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Original poster

OK - I want new things to read. Please can you list two books- one classic, one modern- you think everyone shoulf read.

194 replies

seeker · 22/10/2008 22:45

I'll start. Pride and Prejudice and The Kite Runner, by Khalid Hosseini.

OP posts:
BBBeeast · 29/10/2008 19:54

classic: of mice and men
modern: restraint of beasts

mine match!

BBBeeast · 29/10/2008 19:54

classic: of mice and men
modern: restraint of beasts

mine match!

naturalblonde · 29/10/2008 19:53

To Kill A Mockingbird
The Catcher in the Rye

The Secret History

Troutpout · 29/10/2008 19:50

All mine are already up there

classic:
Jane Eyre
To kill a mockingbird
or the woman in white

modern:
A prayer for Owen Meany
the red tent
the time travellers wife

soyabean · 29/10/2008 19:46

OK am trying to go for two that haven't yet been suggested
Classic (well its not very modern) The Member of the Wedding Carson McCullers
Modern Vernon God Little
Theme in common I think

So many good suggestions so far.

kalo12 · 29/10/2008 19:44

of human bondage - somerset maughm

Nectar in a sieve - karmala markandala

RunningGirl · 29/10/2008 19:39

Rebecca
Life of Pi

SalLikesCoffee · 26/10/2008 09:35

Modern: The Gate by Francois Bizot. Beautiful, intelligently written, infinitely sad.

Classic: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.

edam · 26/10/2008 09:03

Or, if you want to explore what literature means, Helene Hanff, 84 Charing Cross Road.

edam · 26/10/2008 09:02

Alan Bennett, the Uncommon Reader - beautifully written, as always, lots of suggestions for other stuff to read, and a fascinating picture of how reading fiction changes you. (And quite funny as he's rumoured to have turned down a knighthood.)

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte - my favourite book.

christiana · 26/10/2008 08:59

Message withdrawn

tigermoth · 26/10/2008 08:37

Modern - The Rotters Club
Classic - Cranford

Cauldronfrau · 26/10/2008 01:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Saturn74 · 26/10/2008 01:50

Nicholas Nickleby
The Book Thief

TwoIfByScream · 26/10/2008 01:44

Classic - On The Beach, always makes me incredibly sad when I read it.

Recent - Through A Glass Darkly by Jostein Gaarder, written simply but with such hidden depths and very comforting in a strange way. It did make me cry but I won't spoil it by saying what or why.

Bink · 24/10/2008 23:22

Now, having looked at everyone else's, how about Madame Bovary (yes I know other people have proposed it) plus (here's the shtick) then Posy Simmonds's first marvellous classic re-imagining Gemma Bovery

Or, what about doing non-fiction? Let's say Gibbon, Decline & Fall ... followed by, well, I was going to say The Feminine Mystique, but they have notalot in common. Anyone suggest anything that matchingly pairs with D&F?

Bink · 24/10/2008 23:15

One of those lovely threads you actually HAVE to post on before reading everyone else's - apart from the OP, which I couldn't avert my eyes off.

James Baldwin, Go Tell It On The Mountain - for my classic one.

Helen Simpson, any of her collections of short stories (Hey Yeah Right Get a Life is looking at me) - for my not-yet classic one.

Litchick · 24/10/2008 20:32

Oldie but goodie - Crime and Punishment.
New ( ish ) - The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

Thefearlessfreak · 24/10/2008 20:27

This reply has been withdrawn

This post has been withdrawn due to privacy concerns

DoubleBluff · 24/10/2008 20:19

To Kill a Mocking bird

The Time Travellers Wife

georgimama · 24/10/2008 20:15

Yes it is! I loved it!

midnightexpress · 24/10/2008 14:13

Classic:
Anna Karenina
or
Therese Racquin (or anything by Balzac, actually)
or
Bleak House

Modern:
The Corrections (Jonathan Frantzen)
or
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Michael Chabon, I think)
or
The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)

theyoungvisiter · 24/10/2008 14:06

arg, only one of each? So difficult!

I think it would have to be...

Emma, Jane Austen

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (written in 1940s but only recently published)

ratherbesleeping · 24/10/2008 14:01

Georgimama Lorelli's secret????? Wasn't that the one in which a grief stricken man tries to teach a dog to talk?

V weird book

If not, ignore me and write me off as v weird Mumsnetter

ipanemagirl · 24/10/2008 13:57

'The woman in white' Wilkie Collins &
'Beloved' Toni Morrison

or

'David Copperfield' Dickens &
'Fingersmith' Sarah Waters

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