50 Questions- Classics edition

A fun link up that the Classics Club is doing. :) 

1. Share a link to your club list. HERE. 
2. When did you join The Classics Club? How many titles have you read for the club? (We are SO CHECKING UP ON YOU! Nah. We’re just asking.) I joined in January 2014. I've so far read 20 titles.  :)
3. What are you currently reading? Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper... and then non club related, Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James (still skeptical about this one), and Prayer by John Bunyan
4. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it? I just finished King Solomon's Mines by H. Ryder Haggard and I thought it was pretty good. 
5. What are you reading next? Why? After I'm done with Last of the Mohicans I need to read Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo and Here I Stand: The Story of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton for my TBR Pile challenge. 
6. Best book you’ve read so far with the club, and why? Hard question! I'm not sure there is a single answer for it. I loved Little Dorritt and Our Mutual Friend by Dickens, but I also really enjoyed Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South... and then there was... NO! Too many good ones... must resist! 
7. Book you most anticipate (or, anticipated) on your club list? Probably the aforementioned books and The Princess Bride. 
8. Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding, if any? Why? Withering Heights... I've heard negative things about it. 
9. First classic you ever read? I was raised on classics so I really couldn't say. I know I read The Lord of the Rings when I was seven but that's the only one that comes to my mind right now. I'm sure I read books like Little Women and Anne of Green Gables before that though. 
10. Toughest classic you ever read? Great Expectations.... I still just get shudders thinking about Miss Havisham. I'm hoping to re-read it next year though so maybe I can garner a greater appreciation for it. 
11. Classic that inspired you? or scared you? made you cry? made you angry? Inspired me? Hmmm... so deep...  Most of the classics have made me think and inspired me in some way or another. I think though that Pride and Prejudice, will always stick with me the longest.
12. Longest classic you’ve read? Longest classic left on your club list? That I've read... probably With Fire and Sword, Lord of the Rings, and Anna Karenina. Left to read... War and Peace. 
13. Oldest classic you’ve read? Oldest classic left on your club list? That I've read? I was going to say Augustine's Confessions but I'm pretty sure I've read stuff by Josephus and then if we want to count the Bible well.... Left on my list? The Shakespeare plays I think. 
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 think the only classic author biography I've read is Invincible Lousia, which is about Louisa May Alcott. 
15. Which classic do you think EVERYONE should read? Why? Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen... because it is the BEST! ;) Besidse that though, I think it has a thought provoking plot, characters that will make you laugh, shake your head, and grit your teeth at, and amazingly witty dialogue. 
16. Favorite edition of a classic you own, if any? Hmmm... Since I've just recently been building up my library of my favorite books, I haven't actually read my copies yet. So I'll go with my parents copies that I grew up with... and that would be our edition of LOTR that had all three together in one beautiful book that now is unfortunately falling to pieces. :(
17. Favorite movie adaption of a classic? The 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice hands down. There is NO equal! 
18. Classic which hasn’t been adapted yet (that you know of) which you very much wish would be adapted to film. Good question... I'm not sure which ones haven't been adapted yet...  Thinking... thinking, googling, googling... The Silmarillion. That would be a very cool adaptation... HOWEVER, if Peter Jackson did it, he had better not butcher it like he did The Hobbit. Also, adapting P.G. Wodehouse's Blanding's Castle series would be interesting as well. :)
19. Least favorite classic? Why? There are those... Probably Ivanhoe, Captain Blood, The Phantom of the Opera, Lorna Doone and The Scarlet Letter. This is why I love Goodreads; instant access to which books I rated lower. 
20. Name five authors you haven’t read yet whom you cannot wait to read. There are few authors I haven't read yet but I'll put on my thinking cap. These really aren't authors I want to read so much as I'm excited about their books... if that makes sense. ;) John Buchan (39 Steps), Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan of the Apes and Princess of Mars), Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca), Margaret Mitchell (Gone with the Wind), and Flannery O' Conner (The Complete Stories of Flannery O' Conner). 
21. Which title by one of the five you’ve listed above most excites you and why? Probably Rebecca. 
22. Have you read a classic you disliked on first read that you tried again and respected, appreciated, or even ended up loving? (This could be with the club or before it.) Well there are lots I want to re-read to give me a greater appreciation for them. However, this year I did re-read Mary Poppins and Peter Pan, and while I don't recall loving them as a kid, I definitely loved them this second time through. 
23. Which classic character can’t you get out of your head? Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Knightley. 
24. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself? I know that answer.... Catherine Morland (from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey)... much as I hate to admit it... she is very much me. 
25. Which classic character do you most wish you could be like? Much as I would love to be Eliazabeth Bennett (from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice), I think that it would be better for me to be either Fanny Price (from Jane Austen's Mansfield Park) or Anne Elliot (from Jane Austen's Persuasion). The latter two are just so kind, sweet and selfless. 
26. Which classic character reminds you of your best friend? Probably Anne Elliot or Fanny Price. She's super sweet, kind and selfless. :) Love ya' eBeth. 
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? I don't know about this. Probably would avoid it for the longest time but then give in. I can't chose one. There's no books that really stand out to me as needing more to them. 
28. Favorite children’s classic? You keep asking for extremes! This is difficult! I'm going to just chose one without overthinking it and say Anne of Green Gables. 
29. Who recommended your first classic? My dad. He was always choosing my books when I was growing up and if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have read what I did and wouldn't currently be reading what I am. :)
30. Whose advice do you always take when it comes to literature. (Recommends the right editions, suggests great titles, etc.) My dad and mom's as well as my siblings. Sometimes I'll take the advice of fellow bloggers. :)
31. Favorite memory with a classic? Well I cried over Bridge to Terebethia, which is weird because I do NOT get emotional over books or movies. In fact, that's the only one I've ever cried over. 
32. Classic author you’ve read the most works by? Dickens. 
33. Classic author who has the most works on your club list? Dickens. Still so many more left to read. 
34. Classic author you own the most books by? I think Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, Shakespeare,Charles Dickens  and Tolkien. 
35. Classic title(s) that didn’t make it to your club list that you wish you’d included? (Or, since many people edit their lists as they go, which titles have you added since initially posting your club list?) He Knew He was Right, Upstairs Downstairs, Princess of Mars. 
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? Obviously this should be an author you haven’t yet read, since you can’t do this experiment on an author you’re already familiar with. :) Or, which author’s work you are familiar with might it have been fun to approach this way? Edgar Rice Burroughs. 
37. How many rereads are on your club list? If none, why? If some, which are you most looking forward to, or did you most enjoy? None... because there were so many I needed to read I didn't think there was any point in adding ones that I wanted to re-read to an already very long list. 
38. Has there been a classic title you simply could not finish? I have never not finished a book. 
39. Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving? Picture of Dorian Grey and Lord of the Flies. 
40. Five things you’re looking forward to next year in classic literature? Reading new authors, reading new books, reading, reading reading! ;)
41. Classic you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? There's a lot but I really want to get in No Name and Armadale  by Wilkie Collins. I also really need to finish the second part of J.R.R. Tolkien's Book of Lost Tales. I read the first part this summer and then ever got around to the second part. 
42. Classic you are NOT GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year? War and Peace just might not make it next year... I have goal of 100 books for next year and with that number I may have no time for that chunkster. 
43. Favorite thing about being a member of the Classics Club? The spins! They challenge me to read books I might not have gotten around to for awhile. :)
44. List five fellow clubbers whose blogs you frequent. What makes you love their blogs? Karen, Ruth, Elyssa, Julie and just recently Fanda. 
45. Favorite post you’ve read by a fellow clubber? I loved Fanda's post with her responses to these questions. 
46. If you’ve ever participated in a readalong on a classic, tell about the experience? If you’ve participated in more than one, what’s the very best experience? the best title you’ve completed? a fond memory? a good friend made? Never have yet... hopefully someday. :)
47. If you could appeal for a readalong with others for any classic title, which title would you name? Why? I think Lord of the Rings would be pretty neat. 
48. How long have you been reading classic literature? Since birth? 
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. Here goes! I like my Top Ten Tuesday's list of my Top Ten Classic Books, my Top Ten Tuesday's list of my Top Ten Secondary Characters I Enjoy in Austen, my Top Ten Tuesday Book Quotes, my post about why Jane Austen's novel aren't romance,  and my Eight Must Read Books. 
50. Question you wish was on this questionnaire? (Ask and answer it!) A picture of my bookshelf! Cause I'm really proud of it. I reorganized it the other day to accommodate my many more books I'm accumulating. :) 

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