VICTOBER 2025 discussion
Victober 2019
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Lucy's challenge
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Katie
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Sep 04, 2019 10:54PM
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My favourite is Tess of the D'Urbervilles published in 1891 which is the same year New Grub Street came out. I've already read The Odd Women by Gissing so I'm excited to give this a go.
This might just be the most difficult challenge for me.My favourite is probably "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde, published in 1890. "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte, published in 1847, is a very close second. They might even be interchangeable.
I've been checking other books published either in 1890 or 1847, I'm not sure what is considered underrated, but I'll probably just go with an author or book I've never heard of before.
Since I don't come from an English speaking country, my local library doesn't have any books in English. I already ordered a bunch from Book Depository and I don't want to spend too much money this month, which is why I'm hoping some books are available on Scribd. If anyone has any suggestions or plans to read an underrated book (play, poetry, or novel) from those two years, I'd be happy if you'd let me know.
Happy reading, everyone!
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My favourite is probably "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde, published in 1890. "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte, published in 18..."
If you like to read books in e-format also I would highly recommend checking out some books from Project Gutenberg. They have lots and lots of underrated Victorian novels that you don't usually find anywhere else. I am trying not ordering any books for Victober so I think I will be reading most of the books from Project Gutenberg or my audio book app.
Thank you so much, Petra! This is very helpful, I'll be checking out Project Gutenberg. :)
Petra wrote: "My favourite Victorian classic Jane Eyre was published in 1847 and I am thinking of reading Anthony Trollope's first book The Macdermots of Ballycloran. I love Trollope but haven't read anything el..."
"Jane Eyre" has been my favorite book for years, now sharing the podium with "Wuthering Heights", which I have being obsessed with since last winter. Both were written in 1847, so I'll go too with "The Macdermots of Ballycloran" by Trollope.
"Jane Eyre" has been my favorite book for years, now sharing the podium with "Wuthering Heights", which I have being obsessed with since last winter. Both were written in 1847, so I'll go too with "The Macdermots of Ballycloran" by Trollope.
Here’s a question. If your favorite Victorian novel was originally published serially, do you use the date it started coming out, or the date it was finished?
This is a bit tricky since I don't really have a favourite Victorian classic. So I thought of the Victorian novel I've re-read most often and I'm fairly sure that is Wuthering Heights so I am thinking of reading The Children of the New Forest which was published the same year.
Katherine wrote: "This is a bit tricky since I don't really have a favourite Victorian classic. So I thought of the Victorian novel I've re-read most often and I'm fairly sure that is [book:Wuthering Heights|6147457..."That's a great idea as I just picked up a copy of that at a charity shop and I also love Wuthering Heights. It's so hard to pick a favourite, for me it so depends on what I'm in the mood for.
That's a great idea as I just picked up a copy of that at a charity shop and I also love Wuthering Heights. It's so hard to pick a favourite, for me it so depends on what I'm in the mood for. I found my copy in a second hand bookshop in Holmfirth a couple of months ago. It wasn't a book I was desperate to read but the title rang faint bells so I picked it up. I have no idea what I'm going to make of it, the reviews on here are mixed.
I'm a mood reader too so I'm trying to keep my TBR flexible.
Anthony Trollope is one of my favorite authors.His first novel was published in 1947.
For Victober I have chosen "The Children of the New Forest" by Frederick Marryat which was also published in 1947.
This is a really difficult one!My favourite is Jane Eyre, but I couldn't find much from 1847. (I've already read Wuthering Heights and Anne's books.)
However, Middlemarch is my other favourite - couldn't find anything for 1871, when it started being serialized, but found that I already had a book on my TBR from 1872, which is when Middlemarch was released in book form.
So, it took a wee bit of stretching, but I did manage to find something that fit in the end - In a Glass Darkly.
My favorite is Pride & Prejudice published in 1813 .. and it's the only novel published that year ! Lord Byron has published a couple of tales but that's it , so I'm going for 1847 because Jane Eyre is also a favorite of mine, hopefully I'll get more chance !
My favourite is Dorian Gray, so my year will be 1890. I think I'll go for The Snake's Pass by Bram Stoker, since it sounds spooky & that suits my general October mood.
My favorite Victorian novel is A Tale of Two Cities, published in 1859. I’ve narrowed my choices down to A Woman in White, which I’m not sure I would consider underrated, or The Lifted Veil. I have some chunkers on my TBR for victober so leaning towards The Lifted Veil.
I think I’m goin to let “The Coming Race” work for this one as well as Katie’s challenge. 1871 is the year “Carmella” was published and Bulwer-Lytton is well reguarded these days so I think this should work.
I love the idea for this challenge as it introduces you to more or less forgotten works you might not have picked up otherwise. My favourite Victorian novel is Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (published 1874). For this challenge I have decided to read A Rose in June by Margaret Oliphant. I have not even been able to find a synopsis for this and am intrigued of going into it without knowing anything about the plot in advance.
As I am doing Wuthering Heights for my reread, I will do The Macdermots of Ballycloran. As there is not a copy in my local library or my State library, I will source it from Project Gutenberg and also listen to it at the same time if it is on Librivox.
This is the most difficult of the challenges because 1. I don't have a favourite Victorian classic novel, 2. It's difficult finding books via the year of publication. 3. How to know if a novel is underrated?So decided to make my favourite novel the one I'm reading now, (coincidentally Victorian) being 'Bleak House' which I'm really enjoying and published in year 1853 as was Elizabeth Gaskell's 'Ruth'. Probably more of a 'less known' novel than an 'underrated' one but will only find that out by reading it - which I'm looking forward to.
tenzin wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Anthony Trollope is one of my favorite authors.His first novel was published in 1947."
I have a copy of Barchester Towers. Is it good? I have not read any books from Anthony Trol..."
Barchester Towers is delightful. It is a tiny bit helpful, though, if you read The Warden first--not an absolute requirement, but a bit helpful.
So I’m rethinking this one. I’m having the same problem that it looks like a lot of people are; I don’t really have one favorite Victorian book. I originally picked 1871 because it was the year “Carmilla” and the second Alice book were published but there are so many books that I consider favorites. So I might wait on this before settling on a year or a book.
My favorite Victorian book (though I don't always think of it as Victorian) is "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy, published in 1895. I've just requested a copy of "The Golden Age" by Kenneth Grahaeme from my library. It looks to be a fictionalized account of his own childhood, which sounds really interesting to me. H.G. Wells was published quite a bit that year also, and I'm going to see if I can find copies of his short stories "The Cone" and "The Wonderful Visitor". Those are a low priority, though, if I'm honest.
Hard to choose one as a favourite as they all are!But I have chosen Great Expectations, published in 1861. And my read will be Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope.
Laura wrote: "My favorite Victorian book (though I don't always think of it as Victorian) is "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy, published in 1895. @Laura, Jude the Obscure is one of my all time favorites as well. I've heard it described as the most depressing book ever written, and while it does have a seriously dark side, I still think it's a great read!
Loving this challenge; what a great idea! My absolute favourite novel from the Victorian period (so far) would have to be George Eliot's 'Middlemarch'. What a tour de force, a masterwork of provincial life. Anyway, it was published in 1871-72, so I'm going to read 'Carmilla' by J. Sheridan le Fanu. I found the ebook for free on the Kindle site, so am all ready to go! Also looking forward to seeing what everyone else chose.
I have not read many classics but my favorite so far has been Agnes Grey. It was published in 1846 so I found Dickens "The Battle of Life". I have never heard of it but it is short and I am looking forward to reading it.
It's very hard for me to choose a favorite, but I'm going to go with "A Woman in White." I'm between choosing "The Lifted Veil" or "Beulah" for this challenge. I don't really know how underrated either of those are, but they're new-to-me titles!
For this challenge, since Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) by Thomas Hardy is one of my favorites and Jane Eyre (1847) is also one of my favorites, I will probably read Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. It's a tough book to find and I haven't read any of her works. I thought about using Middlemarch for this as well, but I felt like that was cheating since it's very well known to all but me. I will just stick with Agnes Grey which was published the same year as Jane Eyre.
I'm not sure it counts as a Victorian classic but I love War and Peace and Sentimental Education by Flaubert is from the same year and I have been meaning to read it for a while. Alternatively, my favourite British Victorian novel is probably David Copperfield and I love anything by Anthony Trollope so perhaps I will give The Kellys and the O'Kellys a try. I have been doing a lot of genealogy research into my husband's Irish family and much of it is from the same period. It would be fascinating to see the Victorian world from the Irish perspective.
Thank you Lucy for coming up with this challenge, for it has indeed been challenging to delve into the uncharted Victorian literature! Since the Woodlanders is one of my favourite Victorian books and it was published in 1887 I will read either A Crystal Age by W.H. Hudson (utopian/ apocalypctical, and very descriptive, looks like quite a ride) or play safe with Like and Unlike by Mary Elisabeth Braddon, which I'll know I'll like.
These readings look intriguing, Carmen. Never heard of W.H. Hudson, so I’ve downloaded a sample of one of his novels, A little lost boy, from Amazon. My current book for Lucy’s challenge is "The Macdermots of Ballycloran" the first novel by Trollope written in 1847, but maybe I’ll try this next (or later in november).
Haven’t read anything from Mary Elisabeth Braddon either, but could find Like and Unlike. What’s it about?
Haven’t read anything from Mary Elisabeth Braddon either, but could find Like and Unlike. What’s it about?
I’ve decided to change my book choice for this challenge. I was going to read The MacDermots of Ballycloran by Anthony Trollope (published in the same year as Wuthering Heights) but I’ve been trying for a week now and have only made it through 50 odd pages and I just can’t get in to it. I’ve decided I’m going to read Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë instead, which was going to be my choice for the female author challenge but I’ve changed that one too! I debated whether Agnes Grey was underrated enough but discovered Lucy’s video about it so felt it was a good choice!
I'll probably read the children of the new forest as was suggested above!
Love this challenge because it encourages you to read outside your comfort zone>I read the Warden by Anthony Trollope. It's published the same year as Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South. It wasn't as dry as I was expecting, and a great way to introduce you to the Barchester universe. I think I prefer Trollopes writing and books to Charles Dickens :)
But the one thing that stuck out to me from reading the Warden, was that people were mostly motivated by pride. Personal pride or pride for the church. I was a little torn because I agreed with the premise of the conflict, but if it was handled differently things may have had a better result.
I'm trying hard not to give away spoilers. But I hope you all consider reading it! See my instagram post for more of my thoughts. I hope you consider reading it! :)
My favorite novel is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, published in 1847, and I really wanted to read another Bronte novel, so I chose Agnes Grey by Anne.
Freya wrote: "Kirsty wrote: "I’ve decided to change my book choice for this challenge. I was going to read The MacDermots of Ballycloran by Anthony Trollope (published in the same year as Wuthering Heights) but ..."
I finished The Macdermots of Ballycloran and struggled with some dialogues too. Loved the main characters and the overall idea, but the plot towards the end gets a little over the top (don't want to give spoilers). You can see why it didn't sell as well as later Trollope books although it is not bad or boring by any means.
I finished The Macdermots of Ballycloran and struggled with some dialogues too. Loved the main characters and the overall idea, but the plot towards the end gets a little over the top (don't want to give spoilers). You can see why it didn't sell as well as later Trollope books although it is not bad or boring by any means.
Freya wrote: "Nuria wrote: "I finished The Macdermots of Ballycloran and struggled with some dialogues too. "
I finished it last night. It definitely got better about a third of the way through. I even rated it..."
Yes, the middle chapters are the best part. If you like Trollope’s writing style, definitely check other of his works. I haven’t read “The Barchester Chronicles” nor “The Way We Live Now” yet (just watched the TV adaptations) but I enjoyed “Miss Mackenzie” a lot.
I finished it last night. It definitely got better about a third of the way through. I even rated it..."
Yes, the middle chapters are the best part. If you like Trollope’s writing style, definitely check other of his works. I haven’t read “The Barchester Chronicles” nor “The Way We Live Now” yet (just watched the TV adaptations) but I enjoyed “Miss Mackenzie” a lot.
For this challenge I'm reading The Cabinet Minister by Arthur Wing Pinero. It was published the same year as The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's definitely underrated, only has 4 ratings on Goodreads.
My favourite Victorian novel so far is Bram Stoker's Dracula, which I'm actually reading for Kate's challenge, so I picked up Liza of Lambeth by W.Somerset Maugham from the same year (1897). It is actually the first book by Maugham for me.It was published the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula.
I have just finished Liza of Lambeth by W.Somerset Maugham. It was my first book by him and I really enjoyed it.It was published the same year as Bram Stoker's Dracula.
For this challenge I’m reading Elizabeth Gaskell’s Ruth, published the same year as Bleak House. It’s my first Gaskell novel and I’m enjoying it. Living in Wales I did enjoy her description of the Welsh setting that contains some of the dramatic parts of the book. She shows an intimate understanding of the particular Welsh landscape of mountain and streams. Beautifully done.
As of this morning, I am happy to say that I finished this reading challenge. I am not very versed in Victorian literature, having read very little of it, so I had many novels to choose from. My favorite Victorian novel is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847), so I chose to read Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (1847), which is also under 250 pages! My new to me author, besides Anne Bronte, was Mary Elizabeth Braddon and I read her Lady Audley's Secret. I reread The Moonstone, which I didn't like as much the second time around. I now wish to read more Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Anne Bronte. Thank you ladies for hosting this challenge :). I will be looking forward to next year' challenge.
VICTOBER 2025
Books mentioned in this topic
In a Glass Darkly (other topics)Wuthering Heights (other topics)
The Children of the New Forest (other topics)
