CL ~ Reading the Classics #3: Wilkie Collins

We're returning to Victorian literature for the next Classics swap, inspired especially by a book I recently browsed through which said The Moonstone was one of the earliest examples of 'detective fiction' in English literary history. So this month's author is Wilkie Collins

For those of you who are new to the Classics swaps, each swap will ask you to read one book which you haven't read from a specific author. If you have read everything that author has written, then you can go back and re-read your favourite, but the idea is to read those classics which you might not have read before. Once you have read the book, you need to write a letter to your partner about it. In line with all of the other Carpe Librum swaps, I am going to give you a series of questions to guide you in what to write, but it isn't essential. But please write at least one A4 page.

• What was the story about? Did you know the story before you read it?
• Did you like the book? What did you like about it?
• What, if anything, did you dislike or find difficult about it?
• Why do you think this author/book is a classic?
• Would you read any more by this author?
• Have you seen any films/TV series/other adaptations of this book? If so, how did they compare?
• How is this book relevant today, if at all?

So choose a book by Wilkie Collins. You can see his bibliography here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkie_Collins

As the classics, and especially Collins, tend not to be quick or easy to read, I will give you 4 weeks from end of sign up to get this swap out, but of course, you can start reading straight away.

In case anyone wants a bit of a taste of authors to come, I am planning on looking at George Orwell, Dostoyevsky and D.H. Lawrence in coming months, but these are all subject to change. This is just to whet your appetite!