Alright I've been binging epic fantasy this year and I need a break, a return to the trusty dusty Classics. Which would you suggest??
I've been meaning to get around to:
– War and Peace
– Little Women
– Tenant of Wildfell Hall
– Lady Chatterly's Lover
– The Age of Innocence
Open to other suggestions too, I've read plenty of the "Greats" and found that I tend to prefer the English authors to the Americans (except Steinbeck, he's the GOAT). Meanwhile the Russians are very hit or miss.
by _Alic3
14 Comments
Read Tolstoy’s Ressurection earlier this year and was surprised at how approachable it was! Much shorter than some of his others, as well. Similar themes to Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment…
The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Jones Wharton
I’m currently re-reading ‘Hard Times’ by Dickens and absolutely loving it.
*Little Women* remains my all time favorite book. Followed closely by *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn* by Betty Smith.
Anything by Agatha Christie is always a good choice too. Or *Sherlock Holmes*.
Some Thomas Mann — _Buddenbrooks_, _Joseph and His Brothers_, _The Magic Mountain_, and _Dr. Faustus…_ are all masterpieces every bit on the level of War & Peace.
i guess this could be considered a modern classic, but stoner by john williams. beautiful prose and emotional story
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
How about:
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray? It’s a big book but it rattles along quickly and has a great anti-heroine.
Anything by Jane Austen if you’ve not read any of these.
Frankenstein is incredibly easy to read. I expected a slog and finished it in a week.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Definitely Tenant of Wildfell Hall! It’s sooooo underrated. It was one of my favorite reads last year and is now an all-time favorite classic. It’s also great on audio if you like audiobooks.
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier
Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene
Pride & Prejudice!
I haven’t read the others on your list but I enjoyed War and Peace a lot! I only read it because it was my grandmother’s favorite book and I wanted to be able to talk with her about it. Some parts were slow (or total tangents) but other parts were so incredibly gripping they easily made up for it.
Also, I haven’t read too many classics in general but if you want another excellent absolute unit of a book may I recommend Middlemarch by George Eliot?