I have to agree that this is a book to try if you like oldies. I read it with a online group a few years ago and it was a great experience--not because we all liked the book a lot, but because it gave us a lot to think about and discuss. (That being said, some of us did like the book a lot!)Hananon wrote:Hello!
I feel like I must recommend Villette by Charlotte Bronte. Not many people seem to know about it even though it is simply a masterpiece. Lucy Snow is the most unusual heroine and the book is much darker and more complex than Jane Eyre (which is Charlotte's widely read book).
Recommendations of Classic Books
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- MsMartha
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Re: Recommendations of Classic Books
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-- 22 Feb 2016, 21:43 --
Seriously. The Dorian's image at the end of the story will arrest my memory forever.AvidReader76 wrote: I just finished reading "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde for the first time. 7-5-2010
- naseer1
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- CLRogers90
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I completely agree with AvidReader76. The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my all time favorite classics.AvidReader76 wrote:Hi Everyone!
I'm new to the book club. I just finished reading "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde for the first time. I was supposed to read it in High School many moons ago but never did or at least I don't recall that I did. This book is extremely Candid, about Life and Differences between Men and Womyn. I learned alot about Life and Love from this book. I do recommend this novel to anyone who loves fiction and classic lit. Now I've started further on my list of classic books to read and am reading The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Happy Reading Everyone! 7-5-2010
- morningcoffeevic
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- Hanleigh Bradley
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Austen's books might be softer and generally less darker than Hardy or Bronte. You'll never find her characters in abusive relationships or any wives holed up in the attic, but you are sure to fall in love with each and every book; not to mention their male leads; whether it's moody, arrogant Darcy or romantic Mr Tilney from Northanger Abbey, sweet Edward Ferrars from Sense and Sensibility or Edmund of Mansfield Park, Knightley from Emma or my personal favourite Captain Wentworth.
But no matter how much you fall in love with the men from these books, you will re-read each of these books because of the female characters. You'll love how they grow, how the change, how they mature... because as much as Austen's books are all love stories, they are also stories of girls who become women. Women of consequence and substance in an age where women's only value was in the house. I'm not much of a feminist but you got to give Austen her dues. She wanted the women in her books to have their happily ever after, their true love, but she also wanted them to have an air of independence. Most of Austen's characters did things that the average woman of the day would never do; Elisabeth spoke her mind and Elinor did her households finances.
Point is, if you've never enjoyed the world that Austen painted with her words then there's no time like the present. Persuasion is my favourite but you could start anywhere.
- Veda
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I read this book as part of my undergrad university studies. Finished reading it in 2 days.. Fastest homework ever done!The Tuggernaut wrote:I recently read Fyodyr Dostoyevsky's paragon of classic Russian literature, Crime and Punishment. The protagonist of the novel is a young intellectual student who resides in St. Petersburg, named Raskolnikov. He lives in squalid poverty and murders an immoral pawn-broker for what originally appears to be her possessions. But, as Dostoyevsky delves deeper into the mind of Raskolnikov, the reader finds more intriguing motives for his crime, and Raskolnikov seems to view himself as a great man (he is constantly comparing himself to Napolean) that is exempt from moral law. In this page-turner Raskolnikov attempts to avoid arrest and redeem himself by helping the poor family of a prostitute. This novel was written by Dostoyevsky as an attempt to combat the growing Russian nihilism of the time period, and the author sternly reminds us that nobody is above moral law, whether your punishment comes in the form of imprisonment or grief and remorse.
- grace-grace13
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- Alexatheauthor
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- Alexatheauthor
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I'm currently reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov because I've never read it before and I hear so many mixed things about it. So far, it's SO good but the mixed feelings are now mine, haha! I have so many classics I want to read and feel the need to catch up on. My favorites are Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, and Bleak House, just to name a few!
- Illegalunicorn
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- heatmalm
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The main plot of this story follows Scarlett O'Hara, a spoiled plantation debutante, through the Civil War and the Reconstruction era. While the author vividly paints the complex psychology and growth of Scarlett, the real story is that of the South. The novel brings the reader through the South's pain during and after the Civil War in such a unique way the history lesson provided is so entertaining one never realized it was a lesson at all.
The depth of the characters makes them so real, one could almost picture chatting with them on a lazy, humid day in the South. The details are so descriptive the reader can instantly picture them. Simply stated, this book is a must read.