25 19th century novels people have read and want to read

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jane Eyre should be on this list!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tess of the D'Urbervilles, The Brothers Karamazov, Anna Karenina, and War and Peace were such significant books for me. I guess I like high drama in bad times in cold places.

But it's kind of sad this generation of kids is not going to read, much less be moved, by 19th Century literature. I think Gen X is the end for when literature mattered.

Dorian Gray is my 16 year old’s favorite book. She’s read two others on that list (on her own, not for school), and I expect she’ll read more as she gets older.

These books generally aren’t assigned for school anymore, so they have to really be readers and seek them out, so yeah, not a huge number of kids doing that.

They may get there. My freshman year, I took an amazing class centered on three novels, and at the end of the semester the professor gave us a list of suggested books to put on our "to read" list. I was inspired to read most of them, and I still have the list 39 years later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've read all except for the russian ones, including a few of the french ones in french. I've read every Hardy (I think!). Tess is not my favorite. Try Return of the Native or Far from the Madding Crowd.

^^adding, I really admire you who have read the Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. I have only read excerpts. Can't even do Dostoyevsky's short stories.

[Anonymous]

I've read all of them except for Moby Dick.

I am offended that Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are not on this list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've read all except for the russian ones, including a few of the french ones in french. I've read every Hardy (I think!). Tess is not my favorite. Try Return of the Native or Far from the Madding Crowd.

^^adding, I really admire you who have read the Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. I have only read excerpts. Can't even do Dostoyevsky's short stories.

I think Tolstoy is very readable if you're used to reading long 19th century novels. Both Anna Karenina and War and Peace are no harder, in my mind, than Middlemarch or Moby Dick. Now, The Brothers Karamazov is a different story. I found that one difficult, though I tried it in my 20s, so maybe I should revisit. Crime and Punishment is very readable, though.

[Anonymous]

I have read 10 of those in some detail (aka studied / re-read) but have little interest in reading the rest of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've read all of them except for Moby Dick.

I am offended that Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are not on this list.

Same, show some respect for the Brontes!!

[Anonymous]

I’ve only read eight of them. Loved Middlemarch, Brothers K, Frankenstein, Crime and Punishment. Haven’t finished Moby Dick, never tried War and Peace. Couldn’t get through Heart of Darkness but I was young.

When I was 22 I read Les Mis and loved it, but near the end I realized I’d bought the abridged version and felt like an idiot, so I’m not counting that one.

[Anonymous]

I've read six plus many others not on this list, eg, several other Mark Twain works, various Jules Verne, The Scarlet Pimpernel, additional novels by Alexandre Dumas.

I never liked the Russian authors or Charles Dickens. I got halfway through Bleak House and could never get through any of the others. And, frankly, nearly all of these I read as a teenager, except Middlemarch which was in a college English class. I've revisited a few as an adult and was bored to death by the melodrama. Except Twain and Verne. I actually appreciated those more as an adult.

[Anonymous]

I've read all of these except for Les Miserables (which is borderline unreadable due to all of Hugo's digressions) and War and Peace (because I don't have time to chart it). My mom loves Dickens and keeps giving me different ones to try and with the exception of the last third of Tale of Two Cities I just haven't found his stuff that compelling.

I read quite of few of these for class (honestly no way I would have finished Tess D'Ubervilles if I didn't have to) and some on my own.

Honestly it's fine? If someone was starting a reading journey Heart of Darkness or Dracula would be a better place to start than, say, Bleak House.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've read 17 of them. What surprised me is that there is a book/author I've never heard of on there -- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. And I have a grad degree in English.

From a real school?

I know I sound mean, but I am really, really surprised you haven't heard of Wilkie Collins. Not read? Sure. But not heard of?🤯

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've read all of these except for Les Miserables (which is borderline unreadable due to all of Hugo's digressions) and War and Peace (because I don't have time to chart it). My mom loves Dickens and keeps giving me different ones to try and with the exception of the last third of Tale of Two Cities I just haven't found his stuff that compelling.

I read quite of few of these for class (honestly no way I would have finished Tess D'Ubervilles if I didn't have to) and some on my own.

Honestly it's fine? If someone was starting a reading journey Heart of Darkness or Dracula would be a better place to start than, say, Bleak House.

I agree. I just don’t love Dickens.

Dracula is a fun book and it’s one I will recommend my kids read when they’re youngish teenagers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
But it's kind of sad this generation of kids is not going to read, much less be moved, by 19th Century literature. I think Gen X is the end for when literature mattered.

I've taken up reading classic literature again, as I enjoy it more now than when I was forced to read it in high school. I also read real books not e-books, so I carry a book around with me.

Talk about one way to get female attention. Only from a subset, but I guess it's really rare to see a guy carrying around a book these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've read 17 of them. What surprised me is that there is a book/author I've never heard of on there -- The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. And I have a grad degree in English.

From a real school?

I know I sound mean, but I am really, really surprised you haven't heard of Wilkie Collins. Not read? Sure. But not heard of?🤯

NP, Comp Lit major, I’ve read pretty much everything on the list (except Les Mis and weirdly never got entirely through Anna Karenina) + many many more “classics” but also have never even heard of Collins…

[Anonymous]

finished 16, tried a few more.