Dear classics reader,
In this week’s Cannes casino you will find:
The announcement of our monthly read-along for August;
Birthday wishes to John Wyndham (and Proust);
A preview of coming attractions and other notices;
And for paid subscribers:
The week’s new classics – including a new translation of Ourika;
And our first discussion of Bonjour Tristesse – with a note on Bergsonian morality.
This newsletter may be too long for your email inbox. If so, please click ‘View entire message’ at the bottom – or visit Substack.
August’s read-along – Their Eyes Were Watching God
I’m delighted to announce our next monthly read-along. Please join me in August to read Zora Neale Hurston’s beautiful novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Their Eyes Were Watching God was first published in 1937. It was initially neglected but is now considered one of the greatest classics of the Harlem Renaissance.
What is it?
Their Eyes Were Watching God is narrated by Janie Crawford, an African-American woman from southern Florida. Returning to her home town, she remembers how she was caught kissing young Johnny Taylor by her grandmother and married off to Logan Killicks, an old man with sixty acres. With pathos and humour, she reconstructs the upheavals, the loneliness, the sorrows and the joys of her life.
Why are we reading it?
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a haunting feminist novel, which Zora Neale Hurston wrote in just seven weeks in 1936. Toni Morrison called her ‘one of the greatest writers of our time’. Alice Walker said ‘there is no book more important to me than this one’; and Zadie Smith, who introduces the Virago edition, agrees: ‘there is no novel I love more.’ In 2019, the BBC included Their Eyes Were Watching God in their list of the 100 Most Inspiring Novels – and in May this year it appeared in the Guardian’s list of the 100 Best Novels of All Time.
Which edition should I read?
In the UK, Their Eyes Were Watching God is published by Virago Modern Classics with an introduction by Zadie Smith. It’s available in both paperback and hardback editions:
In the US, the novel is published by HarperCollins with a foreword by Edwidge Danticat and an afterword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
It is available in two paperback editions, a 75th anniversary edition (2006) and a more recent printing:
And it’s also available as a ‘super deluxe hardback’ with gold sprayed edges, foil, embossed lettering and a custom foil stamp on the cover:
How will we read it?
Their Eyes Were Watching God is 230 pages (in my edition) and has 20 chapters.
I suggest we read it over three weeks:
We’ll start reading on Friday 31st July.
On Friday 7th August we’ll discuss Chapters 1-6;
On Friday 14th August we’ll discuss Chapters 7-15;
And on Friday 21st August we’ll discuss Chapters 16-20.
Then, if you’re near London, you’d be very welcome to book a ticket for our discussion of Their Eyes Were Watching God at the Hatchards Classics Book Club on Thursday 3 September.
We meet at Hatchards (187 Piccadilly) on the first Thursday of every month at 6.30pm – tickets cost £5 with a free Hatchards Reward Card and include a glass (or two) of wine. These book club events are not live-streamed, but afterwards I post a report of our discussion here on Substack (see below).
As ever, our weekly read-along discussions of Their Eyes Were Watching God will be for paid subscribers only. More details here.
But if you – or anyone you know – would like to join this or future read-alongs and can’t afford a paid subscription, just let me know and I’ll send a gift subscription.
If you buy a copy of Their Eyes Were Watching God through Bookshop.org (UK) or Bookshop.org (US), Read the Classics will earn a commission from your purchase. Thank you in advance for your support!
Happy Birthday John Wyndham
In other news, today was John Wyndham’s birthday. He was born on this day in 1903.
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Benyon Harris was born in the village of Dorridge, Warwickshire and turned his hand to farming, law and advertising before he began writing science fiction stories for American magazines. He used various pen names, including ‘John Harris’, ‘John Beynon’, ‘Wyndham Parkes’ and ‘Lucas Parkes’, but he is most famous for the logical fantasy novels he published under the name ‘John Wyndham’.
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham (1951)
When Bill Masen wakes up blindfolded in hospital there is a bitter irony in his situation. Carefully removing his bandages, he realizes that he is the only person who can see: everyone else, doctors and patients alike, have been blinded by a meteor shower. Now, with civilization in chaos, the triffids – huge, venomous, large-rooted plants able to ‘walk’, feeding on human flesh – can have their day. The Day of the Triffids, published in 1951, expresses many of the political concerns of its time: the Cold War, the fear of biological experimentation and the man-made apocalypse. However, with its terrifyingly believable insights into the genetic modification of plants, the book is more relevant today than ever before.
[UK] Penguin Modern Classics | 256 pages | introduced by Barry Langford
[US] Modern Library | 256 pages | introduced by Jeff VanderMeer
Today was also Marcel Proust’s birthday: he was born on this day in 1871.
But I will hold off writing about Proust for now, for reasons that will become clear towards the end of next month . . .
Coming Attractions and Other Notices
Future monthly read-alongs
For a preview of our upcoming monthly read-alongs, take a peak here.
The Idler Festival
If you’re in London this weekend, it would be lovely to see you at the Idler Festival at Fenton House in Hampstead. I will be leading a guided walk of literary Hampstead at 12 noon on Sunday. Here are the details.
Big Think – Summer 2026
I’m very glad to have a piece in Big Think’s current quarterly print magazine. The theme of their summer issue is ‘The Opt-Out Nation’: I’ve written about Bartleby the Scrivener and other forms of opting out in literature.
Here is some more information about the issue. Big Think is here on Substack. Become a member to get your copy of the print edition.
Annual book subscription
If you’re enjoying our read-alongs, why not treat yourself to the Hatchards Classic Book Club annual book subscription?
You (or a friend) can receive all the books we read each month here on Read the Classics, beautifully gift-wrapped and delivered to your door, anywhere in the world, as well as a year’s complimentary subscription to Read the Classics, so you can choose to read along with us, if you wish.
To find out more, follow this link or email Hatchards directly: subscriptions@hatchards.co.uk
