Classics I should read

[Larymarylary]

Now I’m retired I want to read some classic literature.

I’ve just read the first chapter of Animal Farm.

Please give me some suggestions of books I should read. Thanks.

George Orwell.1984
Charlotte Bronte
Margaret Attwood
Hilary Mantel
Jane Austen
Jim Kelman
Kate Atkinson

The Go Between by L P Hartley

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim

Little Women

The Jamaica Inn

Gone with the wind

Brave news world Aldous Huxley
1985 George Orwell
A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway
Of Human Bondage Somerset Maughn.
Silas Marner. George Elliot
Oryx and Crake Margaret Atwood
The Handmaids Tale Margaret Atwood.
Brighton Rock Graham Green.
Rebecca Daphne Du Maurier
I Claudius Robert Graves
East of Eden John Steinbeck.
most of Dickens
all of Austen
The Brontes.

Vanity Fair. Yes, it's big. But it's marvellous! There's a reason why they adapt it so much!

What a lovely goal to set, by the way... 🙂

I would strongly recommend Ivanhoe. Thought it would heavy going but was actually a fairly rip roaring tale that I found absorbing from start to finish. Probably one of the best surprises I’ve had when reading “classics” that can sometimes be a bit worthy.

Also recommend I Claudius - marvellous book.

Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady by Samuel Richardson

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
I know he's a bit problematic, but any John Steinbeck, especially East of Eden - that book is an absolute work of art.
Passing by Nella Larrson - a short story, but it really packs a punch!
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Silas Marner by George Eliot

Pride & Prejudice
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Woman in White
Go Tell It on the Mountain
East of Eden - though you could start with Of Mice and Men
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
War & Peace
One Hundred Years of Solitude

and maybe try a Shakespeare play (Macbeth, R&J, A Midsummer, etc)This could be harder though, unless you get a companion book - a bit like a textbook - or an Arden copy, or just enjoyed analysing texts in high school, but once you get into it…

Anything by Chekhov
ditto George Eliot
War and Peace
Richard II
Shakespeare’s sonnets
Keats’ odes
Paradise Lost
A Room of One’s Own
The Book of the Duchess

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

I would recommend Jane Austen. Start with Pride and Prejudice and take your time reading it - it's not a page turner, plotwise (although on rereading I've come to appreciate just how perfect the structure of it is) but her insight into how humans think and how relationships work is so masterful. I've read it several times and it's such a joy. Then binge the tv series with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. :)

A Town Like Alice and Requiem for a Wren by Nevil Shute

Howard’s End by EM Forster (look up the Merchant Ivory film too, wonderful)

If you’d like some more modern classics too…

Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (again the Merchant Ivory film is brilliant)

Saturday by Ian McEwan

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

The BBC compiled a list of 100 best loved novels in 2003 - it’s a good list of classics mainly, though clearly of its time as a few Harry Potters feature!

www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml

Anna Karenina

Dickens
any Daphne du Maurier
Thomas Hardy, Far from them Madding Crowd
Lord of the Rngs

Wuthering Heights
Emma
Tess of the D’urbervilles
The Mill on the Floss
the Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Jane Eyre
Frankenstein

Thanks so much everyone. Interestingly, I’ve already read some of your brilliant suggestions, books I’d forgotten about. I was a massive fan of Daphne du Maurier and Neville Shute when I was younger and had more time. I’ll never forget the impact On the Beach had on me. I’ve read Brave New World as well. I always liked a dystopian novel, which is where I get my love of The Handmaid’s Tale from. I’ve also read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

I’m feeling very excited about having the time to get into reading again.

Thanks for all your brilliant suggestions.

I was at the grand final of this, and have been working my way through the list ever since, you just reminded me to do a check. I've done about 75 now.

This should broaden your lists:

https://fivebooks.com/category/fiction/world-literature-books/

(Signing up to the Five Books newsletter is an unbeatable way to be introduced to both classic and contemporary literature - fiction and non-fiction.)

I'm on the last chapter of Animal Farm, spooky 😂

I agree with many of the above (disagree with others!) 2 of my favourites I can't see mentioned are:

David Copperfield
Crime and Punishment

That’s an interesting list. I didn’t expect to see The Magic Faraway Tree on there. That was one of my most favourite childhood books.

I love Dickens, he’s definitely on my list. I’m feeling very excited.