Wednesday 16 March 2022

The Classics Club: The Classics Spin #29

 

"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.

On her page, I found the posts by "The Classics Club" asking us to create a post, this time before next Sunday 20th March 2022, 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 Sunday 30th of April 2022 to read it.

In the meantime, I read nine more books from my old list (Classics Spin #28) which I usually replace by some new ones. Since I want to finish my oldest classic novels first (as published in my Classics Club list) before buying new ones, I simply added those that are still on that list at the end of the list (only five more). They are all in chronological order.

1.    Voltaire "Candide, ou l'Optimisme" (Candide, or Optimism) - 1759
2.    Brontë, Charlotte "Shirley" - 1849
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" - 1861
5.    Hamilton, Cicely "William - an Englishman" - 1920
6.    Mandelstam, Ossip "The Din of Time" (Шум времени/Shum vremeni) - 1925
7.    Hesse, Hermann "Wir nehmen die Welt nur zu ernst" [We just take the world too seriously] - 1928
8.    Meigs, Cornelia "Invincible Louisa" - 1933
9.    Christie, Agatha "Murder on the Orient Express" (Hercule Poirot #10) - 1934
10.    Némirovsky, Irène "La Proie" [The Prey] - 1938
11.    Boschwitz, Ulrich Alexander "Der Reisende" (The Passenger/The Fugitive) - 1939
12.    Zweig, Stefan "Schachnovelle" (The Royal Game/Chess) - 1942
13.    Fallada, Hans "Every Man Dies Alone" (Jeder stirbt für sich allein) - 1947
14.    Mahfouz, Naguib "Midaq Alley" (Zuqaq El Midaq/زقاق المدق) - 1947
15.    Kazantzakis, Nikos "The Last Temptation of Christ" (Ο τελευταίος πειρασμός/O telefteos pirasmos) - 1951
16.    Keller, Gottfried "Novellen" (Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe u.a.) "Novellas" (A Village Romeo and Juliet and others) - 1855/56
17.    Mandelstam, Ossip "The Din of Time" (Шум времени/Shum vremeni) - 1925
18.    Némirovsky, Irène "La Proie" [The Prey] - 1938
19.    Fallada, Hans "Every Man Dies Alone" (Jeder stirbt für sich allein) - 1947
20.    Kazantzakis, Nikos "The Last Temptation of Christ" (Ο τελευταίος πειρασμός/O telefteos pirasmos) - 1951

If you want to take up the challenge, here is the post: The Classics Spin #29 

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.

12 comments:

  1. Glad you heard of the spin through me. Be sure to follow the classics club website to know from them right away.
    Your #14 was a great discovery for me. And 14 would be nice for my list too: https://wordsandpeace.com/2022/03/16/the-classics-club-the-classics-spin-29/

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    1. Oh, I do, thanks, Emma. I've been following them for quite a while and always get an update by e-mail when one of their new challenges arrives. Very helpful indeed.

      I bought Midaq Alley at some point last year because I heard of it and love the books I read by Mahfus so far. I'm sure this one is just as great.

      Thanks for your list, I'll work my way through it, your suggestions are always fantastic.

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    1. We certainly do. It's always nice to meet people who appreciate the same kind of books though, in general, just the love of reading is also a great recommendation for anyone to me.

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  3. Candide is really good, I also love Murder on the Orient Express, my very favorite Agatha Christie novel. I'm very curious about La Proie, I'm a big fan of Nemirovsky but I don't think that one has been translated into English (and my French is VERY bad so maybe I need to study up if I want to read it!)

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    1. Thanks, Karen. I love the "Murder on the Orient Express" TV adaptations, I think we have four of them in the meantime. LOL. So, I really need to read the book.

      I think I found "La Proie" in a second hand bookshop in Brussels after I had just finished "Suite Française" which I really liked. I like to read a French book from time to time even thought it takes me twice as long as books in other languages. But it keeps me up to date.

      I'll let you all know once I get to "Proie".

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  4. I hope they spin #5 this time because Silas Marner is a favorite of mine. Happy reading! :D

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    1. Well, if it doesn't come up this time, it's still on my original classics list, I will probably read the rest of them this year, I'll put "Silas Marner" next now. I also love George Eliot. Thanks, Lark.

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  5. Silas Marner is on my TBR. I've heard it is really good!

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    1. Thanks, Karen. You are already the second one now who tells me it's so good. I really will read it soon.

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  6. I've never read Candide, but I have seen the opera by Leonard Bernstein a few times. I thought I had a copy of the play on my shelf, but it might have been lost when I moved apartments. Shame... Good luck with the spin!

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    1. Thanks, Lark. I think this has been on my TBR list for a while, I am always a bit apprehensive of plays. But if it should get picked, I will take that as a sign that it's time. ;)

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