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The Rough Guide to Classic Novels
Get the lowdown on the best fiction ever written. Over 230 of the world's greatest novels are covered, from "Quixote" (1614) to Orhan Pamuk's "Snow" (2002), with fascinating information about their plots and their authors - and suggestions for what to read next. The guide comes complete with recommendations of the best editions and translations for every genre from the most enticing crime and punishment to love, sex, heroes and anti-heroes, not to mention all the classics of comedy and satire, horror and mystery and many other literary genres. With feature boxes on experimental novels, female novelists, short reviews of interesting film and TV adaptations, and information on how the novel began, this guide will point you to all the classic literature you'll ever need.
Librarian's Note: alternate cover edition. ISSBN: 1843535165 (2)
Librarian's Note: alternate cover edition. ISSBN: 1843535165 (2)
370 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2008
8 people are currently reading
237 people want to read
About the author
Simon Mason
57 books242 followersSimon Mason was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, on 5 February 1962. He was educated at local schools and studied English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He splits his time between writing at home and a part-time editorial position with David Fickling Books, an imprint of Random House and publisher of his 2011 children's novel, Moon Pie.
He is the author of the Quigleys series for young readers: The Quigleys (Highly Commended in the UK's Branford Boase Award), The Quigleys at Large, The Quigleys Not for Sale, and The Quigleys in a Spin. He has also written three adult novels.
Simon lives in Oxford with his wife and two children.
He is the author of the Quigleys series for young readers: The Quigleys (Highly Commended in the UK's Branford Boase Award), The Quigleys at Large, The Quigleys Not for Sale, and The Quigleys in a Spin. He has also written three adult novels.
Simon lives in Oxford with his wife and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 1, 2009
Here on my fourth venture into the Rough Guides I'm coming up against matters of taste versus accepted norms, prevailing wisdom. Let's take an example some distance away from the topic of novels.
It's the accepted dichotomy of Elvis The King that there are two Elvises; the Skinny Elvis, the lithe, natural-born ladykiller that sang "That's Alright Mama" at Sun Studios in '54... and then, the thick, sweaty, heaving Fat Elvis, who packed himself into those campy white jumpsuits like a sausage-monster in a kid's book. The truth is, there were more Elvises, and it goes a little like this : Skinny sun-studios Elvis became Technicolor Elvis, and morphed into a completely fraudulent send-up of his rockabilly Skinny Elvis self, starring in films like Clambake, Girl Happy, Charro! and Change Of Habit, this last with nuns in place of the girls. Bloated, soggy songs recorded in deep echo chambers accompanied each cookie-cutter outing.
But the tragic change that came with Technicolor Elvis was that he never again recorded another record that mattered... nearly. After he became completely alienated and outmoded he spent his kingly time in Graceland, studying pharmacology and contemplating his next move. He wasn't quite fat yet, and pharmaceuticals had advanced to the point of allowing him to return to the stage and the radio-waves. In a stunning coup, the soft, pastel Technicolor Elvis swallowed pride and pills, strapped on black leather, and morphed again into Last Stand Elvis, the man who stood between the legend and the long slope to the exit door marked Fat Elvis.
In a madman's gambit, the former Southern Gentleman took on the current Stax / Motown sovereignty and recorded the Otis-Redding-like "Suspicious Minds", a knockout soul-music radio track. This was only the opening punch. In what would later be immortalized as the '68 Comeback, the King took up the timely question of Racial Injustice and recorded the gritty Chicago realism of "In The Ghetto", a last & greek-tragic nixon-goes-to-china moment in Pop Culture, only just slightly skewed by the King's white southern identity and fan base.
But all tragedy needs a tragic flaw, and maybe it was just that-- the reverse-hubris of the millionaire white icon singing
Well, then. Do any of the Elvises get into the "Classic Guide" ? With no room to differentiate or expand, can a small concise entry do justice to the disjunction in the material at hand ?
Which Henry James goes into the Novels guide ? The pointillist anatomy-of-character author of The Portrait Of The Lady or the gossipy one of Wings Of The Dove ? Which of the crazies goes in ? Proust, Joyce, surely, but Genet, Robbe-Grillet, Durrell, Celine ? Did Camus or Sartre ever write a great novel, or were the novels more the flagposts of an era's sensibility ? For that matter, novelists like Émile Zola and Harriet Beecher Stowe changed their worlds with their fiction, but... do those books stand up today ?
Without getting to incidentals, for myself and my tastes, Simon Mason does very well with his Guide To Classic Novels, and this is in no small degree because he chooses ones that I would have chosen; it's hard to discount or avoid that. When you find a critic or critical guide that closely mirrors your own interests & tastes, the best thing is that on-target past recommendations tend to validate future ones, and so for me the great benefit of this little volume is in those titles that I still have yet to read.
But I suppose once you make it "Classic" novels rather than "Favorite" or "Best", you need to live up to a higher standard. Of the many titles included here, Mr Mason has scored direct hits nearly all the way, and of the authors here, managed to include the best title. To my way of thinking, at least.
I've got small quibbles, not worth mentioning really. In fact the only reason this doesn't get Five Stars from me is that I think not everyone will agree quite so positively. But for me, I've got a string of new reading directions to pursue.
And, well, that's alright.
It's the accepted dichotomy of Elvis The King that there are two Elvises; the Skinny Elvis, the lithe, natural-born ladykiller that sang "That's Alright Mama" at Sun Studios in '54... and then, the thick, sweaty, heaving Fat Elvis, who packed himself into those campy white jumpsuits like a sausage-monster in a kid's book. The truth is, there were more Elvises, and it goes a little like this : Skinny sun-studios Elvis became Technicolor Elvis, and morphed into a completely fraudulent send-up of his rockabilly Skinny Elvis self, starring in films like Clambake, Girl Happy, Charro! and Change Of Habit, this last with nuns in place of the girls. Bloated, soggy songs recorded in deep echo chambers accompanied each cookie-cutter outing.
But the tragic change that came with Technicolor Elvis was that he never again recorded another record that mattered... nearly. After he became completely alienated and outmoded he spent his kingly time in Graceland, studying pharmacology and contemplating his next move. He wasn't quite fat yet, and pharmaceuticals had advanced to the point of allowing him to return to the stage and the radio-waves. In a stunning coup, the soft, pastel Technicolor Elvis swallowed pride and pills, strapped on black leather, and morphed again into Last Stand Elvis, the man who stood between the legend and the long slope to the exit door marked Fat Elvis.
In a madman's gambit, the former Southern Gentleman took on the current Stax / Motown sovereignty and recorded the Otis-Redding-like "Suspicious Minds", a knockout soul-music radio track. This was only the opening punch. In what would later be immortalized as the '68 Comeback, the King took up the timely question of Racial Injustice and recorded the gritty Chicago realism of "In The Ghetto", a last & greek-tragic nixon-goes-to-china moment in Pop Culture, only just slightly skewed by the King's white southern identity and fan base.
But all tragedy needs a tragic flaw, and maybe it was just that-- the reverse-hubris of the millionaire white icon singing
Well the world turnsin his deepest, southern-boy-in-viva-las-vegas baritone warble... Maybe it was that poison pill that brought him, blinking and wheezing, to the doorway that swallowed him up for eternity, the one that says "Fat Elvis".
And a hungry little boy with a runny nose
Plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto...
Well, then. Do any of the Elvises get into the "Classic Guide" ? With no room to differentiate or expand, can a small concise entry do justice to the disjunction in the material at hand ?
Which Henry James goes into the Novels guide ? The pointillist anatomy-of-character author of The Portrait Of The Lady or the gossipy one of Wings Of The Dove ? Which of the crazies goes in ? Proust, Joyce, surely, but Genet, Robbe-Grillet, Durrell, Celine ? Did Camus or Sartre ever write a great novel, or were the novels more the flagposts of an era's sensibility ? For that matter, novelists like Émile Zola and Harriet Beecher Stowe changed their worlds with their fiction, but... do those books stand up today ?
Without getting to incidentals, for myself and my tastes, Simon Mason does very well with his Guide To Classic Novels, and this is in no small degree because he chooses ones that I would have chosen; it's hard to discount or avoid that. When you find a critic or critical guide that closely mirrors your own interests & tastes, the best thing is that on-target past recommendations tend to validate future ones, and so for me the great benefit of this little volume is in those titles that I still have yet to read.
But I suppose once you make it "Classic" novels rather than "Favorite" or "Best", you need to live up to a higher standard. Of the many titles included here, Mr Mason has scored direct hits nearly all the way, and of the authors here, managed to include the best title. To my way of thinking, at least.
I've got small quibbles, not worth mentioning really. In fact the only reason this doesn't get Five Stars from me is that I think not everyone will agree quite so positively. But for me, I've got a string of new reading directions to pursue.
And, well, that's alright.
April 2, 2012
I'd already become despondent over the fact that there are soooo many excellent books to read in this world, and so little time.
And now this.
My to-read list has grown expansively.
Fountain Of Youth, I need you now more than ever.
And now this.
My to-read list has grown expansively.
Fountain Of Youth, I need you now more than ever.
February 13, 2016
This is the type of book you need to dip in and out of. One I will refer to every now and then when I feel the need. I've a list now as long as my arm of classics I want to read. There are a few I will be giving a miss because I'm not a sucker for punishment. A good reference guide.
May 8, 2021
A menu for people who love to eat. It led me to Adam Bede and peaked a lot of curiosity. It was due back at the library so I ordered my own copy. It’s a good reference book to have around.
September 23, 2016
This is a handy reference book which has helped me delve into reading more classic novels.
It also helped me to review quickly and all in one place, the books I may choose to re-read.
You will find short reviews on the books, a great index, suggestions on "where to go next" as well as recommended translations.
As per Preface: "a selection of 229 novels (or sequences of novels such as trilogies,etc.) by novelists from 36 countries between 1604 and 2002."
It also helped me to review quickly and all in one place, the books I may choose to re-read.
You will find short reviews on the books, a great index, suggestions on "where to go next" as well as recommended translations.
As per Preface: "a selection of 229 novels (or sequences of novels such as trilogies,etc.) by novelists from 36 countries between 1604 and 2002."
July 21, 2017
A pretty good reference book if you are trying to discover which classic novel to read. Most of the books selected by the Author were pretty decent, there were some being selected for the sake of being a milestone. You can really ignore the sections containing books you've already read.
July 18, 2019
Using as a reading reference
December 27, 2019
Great books in a nutshell and some ideas for what to read next!
April 18, 2024
A very good little reference book to dip into.
November 10, 2023
Bought at Oxfam for the princely sum of £'not very much'p. In an attempt to get educated and select only the best novels and literature I'm looking to this tome to guide and advise me on where I should be placing my efforts in the reading of fiction.
Plus it's an excellent 'cheat' for all the literature I haven't read!
Having completed this now, it's a compendium of all the literature you may have / have not read and worthwhile in respect of reducing the 'space' of all that non-fiction you should / could read. I wonder if there are other guides, similar to this that would reinforce / dispute this selection of 'classic' novels?
Plus it's an excellent 'cheat' for all the literature I haven't read!
Having completed this now, it's a compendium of all the literature you may have / have not read and worthwhile in respect of reducing the 'space' of all that non-fiction you should / could read. I wonder if there are other guides, similar to this that would reinforce / dispute this selection of 'classic' novels?
October 12, 2012
All these "best books of so and so" lists have always motivated me to read more. Not that they've actually worked (I wish I read more!), but my intentions are there - motivation!
This book is also handy for collection development, and it gives me an excuse to read at work. (Whoever said that librarians read all day long was a liar)
As always it gives me great pleasure to see Russian authors in the mix - and this list has many Russian authors.
This book is also handy for collection development, and it gives me an excuse to read at work. (Whoever said that librarians read all day long was a liar)
As always it gives me great pleasure to see Russian authors in the mix - and this list has many Russian authors.
March 12, 2022
One of the most useful books in my library. Contains both well-known classics as lesser-known books, and introduced me to many for me new writers. Avoids the usual over-representation of English-language literature and contains a good amount of translated novels, from various cultures. The different items are also very lively written. A great pity that such a useful guide has been allowed to go out of print.
reference
March 31, 2011One of the few good guides to novels that avoids major spoilers. It's not comprehensive by any means, but if your looking for some inspiration on what to read next, many of the essays are great for piquing interest and the books covered range from the 1600s to the 21st century and are conveniently divided by category.
June 13, 2010
An excellent reader's advisory resource for classic novels. It is useful in your own personal library as well if you are a reader of classic literature. Simon Mason has created a very eclectic list. This is a book I plan to own and it partners nicely with 10001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.
Read
September 14, 2008lots of leads to chase up from this. plus love Marilyn and Ulysses cover.
January 2, 2010
I love reading list books and I love reading about books and especially about 'essential' books I may have missed or avoided. Anywho...to the lists.
October 25, 2011
wonderful guide to finding classic novels and they are separated by genre. Very nice!
July 22, 2012
Meh. Serves its purpose.
July 27, 2013
Humpppphh - I thought I was well-read until I read this world-view survey...
March 3, 2016
Nice round up of many great novels and writers - even shows if movies made from these books
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews