reacting to YOUR favorite victorian novels

For Victober this year, I thought it would be so much fun to hear what your favorite and least favorite Victorian novels are. Y’all certainly delivered!

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[Dinadoesyoga]

I resonate so much with your comments. Mary Barton has the slight edge for me over North and South because it was such a massive page-turner, but I do think North and South is better written. And I'm the same with romances. Just can't do them. Give me a drama that has a little romance on the side. 😅

[rickcroucher]

The last couple of days I have been binge watching your posts. Thank you. I've found them to be very interesting.

[kathleencraine]

Really great analysis of why these are favorites, Jennifer. I especially enjoyed your comments on North and South, which is one of my favorites. Your comment about reading as a teen is so true--for me that is what makes Jane Eyre my favorite of all time. I read it at about age 12/13 and totally identified with young Jane. Every time I re-read it, I re-live those feelings of being young, quiet, misunderstood and unjustly treated, and then revel in feeling vindicated as Jane fights back, matures and overcomes adversity.

[frankmorlock]

RE SHERLOCK HOLMES. I'm not surprised that some people find Sherlock Holmes not exactly to their taste. He's highly intelligent and he's very much aware of that fact. From the lofty intellectual heights on which he is perched he looks down on mere mortals. Like an eagle surveying sparrows as he soars above. Unlike say, Raskolnikov who thinks his superiority makes him above the law, Holmes' intentions are good but he's a bit insufferable. When I first encountered Holmes as a reader (I'm sure I saw couple movies with basil Rathbone as Holmes before I met him as a reader) I tried to see if there was any historical character like him. In fact Doyle supposedly based the character on a Professor he encountered and admired when he was a student in Medical School. The only historical figure that I saw any affinity with was Julius Caesar. Caesar was a sort of superman, great intellect, writer, orator, statesman, general, linguist And more than a bit of a show-off. (Consider the business about dictating 7 letters at one time.). I really think there's a strong resemblance. And so you have, in Holmes, a Caesar, reduced to playing The Great Detective.
Altogether a marvellous and fascinating fictional character who resembles a fascinating and very real historical character

[anjakuemski]

I read New Grub Street 2 years ago for Victober and absolutely loved it. It had layered characters, offered a deep insight into writers' minds and the publishing world and had a remarkable sense of weather, class, gender and society. The writing style was maybe not as dreamy as you'd prefer but it did the story justice.

[Mikyshor]

Tess of the d'Urbervilles IS my Roman Empire. I cannot emphasize this enough, not a day goes by without me thinking about it.

Loved to see your opinions on the favorites and the least favorites ❤️ Your commentary is relaxing and intriguing as always!

[AmalijaKomar]

Wurhering Hights has a virtue not for been just for Victobar but the spooky season as well

[DebMcDonald]

I was that angsty teenager that fell in love with Wuthering Heights! I was 13 when the movie came out with Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder-Marshall. A friend and I went to see it and we were crying so hard that we sat until the next showing before we were able to leave. Later my mom and I watched the Laurence Olivier - Merle Oberon movie on TV. Keep in mind that both movies were only the first half of the book. When I read the book later that year I was horrified at what happened but I was hooked forever.

[tarrynclaassen]

Jane Eyre is also my favorite Victorian novel - I loved the kookiness of Rochester and the duality of the couple by having our "plain Jane". I loved both characters and the stark contrast they brought to the novel. Also, the flickering candles gave it a superb gothic vibe.

[ManorClassics]

I loved New Grub Street when I read it, it was a really interesting story with some fantastic characters. I actually found it very readable, not dense at all but more like a modern novel. It's not a very happy book but it has plenty going on. I recommend it 😊

[judyonken-uiqw]

Hi Jennifer, my favorite is Jane Eyre…first Victorian novel I read…because it’s about so many different themes, one of which I’ve never heard talked about, which is understandable.
To me the book is about Redemption. All the way through to its climactic love story, when you read for this approach, there it is, shouting at you, and as a Christian, I tear up every time I read it or think of the writer, whose Bible you can view on YouTube…marked up throughout like mine…Remarkable person, writer, and book.
Love you!

[theresas]

I think Agnes Grey is way more romantic than Jane Eyre. I am with you on The Woman in White. I absolutely love that book.

[Sherlika_Gregori]

I’ve finished Odd Women by George Gissing. His writing is not intimidating at all. But he doesn’t like happy endings. New Grubb Street is an important book if you’re interested in publishing. Authors and publishers say that his book still shows what happens in the publishing industry nowadays . It’s a must read.

[richfarmer]

I read Wuthering Heights for the first time in my 50s and loved every minute of it.

[RobertGillham-lf]

Fave Vic Nov? “our mutual friend” the first chapter grabs you by the throat and it never lets go!

[Ninaofthes]

Have you seen the 1994 BBC mini-series of "Middlemarch"? I actually watched it before I read the book and it made me appreciate it a lot more 😃

[nat]

I think Charlotte Brontë did such a great job creating a genuine exchange between two people and them ending up falling for each other even if he’s not ideal or it not being an ideal situation. It felt realistic, their conversations and interactions. I don’t think it’s a romance to aspire but it does seem believable, so I find that very impressive. (I’m doing a re read now so idk if I’ll feel the same after reading 😅)

[MLLatUtube]

Jane Eyre is my favorite novel, period. I love Wilkie Collins, Anthony Trollope, and Elizabeth Gaskell too. Cranford is also one of my favorite books.

[ArtBookshelfOdyssey]

My problem with Wuthering Heights is definitely because there’s no one I can root for 😂

[jackiesliterarycorner]

I still couldn't pick one favorite but I loved Jane Eyre, Middlemarch, Withering Heights, North and South, The Picture of Dorian Gray, A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Barchester Towers, and Frankenstein. This probably isn't all of them, and even though it feels like I read a lot of them it feels like there is still more to try.