The Classics Book Tag

It’s about time I got to this booktube tag about opinions on my favourite and not-so-good classic books. I’d love to know your answers to these prompts in the comments below. Click ‘Show More’ for info.

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Reading Robinson Crusoe for the first time:

Jen Campbell on the True History of the Little Mermaid:

Original tag:

The prompts:
1) An overhyped classic you really didn’t like
2) Favourite time period to read about
3) Favourite fairy-tale
4) What classic do you feel most embarrassed about not having read yet
5) Top 5 classics you would like to read (soon)
6) Favourite modern book/series based on a classic
7) Favourite movie version/tv-series based on a classic
8) Worst classic to movie adaptation
9) Favourite edition(s) you’d like to collect more classics from
10) An underhyped classic you’d recommend to everyone

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Get in touch

[Wats]

Bartleby has just got a spot on my TBR.

[bookbubbler]

"The Age of Innocence" is one of my favorite books and movies. Scorsese did such an excellent job translating it to the screen, sometimes nearly shot-for-shot to the book (especially the opening sequence at the opera). I think I might have to watch it this afternoon now!

[lizdorrington]

Thank you for reccomending Bartleby The Scrivener Eric, definitely one to add to my reading pile. I loved Balzac's Little Chinese Seamstress and Little Women is one of my all time favorites, along with Anne Of Green Gables.

[kirsten]

Maybe try your next Jane Austen as an audiobook? Juliet Stevenson's narration of anything Austen, or really anything period, is fantastic. She really knows how to bring a character to life. Oh so good.

[dawn]

They're more modern classic, but have you read The Stepford Wives or Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin? I ask because the editions I have include very well written introductions by Chuck Palahniuk. These essays are worth reading on their own but the novels are absolute gems.

[curioushmm]

i too love bartleby...and will be on look out for the balzac.

[mradcaqbdb]

You’re so well read, Eric, intimidatingly so, at times. I think I can name more classics foisted upon us in high school that I hated than I loved. Scratch that, I know I can. (Hello, Heart of Darkness!) My most favorite classic is absolutely Gulliver’s Travels. I adored the satire. Kafka’s Metamorphosis holds a very dear place in my heart as well. I’d really struggle to come up with others that I really enjoyed reading at that age. There are some that I do want to read (or possibly reread) now though. Hopefully, I will get to some of them in 2020.

I’m with you on the Virago Modern Classics. Just gorgeous!

[carolinehaythornthwaite]

Agree with your choice, MM's Circe. Have read this twice now and still find it enchanting.

[bethieandbooks]

I’d start with Northanger Abbey. It’s a short one and faster paced than a lot of her others. It’s also hilarious!

[christinefortner]

I have yet to tackle Melville’s Moby Dick, but would highly recommend his shorter novel, Billy Budd, Sailor. Excellent read & there is also an outstanding film adaptation with actor Terence Stamp as the title character.

[HannahsBooks]

My favorite Austen is Emma. She is a spunky, appealing, and annoying character—and she actually grows over the course of the novel and winds up with a friendship where someone treats her honestly rather than fawningly—as an equal and as an adult.

I am totally with you about Robinson Crusoe. Literature really changes after this book. But now I want to see Virginia Woolf’s intro!

Kate Howe is running a read along for Little Women. You will be reading with a lot of other people!

[adriennegarcia]

You always have the best editions/covers of books!!

[artjournalstories]

I think there's nothing like reading a good classic, I love them. I re-read Little Women this month since the movie is coming. We could've done a buddy read, I didn't know you haven't read it. My all time fave is Frankenstein, I still can't believe she wrote it when she was 19! I also love Les Miserables, stayed with me so long. I read Lily Of The Valley from Balzac and it broke my heart in pieces at the time, still can't forget it. I love his writing, and I should read more. And I'm sure you'll enjoy North and South, it's a fantastic one. I don't want to get started with why Circe didn't win the prize, it was my heart's desire too. Do you know any good retellings of Rapunzel? That's my favourite tale :) Cheers. Umut

[mcrbus]

You shouldn't be embarrassed about not reading Jane Austen, I'm jealous as I'd love to read them again for the first time! It's a cop out but Pride and Prejudice is a great first read. Northanger Abbey is a good intro to her style too. I just read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall for Victober and I loved it soooo much. I liked Agnes Grey but Wildfell Hall was so much more interesting character wise. I'm reading Little Women as well in preparation for the new film. Great video :)

[ejazhusseini]

Thank you so much for doing this tag.
Likewise, I've been meaning to read some classics, now thanks I'm so excited about some of the books you mentioned.

[lawrenceyuan]

So glad you mentioned Little Women coz I just bought the book yesterday from my local library for the exact reason - to read it before watching the movie! Ps, love your channel and videos!

[josedesilencio]

How long do you finish a 300-page book?

[TheGoldenflower]

May I answer some of the questions?
1)Don Quixote. Simply couldn't read more than the first few chapters.
2) Medieval and Renaissance literature. But modern is my absolute favourite.
3) A collection of tales in prose and rhymes written in bengali, probably in the late 18th century with lovely lino drawings.
4) Sylvia Plath's Bell Jar.
5) The English History plays of Shakespeare.
6) The present Poet Laureate 's version of The Odyssey.
7) Sense and Sensibility.
8) I am afraid people might not like it, but - the movie version of The Lord Of the Rings...
9) None really. I am happy to buy any affordable editions of books.
10) Tess of the D' Urbervilles... Don't know whether people still read Hardy.

[AuburnAfterglow]

I would go with Pride and Prejudice. It's hard to get into at first but after that it's great :)

[bridgetsmith]

I tried three times to read Dracula and I finally forced myself to finish it on the third try, but I hated it! It was so tedious and Jonathan and Mina were so boring! In this case, the movie was definitely better than the book....I love Pride and Prejudice, but only since last year when I reread it. Since I've gotten older, I find I enjoy classics more as a whole because I understand them better than when I was in high school and college...I am currently reading a biography about Charlotte Bronte called, "Charlotte Bronte, A Fiery Heart", by Claire Harman, which is a terrific biography if you ever want to learn more about her. Also, the book talks about Elizabeth Gaskell and Charlotte's sisters Emily and Anne and their books as well. It is my goal now to read all the Bronte sisters' books.