I don’t like New Year’s Resolutions. They feel like failure before you begin, but I do like goals. And though I may rarely fully accomplish my goals, the pursuit of them enriches me even when I only hit 75% of it. So here’s one of the goals I want to start, reading some of the classics.
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I have read a lot. I read a lot. I will always be a reader. These are just facts. In addition, I have read many of the classics. This isn’t a “yay me” moment. I read TRASH all the time. Regardless, many books are classics because they are fantastic. Make no mistake, James Joyce is boring; I don’t read poetry; and mostly I read English Literature with happy endings, pretty dresses, and horses. So what if they were the original Harlequins. If they’re still funny now, their writer was effing brilliant and that is just the truth.
As an English major, I read some classics over and over again and never had the chance to read others though I wanted to. Because of my Victorian Literature class, I found Anthony Trollope. Because I’m human, I discovered Charlotte Bronte. Because of Robert Downey Jr, I read the first few Holmes books. Because of my dad, I’ve read Alexander Dumas. But I’ve never read any of them, like I’ve read Jane Austen–again and again and again–or even their full bibliography. So, my goal is only to read 1 classic a month. *I need time for my trash too. *And my writing…
These are the ones I have on my goal list as follows:
December 2012: The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope. I like him very much. He was stupidly prolific. Maybe, before I die, I will read all his works. If I don’t die young. His books are also stupidly long and very, very funny.
January 2013: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. *I tried this as a teenager and threw the book across the room. But hey, I had to read Heart of Darkness over and over again in college and actually liked it the 7th or 8th time.
February 2013: Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope. *This is the fourth of the Chronicles of Barcestshire. I’ve read the first three. They’re lovely though the second and third are vastly superior to the first in the series.
March 2013: Villette by Charlotte Bronte. *Have you read the Brontes? The Tenant of Wildfell hall is just rebellious and scandalous for it’s day. Bravo Anne. And bravo Charlotte for making poor Jane Eyre plain and poor. The everyday girl’s heroine.
April 2013: The Small House at Allington by Anthony Trollope. The fifth of the Chronicles of Barcestshire.
May 2013: The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. *I’ve never read a Dicken’s book in full. I know…English major. P’shaw. But honestly, I’ve never been able to plow through one. I hear he’s good once you’re in like 200 pages. We’ll see.
June 2013: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. *Did you know that the bad guys in Study in Scarlet are Mormon? I don’t think Doyle liked my people. Whateves, Holmes is just sexy, and we have to respect a dude who wrote a character is sexy ages later.
Don’t forget this one. He’s sexy too. mmmmmmm
July 2013: For the holiday, I’m reading American Lit this time. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. *Can you believe I haven’t read this either? Loved Tom Sawyer too. There’s just no explanation.
August 2013: The Last Chronicle of Barset. *Finishing out the chronicles. Told my dad about these books like two years ago. He busted through them in like a month or two. He’s brilliant that way. He doesn’t have to dilute his classics with trash like me. 🙂
September 2013: Moby Dick by Herman Melville *This is so that there’s not only one American book on my list. I prefer British literature. Suck it.
October 2013: Dracula by Bram Stoker. *Shut up, just shut up. I realize that I’ve read hundreds of vampire books. I realize that my main character is named after Mina in this book. Bite me.
November 2013: Candide by Voltaire. *It’s a month of gratitude, and I’m grateful for my buddy Christina. Who loves this book. So, I’m gonna read it and think of her.
December 2013: The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. *The only Dickens book I’ve ever thought I’d like.
Anyone want to join the fun? Read your own list or join me in this one? Fun, fun, fun!
~Amanda
Amanda A. Allen 
Your post is so timely because I have been thinking of throwing some classics into my reading mix. I have Dracula on my Kindle but haven’t started it yet. Haven’t decided which others I want to tackle since classics are way outside the realm of stuff that I like to read. I just feel like I should give some of them a shot….even if it’s so I can answer more questions on Jeopardy 😛
Want to join me in my list?