To ask for classic book recommendations?

[firesong]

I was just reading the thread about the poster whose dh didn't like her fancy books on display, and it got me thinking... I love reading and used to get through loads of books each month. Since having children I have really slowed down, and would like to get back in to reading again. Can you recommend some classics for me to try? I haven't read any classics, apart from the odd Thomas Hardy in school.

Seconding Donna Tartt 'Secret History'. Ditto Wild Swans. Saw the Angela Carter documentary a couple of weeks ago on iplayer. 'Oranges are, not the only fruit' Jeanette Winterson. ANY Virago published book is worth a look.

Rebecca (& the b/w film)
Wuthering Heights
The Go Between (& the 60's film)
Gone with the Wind
Jane Eyre
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lord of the Flies

For lighter reads:
I Capture the Castle
Love in a Cold Climate
Any Jeeves & Wooster

Jane Eyre
Pride and Prejudice
Sense and Sensibility

Animal Farm
1984
The Road to Wigan Pier
Room With a View
Where Angels Fear to Tread
The Good Terrorist

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell

Madame Bovary
Dracula
1984

I don’t think the Jeeves books are considered classics, but they are a great read. Second the recommendation for To Kill a Mockingbird too.

Victor Hugo- Les Misérables
Zola - Germinal
Remarque- All Quiet on the Western Front, Arch of Triumph
Dostoevsky - crime and punishment, Idiot

Pride and Prejudice
Crime and Punishment
Madame Bovary
David Copperfield
Orlando
On the Road
The Trial
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Scoop
To Kill A Mockingbird

@MatildatheCat: Flowers for Algernon I remember at thirteen sobbing my way through the last part of that. More decades later than I care to say, I can feel my eyes filling up with tears at the thought of it. It was so sad. The last sentence is still vivid in my memory.

Unfortunately, the movie, "Charlie" didn't have the same emotional punch.

@UpstartCrow: I, Caudius"& "Claudius the God" are great, and surprising funny.

I hate to harp on TV or movie productions of books, but the Derek Jacobi "I, Claudius" is sooo good. (Likewise, Lew Grade's faithful adaptation of"Brideshead, Revisited"- although, I thought Anthony Andrews was so good in it that it bogs down when his character leaves).