Tag: Classic Books

Classics Club Spin #44

I have never before participated in the Classics Club spins, but as I have recently joined the Club with this list of 50 classic books, I thought it would be a great idea to start my challenge with a spin. The rules are: go to your blog; pick twenty books that you listed as “to read” for the Classics Club challenge; and post the list, numbered 1-20, on your blog by 17th May 2026. The number will be announced on that day, and the challenge is to read the book that falls under the announced number by 5th of July 2026.

So, here is my list:

  1. The Masterpiece by Γ‰mile Zola
  2. The Illustrious House of Ramires by Eça de Queirós
  3. The Village of Stepanchikovo by Fyodor Dostoevsky
  4. The Tragedy of the Street of Flowers by Eça de Queirós
  5. Elective Affinities byΒ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  6. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
  7. Roderick Hudson by Henry James
  8. Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham
  9. Jezebel’s Daughter by Wilkie Collins
  10. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  11. As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams by Lady Sarashina
  12. New Grub Street by George Gissing
  13. A Time to Love and a Time to Die by Erich Maria Remarque
  14. The Village by Ivan Bunin
  15. The Song of the World by Jean Giono
  16. Virgin Soil by Ivan Turgenev
  17. The Comedians by Graham Greene
  18. Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant
  19. Salka Valka by HalldΓ³r Laxness
  20. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather

πŸ“œ Only time will tell if I am too ambitious with this list. Are you participating? With what classic books?

Novellas in November: Daisy Miller by Henry James

Cover of book Daisy Miller by Henry James

Daisy Miller [1879] – β˜…β˜…β˜…1/2

Daisy…continued to present herself as an inscrutable combination of audacity and innocence [Henry James, 1879: 44]. In this story, young and wealthy American living abroad Frederick Winterbourne becomes infatuated with Daisy Miller, an unmarried American girl touring Europe with her mother and brother. Daisy Miller is a bold and flirtatious girl who continues to mystify Winterbourne daily since their fateful meeting in Switzerland. Now, in Rome, Italy, Winterbourne’s puzzlement turns into true incredulity and then horror as he watches Daisy’s interactions with one handsome Italian Giovanelli. But who is Daisy Miller, really, and how β€œcommon” she really is and how β€œinnocent”, or not? Henry James (The Turn of the Screw [1898]) penned a novella which showcases the societal power of prejudice to the fullest, even if it also gives the feeling of being generic and predictable.

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The Turn of the Screw: A Ghost Story or A Tale of Mental Breakdown?

the turn of the screw book cover

The Turn of the Screw [1898] by Henry James –Β β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…

<<This review will contain spoilers πŸ‘»>> Β 

β€œWasn’t it just a story-book over which I had fallen a-doze and a-dream?” [James, Ed. 2004: 33]. Β 

This is a horror novella penned by James in 1898 at the invitation of Robert J. Collier for his magazine. First published as a series, it tells of a hired governess who comes to Bly, a country estate in Essex, to supervise two children, Miles and Flora. The children are orphans under the responsibility of their uncle who, in turn, does not have much time to spend with them and resides in London. The young governess willingly assumes her responsibilities, being totally delighted to be in charge of two beautiful, lovely and well-behaved children in such a grand estate. However, Bly soon opens its horrors to the governess, and she becomes aware that there are at least two ghosts in the house that haunt the children. The Turn of the Screw is now infamous for its multiple story interpretations and all kinds of meanings that can be read into the text. Nevertheless, whether one reads the story as a straightforward ghost tale or as a more complex psychological study of one nanny losing her mind, it is still a scary and intriguing read, which leaves much to think about and discuss upon finishing.Β 

Continue reading “The Turn of the Screw: A Ghost Story or A Tale of Mental Breakdown?” →