The Classic Meme

~ The Classics Club

 

Hello Clubbers!

Way back when, in 2012, the Classics Club came into being. A monthly meme was devised to bring clubbers together to chat about classics. A question was posed for you to ponder and discuss. You could write a blog post and leave the link or simply put your thoughts in the comments.

In recent times, no doubt thanks to a certain virus disrupting our regular lives, I’ve had a few requests to revive this tradition. I have struggled to keep my own blog going, let alone anything else during this time. This post contains no pressure or expectation for widespread participation. Everyone is going through their own thing right now. But if you feel like engaging in a classic bookish chat, then feel free to jump on board The Classic Meme 2.0.

The very first question in August 2012 was ‘What is your favourite Classic? And why?’

This is the 2020 reboot.

For those of you who answered this question before, you might like to refer to your old posts and talk about any changes that have happened since that time. You could talk about your favourite Ancient Greek classic, Russian classic, #BlackLivesMatter classic or classic written by a woman. Your could discuss your favourite classic to read during a pandemic, on holiday, in summer or winter. Perhaps non-fiction classics are more your thing, so tell us about your favourite bio, history, travel or science classic.

As always, we are very relaxed about how you interpret the question.

The idea is to have fun, talk classics and get a little social.

We welcome any suggestions for future discussion topics in the comments below.

 

51 thoughts on “The Classic Meme”

  1. Pingback: What is your favorite (or first favorite) classic? – The Emerald City Book Review

  2. I thought this would be difficult, but when I really thought about it, it was actually quite easy. For meThe Lord of the Rings I don’t call it the “greatest” work I’ve read, but definitely my favorite – a pure joy every time. Other than the Bible, it’s the only book I’ve read more than 3 times. (best guess, 8-10 times)

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  3. Here’s my reason, Jillian: I want to finish or make a dent w/ my unread books. But I think it would be a great idea and challenge to set a WH redo…haters targeted. I will do it — in the next two years. There. So if I don’t do something by the end of 2021, call me on it and I will set it for 2022, assuming we are still here on this crazy planet.

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    1. Oh, I didn’t get a notification on this. Just seeing it! I am totally joking with you & hardly one to judge. 😆 However, I need moral support & would also like to revisit the horrific and most unpleasant WH, even though I strongly don’t want to revisit it & am making an “I ate lima beans & hated them” face as I type this. We should totally do a haters reread. Not yet. *faints into the moors*

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  4. My favorite classic in 2010 (or whenever we first did this meme) was Gone with the Wind, & I’m afraid it still is! 🙂 But I also have a great many other favorites, including Little Women, Testament of Youth, & Jane Eyre. I’m excited to see what else I discover. 🙂

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  5. Pingback: A feline favourite… – FictionFan's Book Reviews

  9. I’ll have to think about how to answer this one, since I’ve talked about my favourite classic – Bleak House – so often my readers will go on strike if I do it again! I’ll need to think of a fresh angle… 😉

    A suggestion for a future question: What two classics from either different time periods or different locations work well together as a “compare and contrast”?

    Or: What two classics address a similar subject, but one from a female perspective and one from a male perspective, and how do they compare?

    Or: Which classic author have you read more than one, but not all, of his/her books and which of his or her other books would you want to read in the future?

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  10. My favorite book from the CC meme in 2013 was Don Quixote. I’ve read a lot of new classics from then, so I will definitely explore this question some more before I answer.

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    2. I was going to do a post, but then I can’t even find the time to write all the reviews I need to write.
      So here we go. I managed to go down t0 4 categories:
      French theme: A Moveable Feast
      American theme: Travels with Charley
      Children: Charlotte’s Web
      Scifi: The Martian’s Chronicles.
      Are these your favorites?
      Here is my 1st list of 50 classics finished (from 2016-2019): https://wordsandpeace.com/2016/01/01/the-classics-club-2016-2020/

      And by the way, I’ve already read 36 books of my 2nd list: https://wordsandpeace.com/2019/09/12/the-classics-club-2019-2024/

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    1. I suspect Middlemarch will be at the top of a number of best classics lists. If I ever reread Eliot as often as I’ve reread Austen, she might bump Peesuasion off my best of list 😄

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    2. Definitely Crime and Punishment and Age of Innocence are in my running. (I’d like to read Canary Row one of these days.) But I still have not read Middlemarch. 😦

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    1. I really struggled with WH in my early twenties. Like you said, I was expecting a romance with a hero and/or heroine. WH is not that.
      I should reread it going in expecting more of a gothic romance.

      Your post has given me food for thought too. Perhaps the love story is self-love?

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        1. Don’t forget about Cathy and Hareton – it’s their coming together in spite of Heathcliff’s vengeful plans that makes this a book about redemption, in my view.

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            2. Brona, I don’t know if you’ll catch my reply to Fran about her post on WH, but I know you and I had a similar disdain for it. And now look at us! I wonder…..is there a Wuthering Heights Revisiting Reread in the future?? LOL!

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    2. Well, this is difficult to say: your post on WH makes me admit something shameful….after reading it for the only time, I permitted myself in my emotional state to discard it. 😦 And now I realize (with a few years of simmering) it was really stupid of me. I hated it immediately following, but your review resonates with me and I think I need to reread it in the future. I really like your perspective and I think I could take more away from it than being blindly angry with the characters and the outcome. I did not read it deep enough. So thanks for sharing this!!!

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      1. You’re very welcome! But don’t be too hard on yourself! That’s the nice thing about books: we can always come back to them with a different mindset and try again. They’re very forgiving ! 😉 I think I a lot of people have a reaction similar to yours. I don’t think my initial response was all that different really. But I also had a that lingering sense of obsession that stuck with me and made me want to revisit it in spite of my initial feelings. I’m grateful for that feeling that sent me back to it, because I’ve found my rereads of it over the years very rewarding. But I don’t know if I’d ever quite say I “enjoy” it. It’s strange to have a favorite book that you don’t really enjoy, but it’s the way it’s worked for me.

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        1. Are you sure, Jillian, that I’ve been threatening a reread? Hmmm. Honestly, I think I admitted once, under pressure, that maybe, maybe, I would reread it in the future. However, that must have been half-hearted. Well, after reading Fran’s post, I am impressed and know now I blindly read WH the first time, and “Darn!” I need to revisit it. Now I mean it. 😀

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          1. Hi Ruth ❤

            On impulse after reading the above, I commented here: “Yeah! We had a whole conversation about it in one of my posts a few years ago — you & several others (I can’t recall who, but possibly Joseph was there, & maybe Brona). I believe the post was that classic meme about which classic we loved, which we hated, etc. This tag. On my blog (then called To Begin With I Read Jane Eyre), you commented I HATED WUTHERING HEIGHTS AS WELL (paraphrased); & I showed you a link to 1992 WH adaptation & we said it might improve if we watched that. We all agreed that we despised Wuthering Heights and therefore ought to form a band of Wuthering Heights haters and reread it, which we all laughed about but never did because ARE WE SERIOUS NO ONE WANTS TO REREAD IT.”

            However, to check my facts before posting the above, I went & looked for this specific post in my blog archive on Google overdrive (which is hard to read, let me tell you, because it’s all in code), & found the exact post I’m talking about from April 2017, & you never committed to such a thing! THAT WAS ALL ME! I’m the one!

            I declared that it would be hilarious all by myself, and no one ever answered me, & apparently in my imagination I conducted a conversation about it in which everyone agreed & a gavel was knocked! 😆

            Here’s what you actually said about that tag, April 27, 2017, 16:48 Eastern time:

            “Oh, sure, I’ll give this a try. Thanks for the tag.

            When I began reading your first answer, I was thinking Wuthering Heights, too; then I saw that you answered the same. What is that image you posted under your answer? Is it from a film version, and is there one of WH worth seeing?”

            And I said at 20:57 Eastern time the same day:

            “Hello! Yes, it’s from the 1992 film version. It’s the only version I’ve seen, but I think it’s worth seeing. It made me ALMOST want to reread the novel.

            (Also yay!)”

            And you replied at 4:15 Eastern on 4/18/2017:

            “Cool. I’ll totally watch this – with subtitles – if I can find it. I’ve not ever heard of or seen this. I thought I saw that something new was coming out, and I already hated the trailer; I put it out of my mind. But I’d watch this one. Thanks! It almost makes the story seem human, whereas the book version felt unreal. I almost don’t even know what I was reading.”

            That’s the entirety of your involvement in the conversation. Pardon me. 😎 😆

            HOWEVER, on 4/28/2017 at your VERY OWN BLOG you commented:

            “About WH, I am going to watch the film version that Jillian suggested, and see what happens. It may cause me to want to reread it. I feel like I missed something when I read it. It infuriated me.”

            Emphasis mine. I retract my apology.

            😆

            😆 😆

            😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆

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          2. (Oh, my comment is “awaiting moderation,” likely because it contains links. I’ll try to break it up to see if it goes through…)

            Hi Ruth ❤

            On impulse after reading the above, I commented here: “Yeah! We had a whole conversation about it in one of my posts a few years ago — you & several others (I can’t recall who, but possibly Joseph was there, & maybe Brona). I believe the post was that classic meme about which classic we loved, which we hated, etc. This tag. On my blog (then called To Begin With I Read Jane Eyre), you commented I HATED WUTHERING HEIGHTS AS WELL (paraphrased); & I showed you a link to 1992 WH adaptation & we said it might improve if we watched that. We all agreed that we despised Wuthering Heights and therefore ought to form a band of Wuthering Heights haters and reread it, which we all laughed about but never did because ARE WE SERIOUS NO ONE WANTS TO REREAD IT.”

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            2. It let that through! Maybe I was on a time out. I’ll try to continue…

              However, to check my facts before posting the above, I went & looked for this specific post in my blog archive on Google overdrive (which is hard to read, let me tell you, because it’s all in code), & found the exact post I’m talking about from April 2017, & you never committed to such a thing! THAT WAS ALL ME! I’m the one!

              I declared that it would be hilarious all by myself, and no one ever answered me, & apparently in my imagination I conducted a conversation about it in which everyone agreed & a gavel was knocked! 😆

              Here’s what you actually said about that tag, April 27, 2017, 16:48 Eastern time:

              “Oh, sure, I’ll give this a try. Thanks for the tag.

              When I began reading your first answer, I was thinking Wuthering Heights, too; then I saw that you answered the same. What is that image you posted under your answer? Is it from a film version, and is there one of WH worth seeing?”

              And I said at 20:57 Eastern time the same day:

              “Hello! Yes, it’s from the 1992 film version. It’s the only version I’ve seen, but I think it’s worth seeing. It made me ALMOST want to reread the novel.

              (Also yay!)”

              And you replied at 4:15 Eastern on 4/18/2017:

              “Cool. I’ll totally watch this – with subtitles – if I can find it. I’ve not ever heard of or seen this. I thought I saw that something new was coming out, and I already hated the trailer; I put it out of my mind. But I’d watch this one. Thanks! It almost makes the story seem human, whereas the book version felt unreal. I almost don’t even know what I was reading.”

              That’s the entirety of your involvement in the conversation. Pardon me. 😎 😆

              Liked by 1 person

            3. HOWEVER, on 4/28/2017 at your VERY OWN BLOG you commented:

              “About WH, I am going to watch the film version that Jillian suggested, and see what happens. It may cause me to want to reread it. I feel like I missed something when I read it. It infuriated me.”

              Emphasis mine. I retract my apology.

              😆

              😆 😆

              😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆

              Liked by 1 person

            4. Meanwhile, this remark six days prior, also by you at your own blog on your review of Wuthering Heights, shall also stand as evidence. I feel that I have suitable made my case. 😎

              “Oh, thank you for sharing your insight. I needed that. And for a moment I thought it may be possible that I attempt to reread it just to get a different perspective. I know full well that rereading something changes my opinions, sometimes not always for the better; but how much worse could it get for me? However, I did keep my copy. It was bad time for me to read this b/c it did illicit a negative response.

              My next step is to understand why Emily wrote WH. Maybe a non-fiction book is in order.”

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            6. LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!

              Amazing work uncovering my opinions. You’ve exposed me. I’m convinced. I did say enough to see that I was already open to rereading it after declaring it dead. Hahahhaaaa! That’s it! I’m going to reread it. I thought I was DONE forever, but evidently there was a little room. (Hard to believe it was three years ago.)

              And I TOTALLY FORGOT about that film. However, I think I need to reread the book BEFORE the film or it may keep me from the book. I have to get through the book.

              So thank you for all of that work, retracing our back and forth and piecing it all together. Now I am declaring it: I will reread WH at some point. It is done! 😀

              Liked by 1 person

            7. LOL, you’re welcome. 😉 “At some point.” YOU ARE SO NOT COMMITTING. 😆 I bet there’s many who would join a reread — haters included.

              Liked by 1 person

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