Since last
week I didn’t do a TTT, today instead of sticking to 10 books I’m going to tell
you about some classics I want to read (without sticking to 10)… there are some
I will get to for sure since they will most likely be required reading for my
different Uni courses but others, I’m just curious about. I will try to keep
this short and simple…
- Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. I haven’t read any Hardy but I’ve seen the BBC adaptation of Tess of the d’Urbervilles with Gemma Arterton and Eddie Redmayne and oh, boy I cried like a baby. I’ve heard Hardy is particularly depressing but I do love me some depressing reads sometimes.
- Middlemarch by George Elliot. Said to be by many the greatest English novel. I’ve heard is a rather difficult text but it’s all about the challenge with this one.
- Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I have neither read this nor watch the movie so it’s about time I do both.
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I’m scared of this one for sure. But my desire to read it is stronger than my fear. I want to enjoy it above everything else and I’m waiting to get my hands on the beautiful Clothbound Penguin edition since that English translation is one of the greatest (I believe it won a very important award which I cannot for the love of me remember, sorry).
- Ulysses by James Joyce. Another challenging classic since its 600+ pages are written in stream of consciousness.
- El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. I had to read an abridged version when I was in high-school and I loved it but I do want to read the complete text. Cervantes is after all the father of the modern novel.
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville. Back in February I had to read an excerpt of the book and I read the first sentence and immediately I thought of Matilda and that last scene when she starts reading the book. Most teachers told me to read it entirely rather than just content myself with those excerpts because although reading this isn’t an easy task, it is a literary masterpiece.
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. A satire of war, this modern classic is cited as one of the greatest 20th century literary works. And I will be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued because I am.
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë. I’ve read both Charlotte and Emily but not Anne. I want to change that and also, I’ve heard from many people this is quite a feminist piece of work and therefore, just being published during that time was a complete success in my opinion.
- Shirley by Charlotte Brontë. You may know Jane Eyre is probably my favourite classic of all time so it would only be fitting if I kept reading her work.
- Charles Dickens. Instead of picking a book, I’m picking the author as a whole. I have not read anything by him despite knowing most of his novels but next year I will be required to read Great Expectations and whether I like it at the end or not, I’ll read more of his for sure.
- North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. Again another BBC mini-series adaptation I’ve seen before reading the actual book but who can blame me? Richard Armitage starred in it. I had to watch it!
- Franny & Zooey by J. D. Salinger. I bet the author’s name will explain everything to my readers at this point (or so I hope).
- The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Who doesn’t like a good adventure novel?
- Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Truth be told, I didn’t know a thing about this novel before watching the trailer about the newest adaptation starring Mia Wasikowska but it sounds as something that will both sad and delight me.
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. A gothic story. You don’t need anything else to convince me to read this. I will, sooner rather than later.
And as always this turned out to be quite long. Sorry about that. I could have included a lot more but I restrained myself, sort of. Now the question is, have you read any of these? What classics are you planning on reading?