My FAVOURITE classics from 2023!

[@tonybennett4159]

Nice to find somebody who agrees with me about Middlemarch. It knocks spots off anything Dickens wrote and furthermore I gobbled it down quickly because it was so great to read, as the language and events flowed so seamlessly and best of all there were passages so witty that I laughed out loud. Some people say it took them a long time to get into it and it's a long haul. The opposite for me. Trollope too, I prefer to Dickens but I've only read The Way We Live Now which I know is one highly regarded by you. I read Colm Toibin's The Master which I loved and sent me scurrying to track down Portrait of a Lady although I had been warned of James' density. Well, another book which offered no longeurs, it was just fantastic writing, can't understand why people struggle with it so much. I can, however, understand why people struggle with The Brothers Karamazov. The first half of the book is mainly a philosophical discourse that Dostoyevsky is having with himself. It doesn't help that it is flimsily cloaked as people in conversation with others as I was never convinced that there really was a flesh and blood character to whom this endless monologue was directed. Had it been in anything not purporting to be a novel, I would have had no problem. As it is, once FD is away from his lectern, the second part of the novel becomes much more engaging and well worth reading. You are right of course, some so-called intellectual(s) thinks that FD is the fount of all wisdom regarding the human condition. He gives you plenty to chew on, but he's not that. As a final thought, I could imagine that people might say that if Dickens is not so good, why have their been so many adaptations of his work. For me, at least, what is a weakness in his writing is a godsend for an adapter. Too many of his characters are caricatures or stereotypes when read, but which easily jump off the screen or the stage, while the tiresome bits are easily excised.

[@JoeSpivey02]

What a fiendishly fun comment! Thanks so much for your brilliant analyses of so much of what I said!

[@RossMaynardProcessExcellence]

I read Middlemarch in 2023. It took me a while to get into, but once I got to the crisis with the will, I was hooked! Magnificent. More Eliot, Trollope, Gaskell and Hardy are on my list for 2024.

[@grzbookreviews893]

Love Portrait of a Lady. I never hear people talk about this classic much. Must do a reread of Middlemarch soon. It’s been a while.. Fun Video! 😊👍

[@LiterateTexan]

You inspired me to order a copy of Middlemarch. I've been meaning to read it for a while. Great video! I'm definitely planning to focus more on classics this year.

[@JoeSpivey02]

If I can help somebody on my way...

[@arekkrolak6320]

starts at 2:00

[@polyglotreading]

You mention (in relation to Dostoevskij) that court scenes are underrepresented in literature. I'd recommend the novels by Gianrico Carofiglio. They're available in English translation and are sort of crime stories but of a different kind, about a barrister in southern Italy who frequently gets involved in crime investigations. He's also a bookish kind of person, so there's also frequent talk about the books he''s reading, and quite a few allusions to literary works and topics.

[@JoeSpivey02]

Thanks for such a considered comment! The premise of those novels sounds like something that would be right up my street!

[@HannahsBooks]

What a wonderful list and discussion! Portrait of a Lady is on my 2024 list. I should have prioritized it long before now! How nice to see you place it with other favorites of mine.

[@JoeSpivey02]

Thanks Hannah. I like to think it was well-rounded between both the British Victorians and the American Victorians!

[@Dawnsbookreviews]

Great list!! I read The Idiot earlier this year and I am planning to buy the new translation of the Brothers Karamazov so I can add it to my 2025 tbr!! I love George Eliot so much!! Planning to re-read Silas Marner.... Thank you for this great video!!❤

[@divyabanerjee566]

Thanks for the recommendations Joe!

[@Calcprof]

Interesting list. All good. My similar list would start with Don Quixote, and include books by Dickens (maybe Little Dorrit), Tom Jones by Fielding, Vanity Fair, Laurence Stern's Tristam Shandy, with probably some extras by Mellville and Smollet. Adding (more or less) contemporary would by Barth and Murakami, and of course Wallace and Pynchon.

[@JoeSpivey02]

It's so nice to catch a Dickens fan alive and kicking! What would you recommend as a means of reviving my love for him? Bear in mind I've done all the bildungsroman novels etc

[@Calcprof]

@@JoeSpivey02 Two extreme answers: Episodic early Dickens: Nickolas Nickleby Also check out the royal Shakespeare production. Late moody satirical: Bleak House. (Several good BBC productions) .

[@erasenegatedelete]

Love your inclusion of Barth with contemporary (ish) authors; Lost in the Funhouse is one of those books that I’ve loaned out multiple times to people that I think would love it, but nobody’s ever finished it lol. I love it. I’m a huge Wallace and Pynchon fan as well. You have good taste my friend.

[@heidi6281]

I read mostly fantasy but tackled The Count of Monte Cristo and loved it!! Nothing like that 2002 movie. I tried Don Quixote and was loving the dark humor and ironically loved how the author satirized my beloved knights dragons but…it got so repetitive that I quit it about 1/4th the way through. The best fantasy I read this year were by British authors, Joe Abercrombie & John Gwynne!!

[@mame-musing]

Since you appreciated “A Portrait of a Lady” by James you will most likely enjoy “The Custom of the Country” by his good friend, Edith Wharton. In it you meet Undine Sprague the daughter of a super rich late 19th C American industrialist. The European aristocracy doesn’t know what they are in for when Undine invades their salons and watering holes. Wharton makes delicious observations about the interactions.

[@JoeSpivey02]

That sounds fantastic. I’ll add it to my mental TBR! I do love a churlish yet assured woman in her mid twenties ready to give a middle finger to any toffs!

[@ΜΑΡΙΑΠΑΠΑΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ-ξ9ε]

Edith Wharton By all means!

[@kjmav10135]

I worship George Eliot. I have read everything she’s written, starting with Middlemarch many, many years ago-all of it, including her poetry and translations she did of German theology. She is the best novelist Great Britain has ever produced. And ROMOLA! That book is an incredible project! One of Eliot’s least-read novels, but it is SO GOOD! Brush up your Medici before you read that and You’ll get a lot more out of it. If you’d like to make a pilgrimage, George Eliot is buried at Highgrove Cemetery, on the unconsecrated side, just past the learning angel on the left. If you pass Karl Marx, you’ve gone too far! Trivial tidbit, she’s buried under her real name, “Mary Ann Evans Cross” and she is also buried head-to-head with her long-time lover, George Henry Lewes.

[@ThatReadingGuy28]

I'm curious how many books you've read over the entire year.

[@JoeSpivey02]

It depends very much on length! A big belly buster like Middlemarch would take me all week so the lower bound would be 50-60. But I could then trounce through 3 slimmer books the next week. If we work on an average of 2 books a week then we can estimate it at 100-120 for the year.

[@thelefthandedreader6632]

Whew, what a list! I could not agree more about the LEVEL of enjoyment in Middlemarch and Trollope. This has reminded me to keep Dostoyevsky on my list! I’m looking forward to reading Henry James in 2024!! Happy. Ew Year, Joe!

[@JoeSpivey02]

The same to you Rene! I'm sure, despite obvious time gaps in our two different countries, we could organise a read-along of something in 2024!

[@thelefthandedreader6632]

@@JoeSpivey02 , that’s an EXCELLENT idea! Let’s keep throwing out possibilities. I’ll keep it in mind!

[@arif-3924]

I like it very much👍

[@jaylinferguson5432]

I can't see the number I subscribed at. Did I make it?

[@JoeSpivey02]

Due to the increased demand, we're now offering Premium party status to the first 5K subscribers!

[@GuiltyFeat]

Terrific selection, how delightful to have found this channel (thanks to @aaronfacer). It took me another 20 years to ramp up my enthusiasm and reading pace to where you are now. I am going to enjoy following along and seeing where you go next. Cheers.

[@olgaotherstories8355]

Cool intro👌🏻

[@LiterateTexan]

I tried finding you on Voxer today, but there are a whole lot of Joe Spiveys out there!

[@JoeSpivey02]

The most prominent of which is a fiddler. Nature acts in cruel and cunning ways!

[@LiterateTexan]

@@JoeSpivey02 Some of my favorite lady friends play the fiddle! None of them are named Joe Spivey, however.

Could I suggest you move forward to D.H. Lawrence's ' The Rainbow, ' Virginia Woolf's ' The Waves ' and E. M. Forster's ' The Longest Journey. ? ' And perhaps moving into the ' now ' of things Alan Hollinghurst especially ' The Folding Star. '

[@jesuisravi]

Mary Ann Evans

[@ArtBookshelfOdyssey]

Rats I just missed the 1000 subscriber mark... Well, I hope you will still consider me with kindness when you attain power! Trollope is fantastic! I discovered him thanks to Booktube and Victober. I just found your channel, and have really enjoyed what I've watched so far. I'm glad the youtube algorithm powers that be directed you my way!

[@JoeSpivey02]

Seen as the base is expanding rapidly, you'll still be looked upon favourably for having been within the first 2000 subscribers.

[@Isabela-Thomas]

I subscribed it was 1.75k so I guess I won’t be part of the table 😅😂😂😂😂😂

[@insearchofwonder]

All Victorians, yes? Except of course Dostoevsky. I see a trend!

[@apollonia6656]

@JoeSpivey, Have you been watching Boris Johnson and now imitating him ? Methinks you have ! 😂😂😂 Please do not be like him and become paranoid because no offense meant.

[@EvelynHoskins-cb1qi]

Dostoevsky is one of those authors whom I would really like to enjoy reading, but I unfortunately could never overcome the crushing boredom of the first three hundred pages of Crime and Punishment.

[@JoeSpivey02]

Don’t tell me that! Crime and Punishment is sequestered on my 2024 tbr!

[@EvelynHoskins-cb1qi]

I was 13 when I tried to read it, and I had just finished War and Peace, so you'll probably have better luck.@@JoeSpivey02

[@richfarmer3478]

Yes , it starts very slow( there's an ENDLESS letter to Raskolnikov from his sister, I believe- I read it in the 80s) but the final two thirds are very exciting.

[@marianapgar4409]

I found the entire book to be gripping.