Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Discussion Forums - Classic Literature

Topic: 2018 Classics Challenge

Club rule - Please, if you cannot be courteous and respectful, do not post in this forum.
  Unlock Forum posting with Annual Membership.
escapeartistk avatar
Subject: 2018 Classics Challenge
Date Posted: 12/31/2017 2:05 PM ET
Member Since: 10/4/2010
Posts: 280
Back To Top

I'm going ahead and posting a challenge here since no one's created one and it's almost 2018. I hope I'm not stepping on anyone's toes. It's very general and basic. Feel free to join!

"DIY" 2018 Challenge instructions:

  1. Set your own goal as to how many classics you'd like to read this year.
  2. Choose topics from previous challenge years (or design your own).
  3. Enjoy your reading!

 

 

 



Last Edited on: 12/31/17 2:15 PM ET - Total times edited: 10
escapeartistk avatar
Subject: My spot: 2018 classics challenge
Date Posted: 12/31/2017 2:05 PM ET
Member Since: 10/4/2010
Posts: 280
Back To Top

My goal: 4 books (more if possible), selected from the list below

from 2017 challenge:

  • A classic in translation: Rickshaw Boy by Lao
  • A classic with a number in the title: The Sign of the Four by Doyle
  • A classic set in a place you'd like to visit: The Good Earth by Buckman

from 2016 challenge:

  •  A classic by a non-white author: House Made of Dawn by Momaday

from 2015 challenge:

  • a book set during a war: The Red Badge of Courage by Crane
  • book you consider short: The Man Who Watched Trains Go By by Simenon

from 2014 challenge:

  • less-famous book by a famous author: Unpunished by Gilman

from 2013 challenge: 

  • Russian Lit: And Quiet Flows the Don by Sholokhov

from 2012 challenge:

  • biography/autobiography/memoirs: Never Cry Wolf by Mowat

from 2011 challenge:

  • family conflicts: McTeague by Norris


Last Edited on: 12/31/17 2:58 PM ET - Total times edited: 5
Generic Profile avatar
Standard Member medalFriend of PBS-Gold medalPBS Blog Contributor medal
Date Posted: 1/1/2018 7:31 AM ET
Member Since: 5/31/2009
Posts: 4,946
Back To Top

"DIY" 2018 Challenge instructions:

  1. Set your own goal as to how many classics you'd like to read this year.  Making a list of the books I've been meaning to read and choosing from the list.  All are on my shelf.
  2. Choose topics from previous challenge years (or design your own).
    • 2017   A 19th Century Classic - any book published between 1800 and 1899 - The Europeans by Henry James, 10/25/2018, 3 stars
    • 2016  A 19th Century Classic:  A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, in process 6.  An adventure classic:  Treasure Island  7. A fantasy, science fiction, or dystopian classic:   Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein, in process
    • 2015  A book you haven't read yet by a favorite classic author:  The Castle by Kafka
    • 2014   New-to-you author   Tristana by Benito Perez Galdos  (Story of Tristana. Horacio, and Don Lope), 3/30/2018, 3.5 stars,
    • 2013     
    • 2012
    • 2011  Poetry collection  The Wisdom of Gibran edited by Joseph Sheban, reading this one since I read The Prophet in college and I think it best fits here.  Completed 6/23/2018, 3 starsa classic author's first novel:  This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 11/9/2018, 3 stars
    • 2010  Book on your TBR:  Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston, 6/15/2018, 4 stars.


Last Edited on: 1/14/19 10:50 AM ET - Total times edited: 38
susank17 avatar
Standard Member medalPrintable Postage medal
Date Posted: 1/3/2018 6:57 PM ET
Member Since: 1/10/2007
Posts: 4,347
Back To Top

No toes stepped on here.  Good idea!  My continuing resolution:  Finish The Brothers Karamazov!

"DIY" 2018 Challenge instructions:

  1. Set your own goal as to how many classics you'd like to read this year.
  2. Choose topics from previous challenge years (or design your own).
    • 2017  A classic in translation: The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky 5/7 Can't believe I finally finished it!
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010  Classic Mystery:  Mystery Mile - Margery Allingham (1930) 1/6   #2 in Albert Campion
  3. Enjoy your reading!


Last Edited on: 5/7/18 10:15 PM ET - Total times edited: 2
Generic Profile avatar
Member of the Month medalPBS Blog Contributor medal
Date Posted: 1/31/2018 1:54 PM ET
Member Since: 9/25/2006
Posts: 316
Back To Top

Posted March 26 1. A 19th century classic: Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen (1811). My review is here.
Posted February 25 2. A 20th century classic: All the King’s Men – Robert Penn Warren (1946) My review is here.
Posted April 25 3. A classic by a woman author: American Humor: A Study of the National Character– Constance Rourke (1931) My review is here.
Posted March 23 4. A classic in translation:  The Case of Comrade Tulayev – Victor Serge. My review is here.
Posted April 4 5. A children's classic: Peter Pan – James Barrie. My review is here.
Posted March 8 6. A classic crime story: Rear Window and Other Stories - Cornel Woolrich (circa 1940s) My review is here.
Posted February 15 7. A classic travel narrative: Notes on a Journey from Cornhill to Grand Cairo - William Makepeace Thackeray (1845). My review is here.
Posted May 25 8. A classic with a single-word title: Wanderer - Sterling Hayden, My reivew is here.
Posted May 7 9. A classic with a color in the title: Red Threads - Rex Stout, My review is here.
Posted August 3 10. A classic by an author that's new to you: Shakespeare - Mark Van Doren. My review is here.
Posted January 29 11. A classic that scares you: Middlemarch – George Eliot (1872). My review is here.
Posted May 10 12. Re-read a favorite classic: The Genius and the Goddess - Aldous Huxley. My review is here



Last Edited on: 10/12/18 9:27 AM ET - Total times edited: 5