I am like the lemming, or rather like the stereotypical rather than actual lemming.
Because school and work isn’t enough for me (in other words, because I am crazy), I find myself drawn to the Winter Classics Challenge. I’m thinking of plucking all of these from my ‘own but have never read‘ collection (because one challenge is not enough)
The Shortlist*:
- The Woman in White
- Madame Bovary
- Can You Forgive Her?
- A Passage to India
- Crime and Punishment (hahaha! Just kidding! I’m not that crazy. Plus I need a better translation than the one I own before I try to tackle this again).
5. (For real) The BFG (this counts as a classic, right?)
*Subject to change before January.
Edit: I’m switching A Passage to India with Brideshead Revisited. I think. I mean, I AM reading Brideshead Revisited, but I might ditch another title instead of the Forster.
garish & tweed 
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December 4, 2006 at 5:19 am
Lazy Cow
Oh goody, someone else I *know* that is taking the challenge! I’ve read 1 & 2, and 3 is going to be one of my “TBR Challenge” books (read 12 books on your TBR pile in 2007). Maybe 2007 will be the year for reading challenges! I think the BFG should be a classic. The other 4 aren’t light books are they?
December 4, 2006 at 9:08 am
Kristina
I had to read Madame Bovary back in 2000 for a lit class and I really enjoyed it. I’ve got Crime and Punishment, but haven’t tried it yet. I was 200+ pages into The Idiot when I began my brief semester of grad school. I put it down and will have to start back on it again someday!
December 4, 2006 at 10:23 am
jessmonster
No, none of the others are light, which is why I threw in The BFG. Madame Bovary and Passage to India aren’t too large. My other options were C&P (which I got maybe a quarter into once before giving up), Evelina, The Idiot, Doctor Zhivago, & Great Expectations. The rest of my TBR stack doesn’t quite fit into the classics category yet.
December 4, 2006 at 5:19 pm
booklogged
Jess, so glad you are joing the challenge. Definitely the BFG counts. It only seems fair that if we are going to read some ‘heavy’ tomes, we ought to be able to read some children’s classics, too. I’m also reading The Woman in White and Madame Bovary, so we can have some discussion about them.
December 4, 2006 at 6:35 pm
Heather T.
Great list! Madame Bovary is an interesting read. Enjoy!
December 4, 2006 at 9:50 pm
Literary Feline
Great choices! Always so tempting to steal others ideas. I guess I’d better get a copy of The Woman in White sometime as it seems like a really popular choice.
Crime and Punishment is one of my favorite classics–one I want to re-read one of these days. Just not this time around. I don’t blame you though for chosing BFG instead though!
Happy Reading!
December 7, 2006 at 12:49 pm
Kitri
The BFG is my favorite children’s book… right up there with Charlotte’s Web and Little House in the Big Woods. Excellent choice, my dear roommate.