Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

I think half the challenge of this challenge is selecting the titles. So for now this is the plan for a coverall.

25 of 25 READ

READ B1: Book Published 1950 – 1999
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Haruki Murakami
READ B2: Classic written in your native language
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Gertrude Stein
READ B3: Classic Science or Philosophy
Love's Work: A Reckoning with Life Gillian Rose
READ B4: Classic Banned Book
The Awakening Kate Chopin
READ B5: A Classic NOT on Our Bookshelf that Should be There
The Man Who Planted Trees Jean Giono
READ I1: Book from the Group’s Bookshelf Prior to 2022
Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
READI2: New-To-You Classic Author
Vertigo W.G. Sebald
READ I3: Classic Drama or Play
Long Day's Journey into Night, Eugene O'Neill
READ I4: Classic Over 500 Pages
The Brothers Karamazov 796pg
Fyodor Dostoevsky
READ I5: Literary Prize or Your Country or Region
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Annie Dillard
READ N1: Classic Involving Music
Bel Canto Ann Patchett
READ N2: Classic Mythology or Folklore
Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, together with Sellic Spell Tolkien
READ N3: Free Space
Far Tortuga Peter Matthiessen
READ N4: Classic Poetry or Essay Collection
The Common Reader Virginia Woolf
READ N5: Classic by an Author from a Country you didn’t Read in 2021
The Guide R. K. Narayan
READ G1: Winner of a Foreign Literary Prize
The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (1993) Jose Saramago
READ G2: Book from a group poll during your birthday month
Waiting for Godot Samuel Beckett
READ G3: Classic Tragedy
Macbeth Shakespeare
READ G4: Group Bingo Participant Pick
The Bridge of San Luis Rey Thornton Wilder
READ G5: Book from the Group’s 2022 Bookshelf
Nausea Jean-Paul Sartre
READ O1: Book Published before 1900
Paradise Lost John Milton
READ O2: Children’s Classic
A Light in the Attic Shel Silverstein
READ O3: Classic Short Story Collection
Pastoralia George Saunders
READ O4: Classic in translation
No Longer Human Osamu Dazai
READ O5: Book Published 1900 – 1949
The Razor's Edge W. Somerset Maugham 1944
 

The B5 classic has me totally stumped. Help!!

Good luck with your challenge! :-)

The B5 classic has me totally stumped. Help!!
I will give you some suggestions ;-) Seven Gothic Tales or Anthem or The Prophet or The Man Who Planted Trees
I hope this helps you a bit^^

Irphen wrote: "Good luck with your challenge! :-)

The B5 classic has me totally stumped. Help!!
I will give you some suggestions ;-) Seven Gothic Tales or Anthem or [book:The Prophet|25..."

Thank you for you help. Some good ideas there. You're board is looking good. Good luck with it!

Jillian ❀‿❀ wrote: "Hi Gini! I just wanted to stop in & wish you well! I agree: picking titles is half the challenge! You have some great choices on your list, many of which I haven't read yet. :-) I ADORE Long Day's ..."<

Thanks for the idea for that B5 square! Looks like a tough read, but likely worth it. Your card looks good and love the way you fancied things up. :-)

Thanks, Matt. Brer Rabbit? A memory from way back. And that from a kid's story book , a big heavy green book with lots of stories and illustrations. Loved that book.

Just ordered the books I need for my selections!! Books be a'comin now! Library has a few and a few others on kindle and other e-sources. That has me pretty well set now.

Gini wrote: "Irphen wrote: "Good luck with your challenge! :-)

The B5 classic has me totally stumped. Help!!
I will give you some suggestions ;-) Seven Gothic Tales or Anthem or [book..."

My pleasure :-) And thank you!^^

Irphen, I've ordered a copy of the Man Who Planted Trees now. Needed some balance for my list and I'm a bit of a nature lover. Regrettably it's

oops. paper copy is the rest of that.

Apparently, some of the choices I've made for this bingo will be a challenge for my snoozing gray matter. Unintended, but totally needed right now.

@Irphen. Just finished the Man Who Planted Trees. I so wish others knew about this little story. Wonderful recommendation. Thank you!!

Brothers Karamazov read! Had to toot my own horn on that one. Tried his Crime and Punishment ages ago and failed so miserably that it's taken this long to try anything else of his.

Woohoo! Good for you, congratulations:)

Just finished 8 of 25 and so far each selection has been expanded my boundaries. Little by little I'm catching up on what reading can be. Thanks to the goodreads folks.

Just finished the Tolkien Beowulf and really enjoyed it. A sort behind the scenes look at Beowulf. And the only time I could say that I enjoyed it.

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai might be an easy read, but it's certainly not an easy story.

Finished A Light in the Attic for the O2 Children's Classic. Closer to a YA read, I think. Now the selections remaining are going to require more effort. Been pushing them away and the moment of truth has arrived for me.

You have read some very interesting titles. Wish you the best for the rest.

Thank you!

I'm impressed with the progress you have already made--especially having The Brother Karamazov behind you. It is a valuable, but not an easy read. It will be lovely to follow along, you have so many books here that I do not yet know. Happy reading!

Thanks. After avoiding BK and all other books by its author, whose name I cant spell or pronounce, for years I found it very readable. Maybe I'm finally mature enough to manage that now.

Good list Gini! Looking forward to seeing how all plays out for you on your bingo card.

Thanks. That godel escher bach one will be the challenge make/break piece. Fun read, but very slow. For me at least.

A true five star read and serendipity put this book into my hands. Far Tortuga by Peter Matthiessen just about broke my heart. The crew is anything but loveable when you meet them, but by the time you read those last few pages they will have been transformed into men you genuinely care about. An author that needs to be read more widely ans he makes the time to read this one well spent.

Decided to put Tortilla Flat away and find another choice for th I1 slot. There's quite a few to choose from, so who knows what will turn up.

18 of 25 now! Good start. Need it. Some of the others will require a bit more time than I anticipated. But, on the positive side, I just finished The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by José Saramago. Very impressed with this one. Miss it already and intend to re-read it later.

Finally updated I1 choice. Have never read Bradbury. Should've I suppose, but now maybe that'll change.

You are just cruising through this challenge, Gini! Congrats.

Gini wrote: "18 of 25 now! Good start. Need it. Some of the others will require a bit more time than I anticipated. But, on the positive side, I just finished The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis..."

Will you be reading Blindness for the April 2022 New Classics read?

Klowey--I've read that one and it's quite a book, so I'll probably not read again now. Might check the comments, though.

Sara-- thanks. It's been a good batch of books so far. I've enjoyed doing this challenge.

Where have I been all this time? Fahrenheit 451 is a great read! Worse yet. it's still relevant. Had a copy of the anniversary edition which Gaiman introduced and an afterward that included the author and other folks most of us would recognize with their reviews. Just a good read. All of it.

Gini wrote: "Where have I been all this time? Fahrenheit 451 is a great read! Worse yet. it's still relevant. Had a copy of the anniversary edition which Gaiman introduced and an afterward that included the aut..."

Glad you enjoyed Fahrenheit 451, Gina! I love Bradbury!
It is surprising how many classics are still relevant.
Keep Reading! :)

Gini wrote: "Where have I been all this time? Fahrenheit 451 is a great read! Worse yet. it's still relevant. Had a copy of the anniversary edition which Gaiman introduced and an afterward that included the aut..."

I agree. It is an amazing book.

To think I really couldn't stand reading for so many years. Sad, but I'm on board now.

Woohoo! We're happy to have you in our "club!" ;)

Glad to be here!

So glad you enjoyed Fahrenheit 451. Now read Dandelion Wine and see how versatile he was.

Good idea. He definitely can set a mood and DW sounds like it should be more idyllic. Have to visit Libby to see if they have a copy.

I hope you enjoy Dandelion Wine Gini. I plan to read The Martian Chronicles this year.

I loved The Martian Chronicles! Hope you enjoy it too :)

Apparently Martian Chronicles is a series? Or is the first one the one we all know from the movie?

@ Gini. The Martian Chronicles is just one volume made up of various stories with connectors written to make kinda sorta into a novel, rather short too. . . . I have read Fahrenheit 451 and DandeIion Wine, so I wanted to read something perhaps a little less comfortable for me. I think it will be a good risk.

@ Terris. Thanks. The book sounds interesting. And that is a very good thing :-)

Cynda, ah. Good. One volume is doable. So more Bradbury in the near future.

I read the Martian Chronicles when I was in high school and it has stayed in my memory over the decades as one of of the most memorable books I've ever read - it's that good.

Kimberly wrote: "I read the Martian Chronicles when I was in high school and it has stayed in my memory over the decades as one of of the most memorable books I've ever read - it's that good."

That says a lot for it! I can't remember any book from high school. Only being forced to read whatever it was. The movie on the other hand...

totally off topic, but worth checking out. some good news for a change. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/...

Read Waiting for Godot and then decided it was time to see a performance of it somewhere. Waiting for Godot (San Quentin Workshop, 1988) on youtube filled the bill for me. Followed the script in the version copy above very closely and the Lucky monologue was amazing. I thought maybe some other folks might enjoy it too.

I had not seen that version. Thank you for the recommendation.

I took a class on Samuel Beckett and thought that the famous version on the DVD that has all of Beckett's plays, Beckett on Film. was really good. It stars Barry McGovern and Johnny Murphy. But the professor said that Waiting for Godot is actually supposed to be very funny. Beckett loved Buster Keaton and vaudeville and comedy.

Versions of the play vary a lot. The professor's favorite version is the 1961 one with Zero Mostel and Burgess Meredith. Unfortunately I can't find a version on youtube that is high-resolution.

The one that I like best from seeing only a clip is a recent Broadway stage version with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. Their version was never filmed in its entirety, unfortunately. But you can see a clip from it and watch the interview with them about it, which is fascinating. They talk a lot about how the play is a comedy. You can find this on youtube if you search on:
"Waiting for Godot" "Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen on Broadway, Bowler Hats and Beckett"
It's 6 minutes 18 seconds and the interview airs on the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) youtube channel.

I will watch the version you mention too. It's interesting to see how many different ways it's been interpreted over the years.