Well, I didn't intend for all of these posts to be lists...and they won't be. But this one is. Here are The Twenty One Indispensible Titles of Classic Fiction:
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Beloved by Toni Morrison
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
1984 by George Orwell
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Washington Square by Henry James
The Master by Colm Toibin
And a tip on hosting with pets from our author...
If you are hosting…and you have a pet, inform members of the group via email. Describe what kind of pet it is, what your plans are for its participation in the club (he will be in the room, he will visit part time, she will roam in and out) and ask up front whether any members have allergies, asthma or fears. (26)
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6 comments:
Good to know as I will be working on a way to incorporate Barney into our group. :) Does any have any allergies? just kidding.
21 indispensable classic fiction?
i could dispense with almost half this list.
and i can think of a few that should be on the list but aren't.
what do you guys think?
Becky, as I was writing this post, I thought the same thing. Some of these books I love and agree that they are classics. A few of these so-called classics don't make MY list. And some I would have to agree are probably classics but they're not my favorite works of fiction. And there were even a couple I had never heard of. Stay tuned for the next post in which we discuss what makes a classic...aptly placed at the end of this author's list in her book. Ultimately, your criteria for a classic will determine what you would include in a list of classics.
I just finished One Hundred Years of Solitude which took me one hundred years to read! Ha! Those of you that have read this book, I would be interested to hear what your opinions of it are. I didn't much like it. I thought it was hard to read since everybody in the book is named the same three names or so. Then the author starts talking about another person in the same paragraph. I just felt like it skipped around a whole lot, and I had to keep trying to figure out who it was talking about the whole time.
I know what you are talking about, Stephanie. It can be hard to read, but in fact, it is one of my favorite books! I really liked the magical realism and the woven story. But you are right, the characters are about as easy to keep up with as any Russian author's characters!
I loved 100 years of solitude.
But that is the kind of book that probably gets even better with each re-read, as you grasp more and more and follow it easier the next time through.
I could see how it wouldn't be everyone's favorite though. I just happen to enjoy the fantastic element as Rachel does.
Can't wait for the classics discussion. I've been looking up other's definitions for classics and trying to form my own.
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