Classics Club: February Meme

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I should get around to these memes a little sooner!  February's Classics Club question is:

“What classic has most surprised you so far, and why?”

Surprise, I have two answers! 

On a general level, I have been surprised by how very much I have enjoyed a lot of the books on my list.  Yes, this is kind of dumb.  But like most people, I always put off reading Classics (which as we know are intimidating and difficult) in favor of lighter fare, especially whatever was closest to its library due date.  Even though I knew I ought to read, say, Madame Bovary, I didn't truly expect to love it.

Books from my list I have liked quite a lot more than I expected to:

The Age of Innocence
Bleak House, and also what I expected out of it
Bleak House
The Return of the Native
Dracula
Madame Bovary
Anna Karenina
Doctor Zhivago
Nervous Conditions
Labyrinths

For my second answer, I had no idea what the plot of Bleak House was, and had always assumed it would be much more depressing and like Hard Times than it turned out to be.  It has plenty of tragedy, yes, but there is a surprising amount of cheer in it too.

Comments

  1. CatFebruary 13, 2013 at 11:12 AM

    Dracula surprised me too - not at all what I expected. I'm reading Bleak House now - very slow progress but enjoying it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SongFebruary 19, 2013 at 10:10 PM

    Same here about Dracula! It shot up to my favourites list!!

    As for the rest...I'm very doubtful about them myself. Will see when I eventually get to them. :)

    ReplyDelete

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