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Should I read the classics? And if so, which ones?

41 replies

justwondering72 · 10/10/2015 16:12

I've always been 'a reader' and had several books on the go. As a young reader I loved fantasy, and continued reading it through into adulthood. I've read lot of contemporary fiction (much of it from recs on here, thank you!). But I'm feeling like there has been s big gap in my reading life where other people read The Classics and I did not.

So no Dickens, no Hardy, no Austen, no Bronte. I remembrer reading billy liar, sunset song and Lord of the flies at school, some Shakespear, some Brecht. Did higher and 6th year English but was in the second set for the former and the latter was a skive, led by a fairly louche Irish woman who had us reading Keats and other poetry most of the time.

I joined a book club a year ago and recently revealed that I'd never read Pride and Prejudice... Shock and horror was the least of it! So despite being highly qualified in my field (science) I feel like maybe I should try to catch up.

Where should I begin? And is it worth it??

OP posts:
Ballysbabe · 13/10/2015 08:15

I would definitely recommend most of the above but The best start is Lady Chatterleys Lover! You will not be able to put it down! ;-)

atrociouscook · 13/10/2015 08:54

I think no one has mentioned Arnold Bennett, whose books are an absolute joy. Reading The Grand Babylon Hotel at the moment, but there's The Card and many, many more, and I've never been disappointed.

bookbook · 13/10/2015 09:16

Agree with almost everyone about Jane Austen and the Brontes. Personally I find Dickens incredibly boring (sorry!) but I did enjoy
The Barchester Chronicles by Anthony Trollope
Anna Karenina / War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell

KatharineClifton · 13/10/2015 20:34

Vanity Fair is amazing. Read it. Silas Marner also. I found Wuthering Heights brilliant when I read it as a teenager. Not sure if I would now.

Ayala's Angel is very funny and a good way into Trollope.

Pride and Prejudice, like all Austen is appalling. Not a popular view I know, but the correct one ;)

Tbh, most of the classics I've 'read' have been listened to on audiobooks or on Radio 4.

And 'The Classics' is mostly just a list of male authors. Why would you limit yourself to them? Read what you like.

KatharineClifton · 13/10/2015 20:39

And The Sea-Wolf - not sure if it's counted as a classic though.

maamalady · 13/10/2015 21:26

Oh, Katharine, I'm so glad someone other than me loves the Sea Wolf! No-one ever seems to have heard of it, but I love it so hard (even though my copy has Jack London's appalling illustrations) :)

KatharineClifton · 13/10/2015 22:15

Oh my word, Wolf Larsen is the most repulsive, attractive and compulsive character! I don't currently have a copy of it - heads to Amazon...

justwondering72 · 15/10/2015 08:49

Thanks for all the suggestions - I've spent a happy hour downloading all manner of free classics onto my
Kindle.

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LadyShirazz · 15/10/2015 08:56

While I've read most of the classics named here, when it comes to certain wordier ones (Dickens, Hugo etc), I much prefer screen adaptations - makes for great Sunday afternoon viewing!

Cuts out all the "filler" stuff and focuses on the stonking plots instead.

Justify this in my mind as that Dickens books were the soap operas of their times anyway...

Anxiousunfortunate · 15/10/2015 09:06

I dont have good concentration levels currently but previously read a lot of classic novels. Many already mentioned but to add

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
Little Women a book that influenced me as a child and remains a favourite

Muskey · 15/10/2015 09:08

Where do I start. Apart from the obvious Austen and Brontes (although I would give withering heights a miss too much dialect which drove me mad) I would recommend to kill a mocking bird, catcher in the rye, catch 22, the grapes of wrath, war of the worlds, the great gatsby, war and peace, Anna karenina, the Lord of the rings, Lord of the flies, cider with Rosie and the mill on the floss.

Muskey · 15/10/2015 09:09

That should be wuthering heights but withering heights actually might be a better title

MiddleAgeMiddleEngland · 15/10/2015 13:37

Oh yes, The Grapes of Wrath, I missed that off my list. One of the best novels ever, I read it at least once a year.

Northumberlandlass · 15/10/2015 13:42

A Woman in White - Wilkie Collins. My all time favourite.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 15/10/2015 13:47

The Moonstone, also by Wilkie Collins. Great favourite of mine.

South Riding, by Winifred Holtby. Published in the mid 1930s. Possibly my favourite book of all time.

Loula117 · 15/10/2015 13:47

Personally I would go for 'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' over 'Wuthering Heights', and 'Northanger Abbey' for an Austen (bearing in mind the heroine is supposed to be a bit daft)

I enjoyed 'Vanity Fair' and second Daphne du Maurier, who is fab. Definitely read 'Rebecca', 'My Cousin Rachel' and 'The House on the Strand'. 'Cold Comfort Farm' by Stella Gibbons is a must too.

I just read Howards End for the first time (despite having a degree in Eng Lit) and absolutely hated it, full of insufferable people doing incomprehensible things, pretentious prose that waffles on and then major (and ludicruous) plot points being dealt with mid-sentence. Obviously I'm missing something!

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