Pop Sugar's Annual Ultimate Reading Challenge discussion

Help!

I need to figure out a classic romance. I am not a fan of Bronte or Austen.

You would think that my DNA would have me programmed to enjoy this stuff, but not so much. I feel very un-girly right now.

Anyway, can you guys think of something for me? Preferably, something that is short?

just to kind of throw something out there, i was talking to my friend about plays and she said i could do Romeo and Juliet and count it as my classic romance as well.

so...you could do a play? Taming of the Shrew or A Midsummer Night's Dream. Tristan and Isolde?

The Princess Bride? ;D

I am using Madame Bovary there is also Lady Chatterley's Lover.

I used Anna Karenina, unabridged. If you read it, I'd recommend the abridged version...

Who wants to tell her? ;D

I sucked it up and I'm listening to the audio version of Pride & Prejudice. I LOVE the A&E version of this movie (I thought Colin Firth could be the only one to ever be Mr. Darcy, but Benedict Cumberbatch *swoon*) Actually, I love a lot of Austen's work in film form (Emma, Persuasion, Sense & Sensibility) However, in the past, trying to read Jane Austen was awful. Perhaps I just don't like the written version of Austen, because the audio version that I found on Overdrive is working out for me.

I have listened to all of the Austen I have "read" and Loved it I'm not sure if I would have been able to do it any other way

I chose "Out of Africa" for mine. I don't think it has to be something over a century old, or out of Victorian times. There are classics from the 20th century: "Gone with the Wind", "Love Story", and popular modern romances like "The Notebook", "A Walk to Remember" and "The Time Traveler's Wife". I also saw "The English Patient" on someone else's Challenge list.

From Austen's work, I recommend "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma" as the most romantic!

I've changed my mind a few times for this entry. I finally decided on "From Here to Eternity". I remembered how much I loved the movie so I'm hoping I will enjoy it. In my short list were also Gone With The Wind, Helen of Troy, Eloise and Abelard and Madame Bovary, but I rejected that one straight away as I find it very depressing and gloomy and I wanted something a bit more uplifting

I think you could totally count Anne of Green Gables, right?

Caitlin wrote: "I think you could totally count Anne of Green Gables, right?"

Totally.

does Phantom of the Opera count as a Classic Romance?

Stephanie wrote: "does Phantom of the Opera count as a Classic Romance?"

I would totally think so

IMHO you are all looking at this category waaaay too narrowly! I'm sharing the epiphany I had for the 2016 challenge of a romance set in the future, as it applies even better here.

You are all thinking far too narrowly as to the meaning of 'romance' in a novel. 'Romance' in literature has meant a tale of adventure and chivalry of some sort - Dumas Pere et Fils wrote romances, for example, or the King Arthur stories. 'Romance' does not just mean it has to be a love story or have a love story in it.

Merriam Webster Unabridged definition of 'romance':

1. A medieval tale of of knightly adventure;
2. A prose narrative dealing with heroic or or mysterious events set in a remote time or place:
3. A love story;
4. A romantic attachment or episode between lovers.

This opens things right up - no love story needed! To my mind any classic that fits one of the above definitions fits -- Three Musketeers, Count of Monte Cristo, Lord of the Rings, even Game of Thrones. Or if you really want to read a classic romance that's a love story, who says it has to be one written in the 19th Century or earlier? I'd consider Kathleen Woodiwiess' 'The Flame and The Flower' for this category, or any Georgette Heyer, or even Judith Krantz 'Scruples' or Sidney Sheldon's "If Tomorrow Comes.' Just let your mind open up and many options will leap out at you.