Tuesday, January 29, 2013

"A Modern March" Announcement and Sign-up Post.

It has been quite some time since I have hosted a Classics themed event on the blog, and that dry spell is coming to an end in March!

I'm really excited to announce "A Modern March," a literary event focusing on the Modernist period. The event will begin on March 1 and end on March 31. The goal will be to read and focus on Modernist pieces of literature and learn more about that era.

To be perfectly honest, this is a literary movement I am not as comfortable with. While I have read Woolf (love her), Faulkner (love him), and a few selections from other Modern writers, I'm not as comfortable with their work as a whole. This is the perfect opportunity to remedy that!

If you have no idea what constitutes a piece of "Modern" literature (and whenever I say Modern, I don't mean contemporary lit), it generally refers to literature written between the very late 19th century and the halfway point of the 20th century. In general, Modernist writers experimented with style, form, and theme. They broke away from the traditional viewpoints found in literature until that point and strove to focus on the darker and more unpleasant sides of life. This is also the time period where stream-of-consciousness made its roaring appearance.

Some of the big writers of the Modernist period were:
  • William Faulkner
  • Virginia Woolf
  • Ezra Pound
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Ernest Hemingway
  • Samuel Beckett
  • Gertrude Stein
  • e e cummings
  • T.S.Eliot
  • James Joyce
There are more, of course, but those are the heavy hitters of the period and those most closely associated with the movement.

To participate, please put up a post on your blog stating your intentions, then link it back here on the Mr. Linky widget. Starting on March 1, begin reading your Modernist literature selections. There will be a master post here for you to link your reviews throughout the month, and there will be a prize at the end of the event. I also have a sponsored giveaway for a new edition of Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise that will happen at some point during the month!

I hope you're as excited as I am-make sure you sign up!



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Posted by at 7:30 AM
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43 comments:

  1. LoriJanuary 29, 2013 at 8:58 AM

    I feel special being the first one to sign up! I am really looking forward to this. Thank you so much for hosting. We should do a readathon to kick off the month. Maybe?

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  2. AndiJanuary 29, 2013 at 10:09 AM

    I LOVE this period!!!! I took a Modernism class in grad school and it was transcendent and fabulous. Would love any excuse to dig back into this period.

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  3. Melissa (Avid Reader)January 29, 2013 at 11:11 AM

    I'm in, I'll definitely be reading Garden of Eden by Hemingway but I may add a few others. Would William's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof be considered "Modern" lit?

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  4. UnknownJanuary 29, 2013 at 11:18 AM

    I'm excited! Thank you for hosting!

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  5. anarmchairbytheseaJanuary 29, 2013 at 11:19 AM

    Definitely want to do this! I have Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned to read and also Mrs Dalloway :-) I'll write my post once the babys in bed tonight! You always have such great events!

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  6. Roof Beam ReaderJanuary 29, 2013 at 12:57 PM

    You know I'm in! P.S. There's a little something extra in the mail for you, with the 2 books I sent you on Saturday. I knew you were going to be hosting this event, so I sent along something that I hope might be helpful/useful. :)

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  7. theduckthiefJanuary 29, 2013 at 2:23 PM

    I've been looking for excuse to tackle several of these authors so this is perfect for me!

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  8. oJanuary 29, 2013 at 4:09 PM

    Looking forward to this one, Allie. I shall write my post in the next few weeks :)

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  9. PattyJanuary 29, 2013 at 4:16 PM

    Count me in! Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Woolf - what can be better! Thanks for hosting Allie!

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  10. UnknownJanuary 29, 2013 at 4:32 PM

    I need something to make me sit down and read these authors and this challenge should do the trick!

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  11. CaroJanuary 29, 2013 at 6:34 PM

    I'm definitely tempted to do this, but I don't know whether I'll have the time. I was going to focus on my half-finished books, but then again... I guess I could read at least one (yes, edition of Mrs. Dalloway that stares at me from your place in my bookshelves, I mean you).

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  12. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2013 at 8:30 PM

    So, this is going to be my first reading challenge of this sort, and I'm very much looking forward to it!

    I'm setting aside D.H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, and T.S. Elliot for the occasion. :)

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  13. Roof Beam ReaderJanuary 30, 2013 at 9:35 AM

    I'm thinking of hosting a read-along of "The Waste Land and Other Porms" by T.S. Eliot. Seems to be quite a few people planning to read him...hmmm...

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    Replies
    1. EmilyFebruary 16, 2013 at 12:44 PM

      I'd love to do a read-along of The Waste Land. I don't know that I'll be actually joining Modern March, since I'm rather busy with school work and don't want to commit just yet, but I'm always up for some Eliot.

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  14. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2013 at 12:17 PM

    Sounds like fun! There are several modernist works that I have been wanting to read for years and never got around to. Hope I have the time.

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  15. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2013 at 1:43 PM

    Count me in! I'll be reading As I Lay Dying and one other work to be determined!

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  16. AnonymousJanuary 30, 2013 at 7:54 PM

    After recently becoming completely obsessed with the lure of The Lost Generation, I took A Farewell To Arms out of the library. Looking forward to reading that and a few of the other authors listed above for A Modern March!

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    Replies
    1. Roof Beam ReaderJanuary 31, 2013 at 7:06 PM

      A Farewell to Arms is the book that made me fall in love with Hemingway. It's still probably my favorite, though Garden of Eden comes very close.

      Delete
  17. PatriciaJanuary 31, 2013 at 2:00 AM

    I am looking forward to this event and reading some of Gertrude Stein.

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  18. JennJanuary 31, 2013 at 7:27 PM

    I'm not officially participating. But may pick up a novel or two. I think it's awesome that your hosting this and I hope you like A Farewell to Arms. It's one of my favorite novels of all time. I just love it so much.

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  19. Melissa VizcarraFebruary 1, 2013 at 7:36 PM

    I was planning to read more Hemingway so this event is perfect :). I'm going to read The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms and finally To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, because I just love her.

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  20. Mary R.February 4, 2013 at 1:38 PM

    This sounds like a great topic to focus my reading on next month. Thanks for hosting!

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  21. EllieFebruary 5, 2013 at 11:19 AM

    I'm looking forward to March now. Going to finally tackle some Faulkner. Thanks for hosting!

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  22. CatFebruary 8, 2013 at 3:33 PM

    Thanks for hosting, Allie - looking forward to this event.

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  23. AnonymousFebruary 8, 2013 at 4:41 PM

    I must confess. I'm not too sure about modernism, and I rather like the more traditional storytellers who were rather sidelined by it, but I'm planning to read the first volume of Virginia Woolf's diaries and then, hopefully, begin working my way through her fiction. Thank you for doing this and giving me that push!

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  24. RivFebruary 10, 2013 at 1:44 PM

    That'll be my first official event to take part in while book blogging. Yay! Thanks! Can't wait! (Yes I am excited!)

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  25. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2013 at 12:06 PM

    Looking forward to this!! This is a great literary era =)

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  26. JeanFebruary 11, 2013 at 6:40 PM

    I too am not very sure about the moderns, but I'm going to dip my toes in with Eliot. Here goes nothing!

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  27. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2013 at 9:59 PM

    Just discovered your blog and I'm looking forward to reading along with everyone next month!

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  28. AnonymousFebruary 14, 2013 at 1:57 AM

    I will be reading Eliot too. I'm not familiar with this type of literature, but excited to find out. I'm reading all of the preloaded classics on my ereader and disappointed there's not one book by Faulkner, Woolf or Fitzgerald. I feel like I may be missing out on something ...

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  29. AnonymousFebruary 15, 2013 at 4:54 PM

    Excited for this event! I will be reading The Sun Also Rises and Mrs. Dalloway (or Lolita if Mrs. Dalloway is chosen for the Classics Spin!).

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  30. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2013 at 11:56 AM

    I'm a little behind on getting a post up, but know that I will be joining in on this event, and I'm very excited! Thanks for hosting. :)

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  31. MabelFebruary 16, 2013 at 12:09 PM

    I'm in! But I don't really intend to do anything but read and journal. So I'm a non-joiner. :-)

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  32. AnonymousFebruary 17, 2013 at 9:08 PM

    Hello, is Hamsun a modernist writer? I just saw Hunger on the photo so I thought I should ask. If he is, I would love to join this event since I'm really looking forward to reading Mysteries in March. Thanks!

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  33. vikk simmonsFebruary 18, 2013 at 10:21 PM

    Well, I'm in. I've realized I can make a lot of headway with my reading lists, although I must confess these are short works.
    my list

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  34. DonnaFebruary 19, 2013 at 2:38 AM

    Thanks for hosting this event. It will give me a lens through which I can look at this classic.

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  35. AnonymousFebruary 20, 2013 at 2:31 PM

    I am excited and hope to read Ulysses and Mrs. Dalloway.

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  36. AnonymousFebruary 27, 2013 at 10:21 PM

    Signing up tonight! Better late than never :-)

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  37. a barmy bookwormMarch 5, 2013 at 10:56 AM

    Thanks for hosting. Soooo sorry I'm so late. Don't know where the time's going... :0)

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  38. Marcelo YanezMarch 5, 2013 at 1:36 PM

    I'm in the middle of Our Lady of the Flowers by Jean Genet. Absalom Absalom by Faulkner is next.

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