Classics Burnout | Reading Update 2.5.21

 Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog! 

This year I have planned to read a lot more classics, mostly because I own quite a few and yet haven't read them, but also because I know that there are older books out there that I will love, I just haven't given them a chance. Something that has helped immensely is a book club I'm a part of. It's online and rather large so we always have one or two books being read at the time. The first pick of the year was The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and I loved it! 

Of course we're not just reading classics in the book club, but there's a majority. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong was also a book club pick, and a group is planning on reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt later on in the month (I'm not partaking in that one because a. I've already read the book and b. I didn't like it very much). However, right now I'm in the middle of two book club books, and they're both classics, and I'm struggling to read them. 

The books are Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. I'm about 10% done with each. I've been interested in reading Anna Karenina since I read Jenny Lee's Anna K, which is a modern retelling of the Russian classic. I'm enjoying, I guess, it's just so long winded. I mean, of course it is, it's an 850 page novel. There's just a lot of description and it's all very dry. I'm okay with large chunks of text if it's flowery prose, but this definitely isn't. 

The Name of the Rose isn't faring much better, to be honest. You'd think a mystery about a group of monks found dead at a monastery would be thrilling, but it's really not. I mean, the manuscript is from the 1300s, so I guess I can't really complain, but still. I'm hoping things pick up a bit because I really want to love this book. It sounds like everything I would be interested in. 

But I am determined to finish them both! Once I do I'll probably rent the movies from the library just so I can get the full experience. I've never watched either movie and so I don't know any sort of details from The Name of the Rose, and only know the basics of Anna Karenina based on what other people have told me and also like the general knowledge that everyone seems to possess of certain classics. Like, I'm sure most people could give you the basic plotline of books/movies like The Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park, etc. etc. just from what pop culture has ingrained in our heads. 

Anyways. I'm hoping to finish these books by the end of the month. I usually want to finish books within a month period because I don't like overlay. I'll be totally content if these are the only books I read in February, since they're both such tall orders. But hopefully that won't be the case and I'll manage to squeeze in some other reads. Wish me luck. 

That's all for today. Until next time!