Challenge Accepted.

I have often mentioned on my Facebook page that I have finished reading yet another novel. I often give my opinion of its style, storyline, characters, what have you. And every time, I always finish with the same phrase:

"And now, it's time to read my favorite book...
the next one."

This is very true. While there are a number of books that I could call my favorite, and they each have a special place in my mind, I have an insatiable hunger to keep reading, and keep experiencing new dimensions of literature.

I can credit this desire to expand my horizons to my brother Don. About 12 years ago, I was in a rut. Listening to the same albums, re-reading the same books and eating the same food from the same restaurants, over and over again, ad nauseum. He finally called me out on it. He told me that I wasn't getting anything new, and as such was not growing as a person.

I had to admit, he had a point. So I read 4 books he recommended, back-to-back-to-back-to-back. I intentionally started listening to genres of music I had previously dismissed as "not for me." I went to the Bite of Seattle, and intentionally sought out new and unusual dishes I had never before considered letting pass my lips.

I like to think this has helped me to grow as a person, and know a bit more about the world. Not every new experience has been excellent (I don't think I'll be eating deep-fried alligator on a stick again,) but they have all been something new; I don't think that can really be considered bad.

Without this desire for the uncharted, I never would have tasted yak burgers at Country Cousin (a really excellent restaurant in Centralia.) I would not have started listening to Daft Punk or The Flaming Lips (I now love both of those groups.) And I can't even count the number of amazing books I never would have cracked open if I had not made the conscious decision to get out of my literary rut.

And so, having recently re-read a couple of really excellent books, I knew I wanted something new. Something challenging. Something I could be proud of. And then the idea hit me..

The Matilda Challenge.

For those of you who were not fortunate enough to have grown up reading the works of Roald Dahl, I will clarify. One of his books, (in my opinion, his masterpiece;) is titled Matilda. It tells the story of a young girl who is intelligent beyond her mere four years of age, who uses her awesome brain power to stand up to her bullying family, and eventually the cruel headmistress of her elementary school.

However, before she gets on with this, she expands her mind at the ideal location for mental challenge: the local library. Over the course of several weeks, she selects and devours several literary classics, some of which would challenge even the most avid bookworm.

Matilda lists these fourteen books. I have gone back and looked up this list (I had to use Google, as I happily gave my copy of Matilda to the wonderful young daughter of a friend, a few years ago.) I have already read four of the fourteen books on this list. I figure that if I can find the other ten, I may be able to live up to the challenge of finishing all of them. The list is as follows:

-Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
-Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
-Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
-Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Already read it)
-Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardie
-Gone to Earth by Mary Webb
-Kim by Rudyard Kipling
-The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
-The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (Already read it)
-The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
-The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Already read it)
-The Good Companions by J.B. Priestly
-Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
-Animal Farm by George Orwell (Already read it)

The first question I had for myself was: what kind of time frame should I set for myself? These are ten rather daunting novels I am setting myself up to attempt. I figure that I can break them up with other books in the meantime, but I should still keep a deadline in mind, just to make sure the fire lit under my ass is still kindled.

I figure that I should be done with this book list (whether through satisfied completion, bored resignation or utter frustration) by the end of this year. So, come January 1, 2015, I will know whether I am up to the Matilda Challenge.

Of course, the Snohomish County library system does not carry all ten of these titles; if I am unable to find a copy of every book, what am I to do then? I figure I may leave it up to you, my dear readers. If a book is unavailable, I will ask my friends on Facebook and my followers on Twitter to help me decide what more commonly available novel is an acceptable substitute for what cannot be found at the library or bookstore.

I am surprisingly excited at this new challenge I am undertaking. I'm not entirely certain I will be able or willing to complete the task I've set at hand for myself, but it feels good to metaphorically throw my hat over the wall and publicly accept this intellectual mission.

...Dear Lord, do I sound pompous when I talk like that.