update –> #33 read 3 classic novels
33) participate in book club and read 3 classic novels and at least 10 books not mentioned here
I haven’t joined a book club yet, but I have, err, read four classic books. Ok, I didn’t really read them; I listened to the audio book version from Librivox.org. That counts doesn’t it? For the purposes of our discussion here, we’ll say that it does count. I will refer to here to me having read the books.
The four titles that I’ve read are (in random order):
- Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
- The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
- Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Tess: This isn’t one that I would have picked on my own, but I saw part of the “Masterpiece” on PBS and decided that I wanted to see what happens to her. As I was reading the book, the thought kept occurring to me that I probably wouldn’t fit in Victorian society because I speak my mind too much. If Tess had just been forthcoming about her circumstances, instead of bearing the shame that was thrust upon her, she would have been better off in the end. This is one lesson I will share with my girls when they get a little older.
Oliver Twist: I have seen various performances of Oliver Twist over the years, from the musical to part of the PBS “Masterpiece” performance, but this was my first time to read the book of Dickens’s novel. I found it to be quite darker than all of the adaptations that I have seen over the years. I wouldn’t let my kids read the book until they were older, but as an adult, I found it interesting to see just how much this kid was able to overcome.
Robinson Crusoe: Robinson Crusoe was a very complex book. The book is almost mythic, so I decided to give it a chance, though I almost put it down a couple of times. I found it hard to stomach some of his descriptions of the slave trade and indigenous populations, and I found it downright offensive that he when he embarked on a trip to illegally transport his own slaves to the Americas (even Brazil of all places!) Getting past all that, once he was in island solitude, I found the description of his life utterly fascinating….the way he survived; the way he salvaged from his ships; the way he hunted and domesticated the pigmy goats; and the way he came to know God. You have to take this one with a grain of salt, but as an intellectual exercise, I really enjoyed Robinson Crusoe.
The Hound of the Baskervilles: A classic Sherlock Holmes mystery…enough said!
Now I need to join a book club and read nine more. I’ll keep you posted. Be sure to check out my full 101 things in 1001 days list. Follow along, be inspired and leave me a comment to encourage me as I work to accomplish my goals.
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