Any classics anyone would recommend?

[Ella]

I want to read more classic literature - does anyone know anything they could recommend? I love Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and the work of the Bronte sisters, and all of Jane Austen's novels...
Any recommendations would be much appreciated.
Thank you :)

[Keri]

If you like the Bronte's and Austen you'd probably really like Elizabeth Gaskell too. North and South is great.
I also really like Alexandre Dumas- The Three Musketeers series and The Count of Monte Cristo. You can also try Dickens, Great Expectations was enjoyable as well.

[Ella]

Keri wrote: "If you like the Bronte's and Austen you'd probably really like Elizabeth Gaskell too. North and South is great.
I also really like Alexandre Dumas- The Three Musketeers series and The Count of Mo..."

Thank you - I will definitely check those out :)

[Charlene]

After checking to see what you have read, I would recommend The Painted Veil and Villette.

Since you read Northanger Abbey, check out also The Italian and The Mysteries of Udolpho. Udolpho was mentioned in Northanger.

[Sheila]

Middlemarch and The Mill On The Floss, maybe?

[Ella]

Charlene wrote: "After checking to see what you have read, I would recommend The Painted Veil and Villette.

Since you read Northanger Abbey, check out also The Italian and ..."

These look good, I'll certainly try them; thank you :)

[Cate (The Professional Fangirl)]

The Picture of Dorian Gray. :)

[Florin]

You might also like Bleak House (Dickens) or Silas Marner (Eliot). If you are not opposed to foreign-language writers, maybe Anna Karenina? I loved it.

[Ice]

I was looking for more classics myself and I'll check these out.
You can also check out Georgette Heyer books if you want to though they might not come under Classics.

[Ella]

Sheila wrote: "Middlemarch and The Mill On The Floss, maybe?"

Thank you, I'll have a look at those :)

[Ella]

Florian wrote: "You might also like Bleak House (Dickens) or Silas Marner (Eliot). If you are not opposed to foreign-language writers, maybe Anna Karenina? I loved it."

I was going to read Anna Karenina - are there any other Russian classics you would recommend?

[Keri]

I couldn't get into the Russian classics though I tried but I hear Doctor Zhivago is recommended as much as Anna Karenina. I a movie for Doctor Zhivago and enjoyed the story but could only get a couple hundred pages in before giving up, I just found it slow, hard to follow (not being a Russian history scholar) and rather boring.

[Grace Meredith]

Gene Stratton Porter and Edith Wharton are fantastic. They've written many classic novels.

[Calenmarwen]

I'm also trying to read more classics. I'd also recommend North & South, and The Three Musketeers, but also works by Wilkie Collins such as The Woman In White.

[Florin]

Ella wrote: "I was going to read Anna Karenina - are there any other Russian classics you would recommend? "

I have not read much of the Russian classics. Apart from Anna Karenina, I read War and Peace, and Ivan Ilyich by Tolstoy and The Brothers Karamazov and half of Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. I didn't like Dostoevsky's writing very much.

I am planning on reading The Master and Margarita soon, but I don't think that is a classic.

[Judy]

I akways try to read several classics each year. I suggest reading some Thomas Hardy. The Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure are two of my favorites! I also read Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters over the summer and really enjoyed it.

[Fernando]

Middlemarch by George Eliot

[Nikki]

Jane Eyre is my go to book for recommendations for classics. Also, The Great Gatsby.

[Maria]

Rebecca and the Picture of Dorian Gray are two good ones!

[Ella]

Everyone, thank you for all the recommendations, I really appreciate it :) I certainly will have a lot of classics to choose from now, and a lot of these sound very interesting - thank you :)

[Mahi]

Based on what you like, I'd also recommend you The Scarlet Letter, Moll Flanders, Mrs. Dalloway and Anna Karennina.

Enjoy

[Lauren]

Also, slightly off topic, but if you'd consider plays as well as novels, Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest' and 'An Ideal Husband', are a witty fun take on some of the same themes explored in the already mentioned classics.

[Gabby]

I seriously recommend 'Jane Eyre': a kind of darker romance, that gothic setting you know? It's a cracker.

[Libby]

I commend your aspiration. It sounds as if you have broad tastes, since you like the darker, romantic "Wuthering Heights" as well as "Jane Eyre"--and the hilarious "Northanger Abbey." "Age of Innocence" is less dark than "House of Mirth" (Wharton). The only Henry James I like (of the ones I read) was "Ambassador." As for something funny, you might try "Pickwick Papers," and "Tristram Shandy" (for something off the wall). I find Thomas Hardy's novels terribly depressing.

I don't know if you would count them as classics, but Agatha Christie novels, especially the Marple ones, remind me a touch of Austen, I suppose, at least in mood.

As for plays, I liked "St. Joan" the best of George Bernard Shaw's works.

If you love wordplay, James Joyce's "Ulysses" is a hoot (though I had a professor to lead me through the work).

Happy Reading!

[Yvette]

As others have mentioned, you can consider Alexandre Dumas, but also victor hugo's Les Miserables is worth a try.

[Kelly Brigid ♡]

The Important of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is phenomenal. It's a very short play, but highly enjoyable.

[Ella]

Keri wrote: "I couldn't get into the Russian classics though I tried but I hear Doctor Zhivago is recommended as much as Anna Karenina. I a movie for Doctor Zhivago and enjoyed the story but could only get a co..."

I did attempt Doctor Zhivago, and found it to be exactly as you described. You just get lost if you don't have an in-depth knowledge of Russian history, but I may try the film.

[Ella]

The Lit Lover wrote: "Gene Stratton Porter and Edith Wharton are fantastic. They've written many classic novels."

Thank you :) I'm planning on reading The Age of Innocence - is it good? :)

[Ella]

Judy wrote: "I akways try to read several classics each year. I suggest reading some Thomas Hardy. The Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure are two of my favorites! I also read Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives a..."

Thank you - I will definitely read these :)

[Ella]

obsessivebookdevourer wrote: "I seriously recommend 'Jane Eyre': a kind of darker romance, that gothic setting you know? It's a cracker."

I adore Jane Eyre - is there anything similar to it you could recommend, if you happen to know? :)

[Ella]

Libby wrote: "I commend your aspiration. It sounds as if you have broad tastes, since you like the darker, romantic "Wuthering Heights" as well as "Jane Eyre"--and the hilarious "Northanger Abbey." "Age of Inno..."

Thank you so much, I'll definitely give as many as I can a go :)

[Of Butterflies & Books]

Try Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy. I'm going to be reading that soon.

[Kelsey]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo was the first classic I read in my own free time outside of school and I loved it. If you like anything French and..well kind of depressing like any good Frenchman, I suggest Dame. Plus, its a lot shorter than Les Mis.

[Southern Bookish]

The Hidden Hand by E.D.E.N Southworth is similar to Bronte:) A thriller/mystery and one of my favorite books!

[Diane]

Calenmarwen wrote: "I'm also trying to read more classics. I'd also recommend North & South, and The Three Musketeers, but also works by Wilkie Collins such as The Woman In White."

I loved The Woman in White - also the Moonstone.

[Yibbie]

I would recommend some of Dickens less known works. My personal favorite is Barnaby Rudge . I've read it many times and it never grows old. Elizabeth Gaskell's Ruth is really good as well. Ivanhoe is a fun read as well.

[Raj]

Keri wrote: "If you like the Bronte's and Austen you'd probably really like Elizabeth Gaskell too. North and South is great.
I also really like Alexandre Dumas- The Three Musketeers series and The Count of Mon..."
thank u for recommending North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. i really liked it, only the end was a bit abrupt.

thank u.