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Monday, 12 April 2021

The Classics Club: The Classics Spin #26

"Words and Peace" is a blog I've been following for a couple of years and I have always found some interesting new (or olde) books there, especially French ones.

For a while, she published posts by "The Classics Club" asking us to create a post, before next Sunday 18th April 2021, and list our choice of any twenty books that remain "to be read" on our Classics Club list. They'll then post a number from 1 through 20 and we have time until the end (Saturday 31st) of May 2021 to read it.

In the meantime, I read eight more books from my old list (Classics Spin #25) which I replaced by some new ones. They are all in chronological order.

1.    Eichendorff, Joseph von "Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts und andere Novellen" (Life of a Good-For-Nothing) - 1826
2.    Douglass, Frederick "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave" - 1845
3.    Keller, Gottfried "Novellen" (Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe u.a.) "Novellas" (A Village Romeo and Juliet and others) - 1855/56
4.    Eliot, George "Silas Marner" (Silas Marner) - 1861
5.    Twain, Mark "A Tramp Abroad" - 1880
6.    Storm, Theodor "The Rider on the White Horse" (Der Schimmelreiter und andere Erzählungen) - 1888
7.    Van Dyke, Henry "The Story of the Other Wise Man" - 1896
8.    Frost, Robert "A Boy’s Will" and "North of Boston" - 1913+1914
9.    Martin, Catherine "The Incredible Journey" - 1923
10.    Mandelstam, Ossip "The Din of Time" (Шум времени/Shum vremeni) - 1925
11.    Bulgakov, Mikhail "The Master and Margarita" (Мастер и Маргарита) - 1929-39
12.    Cather, Willa "Shadows on the Rock" - 1931
13.    Christie, Agatha "Murder on the Orient Express" (Hercule Poirot #10) - 1934
14.    Elbogen, Ismar; Sterling, Eleonore "Die Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland" [The History of the Jews in Germany] - 1935/66
15.    Némirovsky, Irène "La Proie" [The Prey] - 1938
16.    Fallada, Hans "Every Man Dies Alone" (Jeder stirbt für sich allein) - 1947
17.    Böll, Heinrich "The Silent Angel" (Der Engel schwieg) - 1949/50
18.    Kazantzakis, Nikos "The Last Temptation of Christ" (Ο τελευταίος πειρασμός/O telefteos pirasmos) - 1951
19.    Highsmith, Patricia "The Talented Mr. Ripley" - 1955
20.    Savage Carlson, Natalie "The Family Under the Bridge" - 1958

If you want to take up the challenge, here is the post: The Classics Spin #26 

The reason I've been putting off reading them is because my TBR pile is so huge. I love classics, I want to read them, and I love how I actually read more classic books than before.

I will add the chosen number once it's published. I will also add every other book I read afterwards with a link to the spin.

Here are all the books on my original Classics Club list.
And here is a list of all the books I read with the Classics Spin.
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26 comments:

  1. Captivated Reader12 April 2021 at 19:29

    The Master and Margarita is excellent!! I haven't read it in forever! Time for a reread.

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    1. Marianne 13 April 2021 at 17:54

      Oh, thanks. Captivated Reader. I love Russian authors, so I'm looking forward to this one. I'm curious as to what number will be chosen.

      Thanks for visiting and commenting.

      Delete
    2. Marianne 19 April 2021 at 10:13

      That's what I got. Isn't it fantastic?

      Delete
  2. Judy Krueger13 April 2021 at 05:17

    I am quite picky about classics, including how they get to be called such. I hope you are happy with the selection you get from the spin.

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    1. Marianne 13 April 2021 at 17:55

      I think I'm just as picky about classics as I am about new books, they have to "give me" something. Since these are all books I once chose to buy, I can't go wrong, right? 😉

      Thanks for your visit.

      Delete
  3. Greg13 April 2021 at 05:25

    I have some Agatha Christie's I want to read for sure.

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    1. Marianne 13 April 2021 at 17:55

      I'm not the biggest fan of crime stories but Agatha Christie is the queen of crime stories, so I'm happy to read her.

      Delete
  4. IzaBzh13 April 2021 at 16:23

    Interesting list, including some I've never heard before :)

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    1. Marianne 13 April 2021 at 17:58

      Thank you, Iza. There are quite a few books and authors there that I had never heard about when I stumbled upon them or when they were recommended to me. I'm looking forward to that number on Sunday.

      Thanks for visiting.

      Delete
  5. Care14 April 2021 at 00:30

    Huh, I guess I never realized the decade the Master and the Margarita was written. I had assumed it was more recent. (Good to know, I think it is in my tbr, will have to add to my classics list...) I'm seeing Cather on many lists. BEST to you on your reading.

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    1. Marianne 14 April 2021 at 12:28

      It's sometimes amazing to discover when certain books were written. Often they seem so valid even in our times. I guess that's what makes them true classics.

      I read only one book by Willa Cather (My Ántonia) years ago. I remember liking it, that's why I probably bought the other one but never got around to reading it. Maybe with this spin?

      Anyway, thanks for visiting my list. I'll have to see what you have on yours

      Delete
    2. Marianne 19 April 2021 at 10:13

      I'm going to read it now becaue it was the number that was drawn. Come back in six weeks and see how I liked it. LOL

      Delete
  6. Cleo14 April 2021 at 06:34

    I quite liked The Master and Margarita although it was bizarre and The Family Under the Bridge was lovely. You have an eclectic list. I hope you get the one you want!

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    1. Marianne 14 April 2021 at 12:29

      I'm looking forward to reading "The Master and Margarita", then. I like bizarre.

      In the long run, I want them all, so I don't really care which one comes next. They are all from my classic list that I want to read in the next five (now four) years).

      Thanks for your visit. I need to see now what you will be reading.

      Delete
  7. Cleo14 April 2021 at 06:34

    I quite liked The Master and Margarita although it was bizarre and The Family Under the Bridge was lovely. You have an eclectic list. I hope you get the one you want!

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  8. Joseph14 April 2021 at 16:05

    I love, Love, LOVE The Story of the Other Wise man. If we get unlucky 13, I'll be reading Murder along with you.

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    1. Marianne 15 April 2021 at 10:14

      That's funny, Joseph, that we have the same book for the same number. I guess we'll have to wait until Sunday. Good luck. And thanks for stepping by.

      Delete
  9. Karen K.14 April 2021 at 20:50

    Great list! I love Murder on the Orient Express, my all-time favorite mystery novel (and the 1972 movie adaptation is WONDERFUL). I'm also very curious about La Proie, I've been searching the internet and I can't seem to find an English translation!

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    1. Marianne 15 April 2021 at 10:20

      Thanks, Karen. Yes, I like that one, too but the landscapes in the newest one with Kenneth Brannagh are just breathtaking, don't you think. Still, I grew up with Albert Finney on the Orient Express, so I guess that will always be my first love.

      Possible that there is no English translation for Proie. If that is the case, I always use box brackets and write the (from me translated) English title in Italics, like in this case. So, I didn't find one, either. There isn't even a German one and they translate stuff a lot earlier into other languages than into English. And I would think that Irène Némirovsky is pretty well known in the meantime. But I guess that won't happen. Sorry. Have you read anything by her? So far, I've only read "Suite Française".

      Thanks for your visit. I'm curious about your list now. Will see you on your page.

      Delete
  10. reese15 April 2021 at 06:07

    A bunch of fun-looking books! The Bulgakov, the Twain, and Frederick Douglass were all my Classics Club list, too--but I've already read them. And Murder on the Orient Express is so much fun. But I always like it when somebody gets a book I don't know, so I hope you get Theodor Storm or Gottfried Keller, both of which I'm interested in!

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    1. Marianne 15 April 2021 at 10:22

      Thank you, Reese, that's what I like about these challenges, find new books, new authors, something that I don't know about, yet. I have read books by both since they belong to the most prolific German writers. I recently re-read another book by Theodor Storm that I read in school, will have to write a review there ...

      Anyway, looking forward to your list. Thanks for visiting.

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  11. Sarah @ All The Book Blog Names Are Taken17 April 2021 at 23:58

    I have year to read Murder on the Orient Express, despite my unrivaled love for And Then There Were None. It is my goal at some point to read every Christie novel...some day...

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    1. Marianne 19 April 2021 at 10:15

      You still have a lot of time to read them. I have just finished all the Poirot short stories, will have to move on to longer ones.

      Delete
  12. Marianne 19 April 2021 at 10:15

    So many have wished Bulgakov for me and that's what was drawn. I'm so excited. Thank you all.

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  13. Lisbeth 20 April 2021 at 11:25

    Congrats to this classic, should be an interesting read.

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    1. Marianne 21 April 2021 at 11:02

      I think so, too. I have just started and it is very promissing.

      Thanks.

      Delete

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