Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Classics Club Spin #32

 


I've been a little slack about spins lately, but I'm getting organized for this one.

You likely know the drill: a list of twenty books, a random number generator, and a book to read by the 29th of January, 2023. So...straight to the list:

1.) James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son
2.) James Baldwin's Go Tell It On the Mountain
3.) Thomas Hardy's Wessex Tales
4.) Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh
5.) Goethe's Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship
6.) Henry James' Wings of the Dove
7.) W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge
8.) Virginia Woolf's The Waves
9.) Balzac's Cousin Bette
10.) Boccaccio's The Decameron
11.) Bulgakov's The Heart of a Dog
12.) Andrei Bely's Petersburg
13.) William Sherman's Memoirs
14.) Apollonius Rhodius' Argonautica
15.) Harry Mark Petrakis' A Dream of Kings
16.) Dawn Powell's Turn, Magic Wheel
17.) Eudora Welty's Delta Wedding
18.) Nella Larsen's Quicksand
19.) Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters
20.) George Gissing's New Grub Street

I'm fairly determined to read Wessex Tales in the near future as well as Notes of a Native Son. I'm currently halfway through Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship.

Are you doing the spin this time? Which look good to you? Which should I be sure not to miss?

24 comments:

  1. I'm doing it too, Reese. I have also one Balzac's in my list, but it's Eugenie Grandet (I'd love you to get Cousin Bete). The rest, I haven't read yet, though I *almost* read Go Tell It on the Mountain last month, but bailed out for another less serious book.. :))
    Anyway, good luck and have fun with the spin!

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    1. Cousin Bette would be fun. Go Tell It On The Mountain is pretty short, I think, so that would be OK!

      Thanks!

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  2. Wings of the Dove is the only book on your list that I've read, back in my twenties during my Henry James phase.
    After reading Passing for the last cc spin, I'd be keen to try Quicksand.

    Happy spinning!!

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  3. The only one I've read is Wives & Daughters - all the others look quite intimidating!

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    1. Some of them are short and we have all of January, so I have some hope!

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  4. I loved Go Tell it on the Mountain! And Quicksand too -- I read that pretty recently. I hope you get one of them. While I liked some other James novels, I found the Wings of the Dove to be intolerable and quit 1/3 in. And I did read Bocaccio several years ago, and if you're going to tackle it, I hope you like bawdy stories about naughty monks. That's about 80% of the content.

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    1. Wings of the Dove would be the challenging one, no doubt. The other late James I've read were a bit of a struggle.

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    2. Well good luck! I got a challenging one too but not this level.

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  5. Ah, great list! I was really tempted to include Wings of the Dove this time around, but then realized it was a bit longer than what I felt I could commit to right now. Good luck!

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    1. If The WIngs of the Dove does spin up, it will definitely take me until January to read it. ;-)

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  6. I'm not sure if I'm going to do the spin this time, but if you get The Decameron or Argonautica, I just might have to join you. C.S. Lewis just mentioned Argonautica in his "Letters" that I'm reading. I'm looking forward to seeing what you get!

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    1. I got together a list after slacking off--you should, too! ;-)

      We'd talked about reading the Decameron before, but I never did at least. It would be a fun one to read together.

      I've been thinking about the Argonautica since reading all those other books about the Black Sea earlier in the year. It's not actually on my classics club list, but I just threw it on there for this.

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    2. Yes, let's try to read The Decameron this year! I have a busy beginning of the year; I'm planning on starting Tom Jones in February, but after that, I'm free.

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    3. That would be fun. Maybe March then?

      Tom Jones is a lot of fun.

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  7. Great list! I enjoyed Wives and Daughters and Cousin Bette, but they are the only two I've read. I hope the spin gives you something you're happy with.

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    1. Thanks! Those would both be pretty fun choices.

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  8. It's a good list of books. I'm a fan of Dawn Powell, though I haven't read Turn, Magic Wheel yet. And I love Henry James. Hope you spin a good book. :D

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    1. Thanks!

      I've got that Library of America volume with several Dawn Powell novels, and I've liked all the other ones in it I've read so that would definitely be a good spin choice.

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  9. I've read #s 5 and 10 from your list and am excited to see which number we'll get.

    Thanks for visiting my list.

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    1. We'll know soon! And thank you for stopping by.

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  10. NancyElin: I’ve read Baldwin’s book (#2)…impressive. Cousin Bette….she’s all about getting revenge! Way of the Flesh: the book may not resonate with all readers but get through first ‘short’ 50 chapters (total 86)…you will be rewarded for your perseverance!

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    1. It's Wings of the Dove, I see, but thanks for the notes. When I get to Way of All Flesh I'll remember to persevere!

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