I was inspired by fellow book-blogging friend, Jillian, over at A Room of One's Own to participate in a year-long reading challenge during 2012. The challenge is the brainchild of Sarah at Sarah Reads Too Much, and is entitled "Back to the Classics Challenge--2012" and involves nine categories of reading to be accomplished between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012. I actually think the discipline required of me to participate in this challenge will cause me to finish reading a couple of novels that I have been putting off for aeons. Also, I have some other great works of literature that I want to read, and planned to read in 2012, so they just really mesh well with this challenge. If you're interested in participating in Sarah's challenge, I urge you to have a look at this posting.Here are the nine categories--
- Read any 19th Century classic work;
- Read any 20th century classic work;
- Reread a classic work of your choice;
- Read a classic play;
- Read a classic work of fiction that is a mystery/horror/crime;
- Read a classic romance
- Read a classic that has been translated from its original language into your language;
- Read a classic work that is an award winner; and
- Read a classic that is set in a country that, in all likelihood, you will not visit during your lifetime.
- Moby Dick, or, The Whale, by Herman Melville (1851);
- The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer (1948);
- Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo (1862), Translated by Julie Rose (2008);
- A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare (late-1590s);
- Jamaica Inn, by Daphne du Maurier (1936);
- The Reef, by Edith Wharton (1912);
- The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri (circa 14th century), Translated by Stanley Lombardo (2009);
- The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco, Translated by William Weaver (1980), PEN Translation Award Winner; and
- Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1880), Translated by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky (2002), PEN Translation Award Winner.
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