Classics Club CC Spin #19

My List of 20. The lucky spin number will be announced Tuesday, November 27th on the Classics Club blog.  We'll have until January 31, 2019 to complete our books. Post about the spin. The Lucky Spin was 1.


1. Ivanhoe. Walter Scott. 1819
2. Can You Forgive Her? Anthony Trollope. 1865.
3. Princess Bride. William Goldman. 1973.
4. Mules and Men. Zora Neale Hurston. 1935.
5. Arabian Nights, Anonymous (800)
6. The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy (1921)
7. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Betty Smith. 1943.
8. Katherine. Anya Seton. 1954.
9. Bostonians. Henry James. 1886.
10. Shirley by Charlotte Bronte (1849)
11. Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell 1853.
12. Man and Wife by Wilkie Collins. 1870.
13. Raintree County by Ross Lockridge Jr. (1948)
14. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery (1847)
15. Don Quixote. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1605)
16. The Wanderer by Fanny Burney. 1814.
17. Gone With The Wind. Margaret Mitchell (1936)
18. The Sunne in Splendour. Sharon Kay Penman. 1982.
19. The Pickwick Papers. Charles Dickens (1837)
20.  The Three Musketeers. Alexandre Dumas. Richard Pevear, translator. 1844/2006.


© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Classics Club Spin #17

I think this is my third spin to participate in since joining the Classics Club. Here are my list of twenty books. The date the number is announced is March 9. The book "must" be finished by April 30, 2018. The number was THREE.

1. Blue Fairy Book. Andrew Lang. 1887.
2. The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer. 1931. 
3. Crime and Punishment. Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 1866.
4. Dear and Glorious Physician. Taylor Caldwell. 1958. 
5. Don Quixote. Miguel de Cervantes. 1605.
6. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)
7. The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy (1921)
8. Gone With The Wind. Margaret Mitchell (1936) 
9. Hester by Margaret Oliphant (1883)
10. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
11. Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories: 1909-1922
12. North and South. Elizabeth Gaskell. 1854-55
13. Old Paths by J.C. Ryle 
14. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1963)
15. Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope (1862)
16. Raintree County by Ross Lockridge Jr. (1948)
17. Richard the Third by Paul Murray Kendall (1955)   
18. Shirley by Charlotte Bronte (1849)
19. Show Boat by Edna Ferber (1926)
20. The Tempest by William Shakespeare (1610) 

© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Classic Spin (my second; their 16th)

My list of twenty books for the Classic Spin. Number will be posted at the Classics Club on Friday, November 17. The number was--is--4. I'll be reading Uncle Tom's Cabin!

1. Spurgeon Study Bible
2. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird. Harper Lee. 1960.
4.  Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)
5. Mill on the Floss. George Eliot. 1860.
6. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936)
7. Deerbrook. Harriet Martineau. 1839.
8. David Copperfield. Charles Dickens. 1849-1850
9.  Pickwick Papers. Charles Dickens. 1836-37
10. Hester by Margaret Oliphant (1883)
11.  Crime and Punishment. Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 1866.
12. Show Boat by Edna Ferber (1926)
13. Don Quixote. Miguel de Cervantes. 1605
14. How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn. 1939.
15. Raintree County by Ross Lockridge Jr. (1948)
16. Commentary on Romans by Martin Luther
17. Dear and Glorious Physician. Taylor Caldwell. 1958.
18. Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe. 1719.
19. Framley Parsonage. Anthony Trollope. 1861.
20. Richard the Third by Paul Murray Kendall (1955) 


© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist. Charles Dickens. 1838/1839. 608 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: Among other public buildings in a certain town, which for many reasons it will be prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to which I will assign no fictitious name, there is one anciently common to most towns, great or small: to wit, a workhouse; and in this workhouse was born; on a day and date which I need not trouble myself to repeat, inasmuch as it can be of no possible consequence to the reader, in this stage of the business at all events; the item of mortality whose name is prefixed to the head of this chapter.

 Premise/plot: Oliver Twist, the 'hero' of Charles Dickens novels, endures much drama before finally getting a happily ever after ending. 

Who is Oliver Twist? He's an orphan born in a workhouse. He's an orphan who dares ask for MORE gruel. He's a boy sold to an undertaker. He's a boy who's bullied to the point of running away. He's a boy who dreams that London holds the answers. He's a boy who falls into bad company. Coincidences surround Oliver. (He happens to be taken in to Mr. Brownlow's household. He happens to be taken into Mrs. Maylie's household. Both Brownlow and the Maylies knew his parent(s). Both care about what happens to him in the future. Both are on his side--Oliver is never truly alone against this mad, bad world.) He's a boy worth risking your life for--if you're Nancy. He's a boy that things happen to. Ever notice how all the drama just happens to him, because of him, around him, and Oliver is just there. (If Oliver is the hero, he's the most boring hero ever.)

The characters that are of interest in this one are: Nancy, Fagin, and Artful Dodger. If the novel is worth reading, it is because Dickens has peopled it with the likes of these, the least of these, the thieves and prostitutes. 

My thoughts: Here's my advice for what it's worth: Read the book before you see the movie or the musical. Every time you're tempted to watch an adaptation, make a point of rereading the book. That may slow down your eagerness some. Why this admittedly weird advice. I read this book years ago--years--and I've since seen about two or three adaptations. (Including the live musical a few weeks ago.) I had forgotten that most adaptations--if not all adaptations--really, really mess around with the plot. Some adaptations are better than others. (One adaptation in particular I wish I could get my time back!) But having all those adaptations in my head really ruined reading Dickens for me. 

For example, in the movie, Nancy helps kidnap Oliver Twist and brings him back to the thieves. He's held hostage until the end finale--the big showdown. A lot of intense stuff happens and Nancy is all about rescuing Oliver from his fate. In the book, Nancy helps kidnap Oliver Twist; Oliver is forced to help in a robbery; he's shot; he's abandoned; he's taken in by a kind and loving family; his happily ever after essentially begins right then and there; the book has hundreds of pages left where Oliver is safe and the drama is moving on without him. Plenty of drama. New characters are introduced--like Monks--old characters are also reintroduced--like Noah and Charlotte, Mr and Mrs. Bumble. But Oliver Twist has disappeared from the plot--almost proving that though this novel has his name, he's the least interesting character in it.

I think if you read the book with the expectation that he will be DOING anything except asking for more and accepting whatever comes his way, you'll be disappointed.

I think the most interesting character in this one is Fagin. Especially in the musical adaptation. He can MAKE the show. His songs are the most interesting, most entertaining, best for energizing the audience.

I think the next most interesting character is Nancy. Her scenes were very emotional. But I don't understand why she would keep going back knowing that her very life was in danger. I don't understand love like that. I hope I never do.

 

© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Classic Spin (my first; their 15)

 My list of twenty books for the Classic Spin. Number will be posted at the Classics Club on Friday, March 10. It was the #12.

1. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland H. Bainton (1950)
2. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (1952)
3. Brave Men by Ernie Pyle (1944)
4. Richard the Third by Paul Murray Kendall (1955)
5. Wycliffe New Testament (1388, modern spelling edition, 2002)
6. The Three Clerks. Anthony Trollope. 1858.
7. The Enchanted April Elizabeth von Arnim (1922)
8. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart (1970)
9. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. 1842.
10. Letters of John Newton, 1911
11. Arabian Nights, Anonymous (800)
12. Oliver Twist. Charles Dickens. 1838.
13. Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)
14. Confidence. Henry James. 1879
15. Tyndale New Testament (1534, modern spelling edition, 1989)
16. The Tempest by William Shakespeare (1610)
17. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. 1869.
18. Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens (1844)
19. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackery (1847)
20. Sermon on the Mount by James Montgomery Boice (1972)


© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews