Roof Beam Reader
Adam Burgess
Classics Club Readathon #1
As many of you know, I’m one of the moderators of The Classics Club. Today marks our very 1st Readathon! Clubbers around the world will be spending 24-hours reading books from their lists of Classics (Here’s my list, if you’re curious!).
The reading schedule is 7am Central time on Saturday, January 5th – 7am Central time on Sunday, January 6th. I’m hoping to read two books during this 24-hour period, but if I don’t finish – that’s okay. And if I read more than 2, well, that’s awesome!
Instead of posting separate updates throughout the day, I’m going to come back to this post and update as I go along – that way folks’ email boxes (and Twitter feeds, etc.) won’t be constantly spammed. But, I do plan to update every hour or two, just to let ya’ll know where I’m at – how many pages I’ve read, how much coffee I’ve had to drink, etc.
You can see who else has signed-up to participate by Clicking Here.
You can follow along with the main discussion post by Clicking Here.
Twitter #Hashtag for Conversation: #CCReadathon
My Plans:
Book #1: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Starting Time: 9:45am CT
Completion Time: 4:18pm CT
O Pioneers! Updates:
#1 – 9:45am :: The readathon has begun! I’ve got oatmeal, coffee, and book #1 (O Pioneers!). Let’s do this!
#2 – 11:08am :: I’m on page 64 of 230. Got a late start (wanted to begin at 8, but it was about 10 when I started reading).
Notable Quote: “A pioneer should have imagination, should be able to enjoy the idea of things more than the things themselves” (37).
And since the title of this book was inspired by my favorite poem, “O Pioneers” by Walt Whitman, I thought I would share my favorite reading of that poem with you all. Enjoy!
#3 – 2:03pm :: I’m on page 200 of 230. Loving the book – it just took quite a turn toward the Thomas Hardy (anyone familiar with his endings will understand what I mean). Going to take a break for lunch and to watch some t.v. – rest my eyes a bit. Then, I’ll be back to finish Cather and start Book #2 (still thinking it will be Hesse, but not 100% sold).
Notable Quote: “Isn’t it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years” (89).
#4 – 4:18pm :: Finished! What a lovely book. I’ll be writing my review tomorrow. Meanwhile, onto book #2!
Notable Quote: “Above Marie and Emil, two white butterflies from Frank’s alfalfa field were fluttering in and out among the interlacing shadows; diving and soaring, now close together, now far apart; and in the long grass by the fence the last wild roses of the year opened their pink hearts to die” (201).
Book #2: Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Starting Time: 4:30pm CT
Completion Time:
Siddhartha Updates:
#1 – 6:22pm :: Half-way done – page 60 of 128. Interesting book, definitely. Not totally on board with the philosophy, yet, but I can see why some would be called to it. Seems clear that I’ll be able to finish both planned books, so I’m taking a break to visit other participants, leave some comments, and then make some dinner.
#2 – 9:04pm :: Finished! Very interesting book – thought-provoking, for sure. Ultimately, I love the philosophy, though certain parts of the journey were troubling. Review to come in the next few days or so.
So, that does it for me! Approximately 12-hours. I’m calling it a night early, as I don’t want to start a 3rd readathon book because I know I won’t finish it before bed/time expires, and that will just make me mad. Still, I’m calling this readathon a success because I hoped to read two books & I did that – I even read the 2 books I had originally planned on, which is crazy!
I will probably read a bit more tonight (from The Alchemyst by Michael Scott, which does not count towards my Classics Club Challenge, of course). And I might watch a movie or something. But, I’ll also be keeping up with all your updates on Twitter and at The Classics Club & on your blogs. So keep on pushing through! 10 HOURS LEFT!
Roof Beam Reader 
I loved O Pionners! I think Alexandra was an amazing, strong main female character and could very much be a 21st century role model.
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Good morning to you! Best of luck with your reads today. I’m in the process of A Moveable Feast now, and from there I’m thinking Graham Greene. Looking forward to your updates! 🙂
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Good luck! I’ve got something going on this morning then I’ll be back in action. I hope you enjoy O Pioneers, it was my first Cather and my favorite so far.
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Good luck today! I loved O Pioneers! and I hope you do too. 🙂
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I also loved O Pioneers–enjoy! Harriet
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wow Siddhartha, it’s a heavy readings. Good luck with your readathon, Me myself are going to start on Dickens 😀
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I love Cather’s O Pioneers and My Ántonia. Thank you for Whitman poem reading — I loved it! 🙂
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I would like to read a Cather one day – the quotes you pulled out are tempting.
Happy Reading from Sydney Australia
Brona’s Books
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I don’t think I’ve read O Pioneers!, but I love A Lost Lady. I also can’t remember if I’ve read Siddhartha, although I’m pretty sure I have. Oh, the days before book blogging when I didn’t write anything down.
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A Lost Lady is one of my favorite books of all-time. This one (O Pioneers!) was great, too – but it’s much more of the “true” Cather. It’s a Realist novel with elements of the romantic, whereas A Lost Lady is a sort of transcendent Modernism.
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Yay for finishing book 1! Woohoo! 🙂
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Well done! O Pioneers! is my favourite Cather. I’ve just finished my first too – it was very short.
Happy reading!
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To be honest I have never heard of either of those books, so I’m looking forward to your reviews 🙂 How’s your reading going? (looks like you’re doing great!)
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I love Willa Cather! O PIoneers is good, but My Antonia is my favorite. Siddhartha is on my Bucket List.
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I’m glad you enjoyed O Pioneers! Hopefully Siddharta will be just as good. That’s one I’ve been meaning to read for a while now, so I’m interested in seeing what you think.
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Congratulations on finishing book 1! I’ve read O Pioneers! but don’t remember it at all–maybe your future review will job my memory. Enjoy the rest of the readathon!
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I thought about reading Siddharta too before I got sucked into The Hobbit. I like Hermann Hesse a lot and Siddharta just has the perfect readathon length. I hope you’re enjoying it still!
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well done! I’m trying to finish book #2 before noon my time. wish me luck!
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I’ve put Cather at the top of my Authors To Read list. Congrats on finishing!
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I like very much this post!
I knew about the readathon but I couldn’t participate (on january the 6th we celebrate in Spain The Three Magi’s Day and we give presents to each other, so on January the 5th we are buying the presents!! hehehe, like you do, I suppose, on Christmas Eve).
But the Idea is fantastic!!
I read Siddhartha some years ago. I also think it’s interesting. And I want to read more by Willa Cather, she is an author I like very much.
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Well, I’m awfully tardy to the comments party! I had a great time with the readathon, finishing All the Pretty Horses. I really need to read Oh, Pioneers! I did read and very much like My Antonia. Congrats on your successful readathon….
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