The Classics Club 50 Question Survey

I decided to join the Classics Club. I have a list of 50 books here and will try to read them all by September 1, 2020. That makes it about 10 classics from my list every year. Why? Because I like classics and this will give me an incentive to read them. 🙂 Anyway, they have this 50 Question Survey on their website. I am going to answer some of them for you.

1. Share a link to your club list.
   • My list can be found 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’m just joining the Classics Club now so I haven’t read any books for my list yet. 🙂
3. What are you currently reading?
   • I am currently reading Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.
4. What did you just finish reading and what did you think of it?
   • I just finished The City of Glass by Cassandra Clare and thought it was awesome. I will be posting a review of it later.
5. What are you reading next? Why?
   • I will probably re-read Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier next because it is a library book.

6. Best book you’ve read so far with the club, and why?
   • None. See question 1.
7. Book you most anticipate (or, anticipated) on your club list?
   • I have been putting off reading The Confessions by Saint Augustine for quite awhile. I am looking forward to reading it.
8. Book on your club list you’ve been avoiding, if any? Why?
   • Candide by Voltaire simply because it is Voltaire.
9. First classic you ever read?
   • I’m not entirely sure. It may have been Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery.
10. Toughest classic you ever read?
    • I struggled through Paradise Lost by John Milton in high school. That is part of the reason it is on my list to re-read.
11. Classic that inspired you? or scared you? made you cry? made you angry?
    • Matilda by Roald Dahl inspired a love of reading. Night by Elie Weisel scares me because it is true and actually happened. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell made me cry the first time I read it as a child. Night by Elie Weisel also made me angry because it all actually happened.
12. Longest classic you’ve read? Longest classic left on your club list?
    • The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (unabridged version) for both questions.
13. Oldest classic you’ve read? Oldest classic left on your club list?
    • The oldest classic I ever read was probably The Republic by Plato but I’m not entirely sure. The Confessions by Saint Augustine is the oldest classic on my list.
14. Favorite biography about a classic author you’ve read — or, the biography on a classic author you most want to read, if any?
    • Good question. I’m not sure. Next question.
15. Which classic do you think EVERYONE should read? Why?
    • Night by Elie Weisel because it is a true story. We should never forget what happened during the Holocaust, and not just to Jews but to gypsies, the disabled, and Catholics as well.
16. Favorite edition of a classic you own, if any?
    • I don’t really have a favorite edition. Maybe my Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott because I found it at a used book sale.
17. Favorite movie adaption of a classic?
    • Good question. I don’t watch that many movie adaptations so… Next question.
18. Classic which hasn’t been adapted yet (that you know of) which you very much wish would be adapted to film.
    • See question 17.
19. Least favorite classic? Why?
    • I did not like The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald at all.
20. Name five authors you haven’t read yet whom you cannot wait to read.
    • I could name a lot more than five but I don’t want to bore you.
21. Which title by one of the five you’ve listed above most excites you and why?
    • I am so excited about a lot of books that I don’t think I can give a coherent, short response here.
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.)
    • I’m hoping it will go that way with Paradise Lost by John Milton since I had to struggle through it the first time.
23. Which classic character can’t you get out of your head?
    • Jo March from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
24. Which classic character most reminds you of yourself?
    • Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
25. Which classic character do you most wish you could be like?
    • Sara Crewe from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
26. Which classic character reminds you of your best friend?
    • Dikon from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
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?
    • Heidi by Johanna Spyri because I really like the book and wouldn’t mind more about little Heidi in the Swiss Alps.
28. Favorite children’s classic?
    • Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
29. Who recommended your first classic?
    • Probably my parents because they brought me many children’s classics when I was a child.
30. Whose advice do you always take when it comes to literature. (Recommends the right editions, suggests great titles, etc.)
    • Sometimes my sister’s but most often I just peruse a few reviews before making my decision.
31. Favorite memory with a classic?
    • I remember reading Matilda by Roald Dahl and trying to make my bedroom door close like Matilda could. Needless to say, I failed.
32. Classic author you’ve read the most works by?
    • Good question. I’m not entirely sure. Next question.
33. Classic author who has the most works on your club list?
    • Charles Dickens and Jane Austen tie with three each.
34. Classic author you own the most books by?
    • I think Frances Hodgson Burnett and Jane Austen tie this one.
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?)
    • Since I am just starting, I cannot answer this question yet.
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?
    • Good question. I’m not sure. Next question.
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?
    • I have 26 re-reads on my list and am really looking forward to The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
38. Has there been a classic title you simply could not finish?
    • Not that I can recall.
39. Has there been a classic title you expected to dislike and ended up loving?
    • Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift.
40. Five things you’re looking forward to next year in classic literature?
    • Good question. Next question.
41. Classic you are DEFINITELY GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
    • Matilda by Roald Dahl.
42. Classic you are NOT GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN next year?
    • Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
43. Favorite thing about being a member of the Classics Club?
    • I don’t know. I just joined.
44. List five fellow clubbers whose blogs you frequent. What makes you love their blogs?
    • See question 43.
45. Favorite post you’ve read by a fellow clubber?
    • See question 43.
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?
    • No, I have not.
47. If you could appeal for a readalong with others for any classic title, which title would you name? Why?
    • I don’t know. I have never done a readalong.
48. How long have you been reading classic literature?
    • Since I was a child. If you want to go beyond just children’s classics, I think I read Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott in fifth grade. I know for sure that I read Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas in seventh grade.
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.
    • I’m going to pass because I’m lazy and don’t feel like looking the links up. You’re on my blog already so you can look through the archives.
50. Question you wish was on this questionnaire? (Ask and answer it!)
    • This was a pretty great list of questions so I’ll leave it at that.

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