Sadly, I didn't read a lot of the classics while in school. So now I'm trying to catch up and read as many as I can. So my question to all of you is what your favorite classics are and why?
I'm partial to the Russian classics, like Crime and Punishment; can be a thick read (though I recommend the Pevear/Volokonsky translation), but worth it.
"Classics" is a very broad spectrum... can you be more specific?
I've always loved Dickens, for the description and characters. I recommend Bleak House, Great Expectations and Oliver Twist as good starting points.
Although they're technically children's novels, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett are both books I read in childhood and have held up to adult rereads, bringing me new things to look at when I go back to them.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I don't know if you consider this a classic (late 19th century), but it is one of of my very favorite books.
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë is my favourite book of all time. A very strong female character, love story, a madwoman in an attic...
I'm also currently reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and it is something I would recommend. But it is pretty painful a read - not because it's complicated, so much as because it's hard to wrap your mind around some of the concepts. It all just seems so .... alien. It's set in the future, though it was written in the 1930's. It's messed. It is seriously, seriously messed. But I still think it's worth a read, if you're feeling brave.
J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye is a good place to start, because it's such an easy read. However, my personal favourites are probably Maurice, by E. M. Forster, and Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell.
Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak, is also a very good story, but also quite tedious at times. Ultimately well worth the read, I think.
I agree with recommending that translation, though I haven't read Crime and Punishment myself.
I'm reading Anna Karenina, or will be in a few days. I own the Pevear/Volokonsky translation, which I've started reading multiple times but school always got in the way. They bring the text alive in a way that is rather meaningful. I also own War and Peace in their translation and will then move on to Dostoevsky. I really want to read The Brothers Karamazov.
One very overlooked author that I had the pleasure of reading in my World Literature course was Sigrid Undset. She wrote a trilogy, which you can find on Amazon searching for Kristin Lavransdatter. I recommend the Penguin Classics translation by Tiina Nunnally.
I love Portrait of a Lady by Henry James -- it's beautifully written, and a really interesting, vivid portrait of a certain world and what it was like for a woman living in it.
Most of the 'classics' I've read has been because they made me at school and at the time of reading I hated every single one of them. Looking back now some ten years later, I'll say that there are now a couple that I can admit tell a good story, even though I was forced to read them.
1984 by George Orwell, Homer's Oddyssey and even Macbeth by Shakespeare are examples of this (although I know Macbeth is a play and not a book. I've decided it counts on grounds of being classic)
Apart from that, when I was a child I had a abridged versions of The Flying Dutchman (I can't remember who wrote this) and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and I rather like those. Oh and Jules Vernes' Journey to the Centre of the Earth!
Come to think of it actually, I've also read The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder more times than I can count and ditto on the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.
Hm. Looks like I've read more classics than I thought...
I'm not sure what you meant by 'classic' (it's wide spectrum after all XD) and I don't know what kind of books you like, so I just listed authors I've enjoyed: Jules Verne - a lot of books with adventure and some fantasy in them Jack London - books I've read were mostly about animals' adventure ex. The Call of the Wild, White Fang Lucy Maud Montgomery - books mostly for teenagers' girls (at least in theory) ex. Anne of Green Gables C.S. Lewis - Chronicels of Narnia Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment Alexandre Dumas, father - The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers
Like many have said before me, classics is a wide genre/generalization (by era? by style? by literary standards?) but just as easily, it also depends on the reader's interpretation of what a classic is. As for me, my take on classics is any title listed under Penguin Classics, because I'm such a simpleton awesome like that. :P Anyway, my favourite classics are probably very pop!lit, mainstream classics, and potentially cliche even, such as:
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens. I like the story admittedly (perhaps my favourite of Dickens) and the subtle wit/wisdom that is very Dickensian.
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen. I think this marked my "maturity" in reading as it's probably one of the firsts of the genre I dared to explore, so it's sort of held in a soft spot. It was hard to get at first (especially since English isn't my native tongue) but I found later on that it was truly a good read.
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde. Constantly a delightful read and not one too heavy, imo. I love anything Wilde, so it's hard to say I'm not biased by including him on every lists possible. And also, The Importance of Being Earnest lights me up everytime.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll. My fantasy fix of the classics which never fails to inspire.
I second The Secret Garden! I've read it as a child and as an adult (numerous times) and loved it equally well every time. Sure wish I knew what happened to my copy!
Another amazing children's story is Watership Down. I never read it as a child, but there is a lot of depth in it, and the characters are extremely well-written. The inclusion of the lapine language is also a fun treat, although not one of the more meaningful parts of the book except in that it gives you a greater understanding of the character's thought process.
It has somewhat less drama than her sisters' novels but is more socially perceptive - a bit like Austen perhaps. I also like it because it questions some of society's structures and the way they worked against women at the time. The ending is also nice. Cannot say more without spoilers.
The Seagull by Chekhov
Because it is utter crack and has a wonderful sense of dark humor.
For poetry I love John Donne and Wilfred Owen. Apart from their language because Donne writes love with brains and Owen speaks of the human condition like none other.
Shakespeare as well, naturally.
If you want more modern classics, or Swedish classics, just ask.
If you're a fan of fantasy, I'll echo the votes for Watership Down and The Lord of The Rings, both of which I only read as an adult, but absolutely loved. Also echoing the votes for Alice's Adventures In Wonderland which is a very clever, fun read. Machiavelli'The Prince and The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon are interesting reads that hold up well.
Most of my favorites have already been mentioned, but I'll go ahead and add my votes for them:
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is absolutely wonderful if you love adventure, swordfights, and that kind of thing. It's probably my overall favorite "classic".
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne is another great one if you like adventure.
My favorite Dickens work is Great Expectations, but I'd recommend all of his books.
For fantasy, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, Watership Down by Richard Adams, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll all offer fantastic alternate worlds to step into.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is my second overall favorite and was an important social commentary during Bronte's time.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is sort of in the same vein as Jane Eyre, but it's more of a Gothic mystery and romance novel. Quite spooky and a very interesting read. There's also Frankenstein if spooky is up your alley.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is a definitive mystery book.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is another great one that deals with social issues, but it has a good amount of humor and lightheartedness so it's not too heavy.
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If you want a gritty WW1 story, All Quiet on the Western Front is excellent.
(OK, my idea of "classic" is apparently early 20th century.)
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I've always loved Dickens, for the description and characters. I recommend Bleak House, Great Expectations and Oliver Twist as good starting points.
Although they're technically children's novels, The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett are both books I read in childhood and have held up to adult rereads, bringing me new things to look at when I go back to them.
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Wells and Verne.
Hawthorne even.
And I will admit to Dickens.
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Also seconding The Wind in the Willows and would further suggest The Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland as good children's literature to start with.
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I'm also currently reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and it is something I would recommend. But it is pretty painful a read - not because it's complicated, so much as because it's hard to wrap your mind around some of the concepts. It all just seems so .... alien. It's set in the future, though it was written in the 1930's. It's messed. It is seriously, seriously messed. But I still think it's worth a read, if you're feeling brave.
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Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak, is also a very good story, but also quite tedious at times. Ultimately well worth the read, I think.
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I'm reading Anna Karenina, or will be in a few days. I own the Pevear/Volokonsky translation, which I've started reading multiple times but school always got in the way. They bring the text alive in a way that is rather meaningful. I also own War and Peace in their translation and will then move on to Dostoevsky. I really want to read The Brothers Karamazov.
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1984 by George Orwell, Homer's Oddyssey and even Macbeth by Shakespeare are examples of this (although I know Macbeth is a play and not a book. I've decided it counts on grounds of being classic)
Apart from that, when I was a child I had a abridged versions of The Flying Dutchman (I can't remember who wrote this) and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe and I rather like those. Oh and Jules Vernes' Journey to the Centre of the Earth!
Come to think of it actually, I've also read The Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder more times than I can count and ditto on the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.
Hm. Looks like I've read more classics than I thought...
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Jules Verne - a lot of books with adventure and some fantasy in them
Jack London - books I've read were mostly about animals' adventure ex. The Call of the Wild, White Fang
Lucy Maud Montgomery - books mostly for teenagers' girls (at least in theory) ex. Anne of Green Gables
C.S. Lewis - Chronicels of Narnia
Fyodor Dostoevsky - Crime and Punishment
Alexandre Dumas, father - The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers
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such a simpletonawesome like that. :P Anyway, my favourite classics are probably very pop!lit, mainstream classics, and potentially cliche even, such as:A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens. I like the story admittedly (perhaps my favourite of Dickens) and the subtle wit/wisdom that is very Dickensian.
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen. I think this marked my "maturity" in reading as it's probably one of the firsts of the genre I dared to explore, so it's sort of held in a soft spot. It was hard to get at first (especially since English isn't my native tongue) but I found later on that it was truly a good read.
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde. Constantly a delightful read and not one too heavy, imo. I love anything Wilde, so it's hard to say I'm not biased by including him on every lists possible. And also, The Importance of Being Earnest lights me up everytime.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll. My fantasy fix of the classics which never fails to inspire.
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Another amazing children's story is Watership Down. I never read it as a child, but there is a lot of depth in it, and the characters are extremely well-written. The inclusion of the lapine language is also a fun treat, although not one of the more meaningful parts of the book except in that it gives you a greater understanding of the character's thought process.
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Watership Down by Richard Adams,
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens,
"Macbeth" and "Othello" by William Shakespeare...
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Seconded.
And for something completely different from Jane Eyre, I love Moby Dick.
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It has somewhat less drama than her sisters' novels but is more socially perceptive - a bit like Austen perhaps. I also like it because it questions some of society's structures and the way they worked against women at the time. The ending is also nice. Cannot say more without spoilers.
The Seagull by Chekhov
Because it is utter crack and has a wonderful sense of dark humor.
For poetry I love John Donne and Wilfred Owen. Apart from their language because Donne writes love with brains and Owen speaks of the human condition like none other.
Shakespeare as well, naturally.
If you want more modern classics, or Swedish classics, just ask.
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The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is absolutely wonderful if you love adventure, swordfights, and that kind of thing. It's probably my overall favorite "classic".
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne is another great one if you like adventure.
My favorite Dickens work is Great Expectations, but I'd recommend all of his books.
For fantasy, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, Watership Down by Richard Adams, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll all offer fantastic alternate worlds to step into.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is my second overall favorite and was an important social commentary during Bronte's time.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is sort of in the same vein as Jane Eyre, but it's more of a Gothic mystery and romance novel. Quite spooky and a very interesting read. There's also Frankenstein if spooky is up your alley.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is a definitive mystery book.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is another great one that deals with social issues, but it has a good amount of humor and lightheartedness so it's not too heavy.