Tag: Classics Club Spin

My list for Classics Club Spin No. 46 #ccspin @ourclassicsclub

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Classics Club Spin

It’s time for another Classics Club Spin which acts as a timely nudge to make progress with our Classics Club lists. Here’s how it works:

  • Before Sunday 15th November, create a list of 20 books that remain to be read on your Classics Club list.
  • On 15 November the folks at The Classics Club will post a number between 1 and 20.
  • The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your list by 3rd January 2027.

My Spin List

For the last Classics Club Spin I read Creatures of Circumstance by W. Somerset Maugham. What will the spin gods pick for me this time?

  1. The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories by Edgar Allan Poe
  2. The Hound of Death and Other Stories by Agatha Christie
  3. Victoria Four-Thirty by Cecil Roberts
  4. The Smiler with the Knife by Nicholas Blake
  5. The King’s General by Daphne du Maurier
  6. A Maigret Christmas and Other Stories by George Simenon
  7. The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier
  8. Beyond the Black Stump by Nevil Shute
  9. Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie
  10. Trial by Terror by Paul Gallico
  11. Shannon’s Way by A. J. Cronin
  12. The Story of Esther Costello by Nicholas Montserrat
  13. The Red Rock Wilderness by Elspeth Huxley
  14. The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden
  15. Good-bye, Mr. Chips by James Hilton
  16. Lord Hornblower by C. S. Forester
  17. Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
  18. Quartet by Jean Rhys
  19. Stephen Morris by Nevil Shute
  20. The Outsider by Albert Camus

There are a number of reading events taking place this month including Reading Scotland and Novellas in November, so either numbers 11, 18 or 20 would be great because that would kill two birds with one stone. And number 6 would be appropriate for the upcoming festive season.

If this was your list, which book would you be hoping for – or dreading?

Book Review – Creatures of Circumstance by W. Somerset Maugham @ourclassicsclub

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About the Book

Creatures of Circumstance is a collection of fifteen short stories by the British writer W. Somerset Maugham. It was his last collection of stories, all of which had been previously been published in magazines.

Format: Hardback (314 pages) Publisher: Heinemann
Publication date: January 1947 Genre: Fiction, Short Stories

Find Creatures of Circumstance on Goodreads

My Review

Creatures of Circumstance was the book chosen for me in the latest Classics Club spin. I did read it by the deadline (4th October) but didn’t get round to writing my review until now.

As is often the case with short story collections, it is a mixed bag. First published in 1947, some of the attitudes expressed, particularly towards women and people of other nationalities, have dated badly.

The collection’s title gives a clue to its overriding theme, an exploration of how people react to circumstances forced upon them and how the decisions they make as a result shape their lives.

Having enjoyed Maugham’s Ashenden, a collection of linked stories featuring a spy in the First World War (based on the author’s own experience working for British Intelligence), it was nice to see him pop up again in ‘The Sanatorium’ and also as an attentive listener in another couple of stories.

‘Winter Cruise’ is an amusing story about a woman’s experiences as the only passenger on a cruise. The crew tire of her incessant talking, which is actually born of her keen interest in other people, and come up with a solution to ensure peaceful meal times. It works but also ensures she has a most memorable cruise.

‘A Man from Glasgow’ is a creepy story, which might have been written by M. R. James, in which a man is so unnerved by the sound of laughter from a nearby empty house reputed to have been previously inhabited by a madman, he decides to flee the country. But it turns out he’s not yet put enough distance between him and the house.

The standout story in the collection is ‘The Unconquered’ set in occupied France in World War 2. Two German soldiers arrive at a farm where they threaten the farmer’s family, eat the family’s meagre supply of food and get drunk on the farmer’s wine. One of them, Hans, then rapes the farmer’s daughter. When she falls pregnant he is unprepared for the intensity of her hatred towards him.

About the Author

William Somerset Maugham (1874 – 1965) was born in Paris. He spoke French even before he spoke a word of English, a fact to which some critics attribute the purity of his style.

His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.

During World War I, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service . He travelled all over the world, and made many visits to America. After World War II, Maugham made his home in south of France and continued to move between England and Nice till his death in 1965.