The Classics Club: Spin#33

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was putting a list together for the Classics Club Spin #32 and now here comes another.

For those unfamiliar with the “spin” the idea is to make a “Spin List” of 20 books from our classics club reading list. A random number will be selected by the club leaders on Sunday, March 19. The challenge will be to read whatever book falls under that number on my Spin List by April 30, 2023.

I’ve had varying success with the classics club spin in the past but did manage to read (though not yet review) the last one — Old Wives Tale by Arnold Bennett. Let’s hope things go well for me this time also.

My spin list is very similar to the one I used back in December. I’ve removed two that I’ve since read and also removed Can You Forgive Her by Anthony Trollope which is the first of his Palliser series. The BookerTalk household has been watching the 1974 dramatisation of the series over the last few months so I think I’ve had a surfeit of Trollope for now.

Fortunately I have plenty of unread titles to use as substitutes because I’ve barely made a start on my second Classics Club list. I’m adding into the mix novels by Henry James, Jean Rhys and Stella Gibbons.

Here’s my spin list.

19th Century Classics

1. Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell (1853)
2. No Name by Wilkie Collins (1862)
3. Armadale by Wilkie Collins (1864)
4. New Grub Street by George Gissing (1891)
5. What Maisie Knew by Henry James (1897)

20th Century Classics

6. Ethan Frome  by Edith Wharton:  (1911)
7. O Pioneers by Willa Cather (1913)
8. Quartet by Jean Rhys (1929)
9. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932)
10. Tender Is The Night by Scott Fitzgerald (1934)

International Classics

11. The Nose  by Nikolay Gogol(1836) — Ukrania/Russia
12. Cousin Bette by Honoré De Balzac(1846) — France
13. The Conquest of Plassans by Emile Zola (1874) — France
14. Nada by Carmen Laforet (1944) — Spain
15. Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (1947) — Germany

Celtic Classics

16. Stranger Within The Gates by Bertha Thomas (1912) — Wales
17. Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915) — Scotland
18. The Citadel by A J Cronin (1937) — Scotland
19. A Toy Epic by Emyr Humphreys (1958) — Wales
20. The Bell by Iris Murdoch (1958) — Ireland

I’m hoping I get something that is not too long because my reading speed is glacial at the moment. I want something challenging but not too complicated. Tender Is The Night maybe or Quartet? If you’ve read either of these books, do let me know what you thought of them.