Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion

Jane Austen.

I really can't stick to one, so here goes: Stefan Zweig, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Emile Zola, Henrik Ibsen, Tennessee Williams, Emily Bronte, Hermann Hesse.

There are many. But from the top of my head:
Virginia Woolf, Albert Camus, Hermann Hesse, Anton Chekhov, Haruki Murakami, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jim Corbett, Tolkien, Douglas Adams, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and many more :)

Impossible to choose one. I pick Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, George Eliot, Edith Wharton, Willa Cather, James Baldwin, and Ernest Gaines.

I agree--this is impossible to answer! But I was just looking to see what I'd come up with, based on how many books I've read by favorite authors. I figured if I've read more than five books by an author, they must be a favorite.

So if you'll please forgive the long post, just for fun, here's my list based on number of books read (not including single short stories or essays) of those over-five-book authors:
Margaret Atwood - 11
Virginia Woolf - 9
Charles Dickens - 8
Shirley Jackson - 7
Jane Austen - 7
James Baldwin - 6
George Orwell - 6
Toni Morrison - 6

I consider all of these authors among my favorites. Some have many more books I look forward to reading, and others I'll just have to re-read. :-)

Favorite female classics author: Jane Austen

Favorite American male classics author: three-way tie: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Steinbeck and Faulkner.

Favorite non-American male classics author: Stevenson

Favorite American female author: another three-way tie: Edith Wharton, Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Tbh: I have a LOT more classics to read, so this list may change. But off the top of my head, this is my answer.

Too many to name, and it is always expanding, but I love this question and interesting posts so far. For me, it would be Mark Twain, William Shakespeare, John Steinbeck, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoevsky, the obscure David Goodis and Cornell Woolrich, and the very underrated (in my opinion at least) Wilkie Collins ( a rival of Dickens). In a more modern sense, I would say Flannery O'Connor and Carson McCullers, Cormac McCarthy and Haruki Murakami.
Honorable mention: Daphne Du Maurier (I've only read 2 books so far, but loved them).

Great question! Off the top of my head:

favourite old school: Jane Austen

favourite new school: A. A. Milne

Favourite author id Fyodr Dostoevsky

I have always wanted to read Charles Dickens but somehow couldn't find the right book to start with. Any recommendations?

Jules Verne and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for two. Also others.

I am listening to an audio Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva . I bought from a thrift store and I find it interesting. Now I need to re-read .

Riddhika wrote: "I have always wanted to read Charles Dickens but somehow couldn't find the right book to start with. Any recommendations?"

I would say, if you want something short, A Christmas Carol is fun to read, even if you know the story well.

But if you're willing to take on something longer, David Copperfield would be my pick. It was the first Dickens I read, and I read it well into adulthood. Couldn't believe how much fun it was!

Such an impossible question to answer, but

Old School - Thomas Hardy has written some of the most powerful books I have ever read and never one I did not like.

New School - Paul Scott's Raj Quartet puts him very high on my list of favorites, and Mary Stewart and Daphne Du Maurier have probably brought me more pleasure than any other writers I can think of.

I don't really do Sci-Fi, but Mary Dorria Russell's The Sparrow is a stunning piece of literature and gets her solidly on the list as well.

Ugh, I forgot Thomas Hardy. Adding him too. :)

Great question and so interesting to see the similarities and differences in who everyone picks.

My favourite old school authors: Emile Zola, Dostoevsky, Dickens and the Brontes

Favourite new school: Doris Lessing, JG Ballard and Steinbeck

The Bronte sisters, Wuthering Heights is an excellent read (esp for those who really like dark and moody atmospheres) :)

Sara wrote: "Such an impossible question to answer, but

Old School - Thomas Hardy has written some of the most powerful books I have ever read and never one I did not like.

New School - Paul Scott's Raj Quar..."

I also totally forgot about Hardy. I've loved his novels so far. He is 3 for 3 for me.

Shipei wrote: "Who is your favourite?" I have two favorites; Louisa May Alcott and Jane Austen.

Dostoyevsky
Camus
Hugo
Dumas
Dickens
Austen
Kafka
Joyce

In order of importance:

Richard Feynman: I am slowly reading everything. Thinking about read Surely You're Joking a third time.

Fridtjof Nansen: I still don't understand how what he did in Farthest North is humanly possible. Each time the Norwegian National Library scan another of his books it is a Christmas gift in July. Looking forward to read Through Siberia. Nansen traveled trough Siberia in 1913. Just look at the year! Right before everything.

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Douglas R. Hofstadter

Lois McMaster Bujold: Science fiction: The Vorkosigan series.

Edgar Allan Poe

Orson Scott Card: Ender’s Game. Three first books. Seventh Son-series first four books.

Arthur Conan Doyle: Read all Sherlock Holmes, all Professor Challenger and all of Brigadier Gerard.

Ted Chiang: Some of his stories are from before 2000. Collection are all from after.

Umberto Eco

Isaac Asimov

Svetlana Alexievich

Ole Lund Kirkegaard: I loved them as a child, and reading them to my children - I know they are still quality. There seems to be no English translation, but a Bulgarian: Фроде и всичките други калпазани.

Stefan Zweig: Chess Story is just a superb. I have read three books, but not The World of Yesterday (you can count on my second for that one).

Tolstoy: Specially The Death of Ivan Ilych.

Nevil Shute: Reading On the Beach was a chock. I really must read some more of his work.

Funny how many have Fyodor Dostoevsky as a favorite, but not a single second for him in old school this month. Did you all read his shorter short stories? Or do you not care to?

I had read his short stories, so I didn't second :)

My all-time favorite is Vladimir Nabokov, both his fiction and nonfiction works. He wrote excellent books on Russian literature

We have read quite a bit of Dostoevsky, I have already read the short stories and most of his novels. There are a lot of great authors who have not made the bookshelf once. Also, I like a bit lighter reading in the summer, reading that doesn't require "study", so I am more likely to go for Dostoevsky when the weather is cold.

I really, really don't have one favorite or even a few favorites. I tend to have writers that I am currently interested in reading. I know it sounds like skirting the question, but that's the answer.

Riddhika wrote: "I have always wanted to read Charles Dickens but somehow couldn't find the right book to start with. Any recommendations?"

I recommend Great Expectations. It may be a familiar story but it is one of the easier ones to get into in my opinion. Most of Dickens novels have numerous plotlines going on and it can be confusing until you get used to his style.

Laurie wrote: "Riddhika wrote: "I have always wanted to read Charles Dickens but somehow couldn't find the right book to start with. Any recommendations?"

I recommend Great Expectations. It may be a familiar sto..."

Great Expectations is a great pick!

If you want to ramp up, his novella A Christmas Carol might also be an easy place to start.

Often authors are one-shot for me, I love one of their books, but not the others.
The two most eminent exceptions I can think of are:
- Henry James. It's rarely a disappointment when I pick up one of his books. I loved 'Portrait of a lady', but my pick would be, hands down, 'The Aspern Papers'.
- Victor Hugo. Love his prose and his confidence in writing, and the way he handle tragedy in his story, turning it to something almost epic.

Laurie wrote: "Riddhika wrote: "I have always wanted to read Charles Dickens but somehow couldn't find the right book to start with. Any recommendations?"

I recommend Great Expectations. It may be a familiar sto..."

YES! This would have been my call too! As someone who struggles to vibe with Dickens, this was a big surprise.

There are many... Jane Austen , Charles Dickens , George Eliot , Victor Hugo , Dumas , Dostoevesky , Emily Dickinson, Camus , Poe's poems , Hardy , Tolkien , George Orwell , Heyer , Steinbeck... Ursula K le guin , Elizabeth Barrett Browning , Woolf ,
These are just what comes to mind now.

A lot of these authors and their books can be found, and read, on gutenberg.org, the Gutenberg Project. I visited the Gutenberg Museum in Maniz and it was so impressive. I could not take pictures.

I love the Project Gutenberg and Librivox works.
Their work is great.

Margaret Atwood

Thanks Kathleen, Laurie and Jeniffer. I think I will start with Great Expectations! :)