This week’s Weekly Geek asks four questions, two of which I’m supposed to answer. Starting at the beginning…

1) How do you feel about classic literature? Are you intimidated by it? Love it? Not sure because you never actually tried it? Don’t get why anyone reads anything else? Which classics, if any, have you truly loved? Which would you recommend for someone who has very little experience reading older books? Go all out, sell us on it!

Ah, classics. I really didn’t read many growing up, except for the ones assigned in English class, and then I don’t think I really liked any of them, except Mark Twain. I’ve always liked Mark Twain (though, admittedly, I haven’t read any of his books in years…). Since then, though, I’ve discovered, while not a real love for classics a very big like for them. (Warning, approaching food metaphor…) I think they’re like the whole grains of literature. If you don’t read at least a handful a year, then you’re suffering from an unbalanced metaphor. However, I also think that if you subsist solely on classics (or whole grains, for that matter), you are missing out on some of the delicious things in life (if perhaps not that filling or even good for you). It’s all about balance, my friends.

Some of my favorites (all older than 100 years, just so we’re on the same page):

All of Jane Austen, of course, especially Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice: Her observations of relationships, personalities, and class are all still valid (and funny) today.

Jane Eyre: Swoon. Really.

Isak Dineson — I especially like her short stories (shock, I know) in Anecdotes of Destiny and Ehrengard: I read this years and years ago (time for a reread?), and remembered being moved by Dineson’s use of language and food, especially in Babette’s Feast.

Room with a View (or E.M. Forester in general): We just watched the Merchant-Ivory movie version last week, and I was reminded how much I liked this book. Fun, light, silly, sweet… perfect Britishness.

My Antonia: Another one that I remember being really affected by. I read all of Willa Cather’s stuff about 10 years ago, and I was really quite moved by this one. Wichita did a Big Read last fall, and this was the book. I never got around to rereading it, but now that I’m thinking about it, perhaps I’ll pull it out again.

Dracula: Oh. My. Gosh. Fabulous.

Huckleberry Finn: It’s the ultimate Mark Twain. Full of humor, social commentary, and a ripping good story. (Or at least as much as I remember. I can’t tell you the last time I read this one…)

Daisy Miller: I’m not a huge fan of Henry James, but I found myself really liking this one. The only thing I could find on it on my blog was this, “A short novella – and an intriguing story about a young American woman in Europe and her lack of “propriety” that eventually leads to her downfall, of sorts. An interesting commentary on propriety and its place or lack of place in society.”

Anne of Green Gables: I adore this book. (But only this one. I’m not much on the sequels.) Anne is impetuous, and darling, and crative, and just so much fun to read about.

3) Let’s say you’re vacationing with your dear cousin Myrtle, and she forgot to bring a book. The two of you venture into the hip independent bookstore around the corner, where she primly announces that she only reads classic literature. If you don’t find her a book, she’ll never let you get any reading done! What contemporary book/s with classic appeal would you pull off the shelf for her?

I’m terrible at this kind of thing. I’m better at one-on-one recommendations. But a couple of books that I thought of, off the top of my head…

I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith: I searched, and I don’t have a full review for this one. That’s a crime. I remember being totally enthralled by it.

My Name is Asher Lev (or any Chaiam Potok book, really): In my opinion, this is Potok’s best. A moving story about an artist and his relationship to his family’s Hasidic Jewish religion. Touching.

Austenland: For Austen fans. Light and silly, and really quite fun.

How Green was My Valley

My Name is Psmith (not 100 years old, or it’d be in the classics…)

The Orange Girl, Jostein Gaardner: It’s a wonderful little book. (Hard to find, though.) A letter from a (dead) father to his son (who’s 11 when he reads it), it’s the story of how he and his wife met. Just about perfect.

The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis: I know I don’t have reviews for this one, but as far as allegory goes, this one is a masterpiece.

I don’t know if I helped anyone here… but I did discover a list of books that I’d like to go back and reread. So, for that, this was a completely worthwhile endeavor!