Virginia Report post Posted March 23, 2014 Anna Karenina Does the Hobbit count as a classic? Roots by Alex Haley Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JudyM Report post Posted April 15, 2016 The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (also a really good critique of the novel called The House of Mirth -a novel of admonition by Linda-Wagner Martin). Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Tess of the D'Urbevilles by Thomas Hardy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frankie Report post Posted April 15, 2016 I can't believe I haven't replied to this topic yet. I have to consider the matter more deeply, I cannot come up with two other titles, but my most favorite is... 1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Okay I went through all the books I've ever read and this is my list: 1. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 2. Dracula by Bram Stoker 3. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (I thought I'd restrict classics to include anything till the start of the 20th century, personally. Nothing 19-- onwards.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kylie Report post Posted April 16, 2016 Goodness me—it's been almost 8 years since I posted my list! I have to say that my top 3 are still the same, and in the same order too. Pride and Prejudice by Jane AustenThe Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre DumasDracula by Bram Stoker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frankie Report post Posted April 16, 2016 Goodness me—it's been almost 8 years since I posted my list! I have to say that my top 3 are still the same, and in the same order too. Yay for Dracula I really want to read The Count of Monte Christo ... In a way it's a shame that it's been 8 years and you've not read a classic that can compete with your then favorites, but then again, it's indicative of just how great your top three classics are in your opinion Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kylie Report post Posted April 17, 2016 Yay for Dracula I really want to read The Count of Monte Christo ... In a way it's a shame that it's been 8 years and you've not read a classic that can compete with your then favorites, but then again, it's indicative of just how great your top three classics are in your opinion I meant to comment on your inclusion of Dracula. I don't think I knew (or I'd probably just forgotten) that you had read Dracula, much less enjoyed it enough to add it to your top 3! I agree with your second comment. Although it's just as likely that I haven't been reading as many classics as I should. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peacefield Report post Posted April 18, 2016 Like many others here, Dumas and Dickens are tops for me 1. The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas 2. A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens 3. Great Expectations Charles Dickens Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Madeleine Report post Posted April 18, 2016 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frankie Report post Posted April 18, 2016 Like many others here, Dumas and Dickens are tops for me 1. The Count of Monte Cristo Alexandre Dumas 2. A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens 3. Great Expectations Charles Dickens Oh yeah! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
willoyd Report post Posted May 4, 2016 Goodness me—it's been almost 8 years since I posted my list! I have to say that my top 3 are still the same, and in the same order too. You got me wondering about mine. Actually, they have changed a little bit, and are now: Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen Bleak House - Charles Dickens Middlemarch - George Eliot Originally, I had To Kill A Mockingbird along with the Austen and the Dickens, but Middlemarch and Virginia Woolf now sneak in in front of Harper Lee for me. Rereading War and Peace has pushed it up the ladder too (I do like my Victorian classics chunky!). Of course, as I originally said, I could have had just three Austens (or, indeed, three Dickens) ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Bibliophagus Beagle Report post Posted September 6, 2016 Les Miserables - Hugo The Count of Monte Cristo - Dumas Animal Farm - Orwell Tough call. I like many classics. David Copperfield, Whitefang, Tess of the D'urbervilles, Frankenstein, Iliad and Odyssey, Dracula, The Jungle Books, Sherlock Holmes stories, The Once and Future King, The Lord of the Rings, The Foundation Trilogy, 1984, The Phantom of the Opera, etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Onion Budgie Report post Posted September 6, 2016 The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde Dracula, by Bram Stoker All first read while I was in my teens. I haven't revisited the latter two in YEARS, and I'd really like to. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kolinahr Report post Posted September 6, 2016 In no particular order: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Paradise Lost by John Milton Faust by Goethe I think...I've never made a top three reads list of any kind and have a hard time making a definitive statement here, but for now this is it. Re: Paradise Lost, though---I actually don't like it nearly as much as Lord Byron's Cain: A Mystery, which has a very romanticised sort of Lucifer, even more of a misunderstood, tragic figure than Milton's Satan, but I'm not sure how many people have really read Byron's chamber plays and if they're well known enough to count as classics. I do recommend it heartily, though, especially considering Byron's amusing, page long opening exposition in which he swears he was completely unaware of how similar his premise is to Milton's, because really he only read Milton once, a long, long time ago, and he barely remembers it at all, etc. This is particularly interesting because the Romantic era is really the first time in literary history when originality started to become extremely important. Before that, everyone took inspiration from everyone else and re-wrote each other's work with impunity. Byron was probably one of the first to have to suffer through the "fan fiction" accusations and backlash, at least within the literary community. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
VictorC4C Report post Posted September 7, 2016 The Godfather - Mario Puzzo (it still not old enough to be a classic, but it is so amazing I can't help myself) The Count Of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (a page turner!) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (as well as the rest of the Sherlock Holmes series) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mythago Report post Posted December 9, 2016 Pre- 20th century: Tom Jones. Jane Eyre. The Last Man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dreadnaught Report post Posted January 10, 2017 I am a sucker for the victorian horror but at the moment, the three that come to mind areDracula - Bram StokerFrankenstein - Mary ShellyAnd probably my all time favoriteA Picture of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde.Something about the intelligence in that book that feels completely tangible Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kafka On The Shore Report post Posted March 19, 2017 1. The Picture Of Dorian Gray (Wilde) 2. Great Expectations (Dickens) 3. Wuthering Heights (Bronte) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KEV67 Report post Posted April 3, 2017 1 Great Expectations 2 The Jungle Book 3 Pride and Prejudice Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ZJantiques Report post Posted October 14, 2017 1. Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 2. The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli 3. Joseph Fouche: The Portrait Of A Politician by Stefan Zweig Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
haveGood Report post Posted April 1, 2018 1. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maughan 2. Nostromo by Joseph Conrad 3. Rabbit, Run by John Updike or The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner (I can't decide!) I know that The Sound and the Fury is probably the more important book, and honestly probably the better book, but Rabbit, Run is a really personal one for me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Douglas Report post Posted April 14, 2018 1. JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte 2. THE WOMAN IN WHITE by Wilkie Collins 3. WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mvr moorthy Report post Posted May 18, 2018 My top three are--- Great Expectations The Brothers Karamazov Sister Carrie Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LoneSoul Report post Posted September 5, 2019 Of all classics I've read, the only one I liked is 'Wizard of Oz'. 'Jungle Book', 'Pinocchio' and 'Ebenizer Scrooge' are overrated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KEV67 Report post Posted May 15, 2021 I've updated my preferences: 1) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 2) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 3) Moby Dick by Herman Melville I wanted to pick The Adventures of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Richard Fielding at 3, but in honesty I had difficulty in picking between Huckleberry Finn and Moby Dick for 2. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
missk90 Report post Posted October 2, 2021 Jane Eyre by Charlotte BronteMadame Bovary by Gustave FlaubertGone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Share this post Link to post Share on other sites