bree Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Roald Dahl's Matilda was the last book I read - and I found myself intrigued by the books the child-wonder had read. From this link: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett ✔ Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens ✔ Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë ✔ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ✔ Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Gone to Earth by Mary Webb Kim by Rudyard Kipling ✔ The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Good Companions by J. B. Priestley Brighton Rock by Graham Greene Animal Farm by George Orwell ✔ Moby-Dick by Herman Melville Ivanhoe by Walter Scott The Red Pony by John Steinbeck I've read only Oliver Twist, Jane Eyre and Animal Farm - so sixteen more to go! If you're a bit silly like me, and think this could be fun - do join in! Edited September 24, 2012 by bree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abcinthia Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Oooo this sounds really interesting!! I've read: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Cool challenge I have read four of those and really enjoyed them so that has got me thinking I might enjoy some of the others too although I did give up in Jane Eyre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 Oooo this sounds really interesting!! I've read: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells Wow 7 out 19. I'm impressed by your Matilda Quotient No seriously, that's cool! Do join in! Cool challenge I have read four of those and really enjoyed them so that has got me thinking I might enjoy some of the others too although I did give up in Jane Eyre I did Jane Eyre at school, with a lovely teacher - so I do like it. But I always fear that left to read them by my self, the classics would go straight over my head, or make me fall asleep. It's time to find out! And do join in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraloves Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 Great idea for a challenge, most of those books I've either read, got on my shelf or want to read! I'm quite tempted to give it a go myself! The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett I've read this Great Expectations by Charles Dickens I've got this on my kindle Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens I've got this to read on my shelf Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë I've got this to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen I've got this to read Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy I've got this to read Gone to Earth by Mary Webb Kim by Rudyard Kipling I have this on my wishlist The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway I have this on my wishlist The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Good Companions by J. B. Priestley Brighton Rock by Graham Greene Animal Farm by George Orwell I have this on my wishlist Moby-Dick by Herman Melville I have this on my wishlist Ivanhoe by Walter Scott The Red Pony by John Steinbeck Ok, so looking back on it I have only read one, but there are several that I already own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 A great idea for a challenge! I've only read five of them... The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Animal Farm by George Orwell I already have three challenges on the go (one nearly finished) and another one in mind, so I don’t think I’ll attempt this one, but I shall watch your progress with interest and look forward to seeing what you think of each book. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Great idea for a challenge, most of those books I've either read, got on my shelf or want to read! I'm quite tempted to give it a go myself! Ok, so looking back on it I have only read one, but there are several that I already own You should join Laura - your TBR pile says so! A great idea for a challenge! I've only read five of them... The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Animal Farm by George Orwell I already have three challenges on the go (one nearly finished) and another one in mind, so I don’t think I’ll attempt this one, but I shall watch your progress with interest and look forward to seeing what you think of each book. Good luck. Thanks Janet. You are a sort of godmother for this challenge - as it was from your Roald Dahl challenge that it all began. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 I did Jane Eyre at school, with a lovely teacher - so I do like it. But I always fear that left to read them by my self, the classics would go straight over my head, or make me fall asleep. It's time to find out! And do join in! I did Great Expectations for ALevel english and it was a huge help having someone break it down and point out stuff but I am not so good on reading the classics on my own I would love to join in with the challenge but I already have this years books line up but I am thinking about adding Matilda for a quick re-read as that wont take long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauraloves Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 You should join Laura - your TBR pile says so! Oh go on then youve twisted my arm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Thanks Janet. You are a sort of godmother for this challenge - as it was from your Roald Dahl challenge that it all began. Awww, shucks! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Done with The Secret Garden. In theme, I thought it very similar to Heidi - nature helping to heal and blossom - an invalid recovering - fresh air and play being more important for children than anything else... It was very interesting how Mary's character is described - unlike the happy child you'd expect to bring sunshine into others' lives - she herself is a sour-faced, selfish thing. And yet - how beautiful she grows and helps grow. I of course loved Dickon and all his wondrous animals, and his ways with them. And descriptions of the garden itself, and of Spring - magical. This was written almost a hundred years ago, and quite a few references to India(which was then under the British) are there. References to the subservient attitude of the Indian servants of that period, as opposed to the more self-respecting attitude of their English counterparts were disturbing, and unfortunately true. The bits about Indian snake-charmers, and Indian Magic made me chuckle - as they typical clichés in Western writing. (I just pointed out these bits, as being an Indian, they stuck out to me.) All in all a 5-star book - and one that I will re-read again for sure. That's four down - fifteen to go in this challenge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 This seems like a really fun challenge, and I'd love to take part but I have too many challenges on my plate already Maybe some day! I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed Secret Garden, I think I read it last year and I absolutely loved it. I definitely didn't notice those similarities between this book and Heidi when I'd read both of them, so it was interesting to realise this now that you mentioned it! Have fun with the challenge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andie P Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 hey great idea!! I would love to join this challenge but have so many books I have promised to read this year just catching dust on my bookshelf...be interested to find out how you get on though! Andie x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 This seems like a really fun challenge, and I'd love to take part but I have too many challenges on my plate already Maybe some day! I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed Secret Garden, I think I read it last year and I absolutely loved it. I definitely didn't notice those similarities between this book and Heidi when I'd read both of them, so it was interesting to realise this now that you mentioned it! Have fun with the challenge! hey great idea!! I would love to join this challenge but have so many books I have promised to read this year just catching dust on my bookshelf...be interested to find out how you get on though! Andie x Thank you, you two. I'm taking this one slow - and wondering which book to start with next... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptashka Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 What a great challenge! Here's what I've already read: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Ivanhoe by Walter Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 Hello Ptashka, Six of nineteen books is good! Do feel free to join in on the challenge. And welcome to the forum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 I've read two more books - Kim and Pride and Prejudice - so that's six out of nineteen. Thirteen to go! (I'll probably be 35 when I complete them - I think Matilda read them when she was...5 ?! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bree Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 My thoughts on Kim: The India that unfolds in the pages was one my grandfather experienced as a boy, - so it was lovely for me to read about it. And the book has a lot of Buddhist thoughts sprinkled with those of Islam - and this made it very interesting for me, as I've mostly been exposed to Hinduism and Christianity. Some of swear phrases were literal translations from Indian languages and these made me chuckle (son-of-an-owl / son-of-swine) But most of all I think it was Kim who captivated me. Kimball O'Hara may be one of the more interesting people I've met in a book. It's a 3.5 on 5 for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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