Must Read Classics

[Rachael]

As a book-lover I figure I must read the classics I don't get in school. I intended this summer to go on an intense classic-reading program... but alas vacations, work, and fluffier works called. Just wondering, what should I read next. I'll give a brief list of classics I have and haven't liked as guideline.

FAVORITE CLASSICS
The Great Gatsby
My Antonia
anything by Jane Austen
Jane Eyre
1984

NOT MY FAVORITE BUT STILL GOOD
Wuthering Heights
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Silas Marner
Shakespeare (love him performed- that's how it was meant to be)
Dickens (am very satisfied after finishing though he's undoubtedly dense. please don't recommend me any of him as I get plenty in school)
Ivanhoe
Agnes Grey
TO Kill a Mockingbird

CAN'T STAND
The Scarlet Letter
The Illiad
Heart of Darkness

So where should I go from here? Tolstoy? Gaskell? Elliot? Twain? Please something of a reasonable length as I do have plenty going on in my life and only so much time to devote.
Now forget most of my qualifications and please just recommend me something you think everyone should read:-)
Thanks!

[Lori, Super Mod]

Ha.. I hated Heart of Darkness too. Such a horrible short little book!

As for length, you might find some of my recommendations a tad long, but they are Sooooo worth the time:

The Mysterious Island - Jules Verne
The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
The Brothers Karamazov - Dostoevsky
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury

[Liz]

omg I love the scarlet letter

[Becky]

I'd second The Count of Monte Cristo absolutely! I loved that book so much, I was sad it ended even though it was super-long.

I'd also highly recommended Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. It's SO GOOD.

[Rachael]

Liz, I'm sure "The Scarlet Letter" is a "good book" as it's a classic, but wow is it fun to complain about.The writing drove me crazy from the beginning and the more I read the more the rest got to me.

[Suzanne]

Rachael ... LOL, on 'The Scarlett Letter' (SO true)
totally agree on Shakespeare tho one exception being 'Midsummer Nights Dream'... which I will take in ANY form at ANY time******* tra la la !!!!!!

[Suzanne]

Oh, by the way,
Welcome to the group, smarty!!! :)

[Petra]

Becky wrote: "I'd second The Count of Monte Cristo absolutely! I loved that book so much, I was sad it ended even though it was super-long.

I'd also highly recommended Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hard..."

Count Of Monte Cristo is high on my TBR list. I've heard nothing but good reviews on it. I also enjoyed Far From The Madding Crowd.
Another good classic is Wilkie Collin's two books: The Woman In White and The Moonstone.

[Tara]

Yes to Tolstoy! I recommend Anna Karenina, but admit it took me a long time to get through. I loved it though. Dostoevsky's biggies (Bro's Karamazov and Crime and Punishment) are worth a read too.

If you liked The Great Gatsby, maybe try Hemingway. They're sort of the same era, though their writing is different. I love both, and suggest The Sun Also Rises

And I also recommend John Steinbeck. East of Eden is one of my all-time favorites, but his shorter ones are great too.

[Katie]

I agree with Tara that you might like East of Eden.

I'd also suggest Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and The Unvanquished by William Faulker. I'm not sure why, but somehow they seem to fit with your list of likes.

But then again, you probably shouldn't take my advice--I LOVED Heart of Darkness. :-)

[Emily]

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

Faulkner is hard and confuses me but it's a nice confusion, if you follow me. Definitely if you have the time.

Also recommend Mark Twain or John Steinbeck. I particularly love Cannery Row.

[Kristin]

It's fairly "new" for a classic, but nonetheless, To Kill A Mockingbird is hands-down WONDERFUL and an "easy read" for a classic.

[Jessica]

I highly recommend Dostoevsky, especially The Brothers Karamazov, though Crime and Punishmentis great too. Dostoevsky said he was heavily influenced by Dickens, and if you enjoy Dickens I imagine you will also like Dostoevsky (though they do share that whole ridiculously dense thing). Brothers K also has the Grand Inquisitor chapter, which is known in and of itself as some really great and thought-provoking writing.

[Liz]

Rachael wrote: "Liz, I'm sure "The Scarlet Letter" is a "good book" as it's a classic, but wow is it fun to complain about.The writing drove me crazy from the beginning and the more I read the more the rest got to..."
I'm an English major, and I enjoy laughing at the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter.

I'd recommend An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott. It's been a while since I read it, but I really enjoyed it at the time.

[Svetlana]

I love The Illiad. I would love some time with Brodsky now, but lately for me it is Modern Biology, Science and Algebra - I enjoy it, I homeschool, but I need some time with my old book of poems by Brodsky. What can I say, there is nothing like a sun!

[John]

why do they need to be classics? Are great novels that don't have 101 english courses based on them not worthy of your attention? And how exactly are you defining "classic" anyway?
Here are the best, most famous books I've read:

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Crime and Punishment
War and Peace Though this is like over 1000p long. Incidentally, why suggest Tolstoy yourself and THEN ask for no books that are too long? Sure it's long but it's also probably the greatest novel ever written. Too many ppl avoid it because it's too long. War and Peace is tragically under-read amongst goodreads users.
Catch-22
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Grapes of Wrath
Fahrenheit 451
Lord of the Flies
One Hundred Years of Solitude

EDIT: sorry, you have read more modern books than the great gatsby. Wasnt paying attention.

[John]

also, regarding the other users recommendations, If you're gonna read dostoevsky (which you should) start with Crime and punishment as it's widely considered to be his best and is about half the length of the bros karamazov.
The count of monte cristo is an overlong pulp thriller with a fantastic story but little substance, which is OK if that's your sort of thing.
War and peace is a longer and more trying reading experience than Anna Karenina but is unquestionably the superior novel.

[Rachael]

Suzanne wrote: "Rachael ... LOL, on 'The Scarlett Letter' (SO true)
totally agree on Shakespeare tho one exception being 'Midsummer Nights Dream'... which I will take in ANY form at ANY time******* tra la la !!!!!!"

I was in "Midsummer Night's Dream"- it is absolutely hilarious!

[Genie]

Mayor of Casterbridge-Thomas Hardy
The Unvanquished=William Faulkner
The Three Musketeers-Alexander Dumas
Crime and Punishment-Dosteovsky
All Quiet on the Western Front
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Cannery Row-Steinbeck
These are some of my favorites you haven't read

[Lyn (Readinghearts)]

My choices would be East of Eden by Steinbeck. It is long, but I think it is his best book (although I like everything he has written). Another of my favorites is Mark Twain, especially A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

[Carol]

Genie wrote: "Mayor of Casterbridge-Thomas Hardy
The Unvanquished=William Faulkner
The Three Musketeers-Alexander Dumas
Crime and Punishment-Dosteovsky
All Quiet on the Western Front
One Hundred Years of Solitud..."

I hated One Hundred Years Of solitude. For me it was a very boring book. I guess I must be the only one who didn't get it. Classics I like are The Count Of Monte Christo, Les Miserable,Tale Of Two Cities,Dr.Zhivago,To Kill A Mockingbird,Gone With The Wind to name a small portion.

[Diane]

Akittykat wrote: "Genie wrote: "Mayor of Casterbridge-Thomas Hardy
The Unvanquished=William Faulkner
The Three Musketeers-Alexander Dumas
Crime and Punishment-Dosteovsky
All Quiet on the Western Front
One Hundr..."
Hi Akittykat - I'll jump on the 100 Years bandwagon with you. I didn't necessarily hate it, but I did not like it much at all. My cousin and I were in the minority at our live book club meeting to discuss it. In fact, we never admitted to the group that we didn't like it !

[Clara]

Gone With the Wind. It's very long, but I still read it faster than you can spit every time, its so good. And I agree with anything by Jane Austen. I only wish she had written more.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I think the reason Regency romance is such a popular genre is that Miss Austen did not write nearly enough books.

[Emma]

Brave New World, Dracula & Frankenstein

[Ashley]

Heart of Darkness, The Scarlet Letter and The Illiad were some of my favorite classics that I read in school!! BUT--- I had some really amazing teachers. I'm not sure if I would have gotten as much out of them if I hadn't.

Other favorites (that aren't anything like those :P ) Lord of the Flies (LOVED IT) and I agree about Steinbeck.. I have only read Grapes of Wrath but East of Eden is on my TBR list!

Also, if you liked The Great Gatsby and want something short, Fitzgerald has some great short stories worth checking out! :)

[Rachel]

Hello, I am new to this group and to goodreads.com. I have recently started reading books for enjoyment and I am stumped as to what my next book should be. I read the entire twilight series and loved them, read april and oliver by tess callahan and loved it, and Jane Austen's complete novels series and loved them also. I was wondering if someone could be so kind as to recommend a few books. By the way I hated time travelers wife! Thanx for the help!

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

I see Jane Eyre is on your to-read list - how about that one? Excellent novel.

[Bonnie]

Rachel wrote: "Hello, I am new to this group and to goodreads.com. I have recently started reading books for enjoyment and I am stumped as to what my next book should be. I read the entire twilight series and lov..."

Or how about Wuthering Heights? That's one of my favorites. I also thought Daddy Long Legs and Little Women were highly readable. Are you looking for classics or just books in general to read?

[Katie]

I second Hemingway. The Sun Also Rises is my favorite. The Old Man and the Sea is another must-read in my opinion.

I also love The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

[Anne]

One of my favorite "classics" to recommend is Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. For years I thought it was some kind of political treatise, but it's actually a wonderfully readable and relatable story about a young man trying to find his place in the world.

[Terri]

Anne wrote: "One of my favorite "classics" to recommend is Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. For years I thought it was some kind of political treatise, but it's actually a wonderfully read..."

This is one of my favorite all time books.

[Elena]

East of Eden by John Steinbeck. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

[Anne]

Terri wrote: "Anne wrote: "One of my favorite "classics" to recommend is Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. For years I thought it was some kind of political treatise, but it's actually a won..."

I would also recommend The Razor's Edge. Oh, and how about Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh) and The End of the Affair (Graham Greene)? Those three authors are kind of together in my head.

[Lori, Super Mod]

Rachel wrote: "Hello, I am new to this group and to goodreads.com. I have recently started reading books for enjoyment and I am stumped as to what my next book should be. I read the entire twilight series and lov..."


Rachel, you wont get many here because this is someone elses recommendation thread, and yours is off topic. Try posting your own thread in the folder for recommendations based on what you like, and I am sure you will get more attention that way!