Tag: Survey

50 Club Questions: 

1. Share a link to your club list. The Classics Club
2. When did you join The Classics Club?  August, 2014.  How many titles have you read for the club? 1
3. What are you currently reading? Villette by Charlotte Brontë
4. What have you read and what did you think of it? Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.  My thoughts on it are here.
5. What are you reading next? Why? Whichever book matches up with the Spin number on my Spin List.
6. Best book you’ve read so far with the club, and why? Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.  It’s the only one I’ve read so far.
7. Book you most anticipate on your club list? Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
8. Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding, if any? Why? One Thousand and One Nights, but only because I read seasonally, and I consider it to be a Summer book.
9. First classic you ever read? Hmmm….that’s difficult, since I was very young.  I think Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, if that would be considered a Classic.  If not, then Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.
10. Toughest classic you ever read? “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare
11. Classic that inspired you? or scared you? made you cry? made you angry?  Les Misérables by Victor Hugo for all of the above.
12. Longest classic you’ve read?  Les Misérables.  Longest classic left on your club list?  The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio.
13. Oldest classic you’ve read? “Romeo and Juliet”.  Oldest classic left on your club list? One Thousand and One Nights.
14. Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read — or, the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any?  I’ve never cared enough about the biographies of authors, beyond looking up facts for research or my own random curiosity, so I’ve never read, nor plan to read, a biography about a classic author.
15. Which classic do you think EVERYONE should read? Why?  None, because I don’t believe that there’s any book that’s for absolutely everyone, and if everyone reads the same book(s), then everyone is thinking along the same lines.  I hate those lists of books that “everyone must read before they die”.  Why should I read those books?  Because they happen to be the most read, or the most popular, or because some arbitrary group of snobs said I won’t have a proper education if I don’t read them? There are several books on those lists that I despised to the point of throwing them at the wall, and the only thing I learned from them was that I shouldn’t follow those lists. 
16. Favorite edition of a classic you own, if any?  My beautiful Barnes & Noble hardcover edition of Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales that my boyfriend got me for my Birthday.
17. Favorite movie adaption of a classic? “Phantom of the Opera”
18. Classic which hasn’t been adapted yet (that you know of) which you very much wish would be adapted to film.  The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.  If this has been adapted, please let me know!
19. Least favorite classic? Why? Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.  I’ve been forced to read and write essays about this book for two different English courses.  Once was more than enough (See my response to #15).
20. Name five authors you haven’t read yet whom you cannot wait to read. Alexandre Dumas, J.M. Barrie, Mary Shelley, Herman Melville, and Marcel Proust.
21. Which title by one of the five you’ve listed above most excites you and why? Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.  I love Children’s Fantasy, and I’ve seen so many adaptions of Peter Pan, that I should have read it years ago.
22. Have you read a classic you disliked on first read that you tried again and respected, appreciated, or even ended up loving?  No.
23. Which classic character can’t you get out of your head?  Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
24. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself? Anne from Anne of Green Gables, at least while I was growing up.
25. Which classic character do you most wish you could be like? I have no idea.  Most of my favorite characters are my favorites because I can relate to them and I feel that I’m already like them.  My other favorites are the ones I love to hate, and I would never want to be like them.
26. Which classic character reminds you of your best friend?  I have yet to find my best friend in a classic character.  I’m not sure I will, but if I do, she’ll be the first to know.
27. If a sudden announcement was made that 500 more pages had been discovered after the original “THE END” on a classic title you read and loved, which title would you most want to keep reading? Or, would you avoid the augmented manuscript in favor of the original? Why?  The Hobbit, in the hopes that Bilbo would have a few more adventures.
28. Favorite children’s classic? The Hobbit
29. Who recommended your first classic? I have no idea how I got started reading Little House in the Big Woods, but Anne of Green Gables was on a “Battle of the Books” competition list when I was in the 5th grade.
30. Whose advice do you always take when it comes to literature. (Recommends the right editions, suggests great titles, etc.)  No one for “always”, but I almost always listen to my best friend when she recommends or lends me books.
31. Favorite memory with a classic? When my Grandmother bought me my own hardcover copy of Anne of Green Gables and the next 2 books in the series and wrote a little note to me inside the cover.
32. Classic author you’ve read the most works by? L.M. Montgomery
33. Classic author who has the most works on your club list? No one.  I deliberately chose only one book per author for my list.
34. Classic author you own the most books by? Charlotte Brontë.  Sadly, I no longer have my L.M. Montgomery books.
35. Classic title(s) that didn’t make it to your club list that you wish you’d included? Any of Charles Perrault’s books, since I love fairy tales, and I’d like to read his versions that were later adapted for Grimm’s Fairy Tales.  I would also love to be able to read them in the original French.
36. If you could explore one author’s literary career from first publication to last — meaning you have never read this author and want to explore him or her by reading what s/he wrote in order of publication — who would you explore? H.P. Lovecraft.
37. How many rereads are on your club list? 2. Which are you most looking forward to?  The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
38. Has there been a classic title you simply could not finish? Not yet, but there are a couple that I’ve come very close to not finishing.
39. Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving? No.
40. Three things you’re looking forward to next year in classic literature?  1) The Classics Club’s Spins, 2) The Classics Club’s themed months, 3) finishing as many of the books on my list as possible.
41. Classics you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? The Trial by Franz Kafka, One Thousand and One Nights, A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, White Fang by Jack London, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
42. Classics you are NOT GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, and The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende.
43. Favorite thing about being a member of the Classics Club?  It provides the extra motivation I sometimes need to read classic literature instead of always reading books that are just coming out.
44. List four fellow clubbers whose blogs you frequent. 1) Reading Rambo, 2) I’m Lost in Books 3) Book Clutter 4) Unputdownables
45. Favorite post you’ve read by a fellow clubber? Nothing stands out in my mind as a favorite post, but I love I’m Lost in Books’ Blogger Shout-Outs posts.  I’ve found a lot of great blogs, challenges, and giveaways from them.
46. If you’ve ever participated in a read-along on a classic, tell about the experience? I haven’t done this yet, but I’ve wanted to.  I’m also considering hosting my own read-along.
47. If you could appeal for a read-along with others for any classic title, which title would you name? Why?  Any book by Marcel Proust because I’ve heard they’re difficult and I think reading them as a group would be easier.
48. How long have you been reading classic literature? Since I was 9 or 10, so almost 25 years.
49. Share up to five posts you’ve written that tell a bit about your reading story. Reviews, journal entries, posts on novels you loved or didn’t love, lists, etc. 1) Through the Magic Door, 2) Thursday’s Quotables #1 and #2, 3) Library Story Time, and 4) Reviews.
50. Question you wish was on this questionnaire? (Ask and answer it!)  I can’t think of any questions.  So, it’s your turn, Reader: Whether or not you’re a member of the Classics Club, how would you answer these questions?  Pick one or more, and leave them in the comments!