To ask for classic book recommendations?

[firesong]

I was just reading the thread about the poster whose dh didn't like her fancy books on display, and it got me thinking... I love reading and used to get through loads of books each month. Since having children I have really slowed down, and would like to get back in to reading again. Can you recommend some classics for me to try? I haven't read any classics, apart from the odd Thomas Hardy in school.

[bridgetreilly]

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte.

[MatildaTheCat]

For a modern classic try Flowers for Algernon.

Brides head revisited is an all time favourite plus Jane Eyre.

[Ethelswith]

Vanity Fair, by Thackeray

Brilliant book" and it's going to be televised this autumn.

[Pleasenomoreglitter]

North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell. I love this book.

[Twotailed]

Anything by Dickens - they’re so much more accessible and enjoyable than you would think. A Tale of Two Cities is the quickest and easiest read but not the best. Great Expectations is wonderful, and my favourite is Bleak House.

For a more modern classic I recommend The Poisonwood Bible, my favourite book of all time.

[MissusGeneHunt]

Bleak House, as Twotails suggested.

Failing that, Conan Doyle or Kipling. Superb!

[MissusGeneHunt]

Sorry, Twotailed!

[RayRayBidet]

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
The Diary of a Nobody by George Grossmith and Weedon Grossmith
Both very funny and well written.
The Card by Arnold Bennett. Bennett was a bestselling author in the Edwardian period but fell out of fashion. The Card is my favourite book after Jane Eyre and The Count of Monte Cristo.

[firesong]

Oooooh, I have read The Poisonwood Bible! I didn't know that it was a classic. Would have displayed it more prominently...

[Bilingualspingual]

Agree about Dickens. My favourite is Our Mutual Friend.
Not really a classic (yet) but I've just finished A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles which I absolutely loved.

[BossWitch]

I love Silas Marner, by George Eliot.
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins is a good read - it's essentially the first 'country house mystery' story.
Jane Eyre will always be brilliant.

[nearlyhometime123]

I second The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

Wilkie Collins can be a lot of fun - I'd recommend The Moonstone or No Name (with the caveat that the ending of the latter hasn't aged well).

[RueDeWakening]

Jane Austen is a nice easy intro to classics imo. Other than that, Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Brideshead Revisited, most Dickens (I've tried and failed to enjoy A Tale of Two Cities but got on fine with most others), 1984, Bronte sisters...

[araiwa]

Dune

[Mintylicious]

So many of the above!

For me:

Pride and Prejudice
Emma
Wuthering Heights
Great Expectations
Jane Eyre (see also Wide Sargasso Sea - interesting to read that afterwards)
The Waves
Frankenstein

Some of the American classics too:

The Great Gatsby
The Catcher in the Rye
Go Tell It On The Mountain
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Grapes of Wrath
The Sound And The Fury


Some publishers are re-releasing not exactly classics, but books by well-known authors that have been out print for a while, so Dodie Smith (101 Dalmatians), E Nesbitt etc. Those are well worth a read.

For more modern classics, I like:

Rebecca
1984
A Clockwork Orange
Catch 22
American Psycho

[BeatriceJoanna]

Anything by Jane Austen. They are all great reads but Persuasion is my favourite.

I agree with those people saying Dickens. I would personally recommend Bleak House and Little Dorrit; they're both doorstops but definitely worth the effort.

And I would also suggest Anthony Trollope. The Barsetshire novels are arguably the best ones to start with.

[LittleBlueRidingBoot]

Three men in a boat by Jerome K Jerome.

[setfiretothestars]

Another vote for Tenant of Wildfell Hall, it's a cracking read and very much ahead of its time

Wives and Daughters (Elizabeth Gaskell) - love the characters and storytelling

Three Men in a Boat (Jerome K Jerome) - still very fresh and funny today

In terms of Austen I'd recommend Emma and Persuasion.

[Doje]

Gone with the Wind! I'm not a fan of the classics, but I LOVE this book.

[MrHecklesOboe]

Great list by Mintylicious includes lots I would suggest (and a couple I’ve not read but will do now!)

On the modern list I would add Jamaica Inn.

[weaselwomble]

Might not be to everyone's taste but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Dracula. Worth a go!

[weaselwomble]

Oh and if we're doing American classics too then The Colour Purple (does that count as a classic?)

[Djnoun]

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Manages to be frothy and wryly hilarious while punching you hard in the feelings.

[longwayoff]

Modern writers, if you like historical fiction, Iain Pears 'An Instance of the Fingerpost' and others. Also CJ Sansom's Shardlake novels.

[DianaTheHuntress]

My favourites are;

American:

The Great Gatsby
Catcher in the Rye
The Bell Jar
The Old Man and the Sea

English:

Sense & Sensibility
Jane Eyre
Agnes Grey
Wuthering Heights
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall