The Classics Club Spin #28 winning number is:
Number XII !
Which means that I’ll be reading ….
Okay, I think this isn’t the best choice for my present reading, but it isn’t the worst. I’m looking forward to reading it and expect it to be one of the more enjoyable works of Dickens. However, I’m reading slowly through Nicholas Nickleby at the moment, so I’m not that fussed about reading two Dickens novels at one time. And I know I won’t finish it by the deadline but qué sera sera!
Windflowers (1902) John William Waterhouse
souce Wikiart
And you? How did the spin treat you? Did number twelve give you the book that you wanted to read?
Photo #1 courtesy of Mohamed Hassan on Pixabay
That’s a lot of Dickens for the next few weeks, but I’m sure you can handle it! He’s never been one of my favorite authors (in fact, he’s a challenge for me, so I admire your trip to Nicholas Nickleby). Great Expectations was a required book in my high school curriculum and I absolutely hated it; I re-read it a couple of years ago, however, and thought it was marvelous. Amusing how we change over the years, n’est-ce pas? I’ll be interested to see your reactions to either of your Dickens novels or both!
You know, Janakay, he’s not my favourite author either. I try. I really do. And there have been a couple of his books that I, for the most part, enjoy. But there has been nothing that I absolutely love. I do hope Great Expectations is better than the others I’ve read so far. I’m glad to hear that it gets a “marvellous” in your ratings. I’m looking forward to it.
Great Expectations is definitely one of the best Dickens for me–and, bonus! It’s half the length of Nicholas Nickleby. But yes, it may be a good thing it’s a relatively long spin period…
I can’t wait to finish all of Dickens’ novels and then determine my favourite. So far I’ve liked A Tale of Two Cities and Martin Chuzzlewit but I still have GE, Oliver Twist and Bleak House to go. So it definitely might change. I don’t think I’ll finish before the deadline but we’ll see ….
Great Expectations and Bleak House–one or the other of those would be my absolute favorite, with Edwin Drood or Dombey and Son and maybe Copperfield in the very next tier. So I’d say you’ve got some great Dickens to go!
That’s interesting. I’ve heard the first two are many people’s favourites; I didn’t care for Edwin Drood (although I don’t remember much of it), I did not like Dombey and Son (too depressing) but I did like Copperfield. I’m so glad that you’ve read so much so I can get some excellent predictions and insights from you!
slow and steady wins the race, or so someone with a lot of ambition once said, lol… i’ve read both of them and i think they are the best Dickens wrote… some give the honor to Tale of Two Cities, but that was a bit obsessed and gruesome, i thought… anyway, i hope they’re fun for you!
Well, I’m slow and hopefully somewhat steady but I don’t feel like I’m winning any reading races. Oh well.
I liked A Tale because it wasn’t so verbose and in a way seemed different than most Dickens novels.
Thanks for the wishes!
Great Expectations is iconic and perhaps his most creative novel… I hope you enjoy it! It’s also perfectly Gothic for this time of year. 😀
Oh yes, I didn’t even think of that! It will make me feel better to read something Gothic in October since I haven’t been successful in reading anything Halloween-ish. Thanks for the encouragement!
Great Expectations is one of the more fun Dickens novels, but wow that’s a lot of Dickens. Good luck!
I got a Harlem Renaissance novel, Plum Bun, by Jessie Redmon Fauset. I have no idea what it will be like. 🙂
Too much Dickens, I think, but given the two novels I’ll be reading, it could be worse.
I saw your unique choice. I vote you the blogger with the most eclectic, unusual and varied reading choices. Have fun!
I actually read Great Expectations through a club spin a few years ago! And like you I was on the fence about it. But it actually turned out to be a very good read with some wonderful nunaced charecters and.plot archs . I think you will enjoy it! Finishing it by the deadline…..well that makes two of us who will invariably fail to do that!!
I remember that you liked it, so I have high hopes. It’s nice to have deadlines but it never does to make them gods. I will finish when I can, lol! Hugs and happiness to you!
I love Great Expectations. It’s a good yarn and fortunately free of Dickens usual meanderings. Plus you have some super characters via Miss H and Jaggers
No meanderings??!!! You’re kidding! Now I’m really excited to begin it. Thanks for the encouragement and the visit!
Great Expectations had the most profound influence on me when I read it in my twenties. I realized I was a lot like Pip. Expecting my life to go a certain way, expecting others to help make it happen. It was one of those many turning points in my thinking thanks to a good book.
Thanks for sharing that story, Sharon. You’re lucky. Some people don’t figure that out until way past their twenties, if ever. Love those books that make us think!
I hope you enjoy it!
Thank you, Emma! I do plan to!
The first time I read Great Expectations I loved it! But I just read it again in September for book club and while I still liked it, I found that I didn’t love it as much as I did the first time around. That was a bit disappointing for me. There’s no question that Dickens’ writing is more concise in Great Expectations and I think that’s one of the reasons I loved it the first time around. But since that first reading, I’ve gone on to read more longer classics. And as I have been reading David Copperfield aloud to my daughter, I am finding that I am loving it much more than the first time I read it and more than Great Expectations. What frustrated me the first time reading David Copperfield – Dickens’ knack for wordiness – I feel that this time reading it, I think it adds much to the story. Could he be a little less wordy? Sure! But my daughter and I laugh about the long sentences and we are both loving the book!
I had started Great Expectations a year or two ago and I did enjoy what I read, so I expect that I’ll like it. Will I LOVE it? Well, we’ll see. I enjoyed David Copperfield very much. I find Dickens’ wordiness is without much added interest to the story in that Tolstoy’s digressions add philosophy and Hugo’s digressions add interesting (if not relevant) information. But he would’t be Dickens without the wordiness. For the most part, I can’t imagine re-reading Dickens. Is that a failing of mine? I wouldn’t feel like that about most classics. But I have read Tale of Two Cities three times, so perhaps that’s enough, lol!
Oh yes to your comparisons of Dickens’ wordiness to Tolstoy and Hugo’s digressions. In my opinion, Hugo’s “digressions” in Les Mis were important to the story. They connected and gave background. But you probably don’t want to get me started talking about Les Mis….it is one of my all-time favorite classics and books in general. 😉
Les Mis is one of my favourites as well. ☺️
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