I took an English course during the summer that preceded my last year of high school, to lighten my course load for the following year.
Previously my summer reading had been comprised of unwieldly stacks of library books: lots of re-reads because the time for reading seemed endless, inviting both fresh and familiar reads, and a pleasant mix of childhood favourites, YA reads and books written for adults (beginning with my cousin’s true crime collection, my other cousin’s horror collection, and my grandmother’s mass market picks from the racks at Towers).
Oh, I loved summer reading. Even more than reading during the rest of the year.
That summer of the English Class, however, I remember struggling with Hamlet on the hottest days of the year, sweat dribbling down the backs of my knees as I sat in the shade with my Heath Companion to English Literature cracked open in my lap, the webbing of the lawnchair leaving nasty imprints on the backs of my thighs. This was the first time that reading Shakespeare involved doing so in advance of our classes, independently, and my copy has more pencilled annotations than text; perhaps that’s there my idea of reading serious literature in the summer is rooted.
But rooted as an ideal because I’ve had some very hard reading summers along the way as well, summers in which I only managed to read a handful of books because I struggle more with humid weather more than I ever struggled with Old English. But the past couple of summers I’ve read quite a bit, particularly in those Augusts, and I’m looking forward to a good reading summer this year as well.
So I’m going to try to push my Bookish Luck some more and return to the idea of Serious Summer Reading. Which begins, for me, with getting back into War and Peace, which I started reading last September, but have let sit more often than not whilst more portable books tempted my reading attentions away. And continues with Thomas Hardy (with whom I’m only ever-so-briefly acquainted) and E.M. Forster (whose novels I’ll finish this summer).
Ironically I am getting back into a Tolstoy-frame-of-mind by watching the 1972 BBC mini-series (the one with Anthony Hopkins); it does feel terrifically dated, but I am still enjoying it as a means of reviewing the the story before I pick up the book again (which of course I’ll do before the on-screen version ventures into unrecognizable territory because I have a strict Book First rule).
I don’t have to worry about spoilers only three episodes therein because it’s got 20-something episodes in total. But perhaps there are other film versions of it that you would recommend instead? (I’ve steered clear of them religiously having stumbled upon the last five minutes of Anna Karenina on screen completely by accident, which ended up completely ruining the end of the book for me the following year. It was the lovely Sophie Marceau version but, still, if you know the story, you understand my disappointment.)
Are you planning any serious summer reading? Or are you taking a reading vacation? Is there another time of year in which you find yourself predisposed to seek out the classics, or do you simply read them year round?
Thanks again for the comments.
Study Window – I hope you make it through Seth’s novel this time. Good luck organizing your reading!
Iliana – I hope you clear out some of those shelf sitters so your library visits can resume in the autumn!
Eva – Yes, I wonder if part of the appeal is that, on those brutally hot days, a fatter book means you can stay still, in one place, for longer.
I’ve read two of Forster’s novels now, and I definitely intend to read all of them one of these days! 🙂
I too associate summer with reading lots of lovely classics; they’ve always been some of my favourite pleasure reading, and there’s something about a sunny day that makes me want to lie around all day with a fat book escaping to a different time period. 🙂 I haven’t quite decided what my plans shall be for this summer, though!
Good luck with your summer reading plans! I don’t necessarily have some books in mind but my summer plans involve reading from my stacks. I’m keeping away from the library so I can get to some of my shelf sitters. We’ll see how that goes.
Karen’s comment reminds me that I toted ‘A Suitable Boy’ around with me all one summer and never got to finish it. Perhaps when I draw up my list I should put it back on and see if I can’t get all the way this time. I’m embarking on a programme of serious reading in the new academic year, so I want to spend the summer clearing the shelves of some of those books that are likely to drag me off course if I haven’t already read them. Your post has made me realise that summer is almost upon us and I must get round to organising myself.
Thanks for the summer-inspired comments!
Yes, I agree, Jodie: there are similarities between winter/summer reading choices, sizing up various chunksters as though they require an entire season, although my War and Peace project seems to require 4 seasons at least! ::lol::
Don’t be jealous, Karen: it’s going to be beastly hot. I realized I was making a hemisphere-centric generalization there, but feel free to torture me in exchange with your summer reading plans a few months hence. I started to read A Suitable Boy for summer reading two Julys ago, but I stalled about 500 pages in, so now I’ll have to start again. It was wholly enjoyable — and felt like a great summer read — but I came across a review which spoiled who that suitable boy was and now I’ll need a chunk of time to forget.
Thanks, Nymeth: I loved Middlemarch. Though I think it took me longer to read the first two pages than it took me to read the entire book. (Sometimes a preface can put me off for no good reason but I liked that one well enough *after* I’d finished the novel.) The BBC mini-series was wonderful too, BTW.
Oh, no, Olduvai: don’t talk about joining more challenges! Not just when I have so freshly spotted one amongst yours that was especially tempting… ::eyes reading calendar warily::
No summer reading plans for me, aside from completing the current challenges I have going on (and maybe looking for more to join?). I have yet to read Anna Karenina, so maybe I should put that up on my list, and make that some kind of a reading project…
Have fun with Forster! He’s a recent addition to my list of favourite authors. And best of luck with War and Peace. My big summer project is Middlemarch, which I can’t believe I haven’t yet read.
I am so jealous hearing you talk about summer reading plans when we are just moving into winter here in Australia! I am going on a holiday to Thailand in 2 weeks though so I will be able to have some temporary summer. I am planning on reading Anna Karenina during our winter and I also want to finish A Suitable Boy – a book I have been planning/wanting to read for so long.
This summer I expect I’ll still be reading Anna Karenina along with lots of other bloggers. I agree summer feels like the perfect time for big, long books for some reason(I remember reading The Count of Monte Cristo the summer after graduating from university). Winter feels like that too sometimes, but it’s more specific, like Victorian classics seem like the only way in winter while summer is pefect for any kind of classic or chunkster.