Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is: Do you have a favorite classic? When did you read it? High school or as an adult?
I guess all of L. M. Montgomery’s books qualify for the Classics section? At least, Anne of Green Gables does. I possibly ought to pick something of hers, but they somehow don’t feel like proper, capital C Classics to me, which I guess implies a higher degree of difficulty in reading, or a more archaic style…or something? I don’t know. And I fully realize this attitude towards Montgomery’s books probably has more to do with my familiarity with them than anything intrinsic to them.
Anyway. Let’s still set Montgomery aside (though The Blue Castle is my favorite of hers, one of my top five favorite ever books). Even though J. M. Barrie and Montgomery were contemporaries, his Little White Bird (1902 publication) feels more like a proper Classic, and that’s also a great favorite of mine. I believe I read both these books during high school, though neither was assigned, and I’ve reread them multiple times since then.
Charlotte Bronte feels even more like a proper Classics author though, which means giving the nod to Jane Eyre, another particularly beloved book. So let’s call that my favorite Classic. I read both Brontes some time after college, when I realized I’d never been assigned either (and I was an English major!) If you come down on the side of Wuthering Heights in the great Bronte debate, let’s not discuss it and remain friends…
I, too, like Jane Eyre for a “proper” classic. Is “Gone With the Wind” a classic, or was it written to recently? 🙂 It’s been 83 years since it was published, so I think it could be considered a classic. That’s my favorite. I rarely read a book more than once, but I’ve read that one 3 or 4 times since the first time back in high school. Not sure what it is about the story – I think it’s the two strong female characters – Scarlett and Melanie – who are so different yet able to cope with the Civil War and Reconstruction so well. And I love the movie. Scarlett and Melanie are perfectly cast in it.