To ask what your favourite classic novel is?

[SpectacleLectacle]

I have a plan to read some classics this summer I’ve never got round to... what’s your absolute favourite classic novel? And why?

I guess I’m thinking mainly of those that would be in the ‘Classics’ (in terms of fiction rather than the subject!) section of a bookshop but feel free to diverge from that

I cannot stand Hardy, whose women - IMHO - are passive victims caught by their own circumstances

How interesting. I see Hardy's women quite differently. I always feel that he's exposing the shocking double standards, sexism etc of the time and very sympathetic towards women. He also explores how shit it was if you were poor.

Even if his women were mere ciphers, I'd forgive him because he writes so beautifully about rural life, but without prettifying it.

Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome - I still think this is one of the funniest books ever in the English language

Pant-wettingly funny!

Other funny favourites are E F Benson's Mapp & Lucia books and PG Wodehouse (Blandings books funnier than Wooster, imo).

The Wild Asses Skin- Honore Balzac

Germian?! I think by Emilie Zola

The Outsider- Albert Camus

There are others...sorry for being a bit out there with my choices I've got a literature MA 😂😂😂

Rebecca for sure. Frenchman’s Creek is also very good and I think overlooked sometimes.

Tess of the D’Ubervilles

Jane Eyre
Gone with the wind
Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
To Kill a Mockingbird
Rebecca
Wuthering Heights.
I Capture the Castle
Diary of a Provincial Lady
Diary of a Nobody
Cold Comfort Farm
My cousin Rachel
I admit that some of these may not be classified as classics but they should be!

@JacobReesMogadishu I was coming on here to recommend Frenchman’s Creek, and also Jamaica Inn. To be honest, anything by Daphne du Maurier is a win for me.

Agree with so many others on here. The Woman in Black is terrifying

Turn of the screw by Henry James is the ghost story that I measure all ghost stories by. It's short but creepy!

The Hobbit and LOTR are also brilliant! The LOTR is hard to get through but so worth it!

Rebecca
Jayne Eyre
Wide Sargasso Sea
The Great Gatsby
The Secret Garden

@LakieLady

Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome - I still think this is one of the funniest books ever in the English language

Pant-wettingly funny!

Other funny favourites are E F Benson's Mapp & Lucia books and PG Wodehouse (Blandings books funnier than Wooster, imo).

I cannot open a tin of pineapple without thinking of Three Men.

If you like Mapp & Lucia you might enjoy The Provincial Lady by E.M.Delafield, although it lacks the 'bite' of Tilling.

To kill a mocking bird.
Anything by George Orwell.

Persuasion by Jane Austen. Totally my favourite Austen novel and I've read it many times.

I also love;
The tenant of Wildfell hall - Anne Bronte
No name - Wilkie Collins

Great Expectations, it's wonderful, uplifting, heartbreaking.

The Go Between - perfect summer read for a British staycation.

Most of my favourites have been mentioned already. Do try Barbara Pym, she’s wonderful. I’m not a great one for long classic novels (too lazy) and most of my favourites are really short, but you must read Bleak House.

My recommendations:
Read Orwell’s essays as well as the
The 39 Steps by John Buchan - if you like it, you’ll probably enjoy all his other books as well
Whisky Galore by Compton Mackenzie (the Audible version is also superb)
Shakespeare - the tragedies, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, and the histories except the Henry VI ones. Plays are surprisingly easy to read I think
Paradise Lost is well worth reading, as is (in translation, obviously) Dante’s Inferno

And
A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell - 12 volumes but so good, and not a difficult read at all.

War of the Worlds - it's actually set in Victorian London (unlike the more modern films) so the alien invasion aspect vs fairly primitive options to handle it was delivered incredibly. Wells also has a habit of expanding your vocabulary my latest mission is to include fecundity in work conversations.

1984 - Orwell is slightly terrifying with his insight into how society can develop and the echoes of what he writes about being in our lives now is frankly chilling when you consider the year he wrote it. Brilliant book!

Les Miserables - incredible story that is only half covered in popular adaptations. This will definitely occupy your summer though because it's a hefty read...you'll also learn a fair bit of French history!

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley's writing style is beautiful and uncomplicated...the story is horrifying but heart wrenching too. Incredible story beautifully written.

Lolita by Nabokov is a work of art. And there’s a fabulous audiobook version with Jeremy Irons narrating.

Germian?! I think by Emilie Zola
Germinale? Sooo depressing. Don't read unless you're in the mood for misery!
As far as French literature is concerned I loved Therese Raquin (passion! crime!) and Madame Bovary . Couldn't get on with Hugo.

The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck
Definitely this! I started reading it by chance as it was left in a holiday cottage we stayed in last year. Amazing book that has really stayed with me.
My other picks:

• A Du Maurier - I read at least one of hers every year and have just finished Hungry Hill. I love her short stories.
• Far from the Madding Crowd (I love Hardy in general but this is my favourite).
• The Baron in the Trees (Calvino). I have reread this so many times but it is still magical.
• The Painted Veil (Maugham) all married couples should read it!
• Emma - funny but also touching

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
I love having a great character you're rooting for and Molly is lovely. It's brilliantly written and my favourite book.

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
Really interesting characters and it's very short. The film with Edward Norton and Naomi Watts is also an excellent adaptation.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres
Makes you laugh out loud and cry. Really moving. Having read it 20 years ago there are still moments I can remember really clearly. DO NOT watch the hideous film with Nicholas Cage.

Happy reading!

@LakieLady

I cannot stand Hardy, whose women - IMHO - are passive victims caught by their own circumstances

How interesting. I see Hardy's women quite differently. I always feel that he's exposing the shocking double standards, sexism etc of the time and very sympathetic towards women. He also explores how shit it was if you were poor.

Even if his women were mere ciphers, I'd forgive him because he writes so beautifully about rural life, but without prettifying it.

That was me @LakieLady ... 🤔 Fair enough, maybe I need to go back and have another look because Hardy is certainly getting much love on this thread.

I was introduced to his work at high school and found it all ruby red lips and purple prose. I was outraged by it for my all-girls' school in the late 1980s and couldn't believe the messages we were being sent. But maybe the real messages never filtered through properly. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Anyway - some inspiring suggestions on this thread. Thank you all.

Tin Drum Gunther Grass
Nights at the Circus Angela Carter
Beloved Toni Morrison.

@nevergoingoutagain

Totally agree with you, I just put a caveat on there because there are those who think that books such as To Kill a Mockingbird should all be burned and never spoken of due to the racism in them. Rather than being read and appreciated for the wonderful writing whilst understanding it was written in another era.

There was a thread on here some time ago which I think got deleted basically saying that these kinds of books should be banned from schools and how dare they be part of the curriculum etc. I didn't know how long this thread would be and I didn't want someone having a fit at me for suggesting it as a classic. You never can tell how an innocent thread will go on MN!

I had the same idea as you once, OP. I felt there were loads of classics out there that I 'ought' to have read, so went into Waterstones to buy one.

While in there, I found a brilliant little book called Classic Novels, which gives a synopsis of pretty much every book ever written. I bought that instead 😂

Highly recommend:

Withering Heights
Gone with the wind
Anna Karenina

A little life is definitely a modern classic imo but it is a hard read. Very slow paced and may not be suitable for all.