Tale of Two Cities. You'll WEEP at the end.

Great Expectations by Dickens
Mill on the Floss by George Elliot
anything by Balzac
anything by Jack London

Anonymous wrote:Might not fit your definition of classic, but when I read Native Son by Richard Wright, I couldn't put it down.

OP here. Love Richard Wright.

1984
Farenheit 451
Them by Joyce Carol Oates
The Catcher in the Rye
frankenstein
Catch 22
Lord of the Flies
A Farewell to Arms

Might not fit your definition of classic, but when I read Native Son by Richard Wright, I couldn't put it down.

My favorite contemporary literary novel is The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I've read Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and My Antonia and liked them. Thanks for the suggestions!

If you liked Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, try The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte.

OP here. I've read Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and My Antonia and liked them. Thanks for the suggestions!

East of Eden: Steinbeck LOVE!

Oh, and another vote for Jane Eyre. I re-read that one every year or two.

Rebecca, by Daphne DuMaurier. Classic gothic.

I also loved My Antonia, by Willa Cather, if you want to go more American frontier.

Anonymous wrote:Vanity Fair.

I was just going to say that!

OP, what about the Brontes? Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, etc.?

Vanity Fair.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. A great mystery. It takes a little bit to get into the story but once you do, it is really good.

I'd like to get some ideas for classics that made you want to keep reading. Basically, I want something that will make me feel like it was worth my time to read, but won't feel like a chore. I liked Anna Karenina, but not War and Peace (too much lengthy descriptions of battle scenes). I enjoyed Jane Austin, Edith Wharton, and Mark Twain. I don't enjoy stream-of-consciousness (i.e., James Joyce). Suggestions for newer literary novels would be appreciated too.
Thanks!