2011: Challenges and how I fared

I signed up for a few challenges in 2011, something I did for the first time. I am glad I got to read new authors and books as part of this challenge, which I would not have otherwise.

• Nordic Challenge
  Challenge: 3-5 books
  Read: 3 books

I took this challenge mainly because I was so ignorant of the books coming from this beautiful region. I discovered a beautiful book (Sophie’s World) and a wonderful author (Henning Mankell).

• Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge
  Challenge: 3
  Read: 3

I am so happy I took up this challenge. I discovered such a great author. I absolutely loved After Dark, but the other two books were a disappointment. I will definitely read more from this author.

• New Authors Reading Challenge
  Challenge: 15
  Read: 15

Read a few new authors, some were great, some were not.

• Seconds Challenge
  Challenge: 3
  Read: 3

I gave Gabriel García Márquez and Amitava Ghosh a second chance as part of this challenge. I could not read Márquez’s A Hundred Years of Solitude, but A News of a Kidnapping was a surprisingly good read. On the other hand, Ghosh disappointed me further with his A Circle of Reason.

• 1001 Books to Read Before You Die
  Challenge: 5
  Read: 1

Disappointing. Both the challenge and the book I read as part of this challenge.

• TBR Challenge
  Challenge: 12
  Read: 3

I finally read 3 books that I had wanted to read from a long time. An interesting thing to note is I did not like any of them. That should say something about my TBR list, huh?
I have decided what challenges I will be taking up in the coming year. Sign up post coming soon.

 

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Title: Wuthering Heights
Author: Emily Brontë (originally published under the pseudonym Ellis Bell)
Year Published: 1847
Genre: Romance, Classic
My Rating: 2 on 5

What is it about me and classics? When the entire world is raving about classics, I only end up getting disappointed. After having many bad experiences with classics before, I vowed never to read one again, but I did it anyway hoping atleast this time, I will be proved wrong. I wasn’t.

Wuthering Heights is the name of the house where most of the book is set in. This is where Heathcliff is brought in as an adopted orphan and takes a more important place in the household and thus invokes wrath from the natural heirs of the property – Hareton and Catherine, which eventually turns into a blooming romance between Heathcliff and Catherine. Though the couple is very much in love, Catherine ends up marrying another guy and Heathcliff takes that as a personal insult to him and vows to take revenge. The story continues to the next generation where Catherine’s daughter ends up getting married to Heathcliff’s son and what happens later on.

Wikipedia says wuthering means turbulent weather in Yorkshire and this best describes the happenings at this bizarre house. Heathcliff, whose love for Catherine takes the centre stage in the initial part of the book and his hatred and revenge forms the later part, is one strange character. He starts off as being innocent and guileless, who then turns into a headstrong teenager who thinks the entire world is against him, who then turns into an out and out monster. Without marking this review as spoiler, I can’t reveal his heinous crimes, but it’s suffice to say I was revolted and disturbed by certain parts of the story. I had to pause and ask myself if this character is for real – I mean, this person is too evil even for a fictitious character. Most of the characters in the prologue are like this – evil, sharp tongued, foul mouthed – I thought the name ‘Mad House’ was a better name for the novel.

I fail to see why this novel has this amount of attention and praise. It is a decent novel, no doubt, but what is so great about it that it has to be listed as one of the must reads. I have a similar opinion about Jane Eyre and most of the other classics, so I guess it’s just me. Go ahead and enjoy reading this classic while I figure what gene is responsible for appreciating classics and how do I go about procuring it.

This book was read as part of a read-along. See what my read-along buddies have to say about this book: JoV and Jenny. JoV, thanks for hosting this read-along.

Life is full of challenges

The coming year is going to be eventful and interesting for me – atleast in terms of books and reading. I am going to sign up for challenges (and quite a few at that) which I have never done before.

1. I have already signed up for the Nordic Challenge 2011. I am aiming for Freya which requires me to read 3-5 books from Nordic authors.

2. I have always wanted to read Haruki Marukami and God knows why I haven’t done so till now. Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge 2011 will urge me to finally get down to doing that. I aim for Sheep Man which requires me to read 3 Murakami books.

3. Since I am always trying out new authors, The New Author Challenge 2011 suits me just right. The challenge here is to read a minimum of 15 new authors which sounds a bit difficult, but that’s why it’s called a challenge, right?

4. After I read a new author or a first book in the series, more often than not, I go back to read a second book from the same author or the second book in the series. So, it’s only natural that I sign up for the 2nds Challenge 2011. I am aiming for Just a Spoonful – 3 books. I already have a candidate for this – Amitava Ghosh. I read his The Calcutta Chromosome and wasn’t particularly impressed with it. I want to give him a try again and read The Hungry Tide or Sea of Poppies. This list will draw inspiration from the previous challenge.

5. There are so many books on the 1001 books to read before you die list that I want to read. I am signing up for the 1001 books to read before you die challenge and hoping to reduce the size of my TBR list. I aim for High School Diploma which requires me to read 5 books on the list.

6. I want to reduce the size of my TBR list, so I am signing up for The 2011 TBR Pile Challenge.

The most difficult part of this challenge is to make a list of books that you plan to read for this challenge. I had a tough time choosing only 12 from my humongous list.

1    The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
2    In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
3    Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
4    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert M. Pirsig
5    Slaughterhouse-five – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
6    Family Matters – Rohinton Mistry
7    Daddy Long-Legs    – Jean Webster
8    A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
9    The Color of Magic – Terry Prachett
10  For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway
11   Frankenstein – Mary Shelly
12   The Metamorphosis – Franz Kafka

Alternatives

1  The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
2  Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
3 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
4 The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
5 The Art of War – Sun Tzu
6 The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle

I am ready! I can’t wait for this year to end and the next one to begin.