Which of these books would be the best/most interesting to read?

L

LEE

Member
Emma by Jane Austen
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Red and the Black by Stendhal
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Trial by Franz Kafka
Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
The Unvanquished by William Faulkner
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Robinson Cruesoe by Daniel Defoe
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Ambassadors by Henry James
Death Comes to the Archbishop by Willa Cather
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Light in August by William Faulkner
 
A

Ash

Member
You've got quite a list here! More details would help, but I'm going to tell you my opinion on several of these:
Jane Austen is well liked and very interesting.

Moby Dick has its moments, but has many chapters that are simply essays on whaling. This can be tedious. What you've heard about it, the white whale attacking, all happens within a few chapters at the end. Great symbolism, but cetainly not as exciting as movie adaptions portray.

To the Lighthouse and anything by Faulkner are great! But these can be difficult to read because of the "stream of consciousness" technique of writing used in the works.

Kafka is always interesting, but be prepared for oddities and symbolism. His works take in-depth analysis to truly appreciate.

Heart of Darkness can get a bit tedious, but is a good novel. Some critics argue that it's a bit racist, but it shows the British attitude towards Africa at the time of colonization.

The Awakening is a great (and at the time it was published, controversial) novel. It's all about a married woman learning about her independence. If you read between the lines, she has several affairs. This is my favorite on the list because of the strong feminism theme.
 
J

JoSpumoni

New member
Of the ones I've read, which aren't many, I'd say Jane Eyre is the best. I don't recommend Heart of Darkness at all--it's deathly boring.
 
P

paige

Member
To give you my opinion on all that I have read:

Emma-most people love Jane Austen, but she is not one of my particular favorites. However, if you do like happy romance novels, this is one of her better ones.

Moll Flanders-this book really is a lot of fun. I usually like sad books better than happy ones, but this book is light-hearted and I still loved it. It's just a fun tale about a likable whore romping around England and America.

David Copperfield-I usually find Dickens's books very hard to read, but this is one of the readable ones. This one is long and several different subplots, some good, some bad. David is a pretty good character, and Dickens did well with the romance in this book. I enjoyed this book.

Vanity Fair-I just could not get into this book. I enjoyed the movie on it, and this has some good characters, but it will be your call if you decide to read one.

Dead Souls-I usually love Russian books, but this one was a little bit too hard for me to read.

Anna Karenina-I loved this one! It's about a Russian noblewoman who cheats on her husband, and it's a really beautiful story. It might take a few pages to get into, because there are two stories in this book, one-interesting (Anna's), and one not as interesting (Levin's), but it's an amazing book on a whole. It was the first Russian book I ever read, and now I'm obsessed with the Russians due to reading it.

The Age of Innocence-this one is good. It's not too exciting, and it's kind of depressing, but I enjoyed it. It's about a man who is about to respectfully married to a respectable woman, until he falls in love with a less-than-respectable woman (in a very strict society.)

The Return of the Native-Hardy is my favorite author, abd while this is not one of his better books, it is still really good. Just be prepared for much tragedy.

Jane Eyre-I love this one! It's a just a nice little romance that is not too happy or too sad.

An American Tragedy-I really enjoyed this one. It's very dense, but very readable. It's about this man who was borninto the lower escheon of society and who will do whatever it takes to rise, which results in much tragedy.

The Trial-this is an amazing story, but may be a bit hard to read. It's about this man who is wrongfully accused of murder, and what results from it. It's a very odd book, but it is good.

Sons and Lovers-This one is great. Lawrence just writes very good romances, and this one is sad, but not too sad.

Pride and Prejudice-Again, I am not huge on Austen, although most people love her and consider this their favorite.

Tom Jones-I tried to read this one, but found it unreadable.

Robinson Crusoe-this one is readable, but not very interesting.

Fathers and Sons-I found this one too hard to read.

The Death of Ivan Illyich-this is good, but has to be read very slowly. It's about a man who is about to die and who is reflecting over his life.

Madame Bovary-My all-time favorite! This is a wonderful book about a miserable Frenchwoman who starts having extramarital affairs. Emma's an amazing character, whether you like her or not. Definitely read this one-just read it slowly, so you can savor the beauty of it.

The Awakening-This one has a story similar to Mme. Bovary and Anna Karenina. This one is good, but not quite as good as those two.

Wuthering Heights-I thought I would love this one, but I ended up finding it only average. Heathcliffe is a good character, but he was really all I liked about this book. (Jane Eyre is much better.)

Lord Jim-I started this one but could not finish it.

To the Lighthouse-this one is good, but is the stream of consiousness kind of book, which is not completely interesting at times.

So, to review, I think you should choose between: Anna Karenina, Jane Eyre, An American Tragedy, Sons and Lovers, and Mme. Bovary, but this is only mu humble opinion.
 
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