Children 2,000 years ago read and memorized Virgil and Homer, and Aesop’s Fables were common knowledge. Even 200 years ago these classics were widely read. Now, there are thousands of new books published each year. But what about those really old ones? Have we read those yet? Any of them?

That’s why I’ve decided to host the Really Old Classics Challenge (including classics from pre-1600s), a ten-month challenge (October 2008-July 2009). I myself haven’t read many of the really old ones (Homer, Virgil, Chaucer, Dante, etc.), so this is a project I’m adopting for myself primarily, in addition to my How to Read and Why personal challenge. But I thought we could all use a little motivation, a reminder, to pick one the old classics.

Also, I’m hosting the Bookworms Carnival in August 2009, and while I haven’t specified exactly what the subject for that will be, I’d like to make the theme somehow relate to classics.

So, what are Really Old Classics? I’ve compiled a list of some Really Old Classics that catch my eye, but of course, you could include anything that was written pre-1600 (pre-Shakespeare). In your own reading, you could also include works about those works, if you want (such as Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, which is about the Greek and Roman myths), although let’s not count Cliff’s Notes.

The Rules

  1. Choose how many Really Old Classics you’d like to read by the end of July 2009, from 1 to 100.
  2. Read that number of Really Old Classics by the end of July 2009. If you finish, pat yourself on the back.

That’s it.

If you want, you can choose which Really Old Classics you want to read before you begin. Or, you can choose a few that you may later choose from. If you have a blog, you can review them as you read them.

Joining the Challenge

If you want to sign up for the Really Old Classics challenge, leave a comment.  You don’t need to have a blog to participate. If you’d like, you can tell us now how many Really Old Classics you’d like to read. Or you can write that on a specific post on your blog, a link to which you can leave in a comment here. We’d love to follow you as you reach your goals!

Sharing Your Reviews

I will have another post where you can return and leave links to your reviews. Leaving a link to your review is optional. I personally like having links to everyone’s review in the same place so I can follow and compare, and I’d love to have yours here on Rebecca Reads. But if you don’t like doing that, don’t feel you must.

If you don’t have a blog, you can leave your reading progress and/or thoughts of the work on that post.

In the mean time, here’s a clever button for you to use, if you wish.

Happy Reading!

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