Some might think it pure foolishness for me, a person who failed in 2009 to complete not one but two classic novels I really, really, really wanted to read, to commit myself to a revamped Classics Bookclub over at 5 Minutes for Books. True, I’ve learned after a couple of years of book blogging the futility of setting too many reading goals. However, the mere fact that I cracked open Les Miserables (the unabridged version!!!) and actually read the first two books this year is testimony enough to the power of commitment. While I didn’t get quite as far in A Tale of Two Cities (it is a shorter book, after all), I care enough about the characters to want to finish it. And so, for this revised version of the Classics Bookclub in which we will read a classic novel of our own choosing and report on it quarterly, I propose to
- finish Les Miserables (read my thoughts on book one here and on book two here) (and this time I PROMISE to borrow the abridged version from the library!)
- finish A Tale of Two Cities
- continue with the French Revolution theme and read The Scarlet Pimpernel if I’m so inclined; otherwise, another book of my choosing
- re-read one of my favorite books of all time, Jane Eyre
I think I’ll make myself tackle the first two books first. With a new baby coming this summer, I think I’ll probably need to save the “lighter” reads for the post-partum period. Since I’ve already tried and failed at the first two, I consider that as a mark against them (or me?!?!), at least in my mind.
We shall see. 🙂
Filed under: Challenges, Memes, and Carnivals, Classics Bookclub, To Be Read |
Hope Is the Word 
Amy, After many weeks, I finished ‘Tale of Two Cities’. It’s a wonderful book, but I cannot believe how I struggled with the classic English.
I just finished ‘Same Kind a Different as Me’–its the next discussion book for Bloom Book Club. Loved it! wr
I’ve got “Les Miserables” on my 2010 list, too. I’ve read “A Tale of Two Cities” three times, the most recent being about four years ago. It’s a wonderful book, and well worth the effort.
Then again, I love Dickens.
Enjoy, and good luck!
The classics scare me. It’s so sad! 🙂 I am joining the bookclub hoping it will help me overcome my fear. Other than Anne of Avonlea, I don’t know what I will read. Jane Eyre sounds good.. maybe I will try that. Good Luck!!
I read A Tale of Two Cities a year or two ago for the first time and really liked it. I’ll never look at knitting in the same way again. 😉
Good luck with these goals!
Yes, yes — go abridged — definitely! As I said in my reviews, I don’t think that a book that is 600 pages long or so can even be called abridged!
The Scarlet Pimpernel is fantastic! One of my favorites! I also really liked A Tale of Two Cities. And Jane Eyre, definitely a fave!
Lisa,
It was your review of The Scarlet Pimpernel, I believe, that sparked my interest in it. 🙂
Amy, I didn’t finish the classics I set out to read either, so I am right there with you! I am excited about the flexibility this time around. I think it will help me meet my goals. I look forward to reading your updates!
I just got my list up. I’m going to read Charlotte Bronte’s Villette. I read Jane Eyre in high school, and it wasn’t a fave of mine. Although I would like to give it another try.
As for the others…good luck. You’re much too ambitious for me! 🙂
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