Classic literature

[Anonymous]

Somerset Maugham is my favorite author- The Razor's Edge, Of Human Bondgage... I could go on and on!

And second (or third) the rec for Count of Monte Crisco.

I haven't seen To Kill a Mockingbird on here yet, either. A good one.

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed The Way We Live Now (Anthony Trollope)

and Daniel Deronda (George Eliot) recently.

[Anonymous]

The Way We Live Now and Anna Karenina.

[Anonymous]

David Copperfield by Dickens - immortal characters, wonderful storytelling, great portrait of Victorian England. Same is true for Vanity Fair, which is much edgier.
Middlemarch by George Eliot - quintessential Victorian "loose baggy monster" novel.
Anything by Salinger.
To the Lighthouse by Woolf - stellar storytelling and important modernist experimentation wtih narrative
Passage to India by Forster - good perspective for the colonial dynamic
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Hurston - narrative style, storytelling, African-Ameican voices

[Anonymous]

The Master & Margarita by Bulgakov is my favorite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Master & Margarita by Bulgakov is my favorite.

Me too!

[Anonymous]

Oh, I almost forgot: Mrs. Dalloway is so wonderful!!!

[Anonymous]

The Great Gatsby is HORRIBLE- ugh, I don't know why anyone ever liked it.

Truman Capote is a master, his short stories, Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood, can't agree with the rec to begin with him more.

[Anonymous]

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Camille by Alexandre Dumas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I, Claudius

I think its actually "I, Clavdivs".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm feeling the need to go back and read those sacred texts from HS English, the ones I blew off, or totally forgot, or that were never assigned because my high school sucked.

Could I get some suggestions for GOOD canon (or quasi-canon) reads? I love Bronte (both of 'em). So-so on Austen. I loathe Joyce. And it would be great if you could write a line about why your recommendation is a stand-out in your mind.

Much appreciated!

The Harvard Classics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Catch-22, boring? I read that in high school and found it mind altering.

It took me a few chapters and after that I was hooked. Major Major Major, Yousarian. Thanks, I think I'll reread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I, Claudius

I think its actually "I, Clavdivs".

That is because "v" was used for "u."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somerset Maugham is my favorite author- The Razor's Edge, Of Human Bondgage... I could go on and on!

And second (or third) the rec for Count of Monte Crisco.

I haven't seen To Kill a Mockingbird on here yet, either. A good one.

Maugham's short stories are magnificent. My favorite is "Ther Verger."

[Anonymous]

I'm the OP. I'm actually fairly well-read, not a "newbie" by any stretch, but there are definitely holes.

I found Maugham and James to be insufferable. There's some good Steinbeck, and some so-so. The Great Gatsby was just ok. I adored Cather as a young teen... I must have read My Antonia 20 times. I'd really like to read some Twain... what's his best stuff? I'm surprised no one mentioned Little Women-- though I liked Jo's Boys better!

I'll definitely be downloading To Kill a Mockingbird... never having read that is a bit of an embarrassment! Thanks for reminding me of this, and all the other great suggestions!