among boys (and the eldest), so my duties in the family were very much like Anne's. And with my background, my chances were probably even lower to begin with. Only, it was a little easier for me to get out of that circle through education.
Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving? Respecting? Appreciating?
I love classics and have never thought I would dislike one before I touched it. However, I have read some that I ended up not liking.
Classic/s you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
The last books three from my initial Classics Club list.
Kazantzakis, Nikos "The Last Temptation of Christ" (Ο τελευταίος πειρασμός/O telefteos pirasmos) - 1951 (Goodreads)
Keller, Gottfried "Novellen" (Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe u.a.) "Novellas" (A Village Romeo and Juliet and others) - 1855/56
Mandelstam, Ossip "The Din of Time" (Шум времени/Shum vremeni) - 1925
Favorite memory with a classic and/or your favourite memory with The Classics Club?
Meeting so many other classics lover is certainly my best memory with the Classics Club.
I have loved getting to meet so many other classics readers too. Lately I have an urge to read world fiction by women, I think Kristin Lavransdatter would be a good choice. I have a notion I tried to read it once in my younger days and didn't get far, but maybe I have more stamina now. Thanks to the Club, I've gotten through Anna Karenina, Don Quixote, and other books I never thought I'd finish (or enjoy). Hooray for the CC!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean, Lory. If you managed to finish Anna Karenina and Don Quixote, I am sure you will enjoy Kritin Lavransdatter. It's a lot easier than either of the two, though also quite large.
DeleteIf you are looking for other female authors, one of my favourite German writers is Stefanie Zweig, no longer with us, unfortunately, but you find some of her translated books here
Wonderful list and memories of your reading of classics. I agree about KL and Buddenbrooks. Both very inspiring books. Also, as you mention, how life of women was in the old days. I am impressed by the Ulysses reading.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisbeth. It was a pleasure putting together this list because it reminded me of all the great books I read.
DeleteUlysses was quite a challenge but it is a fantastic book, so totally worth it. And, as you know, I love chunky books.
Great answers! Ulysses is definitely challenging. I loved the excerpts we studied with my teacher in my early twenties, but since then, I have had to give up each time I tried to read it all
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have minded having to study it, Emma. But this way, I could read it at my own pace and with the help of many insightful pages on the internet, it's not as bad anymore, I suppose.
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