The It's So Classic Blog Party hosted by Rebellious Writing comes complete with a tag! And since I'm reading War and Peace right now and am only a little over 500 pages into my 1300-page copy and don't have any book reviews to write right now as a result, a tag is exactly what I need. Here goes!
Rules:
1. Link your post to Rebellious Writing
2. Answer the questions
3. Tag at least 5 bloggers.
What is one classic that hasn’t been made into a movie yet, but really needs to? The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I insist that Michael Fassbender play Barney Snaith, and I'd like Elizabeth Henstridge to play Valancy Stirling, please.
What draws you to classics?
The fact that they've both stood the test of time and have influenced others. I enjoy reading classics for their meaty goodness and for what I can learn from them.
What is an underrated classic?
Most people seem to think of Northanger Abbey as somehow lesser than Jane Austen's bigger, more serious novels, but it is chock full of all the things I love about her writing: wry wit and satire that make me laugh and well-developed characters to befriend.
What is one classic that you didn’t expect to love, but ended up loving anyway?
I thought that War and Peace was going to be really hard to follow and fairly boring. It's neither. I'm not sure I'd say I love it yet -- I want to get to the end and see how it all turns out before I can settle that question. But I'm definitely enjoying it, and I didn't really expect to do that.
 |
| (From my Instagram) |
What is your most favorite and least favorite classics?
Most favorite = Jane Eyre, which is also my favorite book of all time. Least favorite = Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. You can read my review to see why it makes me crabby.
 |
| (Also from my bookstagramming) |
What is your favorite character from a classic? Sherlock Holmes. Mmmmm, Sherlock Holmes.
What’s a popular classic that you felt wasn’t actually that great?
I am not a fan of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I adore The Lord of the Rings and have read it eight times so far, but... The Hobbit irks me. I don't like the condescending narration, a lot of it is rather silly, and it lacks focus. I've read it three times now, and nope. Not my thing.
Who is your favorite classic author? It's a three-way tie between Jane Austen, A. Conan Doyle, and Lucy Maud Montgomery.
 |
| (Yup, mine from Instagram) |
In your opinion, what makes a classic a classic?
On my Classics Club page, I give my personal definition of a "classic" as being a book that is more than 50 years old, well-known (or by a well-known author), and influential on society or other writers.
Relating to newer books, what attributes does a book need to have in order to be worthy of the title “classic”?
Those same things. There are a lot of modern books that I think will be considered classics one day, but right now... they're not classics yet.
I hereby tag these five bloggers to play along if they want:
That is amazing that you are reading War and Peace, way to go!!!! The Hobbit is not one of your favorites? I didn't know that about you! Good list of favorite classic authors!
ReplyDeleteThanks, MC! I fell a few days "behind" on our reading schedule this week cuz Cowboy was traveling for work, so I was solo-parenting, which destroyed my reading time, lol. But so far, I really like it.
DeleteI think my non-love for The Hobbit surprises a lot of people because I love LOTR so ardently, and because I love the Hobbit movies so much. A lot of the things I dislike about the book (narrative tone, most of the silliness, lack of focus) are not present in the movies, you see...
Agree...Of Mice and Men makes me crabby, too. :D
ReplyDeleteRuth, I know. It's just horrid. On purpose. Ugh.
DeleteI can't wait to see what you think of War and Peace! It's waiting on my shelf, but it'll probably remain there for some time. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like The Hobbit very much the first time I read it. I liked it much better the second time, so we'll see how I feel when I reread it.
Michael Fassbender would be an excellent Barney Snaith. I've never heard of that actress, but she looks the part, too.
Fun answers! :)
Olivia, I am TOTALLY digging War & Peace. It's like a soap opera, with all these interconnected characters getting in trouble all the time. But, obviously, better than a soap opera.
DeleteI think my problem with the Hobbit really comes from reading it for the first time too late in life. I was like 15. I have fixed that for my kids and give them each a copy on their 8th birthday, and then they love it.
I can only ever envision Fassbender as Snaith. He's just so perfect.
I started War and Peace on Serial Reader, but I've not read it in months, I need to get back in, but I have to make sure to have my notebook by to keep track of everything!
ReplyDeleteI'm the opposite with LotR and the Hobbit, I prefer the latter.
Livia, I will say it took me about 200 pages to get really into War & Peace, but now I'm totally invested in so many of the characters (I'm not quite 600 pages in) and really digging it.
DeleteYou and I tend to be opposite on a lot of books and movies, so I'm not surprised we're flipped on LOTR/Hobbit :-)
Interesting...didn't know you didn't care for The Hobbit, I can see that. That's the great thing about these tags, you learn things of your fellow bloggers, and even though I LOVE Of Mice and Men...I still think the world of you and Ruth. (Maybe I'll come around someday on Raymond Chandler :) )
ReplyDeleteJoseph, I think that surprises a lot of people because I love LOTR so vocally and ardently, and I love the Hobbit movies.
DeleteIf you never learn to love Raymond Chandler, I will survive. Nobody's perfect, after all ;-)
Unpopular opinions are always fascinating...I'm surprised you didn't like The Hobbit, but 3 tries is certainly more than a fair chance!
ReplyDeleteYour progress in War & Peace is amazing and gives me encouragement. Everyone I've heard says they enjoyed it, but I'm still a bit scared based on the sheer time commitment.
Off to muse over my answers... thanks for tagging me! :)
Marian, aren't they? I love questions like that in tags too. I do love the Hobbit movies, just not the book. Sigh.
DeleteWar and Peace is really good! I've been meaning to read it for years, and a Bookstagram friend reeeeeeeeeally encouraged me to join this read-along, so I did. We read about 30 pages a day, and that means every week we get like 200 pages chowed down, which helps keep me from getting discouraged.
It's ValAAAncy!!!!!!! ;D ;D I'm seriously seriously appalled here... ;D *Just kidding* I actually realized the other day that I referenced Quirt in Angel and the Badman as being 'Quint' *ducks in flaming shame* ;P
ReplyDeleteAnd you aren't head over heels about The Hobbit??? *tsssk, shaking head* No, but seriously, I actually get your point. I kinda feel I have to love it as a tag along to LOTR, and I do like specific moments and certain characters a great deal -- like Bard and Beorn (again, I can't speak to the movie yet so we're talking the book here), but yeah, it is different, so I entirely get what you're getting at.
Heidi, I'M SO SO SO SO SORRY!!!!!!!!!! I do that all the time. For a while I thought I would like to name a daughter Valancy, and then I was like, I have such a hard time remembering how to spell it that I should not do that. I have fixed it now in this post.
DeleteI think I was too old when I first read The Hobbit, and that's a lot of why I never loved it. Except for Bard. Oh, how I love that grim-faced man. Especially in the movies, which I adore, but also in the book.
Sherlock Holmes! So good!
ReplyDeleteSkye, mmmmmmmmhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Nobody like him.
DeleteAgain, I'm not sure that age has anything to do with a book being a classic or not. Maybe that's just me. My post is here https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2019/08/30/tcl-joins-the-2019-its-so-classic-blog-party/
ReplyDeleteDavida, I think it has a lot to do with it. Not with whether a book is good or even great, but the word "classic" means "standard of excellence" and it's hard for a book to be a standard until we get some distance to see how it measures up against other books of its time.
DeleteI think you and I pretty much agree on what it takes for a book to be a classic ;) Also, you're like the second person that said they wanted to see Blue Moon made into a movie!!
ReplyDeleteI think of Steinbeck and Jack London as very embittered writers, so that's why I don't like them ... as you say, classics influence people, and no one wants to become bitter ;)
MB: keturahskorner.blogspot.com
PB: thegirlwhodoesntexist.com
Keturah, yay! Always nice to find someone who defines things the way you do, eh?
DeleteSteinbeck definitely had a bitterness I don't enjoy. Been a couple decades since I read Jack London, and I don't really remember his books much. But the fact that I haven't revisited them in 20 years probably means I didn't enjoy them, eh?