I want to read a few classics in 2018. What ones should I read and why?
I want to read a few classics in 2018. What ones should I read and why?
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The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck was fantastic
So big by Edna Ferber bc it is so good.
An under appreciated classic!
Rebecca, and once they do say her name so watch for it
My favorite
I’m reading Crime and Punishment right now and it’s extremely good!
It’s on my 50/50 list to read soon.
My daughter really enjoyed this so it’s now on my TBR list
Little Women
Definitely! I want to re-read this!
Wuthering Heights is one of my favorites. Took me until I was an adult to truly understand and appreciate it.
Same here!
“I am Heathcliff.” so powerful
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain. It’s hilarious social commentary.
Barnes & Noble prints a free handout of classics in their stores.
I have a few on my 50/50 list. I’m starting with Catcher in the Rye in January and Wrinkle in Time since the movie is coming out soon.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin. A quiet, powerful book about a woman’s self-awakening. Wiki has an article about the uproar the book created when first published.
This has been my favorite classic since I read it in high school. I got a tattoo for it.
I loved this book. I’ve read it several times…… As well as “The Yellow Wallpaper”…..
Madame Bovary and death of a salesman
Frankenstein….Mary Shelly rocks.
Jane Eyre
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Excellent story. Quick read. ?????
It is awesome!
Jane Austen – pride and prejudice or persuasion
I liked Emma.
Emma is very good. The heroine is charming & likable. Actually, any Jane Austen book is good!
+1 for Pride and Prejudice, then read Death Comes to Pemberley by PD James after.
@Christina Emma is good, as are all her books. But it’s a long, slow read.
@Christina I couldn’t finish Emma. All the others I’ve read and liked.
War and Peace because it is one of the greats and must be read to be believed. Some short passages describe relatable, secret, interpersonal moments you are amazed to find captured on paper. Tolstoy locked himself in a luxurious country house and wrote uninterruptedly for five years (which caused his poverty-stricken contemporary, Dostoevsky, bitter jealousy). Don Quixote and The Odyssey, because they are templates for much of the Western story-telling tradition. Plus Don Quixote feels surprisingly modern for the 17th century. And if those are too long, a shorter work, which, if you can just get past the complicated Russian names, is not only deep but on the surface simply an engrossing, page-turning crime novel, is Crime and Punishment. Sticking with the Russians, some excellent short stories are The Black Monk and Three Years by Chekhov. You could pick any of his short stories at random and be sucked in for a few hours. There’s Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne (who were friends), who have lofty styles which might amaze or annoy you, depending. The 19th century in general was a magical time for the novel. Dickens was a main-stream and critical cross-over success. Both Oliver Twist and David Copperfield are stunning (Oliver Twist is shorter if that matters). In fact any of his novels are great, but A Tale of Two Cities stands by itself for having a starker, less humorous style than his other hits.
There are a number of us in the SBC that are going to read War and Peace this year.
Novella by Hawthorne “From the Piazza” – incredible descriptive technique
Here’s a great list:
http://www.listchallenges.com/barnes-and-noble-classics
The Great Gatsby. A Farewell to Arms.
Willa Cather books. Start with O Pioneers.
Loved My Antonia!
To Kill a Mockingbird; Fahrenheit 451
To Kill a Mockingbird is the only book I read twice in my entire life. I didn’t like Fahrenheit.
Fahrenheit was hard to get through. I put it down once then read it completely a few years later. Depressing. But an important message on book banning. Scary premise.
Count of Monte Cristo – fun
My favorite book EVER. The way the story unfolds it’s amazing.
me too!
My son gave this to me as a gift…going to start soon
Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome – funniest book ever. Persuasion by Jane Austen – great love story, with some wonderful characters. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne – thrilling adventure story. Our Village by Mary Russel Mitford – delightful sketches of village life in the early 19th century. The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon – fascinating diary written by a japanese court lady a thousand years ago – she had strong opinions on just about everything.
Middlemarch by George Eliot. Read it. You’ll know why it’s considered one of the best books in the English language.
I’ve often heard that about Middlemarch, have a nice reading copy I picked up, and the first few pages bear out its reputation.
I’ll get to it this year : )
I bought Middlemarch last year. Thanks for the reminder-I think that will be my first read of 2018!
Love her writing! I read Middlemarch and Silas Marner this year. Both wonderful.
To Kill A Mockingbird
All of the above – Thomas Hardy books as well as Oscar Wilde, as I didn’t see them mentioned, but may have missed them.
Jane Austen is my favorite.
Love Mayor of Casterbridge
A tale of two cities
Something by Henry James. Then read The Master by Colm Toibin.
The Little Prince by Exupery.
I love this book so much.
@Mandy Read it in high school and enjoyed teaching it when I taught French. It is so freaking classic!
Tess of the D’Urbrvilles
Frankenstein. It isn’t what you think. Loved the moral dilemma of the book.
I read Frankenstein order to help some struggling readers with their assignments. I was DREADING it. Turns out, it is now on my favorites list. It just wasnt at all what i had assumed. Thank you to @Lynne for “forcing” me to read it years ago for the first time and every year after for a new group of students. Read it. You won’t regret it.
“Ce qui est important est invisible aux yeux.“
Great Expectations, because it’s Dickens. Also has mystery, romance, comedy and plenty of surprises.
Starting it today?
My favourite Dickens, even more than Great Expectations, is David Copperfield – it’s a must read!
@Emma so good! partial biography…so sweet and beautiful
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Henry James and Jane Austin are favorites. I’d like to read Hemingway
Life of Pi
Loved this!
Gone with the Wind
Loved this from page 1!
My Antonia by Willa Cather
I like Death Comes to the Archbishop by Cather
@Maggie I’ll try that one. I downloaded a collection of her works and am working my way through them.
@Debbie her inclusion of southwest history plus descriptions of SW – a wonderful intro to an area I didn’t know. I’ve just returned from 1st visit to Taos & thought of her often
Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger.
East of Eden
Heh, literally coming here to say that ?
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.
Love this book-the ultimate mystery with an unexpected twist!
My two favorite classics are To Kill a Mockingbird and Fahrenheit 451
A Patch of Blue by Elizabeth Kata, Red Dog, The Picture of Dorian Grey… three of my favourites. 🙂
a tree grows in brooklyn. it shows the coming of age of a girl in the early 1900s. it is a beautiful, well written story. not hard to read ether.
If you haven’t read it yet, I would highly recommend the Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. The book is beautiful (way more intense than the movies) and the ending really pulls at the heartstrings..
The Charioteer by Mary Renault because it is very good and an underrated LGBTQ+ classic
To Kill a Mockingbird- because it is excellent
only you
Then compare it with go set a watchman
For whom the bell tolls..
Jane Eyre followed by The Wide Sargasso Sea. Charlotte Bronte and then the characters reimagined by Jean Rhys. A beautiful combo.
1847 & 1966
Read them both! They are great.
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my absolute favorites, and I really liked The Bell Jar
And Fahrenheit 451! Another favorite
Pride and prejudice every time!!!$
A novella by Edith Wharton: The Old Maid
any jane austen
Love everything I’ve read by Edith Wharton!
Watership Down by Richard Adams?
It’s allegorical themes are timeless and relevant.
“All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a thousand enemies and whenever they catch you they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, Prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.”?
Great recommendation. It’s been years since I read it or even thought about it. I should read it again.Thx.
@Kaye I read it as a teen and read it again as an adult. Loved it for different reasons at different ages. It’s brilliant!
i need to reread that one
Sometime in the new year I will reread the Adventures of Tom Sawyer just not sure when.
Little Woman
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. First fell in love with the musical and later the book. It’s a great story of redemption.
+1
Count of Monte Cristo, unabridged. Unparalleled adventure. Frankenstein. It’s not at all what you think.
Love the count of monte Cristo.
Frankenstein was heartbreaking.
Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
Catch-22 – it is very funny, and truly a “modern day” classic!
Wuthering heights.
To kill a mockingbird
Ugh I hated that book. My boss made me read it.
My boss made me read The Fountainhead. Liked it actually…
i love ayn rand
Me too! A great woman indeed. My favorite of hers is ‘Anthem’
Great Expectations
What are your favourite non classic reads? Easier then to recommend what you might like!
Anna Carenina.
So happy that many people posted Frankenstein and Rebecca! Jude the Obscure. A devastating social commentary on religious and educational institutions.
Whatever classic you chose, slow down your reading and just enjoy it….
Gatsby, any of the more popular Heinlein books, Fahrenheit 451, 1984…
heinlein is great i even like his YA books and short stories
Yes! HEINLEIN “Stranger in a Strange Land”
@Misi I Grok in fullness!
If it qualifies, Gone With the Wind. In my lifetime I’ve read it twice. I find the story captivating. Although the movie was made before I read the book, I had not seen it. Movies were not as readily available when I was in high school at my first reading. I’m old!
The book is so much better!
The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. Its one of my favorites, it’s short, it’s funny (and dark, but funny!)
I also really love Jane Eyre
Loved Dorian!
A Tale of Two Cities
East of Eden
Of Mice and Men
Peter Pan
Animal Farm by Orwell
Anything by Dickens, Wilkie Collins The Woman in White and The Moonstone, Round the World in 80 Days, Treasure Island and of course, Wuthering Heights.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
1984
I loved the House of Mirth last year.
Jane Eyre
I just read Jane Eyre this past summer and I loved it! I don’t know why I did not read it before?
@Michele it’s one of my favorites!!
With many great suggestions above, why not try a book of classic short stories and see which authors speak to you? You can then find other more lengthily work they’ve written and start from there.
Also, don’t be afraid to revisit this book of shorts either, in “giving it another try”, I’ve discovered new connections at different phases of my life I previously didn’t connect with.
good idea!
Never tire of O’Henry’s stories!
I’m reading “classics” in the serial reader app…I like getting them in issues. And if you find you’re not enjoying the story, just stop.
I use this too and I’ve been enjoying it. It’s a nice chunk of time for a morning cup of coffee and then I switch to audios while I tidy and do laundry. Then evenings for whatever kindle book I have going. It’s been a nice mix of books for me.
War & Peace and David Copperfield – just great entertaining educating books
So what makes a book a “classic”? I Googled it but it did not really define it.
That’s a great question. There are many contemporary classics. I guess “profound for the time” in addition to the number of book sales maybe. What do you think?
I think it’s a book that has withstood the test of time.
I like Italo Calvino’s definition: A classic is a book that has never exhausted all it has to say to its readers.
@Rey I like that definition!
@Rey awesome!
I think a book that can stand the rest of time. It is just as valid/entertaining etc at any point in history.
A classic is just as good 40 years later. I.e. The lord of the rings.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I really loved this book. It takes place in 1900-1920 and shows how hard things were for immigrant families. I really connected with Francie who loved to read and really wanted an education. She works hard for everything she has and never gives up, despite the almost constant disappointment.
Precious story
I’m starting off the year with Dr Zhivago
That’s on my list too
The Hobbit. Caution: Never judge a book by its movie!
Jane Eyre
My suggestion as well!
to kill a mockingbird
i know why the caged bird sings
color purple
my antonia
Lord of the Flies
East of Eden
A Tale of Two Cities
All of Jane Austen’s main novels, Jane Eyre, Harry Potter, The Old Man and the Sea.
OMG, I feel so old now, HP is considered a classic, I was 26 when it was released. LOL
Native Son (sad, enlightening, scary), Fahrenheit 451 (all book lovers should read it), Lord of the Flies (shocking, frightening, carnal), Anne of Green Gables (the sunshine at the end of the dark tunnels the others will bring you down)
Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde