Welcome to my little corner of the Turn of the Century Salon hosted by Katherine @ November's Autumn. Her idea - You could say I hope it will be like a special club but one where everyone feels comfortable and happy and welcome to share their ideas, wanderings, and discoveries through Literature be you an expert or reading your first work that's been graced by that title: Classic.
During 2013 the Salon will be focusing on Classics written between the late 1880's - the early 1930's but our January posts are an introduction for which Katherine has provided some questions.
*What era have you mainly read? Georgian? Victorian? Which authors?
Mostly Victorians - the Brontes, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, Emile Zola
*What Classics have you read from the 1880s-1930s? What did you think of them?
I really enjoy reading Classics from this era. The later Victorians, Edwardian, WWI and the Bright Young Things - it's so diverse. Most recently I've read Thomas Hardy (love TH) , Edith Wharton, Bram Stoker, Jerome K. Jerome, A.A.Milne, E.M Forster , Virginia Woolf, Katherine Mansfield and Elizabeth von Arnim.
And this month I've read Clayhanger by Arnold Bennett.
*Name some books you're looking forward to read for the salon
So much choice I really don't know but on my bookshelf I have..
The Odd Women by George Gissing
Mrs Ames & Queen Lucia by E.F.Benson
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West
The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
......but there are many more I also want to read and authors whose work I haven't tried so I'm not making any lists and will choose as I go along.
*Which authors do you hope to learn more about?
All of them! I love to learn about the authors lives through biographies and to read more of the social history and places they write about.
* Is your preference prose? poetry? both?
Prose!
I will be following your posts on this. I read very little from this time period but I know I should and have many books on my shelf at home that would be appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll enjoy following the Salon, Kathleen, and maybe it will inspire you to read a few of the books you have.
DeleteI absolutely loved The Return of the Soldier, it was such a good character study. I like Rebecca West in general and you remind me that I've always wanted to read more of her work. The Odd Women was very good in its theme but the writing drags on, which is a shame, it could have been so good. Good luck with the challenge!
ReplyDeleteThanks RS - I'll look forward to reading Rebecca West soon and maybe keep George until later.
DeleteI'm planning to take part in this too, though I haven't had time to do my January post yet. I haven't read many classics from that period so I'm looking forward to trying some authors who are new to me. I hope you enjoy whatever you choose to read!
ReplyDeleteI hope to try some new authors too - the choice is huge and going to be hard to decide what to read.
DeleteThat's a good idea to keep your reading choices open and just go with the flow. I look forward to reading more in this time frame. :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see you again, Cat! :) Now that I think of it, isn't the Godwits Fly part of this time-period? I've been intrigued by it since I read your review. Off to go Google it.
ReplyDeleteGood list! I want to read Dostoevsky but I don't know if I am able to do it without a Cliff's Notes. I have tried 2x to read Crime & Punishment and once the Brothers K and I can't keep all of the names of people and places and streets straight. I need an outline or something lol
ReplyDeleteThe Odd Women looks interesting.
ReplyDelete