It’s time for another Classics Club Spin!
Here’s how it works: I post a numbered list of 20 titles from my Classics Club list. On Sunday, April 19 the Classics Club curators will post a number from 1 through 20. I then have to read whatever title has that number on my list by June 1, 2020.
Here’s my list:
- Connell, Evan S. Mr. Bridge
- Jackson, Shirley. Just an Ordinary Day: Stories
- Highsmith, Patricia. The Tremor of Forgery
- Cather, Willa. O Pioneers!
- Dostoevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment
- Faulkner, William. Absalom, Absalom!
- McEwan, Ian. Atonement
- Nabokov, Vladimir. Pale Fire
- Hardy, Thomas. Far From the Madding Crowd
- Agee, James. A Death in the Family
- Vonnegut, Kurt. Cat’s Cradle
- Rendell, Ruth. The Crocodile Bird
- Baker, Nicholson. The Mezzanine
- Jewett, Sarah Orne. The Country of the Pointed Firs
- Howard, Elizabeth Jane. The Long View
- Tevis, Walter. The Man Who Fell to Earth
- Piercy, Marge. Woman on the Edge of Time
- James, Henry. The Beast in the Jungle
- Fowles, John. The French Lieutenant’s Woman
- Wharton, Edith. Ghost Stories
I’m excited to find out which of these books I’ll be reading.
And the winner is . . .
#6, so I’ll be reading Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner for the June 1 deadline.
To be honest, this is not one I would have chosen on my own. But I’ve been reading indulgently during the COVID-19 shutdown, so maybe it’s time, finally, to stretch a bit.
Update
© 2020 by Mary Daniels Brown
Ohhh The French Lieutenant’s Woman – one my all time favourites. I must be due for a reread!
Thanks, Brona! I’ve been wanting to reread it for a long time. (I read it way back when it first came out.)
Yes! That’s one I immediately flagged as a favorite of mine.
Great list! I loved O, Pioneers (Willa Cather is a favorite of mine); also The Country of the Pointed Firs is a lovely relaxing read. Far From the Madding Crowd is my favorite Thomas Hardy and the most recent film adaptation with Carey Mulligan is excellent. Good luck with your spin pick!
Thanks, Karen. My heart swelled a bit when I included Country of Pointed Firs because I thought of what a comforting read it would be in this troubled time.
Those books look good, any of them would be a good choice. I see other people’s lists and want to add the books to my classics list.
Thanks for commenting, Tracy. I agree with you about seeing others’ lists and wanting to add their books to my own list. But remember that after we finish our own lists, we can create another!
I’m seeing books by Willa Cather on so many lists but perhaps it’s just I’m noticing them because I recently finished reading her collection of short stories, Youth and the Bright Medusa. I hope you enjoy whatever the spin sends you.
Thanks, Cathy. I still have several of Cather’s major novels to catch up on before I move on to her stories.
Atonement is brilliant and the film would be good to watch subsequently. But I also love Far From the Madding Crowd. Hope you get one of those
Atonement would be a reread for me, while Far From the Madding Crowd would be a first-time read. I’m up for either one. Thanks for commenting.
Pale Fire is a most unusual read. Hope you enjoy whatever you get. Nice choices.
Thanks. I read quite a lot of Nabokov about 40 years ago, so I’m due for some rereading.
Good luck with your Spin – I confess I find Faulkner totally intimidating and have never thought of even trying him. Looking forward to your thoughts, if you do make it through.
Thanks, Lory. This book is supposedly a very challenging read. We’ll see what happens.