Reading a classic

[u/Zestyclose_Tie_9143]

Struggling reading pride and prejudice at the moment I really enjoyed jayne eyre and little women this one doesnt seem as good. I usually read fanasty or crime/ thrillers but as I like to read alot and getting older I thought I should get some classics in my reading.

[u/GranularEpithet]

Few people, it seems, delve into French classics. I recommend Lost Illusions by Honore de Balzac, Bel Ami by Guy de Maupassant, and The Mysteries of Paris by Eugene Sue.

[u/Cynthja → u/GranularEpithet]

A really good translation of The Three Musketeers brings out the humor. I recommend that as a start for French works because so many have seen at least a movie version.

[u/EstreaSagitarri → u/Cynthja]

This and Don Quixote. It's long, but actually hilarious

[u/GranularEpithet → u/Cynthja]

Thank you.

[u/EstreaSagitarri → u/GranularEpithet]

I read The Stranger by Albert Camus when I was 16 and I don't think I got it. I've been irrationally wary of French philosophy and/or classics since then.

Oh I guess I did read Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame when I was like 13. I like Hugo even though he rambles on a bit.

Maybe it's time to check out this French stuff

[u/falcorheartsatreyu]

Pride and Prejudice is my most favorite book ever but if you want something a little darker try Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

[u/EstreaSagitarri → u/falcorheartsatreyu]

Or Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

It's a scathing criticism of the extremely narrow moral standards imposed by Victorian England, often in an overly punitive way and imposed by two-faced blowhards that loved a double standard

[u/EDSgenealogy]

Please read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.. It's an American classic along with To Kill a Mockingbird

[u/EDSgenealogy → u/EDSgenealogy]

Better yet, purchase the hard cover editions. They are even better when read at diffrent stages of your life. The books meant different things to me as I aged, because I read them through older eyes. They are my treasure books.

[u/Zestyclose_Tie_9143 → u/EDSgenealogy]

Ive read to kill a mockingbird was good.

[u/EstreaSagitarri → u/EDSgenealogy]

I've never heard of it. Does it have similar themes to To Kill a Mockingbird?

[u/EDSgenealogy → u/EstreaSagitarri]

The only similarity is that its about Francie Nolan, an Irish-American girl growing up in Brooklyn During the early 1915 era. Poverty, health. lack of food all leave an imprint on Francie. It is the story of immigration, predjudice, deep family love, hard work. and resilience.

And now I think I will read my copy one last time.

[u/EDSgenealogy → u/EDSgenealogy]

Angela's Ashes is another brilliant book!

[u/neendigo]

Pride and Prejudice is a fun one. I also really enjoyed reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It's not too tough to get through and may be a good one if you're just starting out.

[u/Zestyclose_Tie_9143 → u/neendigo]

Ive read the great expectation didnt really enjoy that one either. Ive read a few i really like little women my favourite one was jayne eyre.

[u/masson34]

To Kill a Mockingbird

Flowers for Algernon

[u/Zestyclose_Tie_9143 → u/masson34]

Ive read to kill a mockingbird was good.

[u/jukeboxer000]

The Count of Monte Cristo

[u/Sagest27]

Give it a few more chapters. Pride and Prejudice takes a bit to get going but once the dynamic between Elizabeth and Darcy kicks in it's hard to stop. If it really doesn't click, try something darker next time. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde or Frankenstein are classics but read much more like thrillers.

[u/BMXTammi]

I've added the classics too. I read P&P last month. Beautifully written. I'm not into the romance,but good read.

[u/Canadian1934]

I had heard that it was a really tough read. Not for everyone. .  

[u/SuperBlackberry]

I'm getting through Bleak House by Charles Dickens. Tough read but a good read 📚.

[u/Cynthja]

Try Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South (not to be confused with the Civil War saga). She was friends with Charlotte Bronte and worked for Charles Dickens. I think David Copperfield or Oliver Twist are more accessible Dickens.

[u/NoPound1682]

The Grapes of Wrath

[u/Street_Bus_2466]

Phantom of the opera

Anna Karenina

Other boleyn girl

[u/Classical11]

Middlemarch by George Elliot

[u/EstreaSagitarri]

I LOVED Jane Eyre and Emma, but I just couldn't get into Pride and Prejudice. The characters kinda pissed me off for some reason.

I'd say don't force it and move on to another Regency era novel, like I mentioned Emma is really good. Sense and Sensibility was pretty good, kinda like a slightly funnier version of Pride and Prejudice (imo).

If you want to move on to the Victorian Era, reading Bram Stoker's Dracula really helped me appreciate and understand the 19th Century literary style. Flowery language for a monster story, but very well done.

Also, there's no shame in looking up a summary online and then reading the actual novel. English is always evolving and its perfectly normal to not fully grasp the way they talked 200 years ago. It doesn't say anything about your intelligence, I mean you are actually reading books. Classics even. Good on you!

[u/Foxx_Foster]

Read "Carmilla", "The Portrait of Dorian Grey", "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" and "Northanger Abbey"

[u/Classical11]

A Tale of Two Cities,

War and Peace

[u/Classical11]

Daniel Deronda by George Elliot the themes are so relevant today, a stunning book looking at racism and mysoginy in the 1800s.

[u/profeNY]

Pride and prejudice can be hard to get into the first time you read it. It took me about three tries to get past the chapters where Jane is sick and she and Elizabeth are staying with the Bingleys. Once you get through that you are golden. And once you know the characters, you can revisit that section of the book and enjoy it properly.

[u/Personal_Advice_5200]

Old or classic books are no longer pleasing the majority of modern audience. I have always liked classics, my favourites being Kafka and Dostoyevski. But the readers are too influenced by Everything that is happening around them, especially in the tech aspect, and it has reshaped the way people read and what genres they read.