Thanks to Sylvia, I (re)discovered the Classics Club. Long ago, I had such a list published somewhere…but it is all too vague to remember now. So I created a new Classics Club list, and now I will choose twenty which I’d really like to read for CCSpin #38. The number of the book we are to read will be revealed on Sunday, July 21, so, if you’re like me, you’re just in time!
My twenty books, from a list of fifty:
- A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
- 1984 by George Orwell
- Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood
- We The Living by Ayn Rand
- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Walden by Thoreau
- Watership Down by Richard Adams
- A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
- The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
- The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
- The Sea by Jon Banville
- East of Eden by John Steinbeck
- Possession by A. S. Byatt
- The Pillars of The Earth by Ken Follett
Lonesome Doveby Larry McMurtry (finished August 2024)- It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
- The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
- The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List by Sunday, September, 22. I am eager to see which one it will be, as all of these are either great favorites, or books I’ve long been meaning to read.
p.s. A comment below has caused me to wonder just what it is, exactly, that qualifies a book as a “classic.” It cannot be age alone, I thought, and proceeded to look for a definition. This comes as close as any I can find from PanMacmillan:
“ A classic brilliantly articulates universal themes – like love, morality, death, adversity – and offers revelatory insight and clarity to readers of any era. It always feels fresh.”
Nice to have you back in the Classics Club!
ReplyDeleteI have read 10 of your nice list, and really enjoyed a lot #8.
Which would be a big discovery in my list:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2024/07/17/the-classics-club-the-classics-spin-38/
Thanks, Emma! I've read thirteen, but I love them so much I'm willing (eager) to reread them. Maybe that's cheating, to list books already read? ;)
DeleteYou have a great list and I know I've read at least half of them. I'm not familiar with We The Living by Ayn Rand, but I've read three of her other books. I have It Can't Happen Here on my spin list, too!
ReplyDeleteI feel like one of the few who admire Ayn Rand, not all of her ideas but certainly most of them. I have not yet read We The Living, but I look forward to it. Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead I've read many times. I think they resonate with the times in which we live today, as well as when they were written. It would be fun to read It Can't Happen Here together.
DeleteI've read 12 books from your list - including 1984 and Animal Farm which I have on my spin list time as rereads for my #ReadingOrwell24 project. I shuffled them around on my list to match the number on yours, so if 3 or 7 spin up, we can read together :-)
ReplyDeleteLovely to have you back.
Lovely to be back, Brona, and have your happy thoughts. I added George Orwell specifically to address your #ReadingOrwell24 project. Plus, he is totally new to me. And, I would dearly love to read with you. If they don't come up for this spin, let's talk about doing them in the near future. xo
DeleteThis is a great list. I have read 1984 and Animal Farm by Orwell, The Day of the Jackal, and It Can't Happen Here. I was fairly young when I read all of them, I really should read them all again. I read The Hobbit to my son when he was young.
ReplyDeleteI read The Hobbit to my son, too, and he was immediately hooked on all of The Lord of The Rings books thereafter. He is a big fantasy fan; I will always be thankful to J. K. Rowling, whose books I don't especially enjoy, for the fact that she helped instigate a love for reading in my son. I would only read him a chapter a night, and he struggled on his own until he became proficient. Now Les Miserables is his favorite novel. Well, that along with Dragons of Autumn Twilight. ;)
DeleteI'm hoping to reread The Day of The Jackal for Paris in July 2024. It's always fun to catch two birds and all that.
It is wonderful that you found your way back to The Classics Club. Good luck with the spin!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deb, and it surprised me how my list has changed from earlier years. For one thing, I added some I've wanted to reread...
DeleteI've read 13 from your list--my faves are The Hobbit and Possession. Prayer for Owen Meany was awfully fun, too. Happy spinning!
ReplyDeleteOh, Possession is so wonderful! It took me a few tries, over a few years, to get into it. But once I did, I was hooked, and the ending? Marvelous!
DeleteI think it is a stretch calling some of these classics, especially as I myself am older than they. But as long as everyone enjoys them.......happy summer!
ReplyDeleteAbby, so good to hear from you again! Yes, I found them to be a stretch, as well. Like an antique, does something qualify as a classic when it’s fifty years or older? I’m not sure, but since they were on classic lists and beloved by me, I grabbed the opportunity.
DeleteI have added a quote from Pan Macmillan defining a classic at the bottom of the post. I think it suits the purpose in my selection quite well.
DeleteM, what a great list! I've read 7 of them, which doesn't seem like a lot. Oh well. I suppose I've never been keen on reading up on my classics. LOL!
ReplyDelete