Wednesday 9 July 2008

Blog a Penguin Classic


Back in the Spring, I signed up for the Blog a Penguin Classic scheme. Penguin send a free review copy of one of their Classic titles and, in return, the lucky recipient writes a short review for the Penguin Classics site.

I'd almost forgotten all about it, since it took so long materialising, but my copy of Balzac's History of the Thirteen arrived yesterday and I now have six weeks in which to read it and post my review. I'm very slightly ashamed to confess that I've never read any Balzac before, but a quick flick through this one has proved quite encouraging.

The reviews others have posted on the Penguin site seem pretty brief. Brevity not featuring anywhere on the (shortish) list of my virtues, however, I shall probably post some slightly more e-x-t-e-n-d-e-d thoughts on History of the Thirteen here in due course.

I know that lots of my favourite bloggers signed up for a Penguin Classic too. What did you get? Was it a pleasant surprise or a nasty shock? Will your book be a struggle or a joy to read over the summer?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just got mine too, J. Oliver Twist was in the lucky bag for me. (Back to my roots then . . . ) In due course, we can swap notes about two literary giants who were writing contemporaneously and on matters not that dissimilar.

Jane Badger said...

I'd wondered if anyone else had theirs. I still haven't got lovely Kierkegaard, and was hoping as he hadn't appeared he'd decided the most loving thing to do would be to leave me in my peaceful and shallow ignorance. Sounds like Penguin are just slow. Good luck with History of Thirteen!

monix said...

Mine arrived yesterday, taking me back to an earlier time with the Plays of Moliere. Back to my 'A-level' days, too. I must try not to think of my school days and approach this as a pleasure and not homework.

Anonymous said...

I haven't got mine yet either- but if it turns up, I'll be reading The Taming of the Shrew. I'm looking forward to it.

Anonymous said...

Toby, my son, did this - I must remind myself which he did. I know he found it difficult to review. Teresa

BooksPlease said...

Mine arrived last week - The Death of King Arthur - a bit of a surprise as I'd forgotten all about it. I haven't started it yet.