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Original poster

Your recommendations for classics

35 replies

bookwormbeagle · 17/10/2014 11:56

I've just finished reading the book North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (sp), and really enjoyed it.

I've got the following lined up on my kindle, for after I finish The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

Dracula
Great Expectations
Far From The Madding Crowd
Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice
Silas Marner

What Classic would you recommend as a must-read?

OP posts:
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skolastica · 26/10/2014 07:21

Of Human Bondage - Somerset Maugham

  • an all time favourite for me

The Go Between
Flame trees of Thika

ihaveabookaddiction · 22/10/2014 18:38

a bit different but I loved Elizabeth Gaskell's autobiography of Charlotte Bronte. But fascinating and very readable.

Original poster
bookwormbeagle · 22/10/2014 13:29

Some great suggestions here! My list of books TBR is growing at an alarming rate Wink
Have never read Rebecca so think I'll go for that next.

OP posts:
TheOriginalSteamingNit · 20/10/2014 21:37

If you liked North and South, Mary Barton would be one obvious suggestion.. ?

riverboat1 · 20/10/2014 21:35

I read North and South for the first time earlier this year, and loved it too Smile

Must-reads: all of Austen (there aren't many). Jane Eyre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall represent the best of the Brontes IMO.

20th century classics: I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith) and Rebecca (Du Maurier).

Frankenstein v. good too.

Oh, and I read Wives and Daughters by Gaskell and really enjoyed that too.

elkiedee · 20/10/2014 14:00

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte.

Original poster
bookwormbeagle · 20/10/2014 13:47

I'm really enjoying The Woman in White - took a few chapters to get into, but now I'm gripped!

OP posts:
highlandcoo · 19/10/2014 10:18

Llama I've read loads of Victorian fiction but never come across Margaret Oliphant. Just googled her and looks excellent! Thanks for the recommendation Smile

Yika · 19/10/2014 08:26

It's already been said, but Middlemarch by George Eliot is brilliant.

I loved War and Peace as well as Anna Karenina.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is another good un.

Southeastdweller · 19/10/2014 08:19

Lolita.

IntellectualLlama · 18/10/2014 22:08

All of the Dickens, George Eliot and Austen novels mentioned above, but also Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant (like a Victorian Austen) and Barchester Towers (or any Trollope really).

TheTravellingLemon · 18/10/2014 11:39

Rebecca - one of my absolute favourite books of all time.

MyNameIsSuz · 18/10/2014 11:36

Oops, not sure how my phone did that! Hopefully it's obvious what I mean Smile

MyNameIsSuz · 18/10/2014 11:35

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut is a must read, as is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. And check out HP Lovecraft - his short stories are most definitely worth it. Seem full of clichés at first but then you realise actually that's where those clichés came from.

Wonc · 18/10/2014 11:23

Yes yes Frankenstein. Surprisingly good.

Quangle · 18/10/2014 11:19

Vanity Fair is one of my all time faves. Plus Great Expectations, David Copperfield, Grapes of Wrath, Jane Eyre, all of Austen.

Am currently several weeks (and only about one seventh the way through) Dombey and Son which is compelling so far.

ZaraW · 17/10/2014 20:19

No I totally agree with you. At least the film only covered about a third of the novel. Not a fan of James Dean in general but thought he was v. good in Giant.

ZaraW · 17/10/2014 20:18

No I totally agree with you. At least the film only covered about a third of the novel. Not a fan of James Dean in general but thought he was v. good in Giant.

Bolshybookworm · 17/10/2014 19:48

Zaraw I'm glad I'm not the only one! I read the book first and thought that maybe I disliked the film because the characters had already taken shape in my imagination. Hated James dean as Cal (which is probably sacrilege).

Allalonenow · 17/10/2014 19:24

Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Our Mutual Friend

Mrs Dalloway
Ulysses

punygod · 17/10/2014 19:05

Also Jude the Obscure and Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.

punygod · 17/10/2014 19:05

Middlemarch by George Eliot. Totally gripping.

ZaraW · 17/10/2014 18:55

Bolshybookworm I remember watching the Film with James Dean when I was young and then read the book which was SO much better.

D H Lawrence is also one of my favourite authors I've read Sons and Lovers a few times and never get bored.

Pippidoeswhatshewants · 17/10/2014 17:15

Lolita
The tin drum
To kill a mockingbird
The colour purple

All more modern classics.

hackmum · 17/10/2014 17:09

The woman in white by Wilkie Collins - cracking read.

Jane Eyre

Vanity Fair

Bleak House (but it's long, so perhaps best saved for a holiday)

Persuasion

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