Anonymous
11/04/2025 23:02
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I read James recently and obviously the companion is Huck Finn.
I haven’t read Demon Copperhead (or David Copperfield) yet but obviously those pair up.
I’m now reading Wild, Dark Shore and - while the link isn’t as direct - the mentions of Jane Erie and the general vibe making me want to reread Jane Eyre.
What are some others (bonus if you enjoyed them / would recommend them) where there are modern stories with good companions in classic English / American literature?
If you like naughty, check out the American Queen trilogy. It's King Author...with a twist.
Lots of great Arthurian legend spin offs, like the first told from the POV of a woman, Marion Zimmerman Bradley's
"The Mists of Avalon."
Anonymous
11/04/2025 23:00
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
Geralidne Brooks' "March" => Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women"
Anonymous
11/04/2025 22:36
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
William Kennedy's "Ironweed" (1984 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) and Dante's "Divine Comedy"
Anonymous
11/04/2025 18:30
Subject: Re:Modern books with classical literature “companions”
Anonymous wrote:I feel like I should be able to name a lot of these, but it's difficult to remember!
Here are a couple that haven't been mentioned:
The Magician by Colm Toibin and Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and Passing by Nella Larsen
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie is based on Antigone
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain and A Moveable Feast by Hemingway
I'm going to keep thinking about this.
NP. I really liked The Paris Wife. I didn't think I would. I loved A Moveable Feast too. Both were very moving, in completely different ways.
Anonymous
11/04/2025 18:29
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
Edgar Sawtelle and Hamlet
Anonymous
11/04/2025 18:27
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and Jane Eyre. I believe it's the story of Rochester's first wife.
Anonymous
11/04/2025 18:04
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
Anonymous wrote:I read James recently and obviously the companion is Huck Finn.
I haven’t read Demon Copperhead (or David Copperfield) yet but obviously those pair up.
I’m now reading Wild, Dark Shore and - while the link isn’t as direct - the mentions of Jane Erie and the general vibe making me want to reread Jane Eyre.
What are some others (bonus if you enjoyed them / would recommend them) where there are modern stories with good companions in classic English / American literature?
If you like naughty, check out the American Queen trilogy. It's King Author...with a twist.
Anonymous
11/04/2025 18:02
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
The Hours and Mrs Dalloway
Anonymous
11/04/2025 17:41
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (Jane Eyre)
Ahab's Wife by Sana Jeter Naslund (Moby Dick)
Hello, Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (Little Women)
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (King Lear)
Longbourn by Jo Baker (Pride and Prejudice)
Ahab's Wife by Sana Jeter Naslund (Moby Dick)
Hello, Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (Little Women)
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley (King Lear)
Longbourn by Jo Baker (Pride and Prejudice)
Anonymous
11/04/2025 17:12
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
Circe / The Odyssey
Anonymous
11/04/2025 16:52
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
Phillip Pullman''s "His Dark Materials" => Paradise Lost
Anonymous
11/04/2025 16:36
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
To say nothing of the dog by Connie Willis and Three men in a boat by Jerome K Jerome
Or Longbourn by Jo Baker and Pride and Prejudice
Or Longbourn by Jo Baker and Pride and Prejudice
Anonymous
11/04/2025 15:56
Subject: Re:Modern books with classical literature “companions”
I feel like I should be able to name a lot of these, but it's difficult to remember!
Here are a couple that haven't been mentioned:
The Magician by Colm Toibin and Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and Passing by Nella Larsen
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie is based on Antigone
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain and A Moveable Feast by Hemingway
I'm going to keep thinking about this.
Here are a couple that haven't been mentioned:
The Magician by Colm Toibin and Death in Venice by Thomas Mann
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and Passing by Nella Larsen
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie is based on Antigone
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain and A Moveable Feast by Hemingway
I'm going to keep thinking about this.
Anonymous
11/04/2025 15:47
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
On Beauty - Zadie Smith
Howards End - E.M. Forster
Not as tied as the books above. I read On Beauty many years ago and liked it. I have never read Howards End - but have seen adaptations.
Howards End - E.M. Forster
Not as tied as the books above. I read On Beauty many years ago and liked it. I have never read Howards End - but have seen adaptations.
Anonymous
11/04/2025 15:28
Subject: Modern books with classical literature “companions”
I read James recently and obviously the companion is Huck Finn.
I haven’t read Demon Copperhead (or David Copperfield) yet but obviously those pair up.
I’m now reading Wild, Dark Shore and - while the link isn’t as direct - the mentions of Jane Erie and the general vibe making me want to reread Jane Eyre.
What are some others (bonus if you enjoyed them / would recommend them) where there are modern stories with good companions in classic English / American literature?
I haven’t read Demon Copperhead (or David Copperfield) yet but obviously those pair up.
I’m now reading Wild, Dark Shore and - while the link isn’t as direct - the mentions of Jane Erie and the general vibe making me want to reread Jane Eyre.
What are some others (bonus if you enjoyed them / would recommend them) where there are modern stories with good companions in classic English / American literature?