Had anyone come to a classic late in life ?

[almondflake]

Has anyone come to a classic late in life and been blown away by it ?
I've reached the age of 60 and have never read or seen To Kill a Mockingbird i didn't even know the story . I've been blown away by the story and the writing , i absolutely loved Atticus and Scout , i found Atticus to be such a kind and wise man , a staunch believer in right and wrong ready to pass all he knows onto Scout and Jim .
If you've never read it I heartily recommend reading or listening to it .
I've already downloaded Go Set a Watchman onto kindle to see how Scout grows up .
Please send any recommendations for classics I may love too .

I read so many of the classics in my teens and 20s (literature degree). In my 30s basically stopped reading when the DC came along.
In my 40s I've become addicted to audiobooks and have discovered all kinds of books and authors I'd never read. The one that comes to mind is PG Wodehouse! Absolutely loving Jeeves and Wooster!

I so agree with you about the Great Gatsby. I just cannot understand the big love for it, I hated it.

I'm convinced it's because it's so short!

I love The Great Gadsby, Wittering Heights is the only book that once finished I threw across the room. Had to read it for university. Straight in the bin.

For some reason I really got into Thomas Hardy in my mid thirties when I was expecting my daughter. Not sure why the unremitting tragedy appealed but it did. I read Anna Karenina and War and Peace in my early 50s. The same daughter was trying to read War and Peace in her mid teens and got stuck towards the end. In an attempt to motivate her I bet her I could finish it before she did. Unfortunately that didn't work as she still hasn't finished it but I did. I enjoyed it a lot apart from the second epilogue which is tedious.

English Lit graduate here. When Kindles first were a thing I read and very much enjoyed
Vanity Fair
The Woman in White
The Moonstone (preferred it to TWIW)
Two other writers which surprised me were Ford Maddox Ford and Dodie Smith (she of 101 Dalmatians), I Capture the Castle.

I read The Great Gatsby in my 20s and loathed it. Then I reread it in my 40s and decided it was brilliant. It also took me till my 40s to appreciate Dickens other than A Tale of Two Cities and Bleak House — I suddenly realised that Great Expectations is a perfect novel, and contains two of the saddest scenes in the entire history of fiction. I still find David Copperfield almost unreadable, though.

I only read I Capture the Castle as an adult and was totally charmed.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh @almondflake GSAW is a really good book and I'm glad I read it

but

well, I would actively discourage a teenager from reading it, and anyone who loves the characters the way you say you do should probably leave it a few years.

The meat of the story is Jean-Louise's inner journey and the maturing of her view of her father. Which is fine.

It's just the outer mechanics of that journey that make it a hard read.

(I did like the scenes in church though, very close to home )

Just recently read Rebecca, enjoyed it much more than I thought I would!

I’m in the middle of David Copperfield, having never read any Dickens before because I thought it would be too difficult. It’s actually fine and I quite like it. I wish I didn’t know how Dickens treated his wife, that kind of spoils it a bit for me.

I read The Lord of the Flies as a teenager and hated it, but reread it last year and thought it was powerful although upsetting. I also put off reading The Handmaid's Tale (not an Atwood fan) until after the TV series and thought that was amazing as well.

Second don't bother reading Go Set a Watchman as it's not a good book (IMO) especially if you liked TKAM which is a firm favourite of mine. There is some (significant) doubt that Harper Lee ever wanted it published.

Villette
Felix Hoult The Radical
The Woman in White
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
The Grapes of Wrath
Of Mice And Men
The Aspern Papers
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

I only read Kim last year and was surprised by how much I liked it. I thought it was going to be unbearably imperialist but it was so much more interesting and had a much more generous spirit than I had expected.

So, so many! I think reading many of them later in life for enjoyment rather than feeling they must be read has given me a better insight and appreciation of them.

I’ve always loved Kipling, he is so misunderstood, mainly by people who have never read any of his work.

Kim is wonderful, I once caused a stir by recommending it for my book club, and was pleased to get some converts.

Kipling is actually brilliant writing about very ordinary people, some of whom just happened to live in India at the time of empire. He’s even good at writing from an animals point of view and has written some very strong female characters. His short stories are well worth reading

I recommend The Real Charlotte by Somerville & Ross.

The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Blew me away when I read it at 30.

Brave New World. Aldous Huxley.

That’s one of my favourite novels — incredibly, I was teaching it last academic year, and it wasn’t in print anywhere! It’s right up in contention for ‘greatest Irish novel’ for me. Charlotte is a memorably brilliant villain.

That’s one of my favourite novels — incredibly, I was teaching it last academic year, and it wasn’t in print anywhere! It’s right up in contention for ‘greatest Irish novel’ for me. Charlotte is a memorably brilliant villain

Yes! Her final revenge at the end of the book just before Norrey comes with the news is masterful.
Of all the books I’ve ever read that is the one for which I most wanted a sequel.
What happens to Roddy Lambert? And Hawkins?
Once the Troubles started 25 or so years later, Charlotte may have got her comeuppance.

@AppropriateAdult That's really interesting , I didn't know , I'd read that Go set a watchman was a"lost book " possibly never intended for publication .

I love Wilkie Collins!

Toni Morrison's Beloved, if that counts as a classic by now? It should.

I had a big Evelyn Waugh phase, with Handful of Dust probably my favourite because of the absolutely nuts ending that no one would have seen coming.

I am a sucker for people behaving really badly and Tenant of Wildfell Hall would get my vote if I were to reread any.

Nella Larsen's Passing is a short novel that really stayed with me and is thematically very relevant today I think.

Edited to add - my username is down to being a TKAMB fan, although I don’t wear dungarees as often these days.

Funny you mention Wuthering Heights. I've never read it, but have listened to the audio book twice. I think I found it slightly boring first time around, but then listening again recently I actually found it funny just how awful some of the characters are. Probably not the expected reaction.

I liked Pride and Prejudice as a teenager and I think it's probably one of the few that is properly understood by schoolgirls. Many of the other classics require some life experience to really 'get'.

"two of the saddest scenes in the entire history of fiction."

Which are they?
I do think it has a great character in Miss Havisham.

@Scout2016 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is one of my all time favourite books but I seldom hear anyone even mention it. Definitely plenty of bad behaviour there.