19. Read 5 Classics (Post by Josh!)

Since it seems that I'm not crossing off many of these 30 things before 30 goals, I've decided to fill you in on a few of the ones I'm currently working on. I'll start with #19. Read 5 Classics.

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The first book I decided to read was 1984 by George Orwell. Katie and I had a little debate about whether this was indeed a classic. And since the debate happened after I had finished it, I decided it was.

One reason I read the book, other than I always thought I should, was because of the new Muse album The Resistance. A lot of the songs reference 1984 and I wanted to know what they were talking about.

Overall I really enjoyed the book, and although I had some notion of what it was about, I really didn't foresee the ending.

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The second book I read is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

I don't think I've ever read a book as old as this (published 1886). The language in the book seemed odd to me, but the more I read it the more I enjoyed it. Really, the only thing I knew about this story was from the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentleman and I know it was far from what the novel originally was.

After reading I really enjoyed it. It unfolded like a mystery and part of me wishes I knew nothing about it going in.

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The book I just finished, thanks to my 6 hours of being delayed in an airport yesterday, was The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling.

I honestly had no idea what to expect with this book. I have seen the Disney movie, but don't really remember it and after reading this I'm wanting to watch it again to catch the differences.

I had no idea that it was actually a collection of stories. I thought it was just about Mowgli and the jungle, but it also had one about a seal, an elephant, a conversation amongst animals, and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (a story I have read, but didn't realize was from this book). It think so far this book is my favorite.

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The book I just started is The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I know it shares the same word in the title as the last book I read, but I know enough about it to know it's not about the same type of jungle. I'm looking forward to reading this and what got me thinking about it again was a documentary I just watched called Food Inc. It covered the corporatization of the food industry and part of it talked about the meat packing plants. I'm one chapter in and so far am enjoying it. I'll keep you posted on what I think about it.