I want to read classic or important books

[PointOfTipping]

I would really like to start reading important books- not sure how much time I'm going to have to do it so think realistically I want to compile a list of 10 and aim to do them this year. I'd be happy to be honest if I manage at least five.

The only one I have on my list so far is War and Peace. I love literature yet feel like I don't know anything about significant books - would anyone like to nominate any titles?

I recently listened to 1984. It was very unsettling to listen too. I will have to put off reading that one until I feel a bit better.

How about some of the Ancient Greek classics like Homer?

You can be shocked all you like tobee, but I find Dickens insufferably turgid, tedious and mawkish - and it's not for want of trying to enjoy his books but Christ, what a trudge. Much like Austen, Dickens was considered low-brow in his day I think? However, I love Austen...I appreciate others might not feel the same as me (my English teacher thought I was committing some sort of sacrilege) but I've spoken to quite a few people who think as I do, so I'm not alone!

I'm not a fan of Dickens either. Different strokes for different folks.

And yes, definitely considered lowbrow in his day. There are hilarious descriptions of him hawking Oliver Twist around the performance circuit and hamming up his renditions of it more and more. Emotionally incontinent with an eye for the money (and yes, ok, social reformer with a conscience, but ...).

Les Miserables, definitely, but be careful which translation you choose. The earliest ones were heavy going - they're also the ones that are free on Kindle/available cheaply, so people often try them and think they don't get on with LM. I did exactly this, years ago! The Julie Rose one is excellent and my favourite (it's since become my favourite book and I've read pretty much all the translations).

Also Jude the Obscure, or anything by Hardy really.

I would make sure you don’t go too heavy with the list. War and Peace is quite a hefty start. Just balance out your list so it is achievable.
Maybe Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut, Lord of the Flies by William Golding?

Middlemarch!

And two short excellent classics which are genuinely a good read;
The Europeans by Henry James
The Kiss by Anton Chekhov

A tale of 2 cities
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
The Quiet American
Catch 22
All Quiet on the Western Front

Would like to say Fahrenheit 451 - I loved it as a teen, re-read as an adult and thought "what pretentious twaddle"

Don't read Parades End or anything by Steinbeck !. Set books for my "A" level, still makes me shiver brrrrrr.

I loved Steinbeck during my Highers and worked my way through his stuff in my 20s.

Anyone else thinking instead of reading the latest 'must read' (Eleanor Oliphant, I'm looking at you) they'd rather go back and start rereading the classics they read when younger?

@PointOfTipping. I love the idea of a Mumsnet book club, maybe doing one book a month.

I am a pretty voracious reader, generally getting through a couple of books each week, but the books I read are always the paperback best sellers younger in the supermarket, or similar types of book from the library. At the moment I generally go for crime or thrillers, occasionally chic-lit, family sagas etc

Every year I make a resolution to read a least a few books a year which are considered to be 'worthwhile', classic or at least well written, but I never do. I have thought of joining a local book group to encourage me with this but not found anything yet.

Don't know where that random 'younger' came from!

It’s a bit difficult given that everyone has a different idea of important. I suppose you could pick ten books that are prominent in their genre/time or kicked off a literary revolution. I’d say:

1. Rousseau’s Julie (or La Nouvelle Heloise) - this is often cited as the start of literary Romanticism
2. Zola’s Germinal - a good stand alone in his work, he was prominent in the realist movement
3. Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment - token Russian literature, probably one of the easiest to translate without loosing the philosophical point
4. Dickens’ Hard Times - I’m not particularly fond of this one but probably one of his more sophisticated yet short ones
5. Shelley’s Frankenstein - many consider it the best work of gothic fiction
6. George Orwell 1984 - the dystopian novel
7. Steinbeck’s East of Eden - by far his best work, and one of the best works of American literature
8. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5 interesting and short work of surrealist science fiction type thing that was popular after the second d wirld war

10. Ishiguro’s Unconsoled - best contemporary work, best piece of surrealist writing (read after reading slaughterhouse 5).

*warning re hardy, he writes well but dont read his work unless you like books where everybody dies.

Brideshead Revisited
Things Fall Apart
Brave New World
Brighton Rock
Something by Margaret Atwood (There are several which are better than the Handmaid's Tale; but don't waste your time on the sequel to HMT)
The Warden, or something else by Trollope

Oh and I'd second Henry James

I'd love to join a classic book readalong.

I am currently reading a recent translation of Les Miserables on my kindle (on the bus) and really enjoying it so far. 10% in!

Some good recommendations from @Reginabambina.

I listened to Frankenstein recently and was surprised by the story compared to the old films I'd seen.

I've read most of Ishiguro but not Unconsoled. I will add it my list but can't imagine it surpassing The Remains of the Day for me.

Hans Fallada, Little Man, What Now? and Alone in Berlin
(he also wrote a hilarious- but probably not very truthful- autobiography, but not sure if it's been translated)

Maupassant, A Life

Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose

Unconsoled is a pretty challenging read, far more so than The Remains of the Day or Never Let Me Go. It was like having disturbing dreams for days on end.

I have disturbing dreams every night due to meds I'm taking, not sure if I want that in the day too! He is my favourite author and the premise looks interesting so will give it a go anyway.

@Disfordarkchocolate the remains of the day doesn’t even come close to the unconsoled. I’d strongly recommend reading in a single reading though, it’s challenging and sublime in equal measure. Requires complete immersion.

Here's a few I've enjoyed:

Lady Chatterley's Lover - D H Lawrence
The Virgin and the Gypsy - D H Lawrence (for comparison's sake)
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
The Once and Future King - T H White
Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
The Time Machine - H G Wells

@CountFosco exactly!