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Original poster

Right-I'm sick of Booker shortlist fiction-so help me, post your all time favourite work of classic fiction

238 replies

DarrellRivers · 09/01/2008 13:36

Ann Enright finished me off finally with the dross that is called 'The Gathering'
So I decided to start reading some more classic works of fiction.
Am currently reading Nana by Zola, it's great [bit suprised]

At least these people seem to be able to write cracking tales (and not just emotional vomit)
I think I read most classic works of fiction when I was a teenager -ie Jane Austen, when I was too young to appreciate anything about life.

So post what should i read next, and what you loved about it.I think anything published in last 20 years should not be allowed but exceptions may be permitted.

OP posts:
francagoestohollywood · 09/01/2008 14:16

I'll read it if you wish ahundred, just to please you

KrippledKerryMum · 09/01/2008 14:16

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psychomum5 · 09/01/2008 14:17

hurrumph.....

KrippledKerryMum · 09/01/2008 14:18

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dustystar · 09/01/2008 14:18

Ooh I forgot about evelyn Waugh. i like Deline and Fall and also A handful of Dust

amazonianwoman · 09/01/2008 14:19

Love Madame Bovary, have read it about 5 times, incl for A level & degree French.

A couple of modern authors I like - Kazuo Ishiguro (Remains of the Day, The Unconsoled, Pale View of Hills) and Arundhati Roy (God of Small Things)

Dickens Tale of Two Cities

And anything by John Irving if I want something "easy", I love A Prayer for Owen Meany!

Original poster
DarrellRivers · 09/01/2008 14:19

100x sorry, I had already added it in my mind to the imaginary list, but had not online.
Middlemarch it is

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Original poster
DarrellRivers · 09/01/2008 14:20

Aha, He who wrote Crime and Punishement, will add

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KrippledKerryMum · 09/01/2008 14:21

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seeker · 09/01/2008 14:21

My new year resolution is to read some Dickens - I have been 'bouncing off the surface" since I was a teenager!

I'm currently reading Dombey and Son - cheating really because I recently heard some of it on the radio - but I'm really enjoying it. Much easier, faster reading than I expected.

I think Mill on the Floss is just SLIGHTLY bettet than Middlemarch.

Original poster
DarrellRivers · 09/01/2008 14:21

and Les Miserables, (is it a little depressing as a tale)
mind you, a lot of great reads do tend to be dramatic and end messily

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seeker · 09/01/2008 14:22

Brideshead Revisited is wonderful!

seeker · 09/01/2008 14:23

And, of course, In the Fourth at Malory Towers.........

suiledonn · 09/01/2008 14:23

amazonianwoman - I sgree totally about John Irving. A Prayer for Owen Meany is my favourite too. I liked When We Were Orphans by Ishiguro but tried the most recent one (name escapes me now) but couldn't get into it.

hattyyellow · 09/01/2008 14:23

Definitely agree re Vanity Fair. Also love Middlemarch...

I would try trawling through Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh (Brideshead Revisited, perhaps) and Muriel Spark (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, perhaps) - three of my favourites.

ahundredtimes · 09/01/2008 14:23

[frowns at Seeker, shakes head]

ahundredtimes · 09/01/2008 14:24

Why oh why are there SO many votes for Evelyn Waugh?

Original poster
DarrellRivers · 09/01/2008 14:24

Marina, The Honours Board, I remember reading that as a teenager.
I think it was quite a racy read for me (although nothing in comparison to Lace/ or Jilly Cooper)
I do have a liking for Mrs Gaskell, romantic type of stuff

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hattyyellow · 09/01/2008 14:25

Why oh why shouldn't there be so many votes for Waugh?

...

seeker · 09/01/2008 14:25

Loved Narnia until I realized at the age of about 15 that it was concealed propaganda. And anti-woman. Never forgave CS Lewis.

ahundredtimes · 09/01/2008 14:25

There's romance in Middlemarch, and oh so much more.

[dogged]

francagoestohollywood · 09/01/2008 14:26

You don't like EW, ahundred? I remember loving Scoop, recommending it to one of my best friend and he hated it!

Original poster
DarrellRivers · 09/01/2008 14:26

A prayer for Owen Meany is one of my favourite books of all times.
John Irving makes me laugh out loud
If i had to compile a top 10 of books that would be the first on it, and then , I don't know how i would ever compile the rest

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ahundredtimes · 09/01/2008 14:27

I just think its surprising.

I mean [grand gesture] I suppose he's a good stylist, a man of his time and witty and mean, but I wouldn't put him in a list with Dostoevsky, Eliot, Hugo and Dickens.

Original poster
DarrellRivers · 09/01/2008 14:27

Detention for you Seeker and Psychomum5 , EnidBlyton is definitely not allowed on the list

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