The Next Best Book Club discussion

Hello,
I want some classic/modern classic novels to read. I like British or American novels. I quite like fantasy. I don't like pointlessly sad books or books that are going to make me feel seriously depressed, although I don't mind books that are sad if they have a moral like 'To Kill A Mockingbird'. I don't like books that have a scary or creepy element to them. I'm looking for stuff like John Steinbeck but I have no idea really where to start. I quite like retro novels.
Can you recommend some novels for me to read?
I have already read :
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby
Pride and Prejudice
Little Women

Thanks x

You might like Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. It is a funny novel about a British academic who gets himself into all sorts of trouble. He's sort of like a smarter, British, grown up Holden Caulfield (from Catcher in the Rye).

You can always go w/ the Bronte sisters, personally I prefer Jane Eyre to Wuthering Heights, but not everyone feels the same. Then there's always The Scarlet Letter and two of my favorites: All Quiet on the Western Front and Dracula. I hope those help!

Polly....

Here are some classics I really enjoyed.

Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury
Count of Monte Cristo - Dumas
Catcher in the Rye - Salinger
Lord of the Flies - Golding
Old Man and the Sea - Hemingway
Of Mice and Men/ The Pearl - Steinbeck
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Kensey

Just for starters :)

Fiona wrote: "I second All Quiet on the Western Front, Jane Eyre and anything by Stienbeck. I loved East of Eden especially.

May I also add North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell to..."

Errr... O_o

I definitely second Count of Monte Cristo.
I'd also recommend Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion by Jane Austen. Both are very, very good. :)

You have to read the unabridged COMC though. It's well worth the effort.

Anything by Dickens seems as if it would fit your bill. How about A Christmas Carol? Nicholas Nickleby is both fun and sad. A Tale of Two Cities is set during the French Revolution, and has the flavour of those times. On the topic of the French Revolution, you might consider The Scarlet Pimpernel, as well.

Have you read Upton Sinclair? I recommend The Jungle. It's not particularly "uplifting", but there's a purpose behind that.

You might also check out somethings by Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers or Katherine Anne Porter. They're more "modern classics", but for good American lit they're pretty decent.

Rebecca.....fantastic read.

I second Rebecca! I was going to add, but Elizabeth beat me to it by 2 minutes :)

Polly, have you tried anything by H.G. Wells? You said you like the retro/fantasy. I would recommend the following:

Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury
The War of the Worlds - H.G. Wells
The Invisible Man - Wells
The Time Machine - Wells
All Quiet on the Western Front - Remarque
Frankenstein - Shelley
Catch-22 - Keller
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - Verne
The Journey to the Centre of the Earth - Verne
Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson*** VERY GOOD
Lord of the Flies - Golding
Robinson Crusoe - Defoe
And Then There Were None - Christie (I don't know how far into modern/contemporary you would like to go, but this has always been recommended to me)
The Bridges of Madison County
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card*** (especially if you like fantasy)

I know some of these are repeats, but I think the more people recommend the same book you would think it's gotta be good! LOL

I know there's more and I'm trying to think...I may have to keep coming back and posting, because I feel like I'm having a brainfart here and I'm going to be like "D'oh! Why didn't I mention THAT one?" Hehe.

Oh my god.. Did I forget to recommend VERNE??? Where the hell is my head?

Of course you MUST read VERNE!!!!
Start with Mysterious Island. It's his most wonderful!

Haha! Yes! See! I knew I wasn't the only one who would have a "D'Oh" (Homer Simpson inspired) moment! Hehehe! :)

E.M. Forster's A Room With a View was a fantastic read, I recommend that one. I also second the suggestions for Elizabeth Gaskell and Jane Austen's other works =D

Jennifer wrote: "You can always go w/ the Bronte sisters, personally I prefer Jane Eyre to Wuthering Heights, but not everyone feels the same. Then there's always [book:The Scarlet Letter|..."

you liked [book:The Scarlet Letter|..."?I thought it was soooo boring...though i agree with you, dracula is great

Lori wrote: "Oh my god.. Did I forget to recommend VERNE??? Where the hell is my head?

Of course you MUST read VERNE!!!!
Start with Mysterious Island. It's his most wonderful!"

I never herd of that one

El wrote: "Have you read Upton Sinclair? I recommend The Jungle. It's not particularly "uplifting", but there's a purpose behind that.

You might also check out somethings by [author:Flannery..."


OHHH I love The Jungle!!!

Of course Dicken would have to be read. I am currently very much enjoying Oliver Twist!

So Big by Edna Ferber

The Jungle, I thought, was really depressing. I wouldn't recommend it if you don't like books that make you feel miserable.

Bhumi wrote: "The Jungle, I thought, was really depressing. I wouldn't recommend it if you don't like books that make you feel miserable."

It was depressing, but it wasn't gratuitous. Sinclair wanted it to be depressing so he could prove his point. It's still an important book, depressing or not.

Have you read Steinbeck's Cannery Row?

Leonor, I love The Scarlet Letter! It's depressing and heartbreaking and beautiful. I'm glad you like Dracula!

dracula is fantastic, i must read the sequel(yeah, there is one!!!!happy, happy, happy)

I'm super excited to read the next one, but I can't until after Christmas as it is a Christmas present!

lol

my problem is to convince my mom to offer it...fantasy and horror are not her favorite genres(she cant complain though - she has already read almost every crime book there is...)

Oh, dad and I share lots of books. I practically forced him to read Dracula and now we will share the sequel after Christmas! I hope you can find a way to convince your mom to offer to get it!

no problem, I will, it just dosnt mean that she will like to buy it

Lol, fair enough!

lol

Fiona wrote: "I second All Quiet on the Western Front, Jane Eyre and anything by Stienbeck. I loved East of Eden especially.

May I also add North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell to..."

I am currently reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. It's probably one of the best books I've ever read. I would recommend it. :)

I'm generally not big on classics, but A Separate Peace is still one of my favorite books. If The Book Thief is considered a modern classic, it's always highly recommended.

Dumas and Austen are both amazing authors. Victor Hugo is pretty good, also.

I tend to be more into European classics rather than American... The only American classics I particularly liked were "The Great Gatsby" and "To Kill a Mockingbird". I love the list people here have created for you... I'll have to steal some and put them on my "to-read" list!

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Dracula by Bram Stoker
A Lost Lady by Willa Cather
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Those are the big ones I can think of for now. If I think of more I'll post them :)

I agree with many of the ideas above. I would also suggest:

Atlas Shrugged
The Grapes of Wrath (since you mention Steinbeck)
Robinson Crusoe
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Mists of Avalon

I keep bringing up the late great Kurt Vonnegut in my posts BUT I do love him so.

Cat's Cradle
Slaughterhouse Five

I was not too fond of A Prayer for Owen Meany. It has some humorous parts, all in all to preachy for me.

Owen Meany is a favorite of mine. It's humorous and a bit mysterious. I don't remember it being preachy. It's been a long time since I've read it.

My absolute favorite is John Steinbeck and just started reading his Travels With Charley: In Search of America. I find it to be so easy to read and could have been written yesterday instead of 50 years ago - loving it!! I loved The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice & Men, but they are pretty deep in heavy subject. East of Eden is one of my all-time favorite books.

I would agree, East of Eden is an excellent classic.

What? No Mark Twain? THE icon of American lit. The first American author to be recognized on the world stage. "All American literature stems from Huckleberry Finn." E. Hemminway
Even Oxford, that bastion of British literature, awarded him a Doc of Letters. Unprecedented to this day.
Twain wrote a lot more than two boys books. The guy could take up the north wall of the library of congress. A Century after his death (April 25, 2010), he's still being published and still commands a seat on any bestseller list.
Recommend classics and not mention Twain... forsooth!

j guevara
author of "The Twain Shall Meet" (hint hint)

El wrote: "Bhumi wrote: "The Jungle, I thought, was really depressing. I wouldn't recommend it if you don't like books that make you feel miserable."

It was depressing, but it wasn't gratuitous. Sinclair wa..."

True. It did have a message and genuinely documented the lives of poor families like Jurgis's during the time period.

F1Wild wrote: "My absolute favorite is John Steinbeck and just started reading his Travels With Charley: In Search of America. I find it to be so easy to read and could have been written yesterday instead of 50 ..."

I've read The Grapes of Wrath and thought it was moving. Steinbeck's writing is beautiful, despite the heavy subject matter.

Ooooh, maybe J.D. Salinger? He just recently passed away, but I've heard he was a great author.

Bhumi, "moving" is the perfect description for Steinbeck's GoW. I am always amazed at how gripping his characters are, whether you like them or not...and I always seem to find something in them I like.

j wrote: "All American literature stems from Huckleberry Finn."

Can you provide a source for this statement, j? Huck Finn was published in 1884, and came much later than works from Poe, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, etc.

Huck Finn is a benchmark in American lit, yes, and broke many barriers, but it's not where American lit stems from.

He was quoting Ernest Hemingway. One man's opinion.
Ernest Hemingway would later write, "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called 'Huckleberry Finn'."

Ah, thanks Carol. Guess I read it wrong.

I wonder if Hemingway ever did or said anything I agree with.

I think the man was drunk when he said all American literature came from one book . That was an asinine statement, and to have it down for posterity. I do like Hemingway's books, though I know you don't El.