The Classics Club: Spin#35

I failed with the last spin and never got around to reading In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming because I was in the midst of 20booksof summer and had failed to include space for a spin title. Let’s see if I can do better this time around.

For those unfamiliar with the “spin” the idea is to make a “Spin List” of 20 books from our classics club reading list before Sunday, 15 October when random number will be selected. The challenge will be to read whatever book falls under that number on my Spin List by 3 December 2023.

I’ve made a few tweaks in the list I used last time around, mainly in the section I’ve called international classics. If the classic club spin fairies are reading this, I’m hoping they’ll grant my wish for either New Grub Street by George Gissing or Tender Is The Night  by F Scott Fitzgerald.

If this list was yours, which titles would you be hoping to see come up in the spin??

Here’s my spin list.

19th Century Classics

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

20th Century Classics

5. Ethan Frome  by Edith Wharton:  (1911)
6. O Pioneers by Willa Cather (1913)
7. Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh (1928)
8. Quartet by Jean Rhys (1929)
9. Tender Is The Night by F Scott Fitzgerald (1934)

International Classics

10. The Nose  by Nikolay Gogol (1836) — Ukraine/Russia
11. Cousin Bette by Honoré De Balzac (1846) — France
12. Skylark, by Dezső Kosztolányi (1924) — Hungary
13. Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata (1952) — Japan
14. The Birds by Tarjei Vesaas (1957) — Norway
15. To Sir, With Love – E. R. Braithwaite (1959) — Guyana

Celtic Classics

16. Stranger Within The Gates by Bertha Thomas (1912) — Wales
17. Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915) — Scotland
18. The Informer by Liam O’Flaherty (1925) — Ireland
19. Black Parade, Jack Jones (1935) — Wales
20. Fame Is The Spur by Howard Spring (1940) — Wales

I’m hoping I get something that is not too long because I am also trying to work through my #20booksofsummer reading list. Maybe this time I’ll be lucky and get The Nose which I think is just a short story.