Classic Novels - What to Read and What to Skip!

I've chosen to talk about 5 classic novels I feel have universal appeal as well as 3 that you can skip for various reasons! List yours in the comments below!

Or my Favorite Authors video, which includes Dickens and Steinbeck, here's a link to that video:

Thanks for watching!

[timothyfarrand]

Great recommendations! I do not know anything by Collins so thank you for introducing him to me. I cannot recommend Crime and Punishment enough. Dostoevsky has become one of my favorite writers over the last year and I feel takes you into the minds of such fascinating characters. What I think is unique in Dostoevsky is that he creates several different compelling characters, each of which have their own convictions and philosophies. While C&P revolves around Raskolnikov, characters such as Sonya, Porfiry, Svidrigailov, and Semyon Marmeladov, among others, each have very distinct personalities and beliefs that make the book a really interesting clash of ideas.

I can understand your point about Tolstoy's War and Peace. I am currently halfway through Book 2 and I find that I enjoy it more when I can read large chunks at a time instead of just sitting down for one or two chapters. Otherwise, the story can feel flat in certain places. There are also different types of writing throughout the novel. Sometimes it centers around a plot that is steadily moving forward and other times it takes a step back to consider more philosophical aspects of war and life in Russia during the beginning of the 19th century. I am really looking forward to reading Anna Karenina later this year as it has been praised by so many different people.

Cheers!

[Kamakazi.]

This is a great video with great recommendations. I will be adding some of these to my TBR. Hearing Crime and Punishment be described as possibly the greatest psych thriller ever written with deep themes makes it sound WAY more interesting than other descriptions I've heard.

Two that I always liked, but has mixed opinions is The Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway and The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald. I understand a lot of the criticisms for both, but they are both books that I think the overall experience is worth the issues that some people feel for them. They are examples of stories where the sum is greater than the parts if that makes any sense. I need to reread them both as well. It's been a few years.

[ldp]

I enjoy Wuthering heights, I really appreciate your honesty even though is everyone's favorite, understand your thoughts on it, thanks for the video.

[timkelehan]

Great topic. Totally agree on your Tolstoy comments, loved Anna K, and couldn’t finish W&P.

[Yesica]

I read Jane Eyre just a few years ago and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I'm halfway tempted to read Wuthering Heights just to see why many people hate it so much. Ha!

[curtjarrell]

I tried, but didn't like Jane Eyre a few years ago. I might give it a second shot. I DO intend to read War & Peace. I read a quarter of it a few years ago, but a family emergency put further reading at the time on hold. It remains part of my TBR. What's your favorite Steinbeck? I greatly enjoyed East of Eden.

[angelaholmes]

I read the grapes of wrath last year unfortunately I didn't enjoy it but I absolutely enjoyed east of eden

[Yesica]

I liked East of Eden, though I need a second reading because stories with a lot of characters/families confuse me. But I'm not sure I can handle another go around with THAT certain character. I've rarely loathed a fictional character the way I did this person.

[duffypratt]

Read all of these, several of them more than once. Agree with your recommends, except perhaps Woman in White, which I think is just ok. Completely disagree on War and Peace, which I think stands as an equal with Anna Karinina, with a much less forced ending. I’ve read it three times, as recently as last year. Partially disagree on Sun Also Rises. I like the book, but see your point, and prefer Farewell to Arms and many of the short stories. And both agree and disagree on Wuthering Heights. I don’t particularly like the book, and it has perhaps the worst written dialect in any novel I’ve ever read. But I think the writing (otherwise) and the formal structure of it are remarkable. I’ve read it twice, and hated it less the last time. Don’t think I will ever enjoy it, but I can see why some people do, sort of.

BTW, what’s your instrument?

[angelaholmes]

I'm definitely will be skipping war and peace and wuthering heights