The result of the latest Classics Club Spin has been revealed today.
The idea of the Spin was to list twenty books from my Classics Club list, number them 1 to 20, and the number announced by the Classics Club represents the book I have to read before 3rd December 2023. The number that has been selected is…
2
And this means the book I need to read is…
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
The hero of Dickens’s flamboyantly exuberant novel, Nicholas Nickleby, is left penniless after his father’s death and forced to make his own way in the world. His adventures give Dickens the opportunity to portray an extraordinary gallery of rogues and eccentrics: Wackford Squeers, the tyrannical headmaster of Dotheboys Hall; the tragic orphan Smike, rescued by Nicholas; and the gloriously theatrical Mr and Mrs Crummle and their daughter, the ‘infant phenomenon’. Nicholas Nickleby is characterized by Dickens’s outrage at social injustice, but it also reveals his comic genius at its most unerring.
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I’ll confess that I was hoping for one of the shorter books on my list, but I’m still quite happy with my result. It’s been a few years since I last read anything by Dickens, so I’m looking forward to this one!
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
She Reads Novels 
This is a fun choice for the long dark nights of the year! I read it a few years back and it’s one of Dickens’s more readily accessible despite its length, what with the broad characterisation of the cast of “rogues and eccentrics”.
Yes, I think Dickens is perfect for this time of year! It’s good to know that this is a more accessible one.
Glad you’re happy with the result! I reread David Copperfield this year, and it did take a while, but I enjoyed it a lot.
I enjoyed David Copperfield too. It did take a long time to read, but it was worth it!
Good choice. That’ll keep you busy for a while!
Yes, I’m sure it will!
Not a short one, but if you get to it soon, I’m sure you’ll make it in time for the spin review!
I hope I’ll finish in time but I won’t worry too much if I don’t!
A long time since I read it, but I do love Nickleby!
I’m hoping to start it soon. Looking forward to it!
I’ve never read this one, but we had a dog when I was growing up that we called Niki and we always joked that his name was short for Nicholas Nickleby. Happy reading! 😀
Thanks! Niki is a great name for a dog 🙂
Oh, that’s a good one, although a bit long.
I would have preferred a shorter book but I hope I can still finish this one by the deadline.
Mine is fairly short, The Tree of Heaven by May Sinclair.