Clarissa; a year long project

There is one novel that has been staring or glaring at me for years. It sits lonely at the bottom of my shelves gathering dust. Occasionally I look at it and avert my eyes instantly because I feel guilty. Why do I feel guilty? I know I will love this novel. I knew I would from the moment I picked it up in a bookstore all those years ago but for some reason I just couldn't pick it up. It's MASSIVE but the size isn't what intimidates me. It's the words; the density; the feeling that to read it and understand it and love it I would have to take it slow and let the words seep into my veins. 

What is this novel? It's Clarissa by Samuel Richardson. No book intimidates me more than this one but when I looked at the novel this morning I felt something new: I know I need to read it and if I don't do it now I never will. I have thought long and hard about how I want to read it and I've decided to do a year long read. It's an epistolary novel and the letters inside correspond to dates of the year. The first entry is January 10th and the last is December 18th. The challenge is going to be sticking to the dates. I know at one point or another I will want to leave it be for a while or read fast but I will do my best to stick to the timeline I've set out for myself. 

So this is the schedule I'm aiming for: 

January:  

• Vol. 1: Letters 1-6

February:

• Vol. 1 - Letters 7-10 

March:

• Vol. 1 - Letters 11-44 

AND

• Vol. 2 - Letters 1-28

April:  

• Vol. 2 - Letters 29-48

AND

• Vol. 3 - Letters 1-62

AND

• Vol. 4 - Letters 1-6

May: 

• Vol. 4 - Letters 7-55

AND

• Vol. 5 - Letters 1-9

June:

• Vol. 5 - Letters 10-36

AND 

• Vol. 6 - Letters 1-51

July: 

• Vol. 6 - Letters 52-73

AND

• Vol. 7 - Letters 1-63

August: 

• Vol. 7 - Letters 63-84

AND

• Vol. 8 - Letters 1-47

September:

• Vol. 8 - Letters 48-71

AND

• Vol. 9 - Letters 1-48

October: 

• Vol 9 - Letters 49-59

November: 

• Vol 9 - Letters 60-62

December: 

• Vol. 9 - Letters 62-64
• Conclusion
• Postscript 

If you've never read Clarissa before or feel like reading it again at a slower pace you are welcome to join me. I'll be writing monthly posts (if all goes to plan which if you've been following me for a while you'll know this is less than probable) and tagging my updates on twitter with #clarissaRA.

I'm also doing a RUSSIAN LITERATURE CHALLENGE which I'm working on now and the post should be up tomorrow or later today.