Favourite Historical Figures: Part One

Side note: this list does not include figures from Ancient Greece/Rome or mythology because that’s a whole other ballpark.

This is a pretty random list with no discernible order as far as I can tell, and I missed a whole lot out to make it short and sweet. Here goes!

• Marie Antoinette – I really don’t know what is so fascinating about Marie Antoinette but I am instantly drawn to anything regarding her or history during the period she ruled. I just find her and the history/culture that surrounds her so wonderfully engaging (and I will admit that I simply adore the 2006 Coppola film and had to include the picture above!) Perhaps it’s because of the intrigue surrounding Versailles, also one of my favourite palaces of all time, which brings me on to:

• Louis XIV (and his brother Philippe, Duke of Orleans) – I recently binge-watched the BBC show Versailles over a course of two nights, and, while a lot of the show is probably over-exaggerated and it does mingle rumour and fact, its sheer opulence reminded me of why I have remained interested in Louis the Sun King and his brother. In fact, when studying Charles II A-level history, I spent most of my time waiting for Louis to pop up (sadly, he was only ever relevant to my course once.)

• Lord Bryon – Anything to do with the Romantic movement I love, and I was originally going to put John Keats/Percy Shelley on this list, as they were who introduced me to Bryon, but Bryon comes first because of the ultimate sensationalism that must have surrounded his name during his lifetime and the often hilarious dramatics that are recorded for people like me to read, enjoy and then steadily become obsessed with Bryon like so many people of his day were.

• William Shakespeare – I mean, he’s Will Shakespeare. I honestly don’t know why I am so interested in Will other than I have had to study so many of his plays and there is not much recorded information about him. The intrigue probably helps, but there is just something about Shakespeare that is so interesting and makes me want to find out more.

– Rhan

 

 

 

The Classics Booktag

I was scrolling though different book blogs when I stumbled across this tag I really liked. It seemed like the perfect tag for a lazy Sunday!

Link to the original tag: http://itsabooksworld.booklikes.com/post/1104267/the-classics-booktag-original

1. An overhyped classic you really didn’t like: 

I would have to say On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Not that it was by any means a bad book, just that, in my opinion, the hype far exceeded my reading experience and how I felt after finishing it.

2. Favourite time period to read about:

I love anything during the French Revolution/France in general and anything set in 19th/20th century Russia.

3. Favourite fairy-tale:

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson.

4. What is the most embarrassing classic you haven’t read yet:

Confession: I’ve never read any Jane Austen! I have just ordered and received a gorgeous copy of all of her works though, and plan to plough through them this summer!

5. Top 5 classics you would like to read (soon):

I actually have copies of all these books except Rebecca, so I really do have no excuse for not having read them yet.

• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
• Middlemarch by George Eliot 
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

6. Favourite modern book/series based on a classic:

I haven’t actually read many series based on classics that I can recall.

7. Favourite movie version/tv-series based on a classic:

I have chosen three for this because I’m indecisive. I’m not sure if I’m cheating by including Shakespeare as a ‘classic’, BUT Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet from 1996 and Russel T Davies’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream adaption from this year are two of my all-time favourite adaptions ever. Not to mention 1968 Romeo and Juliet. Oh, and 2003’s Peter Pan. God, I love that movie.

8. Worst classic to movie adaptation: 

I don’t think I’ve ever actually watched many adaptions of classics, or at least not ones that I remember as being truly awful!

9. Favourite edition(s) you’d like to collect more classics from:

Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classics! I’m from England, so the versions sold in Waterstones are usually a lot more expensive than they are in the U.S and they have half the collection, which makes me so annoyed. I have around four Leatherbound Classics, but my dream is to own the whole collection!

10. An underhyped classic you’d recommend to everyone:

This is  not underhyped in the slightest, but I would definitely recommend The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde to everybody. It’s one of my all-time favourites.

– Rhan