The latest Classics Club Spin has been announced. To join in, I choose twenty books from my classics list. On Sunday, 18th June, the Classics Club will post a number from 1 through 20. The goal is to read whatever book falls under that number on my Spin List by Sunday, 6th August 2023.
So, here is my list of 20 books for the spin...
- Show Boat (1926) by Edna Ferber [299 pages]
- Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury
- The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) by James Cain
- My Ántonia (1918) by Willa Cather
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) by Roald Dahl
- Goodbye to Berlin (1939) by Christopher Isherwood
- The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame
- The Quiet American (1958) by Graham Greene [180 pages]
- The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) by Patricia Highsmith
- Flush (1933) by Virginia Woolf
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962) by Shirley Jackson
- A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L'Engle
- The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) by Carson McCullers
- Cannery Row (1945) by John Steinbeck
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson
- Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker [420 pages]
- The 13 Clocks (1950) by James Thurber
- The Warden (1855) by Anthony Trollope
- Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe [209 pages]
- The Nebuly Coat (1903) by John Meade Falkner
This list has no surprises, it is identical to my last list with one addition to replace the one I read last time. I am hoping for a shorter book since I am reading from my 20 Books of Summer list now.
Are there any of these you recommend?
24 comments:
I've read six of them, my favourites being The Wind in the Willows and The Warden. I'd like to reread Jekyll and Hyde again at some stage too. Hope you get something you like!
Have genuinely liked:
The Postman Always Rings Twice
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (though I was 7 or so at the time, and the meanness did not go unobserved by me (also the sequel, though it less memorable)! Liked his JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH better about then, and had begun to read his adult short stories not long after)
The Wind in the Willows
The Quiet American
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Flush (probably the most cheerful Woolf novel, almost necessarily)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
A Wrinkle in Time, which I read when I was ten and knew How it should be filmed...apparently better than those who have actually been allowed to do so...and a warning: many adults I know read it when they were adults and found it woefully lacking.
Cannery Row
Jekyll and Hyde (at most a novella, like the kid-aimed books, so good for brevity)
and The 13 Clocks.
DRACULA can be a bit turgid...though I'm looking forward to picking up Stoker's own revised text, written for translation into Swedish (IIRC), which I gather is streamlined. I've been meaning to read my copy of THINGS FALL APART for some years (decades) now.
Good reading! As 6 August 1964 is my natal emergence day, if you read the 1964 Dahl last, I hope Nothing about it reminds you of me!
Cath, all of those would be fine results of the spin. I would especially like to read The Warden, but #18 is the number that was picked last time, so it probably be picked again so soon. I meant to have The Wind in the Willows read by this time, so it would be good too.
Todd, I think I may have read some of the Roald Dahl books to my son when he was young but that was far enough in the past that I can't remember. That is a nice coincidence about your date of birth and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and when this event culminates.
Both The Postman Always Rings Twice and The Talented Mr. Ripley scare me a bit, but still want to read them.
Until recently I had not realized that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was novella-length. In one edition I have there is another story with it, and I did not realize that.
I have read both good and bad things about A Wrinkle in Time so I will have to see for myself.
Dracula is probably the longest book on the list but I will be happy reading that too.
Hi Tracy, A very good list, I have read a number of these books but for me the standout is Things Fall Apart. I read it this year and it's excellent and not very long.
THINGS FALL APART is both great and short. SO I am rooting for that too.
Oh, Tracy, you have such great choices here! I couldn't even tell you which one I hope you get. But whichever it is, I hope you really enjoy it.
Kathy, There are a lot of good books on this list. I would be happy if the number for Things Fall Apart came up. I have had it a long time and it is time to read it.
Patti, another positive comment on Things Fall Apart. It has been buried in a box for a while and not cataloged for all these years.
Thanks, Margot, there are a lot of exceptional books on this list, so just about anything will work for me. And tomorrow I will find out.
You have such great choices on the list, no matter which one comes up for you, I don't see how you can go wrong. I see a couple of personal favorites on the list (The Postman Always Rings Twice and The Talented Mr. Ripley), each of which proved to me just how wonderful that genre can be.
Sam, I think I will find both The Postman Always Rings Twice and The Talented Mr. Ripley challenging reads, but I know they are written by talented writers and I hope I will enjoy them too. As you note, most of the books on this list would be fine to read soon.
I don't remember the book in detail, but I do remember being affected by it. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
I also have The Postman Always Rings Twice on my list this time! But it's on Number 9 for me. Perhaps one of us will get to read it this time around.
Happy reading!
Elza Reads
So many good books on your list! I'm a big fan of Dracula and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But I also really enjoyed My Antonia and Flush was kind of a fun little read. And of course, I love A Wrinkle in Time. Can't wait to see what you spin! :D
Lots of goodies on your list - Jekyll and Hyde and The Warden, among others. Bit I'd like you to get Show Boat because I had no idea there was a book before the film, and I'd like to hear what you think of it. We'll soon know - good luck!
Harvee, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter would be the perfect book to be picked because it is on my 20 Books of Summer List. I haven't read anything by Carson McCullers. I thought the number would have been announced by now but it hasn't been.
Elza, I went over and checked out your list. Maybe one of us will get The Postman Always Rings Twice. You have a lot of great picks on your list.
Lark, I look forward to any of those, although Dracula is probably the longest on my list. The others (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, My Antonia, and Flush) would all be exploring new authors and new horizons for me.
FictionFan, it will be interesting when I read Show Boat, because the first version of that film (with Irene Dunne) is one of my favorite musicals and I have watched it many times. Ferber also wrote Giant, and it would be interesting to compare film and book on that one too.
Lots of good choices! I can't recall why but I was reading Madeleine L'Engle's obituary yesterday. I am a big fan of A Wrinkle in Time (I remember finding the cover unappealing, but eventually checking it out of my school library very tentatively and loving it from the first sentence on). My favorite book of hers is And Both Were Young, which is set in a Swiss boarding school.
My youngest niece recently played Charlie in the junior version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I assume you have followed the controversy about removing what people think objectionable in his books? There is a fat character in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who was removed from the play (and presumably from the new edition), which meant one less part for the 6th graders. We wondered why they couldn't remove the word "fat" and still have him be greedy. The outcry from fans resulted in the publisher decided to make multiple versions available.
Constance, the spin number randomly picked was 13 and that means I will be reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. I am happy with that because it is also on my 20 Books of Summer list.
I do look forward to reading A Wrinkle in Time; it is another book that I don't know why I haven't already read it.
I have not paid too much attention to the various publishers making changes to old books because I find the whole idea objectionable. But yes, I did know that Roald Dahl's books are ones that will be changed. Making multiple versions available at least seems like a reasonable compromise.
Some spam to kill, directly above.
Meanwhile, here's this:
https://socialistjazz.blogspot.com/2023/06/fridays-forgotten-books-and-more-17.html
with some belated links to your own work!
Todd, thanks for the link to your post for Forgotten Books and more. There are some posts listed there that I missed and will get back to. (And I did delete those two comments.)
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