The Reading Challenge Group discussion

This is one of my favourite genres.
To make it simple, any book published before 1975 will be considered a classic for this category.
Any genre can be used, as long as it's old enough.

I started out with The Call of the Wild, which I enjoyed much more than I expected. Pablo Schreiber narrated and he was perfect. I considered listening to John Lee narrating because I usually love his narrations, but while he was definitely good, the story just needed someone with an American accent! I'm currently making my way through The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which is a bit crazy, but also I'm a bit thrown by the free use of the "N" word. I have mixed feelings about the book, but it is very well written and Elijah Wood does a good job narrating most of it. Some of it is completely absurd, which is very much Mark Twain. I think the next classic I want to attempt is The Return of the Native as narrated by Alan Rickman.

Good choices, Eileen. Alan Rickman has an amazing voice, sadly he is no longer with us. ☹️

Rosemarie wrote: "Good choices, Eileen. Alan Rickman has an amazing voice, sadly he is no longer with us. ☹️"

I know--I was gutted when I heard about his passing!

And David Bowie died then too. My daughter Victoria and I both reeled when we heard the news.

Yes! They came very soon after each other and I was completely thrown for a while around that time!

I just finished reading The Four Feathers by A.E.W. Mason, an adventure novel with a lot of romance. I preferred the adventure part.

I just finished The Queen's Gambit, which is not quite old enough to be a classic, but I noticed that at least one of our members (maybe Renee?) was reading it. Even though I am NOT a chess player, I found it really interesting. In fact, the tension between her addiction to tranquilizers, alcohol, and chess made it all very interesting! The narration (I listened to it on Audible) was excellent!

I am now reading a real classic, Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop, and although I've just started, I'm really enjoying it, especially because it takes place in New Mexico, which is where my husband grew up.

I read Death Comes for the Archbishop earlier this year-it's really good!

Rosemarie wrote: "I read Death Comes for the Archbishop earlier this year-it's really good!"

I'm enjoying it a lot more than I expected so far!

That's good to hear!

I have just finished South Riding by Winifred Holtby.
It's set in 30s Yorkshire with a large cast of characters-I enjoyed it more and more as the book progressed.

Rosemarie wrote: "I have just finished South Riding by Winifred Holtby.
It's set in 30s Yorkshire with a large cast of characters-I enjoyed it more and more as the book progressed."

I don't know that I've ever heard of that one. Did you have any trouble keeping track of the large cast?

I finished The Great Gatsby today and at first, I didn't know if I liked it because I just didn't like the majority of the characters. But after some thought, I think it's a commentary on capitalism and the American Dream and I suspect we all need reminders of what that COULD mean rather than what it often means. I rated it 4 stars.

I agree, Eileen. I don't think we are supposed to like many of the characters. I think Daisy was the prime example of selfishness and shallowness.

Rosemarie wrote: "I have just finished South Riding by Winifred Holtby.
It's set in 30s Yorkshire with a large cast of characters-I enjoyed it more and more as the book progressed."

I’m glad you enjoyed this - it’s on my list too for this month but I haven’t started it yet.

Eileen wrote: "I finished The Great Gatsby today and at first, I didn't know if I liked it because I just didn't like the majority of the characters. But after some thought, I think it's a commentary ..."

Your comment is interesting. I read this book last year but didn’t enjoy it. I like your idea that it’s a commentary - that makes it better than it just being a story.

Rosemarie wrote: "I agree, Eileen. I don't think we are supposed to like many of the characters. I think Daisy was the prime example of selfishness and shallowness."

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

I read it in high school. I think it was used to show us the difference between a protagonist and a hero. There are no heroes in the book. The above quote always stuck with me because I have met Daisys and Toms ... with less money, but the same attitude.

Trisha wrote: "Your comment is interesting. I read this book last year but didn’t enjoy it. I like your idea that it’s a commentary - that makes it better than it just being a story"

Yes, when I started thinking about the book in this way, it made more sense to me and I appreciated the book more than I did initially.

Dubhease wrote: "R“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

I read it in high school. I think it was used to show us the difference between a protagonist and a hero. There are no heroes in the book. The above quote always stuck with me because I have met Daisys and Toms ... with less money, but the same attitude.."

Okay, that makes a lot of sense to me. I can see why people have discussions about this book and why this book as high school literature has stood the test of time. And I too have met many Daisys and Toms, both with just as much and with less money. Thankfully, I have also met people who care about not just the people around them, but about society and Earth in general.

I finished a reread of The Fellowship of the Ring. Now I'm reading The Divine Comedy, which has been on my TBR for years.

The descriptions of the punishments in Inferno, the first book of the Divine Comedy, are very vivid.

I finished listening to Laurence Fishburne narrate The Autobiography of Malcolm X. What a powerful book--it's the first time I've read it and there was a lot I didn't realize about Malcolm X. It was very well written and narrated.

I read that book a long time ago and it has stayed with me all these years, Eileen.

Rosemarie wrote: "I read that book a long time ago and it has stayed with me all these years, Eileen."

Rosemarie, I definitely think this is one that will stick with me for years to come. And it's one of those I will probably revisit as well! It was a well-spent credit on audible!

Okay, after MANY years on my list, I am finally tackling THE longest book on my list--Les Miserables! I'm listening to it being read by George Guidall, who also read Don Quixote, and I'm enjoying it very much. I'm aiming to finish it before 2021, but we shall see.

Good luck! You can do it!

Rosemarie wrote: "Good luck! You can do it!"

Thanks! It helps to have a good narrator!

I’m hoping to finish The Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes and I’m listening to Dracula.

Sherlock Holmes is fun, and Dracula is not as scary as I thought it would be-I really enjoyed it.

Finished The Scarlet Pimpernel - I enjoyed this, it was a fun story and in some ways, this hero is a forefather of some of the action heroes of our day - Batman, Zorro - who hide their derring-do behind a rather ordinary and sometimes inept persona.

I like those kind of books too. Scaramouche was good as well.

I may have to add that one to my list as well.

Cindy wrote: "Finished The Scarlet Pimpernel - I enjoyed this, it was a fun story and in some ways, this hero is a forefather of some of the action heroes of our day - Batman, Zorro - who hide th..."

I must read that again some time - it’s many years since I read it.

I finished South Riding by Winifred Holtby today, though was disappointed by it. It felt very long, had far too many characters & there were some aspects of the story that I disliked.

That's too bad, Trisha. I was disappointed with it too.

I finished reading Moby Dick by Herman Melville. For the first time, I used the audiobook version for a lot of this & the narrator was excellent. But the book was very long & although I enjoyed it initially I disliked the way it developed, especially the emphasis on every gory detail of whale-hunting.

My daughter made the same comment about the whale hunting after reading Moby Dick. I read some of Melville's short stories and agree that he does write well.

Finished Fahrenheit 451 - a true sci-fi classic! This seemed so topical that it could have been written today.

That book is so good!

I read The Andromeda Strain, which is classic sci-fi (1969). I enjoyed it. Some of it was rather dry, but I liked the unusual format. It was written like the write-up to an actual event, which was fun.

I read that one a couple of years ago-it did seem like a real event-and I enjoyed it.