It's time for another edition of
Top Ten Tuesday. Today's prompt is actually "Books Written Before I Was Born"... but since any book written before I was born should be considered a classic, let's take a look at ten I'd like to read (or reread) within the next year or two. These are all on my second
Classics Club list.
Villette by Charlotte Brontë - I've read many of the Bronte novels, but never got around to this one.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky - the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation
The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas, because I loved
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy -The first three novels of the series were excellent and I must read the rest of them!
Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell - Can it be as good as
North and South?
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - I've been meaning to reread this since high school.
Miss Mackenzie by Anthony Trollope - because it's been a year since I read Trollope and I miss him!
The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton, to follow-up
The Husband Hunters (nonfiction)
The Priory by Dorothy Whipple, because it's been on my shelf for a decade
Have you read any of these? Where should I start?
The Grapes of Wrath was such a good story.
ReplyDeleteMy post.
Lydia - I remember loving it in high school, but that was a very long time ago!
DeleteI have read The Grapes of Wrath and Crime and Punishment, which I found better than I thought it would be. I plan to read The Count of Monte Cristo this year.
ReplyDeleteJudy - I remember loving The Count of Monte Cristo... it was an all-consuming read.
DeleteI really enjoyed Death Comes for the Archbishop when I read it (probably 25 years ago!).
ReplyDeleteLes - That may be how long the book has been on my shelf ;-)
DeleteI just read a book in which a bookseller in the 1800's tries to convince a customer to read VILLETTE instead of JANE EYRE. I love the latter, but I'd never heard of the former. Now, I'm curious. I might just need to read it!
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT!
Susan - That's a funny story! I go back and forth between wanting to reread Jane Eyre or try something new like Villette...
DeleteI have only read two of these---Death Comes for the Archbishop and Grapes of Wrath. I have Wives and Daughters on my Classics Club list. I hope to read Crime and Punishment someday.
ReplyDeleteDeb - I've read quite a few Cather novels, but never got around to Death Comes for the Arcgbishop.
DeleteNot much I can add since I haven't read any of these books either. I did like the Edith Wharton book I did read, The Age of Innocence. It caused me to do quite a bit of research about the author on my own.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Wharton certainly lived an interesting life. The Age of Innocence was good read.
DeleteI so enjoyed O, Pioneers last year and would love to read another Cather book. All of these sound so good and just where to start right? Great TTT list!
ReplyDeleteIliana - O, Pioneers is my favorite Cather. Even my one daughter who's not a big reader loved it.
DeleteHa! Your comment made me realise that since I have a 50 yr rule for whether a book is a classic or not, then naturally, now, any book older than me would be deemed a classic! How did that happen?
ReplyDeleteBrona - I've been asking myself that same question! ;-)
DeletePretty sure I read The Grapes of Wrath in high school, but I don't remember too much about it!
ReplyDeleteAngela - There are a ew scenes that linger in my mind, but not much else. Just remember I liked it way back when!
DeleteI also wanted to read Grapes of Wrath! Great list!
ReplyDeleteHere’s my TTT!
Ronyell @ Rabbit Ears Book Blog
Ronyell - Steinbeck is a favorite!
DeleteI used to be so afraid of Steinbeck, his books sounded so dire, but I finally got brave enough to read Grapes of Wrath and it is amazing. There are some tough parts but now Steinbeck is one of my favorite writers, I've loved nearly all of his books. I also love Wives & Daughters, one of my favorite Victorian novels. And The Forsyte Saga is just a wonderful family story -- it's long, but it's broken up into three novels (or is it more?) -- so worth it if you like an epic multigenerational story. And I loved everything by Dorothy Whipple! What a great list!
ReplyDeleteKaren K. - I'd recommend East of Eden, too, if you haven't read it. It's one of my all-time favorites.
DeleteGlad to hear you love Wives & Daughters. North and South will be a tough act to follow. The first book of The Forsyte Saga contains three novels and two interludes... and I devoured it in just a few days. There are two more books, and I think each of those contain three novels, too. Either way, I finally downloaded the whole thing to my kindle. Hope to get to it soon.
I love Villette and have read it multiple times. It's very different from Jane Eyre, and in some ways, maybe even slightly better? Hard to compare two such excellent books.
ReplyDeleteAmy - I'd planned to read Villette last year, but nothing in 2020 went according to my plan!! Sigh.
DeleteWell, if you do decide to crack it open in 2021, give me a holler, I'd love to read it again!
DeleteAmy - Will do!
DeleteSome really good reads. I like Trollope so much. Time to get back to one of his books.
ReplyDeleteMystica - Trollope is my favorite! I've read all of the Barsetshire novels, the Palliser series, and The Way We Live Now. Seems like I read something by him every year... glad he was so prolific!
DeleteI was disappointed in Wives and Daughters which I read last summer but love The Forsyte Saga. And if you watch the TV version, the first one is better (although so old I think it is in black and white).
ReplyDeleteCLM - I loved the first book of The Forsyte Saga! As far as I can tell, it contained 3 novels and 2 interludes. Seems like there are two more big books with multiple novels in each. Ideally, I'd like to reread the first book and continue on to the rest. I did enjoy the newer TV version, but it might be a good idea to seek out the older one for my reread. Thanks for the suggestion!
DeleteSorry to hear you were disappointed in Wives and Daughters. Have you read North and South? I thought it was excellent.
Okay...since you asked!
ReplyDeleteWives and Daughters is wonderful - very different from N&S, but equally memorable. Yes, it is unfinished, but only the very end.
Villette is okay - I do think Charlotte Bronte had one great book in her that she kept on rewriting. But then, I haven't read Shirley, so maybe that's unfair. I found Villette interesting at first, then tedious.
The Grapes of Wrath is fantastic - I reread it last year and was completely blown away. It is worthy of the Pulitzer Prize it won.
The Buccaneers, also unfinished, was very good. I watched the mini-series >20 years ago so I knew the basic storyline, and it is a great companion piece to Husband Hunters, Downton Abbey, etc. Good characters, good setting.
I just finished reading The Black Count about Dumas's father, so I am eager to read something by Dumas. I love the title, The Black Tulip, and that promises to be a wonderful adventure story.
I need to reread Death Comes for the Archbishop--you can't go wrong with Willa Cather, but it is a quiet book, as the title suggests.
I would love to read The Forsythe Saga - it's been on my TBR list for probably 40 years now! My sister loves it to pieces.
I've pretty much decided to never read Crime and Punishment - Russian authors don't tend to do much for me (War and Peace notwithstanding).
Frankly, you have a wealth of possibilities and will have some great reads.
JaneGS - Thank you for all this... I really appreciate your input! After neglecting classics for the past 2 years, T Book Club has inspired me to return. I still plan to pick up Middlemarch later this month, but their focus on American classics has me leaning toward a reread of Grapes of Wrath later this spring. I loved the first three novels of The Forsyte Saga and would love to finish the series this year. So many choices...
DeleteI am not a classics reader, but I am seeing tons of them on people's Top Ten lists today!
ReplyDeleteHelen - I think that means many of us are of a "classic" age! ;-)
DeleteI've read only the ones here by Cather, Steinbeck, and Bronte, but I've intended to read several others on the list for years now. Since I'm reaching "classic status" myself now, I probably need to get a move on if it's ever to happen.
ReplyDeleteSam - Seems like many of us making these lists today have achieved "classic" status! Way back when, I used to co-own a classics book group on Yahoo groups. I enjoyed reading many of the books I missed in my very science-heavy education/career. Lately I've rediscovered that enthusiasm for classics.
DeleteI see we have many books in common in this list ! I even recently read Villette, it's unequal but excellent, especially the end ^^
ReplyDeleteIzaBzh - I had planned on reading Villette last year, but 2020 managed to derail most of my plans. Fingers crossed for this year!
DeleteSo many good books on this list! I haven't read Wives and Daughters, but I loved the Masterpiece Theater adaptation.
ReplyDeleteI have never read The Priory, but I've read a couple of other Dorothy Whipple books (Because of the Lockwoods, and Greenbanks) and they were both excellent.
Aileen - I'm sure I'll watch Masterpiece's Wives and Daughters... the only question is whether that happens before or after reading the book. The two other Whipple books I read were Someone at a Distance and They Were Sisters. Both excellent... glad I have several more left to discover.
DeleteI'm a big fan of Willa Cather and Death Comes for the Archbishop was one of my favorites. You have a gem of a book in store for you there!
ReplyDeleteMary R. - I understand that Death Comes for the Archbishop has a different feel from Cather's other work. Glad to know it's one of your favorites... can't wait to give it try!
DeleteI've read Wives and Daughters and The Buccaneers (and I think I enjoyed both...I usually do when it is these authors). Miss MacKenzie has been on my list too - let's read it together?
ReplyDeleteAudrey - Yes, yes, yes!! Sometime this spring/summer?
DeleteOf those I have only read The Grapes of Wrath but we do own a fat copy of The Forsythe Saga. Great selection you have.
ReplyDeleteTina - I've loved classics for as long as I can remember, but for whatever reason, haven't read many the last couple of years. Trying to get back into it for 2021!
DeleteI haven't read any of these JoAnn, but Villette, The Black Tulip and Wives & Daughters are all on my Classics Club list, so I hope to read them soon too. 🙂
ReplyDeleteJessica - I had a feeling we had some overlap on our Classics Club lists!
DeleteDorothy Whipple! I probably should just order the book of hers that I can't yet find anywhere (the one with Sisters in the title). I have Villette and that Cather on my 2nd list, too.
ReplyDeleteCare - Yes, They Were Sisters... so good!
DeleteThanks for your Classic Club List, JoAnn, which inspired me to make up a love classics movie list for Valentine's 2021. I still have the CDs you sent me of Colin Firth reading The End of the Affair. :) Arti of Ripple Effects
ReplyDeleteArti - I'll be by sometime today to check out your list! I remember sending you those CDs.... it's been years!! I'd love to listen to that book again. Happy Valentine's Day!
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