So - help me with a classic novel

I wouldn't call heart of darkness an easy read! Any more than James Joyce! (Except Dubliners maybe)

I second Cold Comfort Farm. Short and funny.
Any Austen is awesome.

A day in the life of Ivan denisovitch. Short, classic.
The stranger, Camus. Ditto
Strait is the gate, Gide. Ditto

Short stories, Maupassant.
Uncle Silas le Fanu. Scary.

The woodlanders hardy. Touching
Mrs Dalloway Woolf

David Copperfield
A tale of two cities
Great expectations

Cold comfort farm

Conrad? Heart of Darkness is short and easy to read. Henry James - The Turn of the Screw. Faulkner - not The Sound and the Fury (I hated that) but Light in August is powerful and beautiful.

Can I make a suggestion- I've found audiobooks a brilliant way to start 'reading' the classics- try that! (I just can't concentrate on physical reading for long, and find that I can get on with other stuff while listening too).

I've now listened to most of what Dickens wrote, all of Jane Austen, some Anthony Trollope and am getting through Moby Dick at present.

It's amazing what you can download from your local library too- I was able to listen to a lot for free.

My favourite so far has been Martin Jarvis reading David Coppperfield, and Hard Times. Brilliant stuff.

Baconyum It is wonderful that you laughed out loud.
'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.'
Any book that starts with that line is going to be funny, even more so in the time it was written.

Even lit scholars can't agree on which are canonical texts.

Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle also excellent.

oh yes, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold is brilliant

Diary of a Nobody
Lucky Jim
Decline and Fall
The Woman in White

To Kill A Mockingbird, obviously!

What about John Le Carre just to put the fly into the ointment? Or dare I mention Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings.

The Great Gatsby
Great Expectations
Portrait of a Lady
Jude the Obscure (depressing but excellent)

Avoid Catch 22 like the plague.
Awful, pointless book.

Agreed that Malory Towers (EB) are classics. Love them.

I love Austen and one of my favourite books ever is pride and prejudice. I first read on holiday and laughed out loud on the beach!

At this time of year though, surely it has to be 'a Christmas carol'?

Maya Angelou could do no wrong in my eyes, beautiful writer as are Toni Morrison and Alice Walker.

If you're raging at the Tories George Orwell could either be a great idea or make you more angry. Likewise 'To kill a mockingbird' if racism infuriates you.

Sorry I could get so carried away with this. For something quick but not a book there's Jonathan Swifts modest proposal (which seems to be Cameron's fucking template!)

I hate reading about toffs and much prefer the ordinary man so I would recommend the grapes of wrath, to kill a mocking bird or the color purple
Animal farm or Lord of the flies are also on my list

Right OP says she has vowed to read a 'classic novel' this year. I say 'Pride and Prejudice'. What do you say?

I loathed, 'The Remains of the Day'! Steinbeck being depressing is sort of the point.

Happy Anything you fancy yet?

Austen is a genius and I highly recommend hers, but I'm not sure you should launch straight in, based on your comments so far. I have friends who got into the books once they'd seen some of the films, so had a sort of 'security blanket' into them. Maybe worth a try?

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth.

I utterly loathe Steinbeck after O and A Level English Lit. The Pearl was the most utterly depressing book I have ever read. And Of Mice and Men isn't much better. I hated The Great Gatsby and The Go Between as well.

What about The Remains Of The Day by Ishiguro? I do love Pride and Prejudice though. It's quite witty and sarcastic really. I think many 'classics' are overrated yo be honest. The last book I read that I really enjoyed was Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch. I've bought the next 3 books in the series to read.

YY to, 'Lord of the Flies' - astonishingly good book.

'Ballet Shoes' is one of my top ten books ever - it's just perfect!

Lord of the Flies
Animal Farm
To Kill a Mockingbird
Something by Dickens?

Oh gosh I did read Ballet Shoes again quite recently! I love childhood books. However the books that really got me into major reading and then onto A'level English were; The Mayor of Casterbridge, Wuthering Heights and as mentioned previously Pride and Prejudice.

I don't understand why, 'Revolutionary Road' is considered a classic. I didn't like it. Definitely an easy read though.

Ballet Shoes
Flatland

Or grit your teeth and read Emma because it is honestly brilliant. (Just listened to the In Our Time episode about it and feeling evangelical).

Revolutionary Road
Stoner

both American, not so well known but very worthy of classics status

Beloved by Toni Morrison - modern classic, beautiful