Classic novels

[Gelsons Dad]

Just finished reading Robinson Crusoe. I think everyone must have read a kids version at some time but as Play Books had it on their bargain classics I thought I would give it a go at £0.83. Despite it being written in the 17C its relatively easy to read and a cracking good story.

It's my favourite book. I read it every two or three years.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Just finished reading Robinson Crusoe. I think everyone must have read a kids version at some time but as Play Books had it on their bargain classics I thought I would give it a go at £0.83. Despite it being written in the 17C its relatively easy to read and a cracking good story.

18th century but it is a great book!

 

[OB1]

It's a little disappointing Catcher in the Rye, found it dated and couldn't relate to the coming of age narrative for the time... I did read this in my teens though so it could be worth a revisit..

1984 remains a classic, Orwell one of the greats..

I read 'the master and margarita' last year, which for me is the greatest piece of literature ever written, it's a bonifide classic!

Catcher reminded me of Less Than Zero but I preferred LTZ, which I read first although it obviously wasn't written first.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Catcher reminded me of Less Than Zero but I preferred LTZ, which I read first although it obviously wasn't written first.

Not read it, mate... I'll give it a go..

I'm certainly not taking that top 100 seriously though, there's at least 20 off the top of my head that are missing. It may be selective but there are genuine classics that have been omitted!

 

[Mozzer]

Here is a link to my blog. Orwell, Steinbeck, Kafka, Ted Hughes and Dylan Thomas amongst others are featured here.
https://in-country-heaven.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1

 

[OB1]

Read a fair few on that list.

I always list Philip Pulmans "His Dark Materials" in my top 10 books. Can't wait for his "Book of Dust" released later this year.

I thought His Dark Materials was excellent but then I really like the Harry Potter books.

I occasionally try reading one of the more traditional classics, On the Road was the last one I tried; it was OK but I suspect it is lauded more for its influence than for actually being a great story or wonderful prose.

I have Catch-22 sitting amongst my pile of unread books so I'll get to that one day but I'd rather catch-up on all the Stephen King books I have not even bought yet (I used to buy and read them as soon as they were released but don't read as much as I used to). Given what's on that list, I can't see why something like The Stand isn't on there: vies with LOTR to be crowned my favourite novel

 

[OB1]

Not read it, mate... I'll give it a go..

I'm certainly not taking that top 100 seriously though, there's at least 20 off the top of my head that are missing. It may be selective but there are genuine classics that have been omitted!

You probably should give LTZ a go; it's of it's time and I think it was something different. Be interesting to see if you enjoy it. Have you read American Psycho?

I agree that list is not quite what I'd call a list of classics, which would probably exclude most of the books on it that I like.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

You probably should give LTZ a go; it's of it's time and I think it was something different. Be interesting to see if you enjoy it. Have you read American Psycho?

I agree that list is not quite what I'd call a list of classics, which would probably exclude most of the books on it that I like.

Yeah, Patrick Bateman was a hero of mine for a number of years (: - I do like stories told in the 1st person..

I've been on a Alexandre Dumas marathon of late, the count of monte cristo in my top 5!

 

[PatBateman62]

Yeah, Patrick Bateman was a hero of mine for a number of years (: -

Ahhh thanks...hmmmm...the things I could do to you with a coat hanger.

 

[talkativesprout]

This is the list:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

I thought His Dark Materials was excellent but then I really like the Harry Potter books.

I occasionally try reading one of the more traditional classics, On the Road was the last one I tried; it was OK but I suspect it is lauded more for its influence than for actually being a great story or wonderful prose.

I have Catch-22 sitting amongst my pile of unread books so I'll get to that one day but I'd rather catch-up on all the Stephen King books I have not even bought yet (I used to buy and read them as soon as they were released but don't read as much as I used to). Given what's on that list, I can't see why something like The Stand isn't on there: vies with LOTR to be crowned my favourite novel