Your recommendations for classics

[bookwormbeagle]

I've just finished reading the book North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (sp), and really enjoyed it.

I've got the following lined up on my kindle, for after I finish The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

Dracula
Great Expectations
Far From The Madding Crowd
Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice
Silas Marner

What Classic would you recommend as a must-read?

I love a good book list!

Not sure what your definition of 'classic' would be (pre World War II? Before 1900?) but a few that might fit with your list are:

Frankenstein
Wurthering Heights
Jane Eyre
A Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
Sherlock Holmes
Grimms Fairy Tales
Huckleberry Finn
Collection of Tales from Edgar Allan Poe
Madame Bovery
Vanity Fair
Moby Dick

Then you've got more contemporary classics like 1984, The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby, The Color Purple, To The Lighthouse, The Bell Jar, Play It As It Lays.

I could go on and on.

I'm not saying I passionately love all these books, or that they're all utterly brilliant works of fiction, but they have given me insight into the times they were written in and have been influential.

I'm using the term loosely as I'm not sure myself really!

There was an offer on amazon a few weeks back (when they were promoting their whispersync service) and I downloaded lots of freebies with the audio companion version for pennies. I've read some Austen books previously and enjoyed them, so wanted to extend my collection really. Like the one from Elizabeth Gaskell - prior to that offer I wouldn't have even thought of searching for her works but I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed Cranford by Gaskell.

I loved Persuasion by Jane Austen. It's my favourite of her novels. How could you not love Captain Wentworth?

Great. I've now ordered: Persuasion, Cranford, Wuthering Heights, Moby Dick and Sherlock!

Can't wait to get started

Emma - it's fab.

East of Eden is one of my favourites. Grapes of Wrath is also an excellent read but more difficult to read due to the dialect.

I absolutely love East of Eden, Zaraw, it's one of my favourite books.

I'd also add The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (it's a prequel to Jane eyre and I think I like it even more than the original).

The age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
Bleak house by Charles Dickens

Anna Karenina

Dracula audiobook that syncs with the Kindle copy is free atm. It is really well done.

The woman in white by Wilkie Collins - cracking read.

Jane Eyre

Vanity Fair

Bleak House (but it's long, so perhaps best saved for a holiday)

Persuasion

Lolita
The tin drum
To kill a mockingbird
The colour purple

All more modern classics.

Bolshybookworm I remember watching the Film with James Dean when I was young and then read the book which was SO much better.

D H Lawrence is also one of my favourite authors I've read Sons and Lovers a few times and never get bored.

Middlemarch by George Eliot. Totally gripping.

Also Jude the Obscure and Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Our Mutual Friend

Mrs Dalloway
Ulysses

Zaraw I'm glad I'm not the only one! I read the book first and thought that maybe I disliked the film because the characters had already taken shape in my imagination. Hated James dean as Cal (which is probably sacrilege).

No I totally agree with you. At least the film only covered about a third of the novel. Not a fan of James Dean in general but thought he was v. good in Giant.

No I totally agree with you. At least the film only covered about a third of the novel. Not a fan of James Dean in general but thought he was v. good in Giant.

Vanity Fair is one of my all time faves. Plus Great Expectations, David Copperfield, Grapes of Wrath, Jane Eyre, all of Austen.

Am currently several weeks (and only about one seventh the way through) Dombey and Son which is compelling so far.

Yes yes Frankenstein. Surprisingly good.

Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut is a must read, as is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. And check out HP Lovecraft - his short stories are most definitely worth it. Seem full of clichés at first but then you realise actually that's where those clichés came from.

Oops, not sure how my phone did that! Hopefully it's obvious what I mean

Rebecca - one of my absolute favourite books of all time.

All of the Dickens, George Eliot and Austen novels mentioned above, but also Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant (like a Victorian Austen) and Barchester Towers (or any Trollope really).