Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Rabbit, Run and progeny by John Updike, The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner, Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis and everything else he wrote, including Main Street. Yes, being American, is part of my choices, but I also have several other other favorites.
I picked up a copy of Lord Jim before going out to an extremely remote part of Central America. On the narrow beach, hemmed in by the jungle, in the stultifying summer heat, I could look in all directions and see no signs of humanity at all. I would read out there sometimes and feel every bit of Jim's enormous loneliness as well as his creeping sense of failure and disappointment in himself. No other novel has ever borne up so harmoniously with my own immediate reality. I recall it more as a mystical journey than a fascinating read, though it certainly was both. My copy is just a cheap paperback, but I really treasure it and even after all these years, I swear I can still smell the sweat and sand on it.
I recently read Peter Pan and Wendy and got blown away by the beauty of the language and the story. As a nonnative English speaker I found so many inspiring expressions and quotes.
The Count of Monte Cristo was my first read after many years of not being that much of a reader and it has been a great start into reading again. Griping story, intersting charaters and a lot to think about justice and revenge etc. Many followes since, but it is a book that I hold dear. Thanks for all your videos Tristan!
It’s kinda weird not gonna lie that most of your picks for this video are books I planned on reading this year. I see my mental prowess has grown and shall telepathically transmit my thoughts to other booktubers. 😂 Actually, upon watching your videos for several years now I want to thank you for helping me discover a whole new level and meaning in my reading. I’m now reading Shakespeare, Dumas, Dickens, Austen, and Dostoevsky when I never thought I would before your lessons on the classics. Thanks so much Tristan!❤
You got me thinking what my 10 favorites would be. Not sure if some of these are classics, but I’m choosing books I’ve read at least twice and loved, and can see myself reading them again: 1. Complete Works of William Shakespeare (I don’t read the plays often, but rather see many of the plays performed each year. But I do love to dip into the written plays occasionally to read over favorite parts and drink in the brilliant wordplay. Shakespeare’s effect on my life can’t be measured, and he is and always will be my favorite writer of all time). 2. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë 3. Call of the Wild - Jack London 4. Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Emma - Jane Austen (haven’t yet read her others) 5. Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens 6. Kindred - Octavia E Butler 7. Dune - Frank Herbert 8. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien 9. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain 10. The Trumpet of the Swan - EB White After decades of reading escapist books, I’ve been enjoying reading more “literary” works over the last few months, so I imagine this list will change in a year or two as I discover new favorites. You have me curious about reading Peter Pan. Thanks for another fun video!
Sold on 'A Month In The Country'! Never heard of it, but I am keen. The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my all time favourites. Very fond of Mansfield Park too. Also Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, great story!
Thank you for recommending great expectations in past videos. Everytime I thought I knew how the book was going to play out it completely changed, down to the last page. The epiphanies hit like a hammer to the head as you turn the pages.
I love le Comte de MonteCristo, Middlemarch, Great Expectations, mrs Dalloway, Pride and Prejudice, One hundred years of solitude. Colette’ s Gigi. Love your talks always. I am part of your Patreon community.
Love it when you read excerpts. As an English major , I know the authors and plots of many books but have never read them . Your channel is wonderful and you are quite accomplished in what you do . Thanks ❤!!!
Hi, Tristan! I've enjoyed your videos for a while, but this particular one brought me to tears. Tears of joy, that is. Your passion for these books, especially A Month in the Country, reminded me how books can not only enrich life, they can transform it. Joy and wisdom is ours to find between the pages... and on TH-cam! 😊 Thanks for the exceptional content. I'm so excited to join you on the Great Literary Adventure.
Finally got around to reading The Count of Monte Cristo, long way to go but I'm loving it. Just spent 5 minutes piecing together the 2 halves of the Abbe's burnt letter only to find it printed in full in the next paragraph 😂
My favorite quote from The Count of Monte Cristo is “ I do as I please, Mr. Beauchamp, and believe me, what I do is always well done.” - Edmond Dantes The Count of Monte Cristo.
Hello Tristan, I knew Shakespeare would make it onto this list! Great choice of play although it was the edition which caught my eye. There is little I can find online which compares different editions and I find myself often turning between them. I found your channel through Shakespeare and I respect your opinion and infectious delight on the bard! I wondered if it might make a good video, or if you had a cut and dry on which editions you prefer. Scholarship, readability, digital, faithfullness etc all change.. Even between publishers quality varies... I would certainly enjoy your opinion on the versions if you have one. I'll note I am someone who has read the plays all my adult life and am grateful to have experienced them without the various annotated distractions etc for many years - I have recently been looking to dive deeper! Thanks for taking the time to share on this and your other channel - your effort makes it clear that you care deeply about what you discuss - a great quality!
Always so good when there's a new Tristan programme to listen to. At your recommendation, and because of my own loves, I have in the last two months read The Return of the Native followed by The Mayor of Casterbridge, then, at a loss to how to follow those two very favourites, I read Mansfield Park, up to then my least favourite Jane Austen; not any more, I really enjoyed it this time. Next was something completely different, The Thirty-Nine Steps which was a slight disappointment, so now I'm immersing myself in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, both at your suggestion! I too love A Month in the Country owning a beautiful Folio edition that my younger daughter gave me. Would need a great deal of thought, which no doubt you did too, to pick my 10 best beloved books. Thank you Tristan for your inspiration and enthusiasm.
Oh how lovely, another Thomas Hardy fan!! A lot of people are put off having had to read it at school but i never had that so lt was lovely to get to know him and his style. Love him and give me a Thomas Hardy over a Dickens.
I very much appreciate your recommendations, Tristan! I wish I liked Wuthering Heights. I have tried to read it repeatedly over the years and each time, after a few chapters, I stop. I just don’t like it! I think you would tolerate my distaste of this novel, even though it’s one of your favorites. As a student, I loved everything my teachers assigned and I taught high school English for several years, so it’s hard for me to so dislike a piece of literature that most of the world considers a masterpiece.
I’m in your corner too, the violence and abuse makes it such an uncomfortable read……. Kindle tells me that I made it to 70% on my last attempt. It’s definitely an “ought to” not a “want to” for me!
Thank you, I try about once a decade, started in my young teens and am now in my sixties and still haven’t finished it. The only version I’ve finished was the Kate Bush video ( and it was a bit of a struggle, too). At this point I can safely say it’s not for me.
You communicated why I waffle around with Persuasion and Mansfield Park being my favorite Austen. MP is so different and has a different undercurrent and less comical than the other stories.
Good Day Tristan In my mid life I read much especially “the classics.” They would always be on my lips and in my mind. Indeed I began talking as if I were one of the characters. Recently I returned to the love of reading. This, I may say with pleasure, is because I found you on TH-cam. You have a brilliant and mesmerizing summary of great works of literature. If only all the literature professors of my past would have conveyed what you do for your love of books!! Thankyou. Tom
Over the holidays I listened on Audible to some PG Wodehouse stories based on your recommendation (it included Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit) and enjoyed it so much! “Jeeves! Follow me like a leopard!” Hilarious. Thanks for the reminder to read more Wodehouse.
The Count of Monte Cristo is truly spectacular! I recommend the Penguin black spine unabridged edition translated by Robin Buss. Don’t do an abridged version. The full story is absolutely amazing. ❤
A Month in the Country by JL Carr is a wonderful book. It is definitely a classic. Another modern classic , in my opinion, is Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.
I love Code of the Woosters but my favourite Wodehouse story is Leave It to Psmith. So glad Wodehouse made it onto your list of favourites. Some of my favourite classics include: “Master and Man” by Tolstoy “Fifth Business” by Robertson Davies “The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoyevsky “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
My all time favorite (so far) is East of Eden. I have Count of Monte Cristo, Crime and Punishment and Wutherington Heights on my TBR for this year (actually having second thoughts on the last one WH). Your comments about Woman in White and Moonstone added them to my list. I am also a Patreon member, but have not been active…yet. Thank you for helping to ignite my love of the classics.
I just finished The Count of Monte Cristo and I don't think I'll ever find another book to match it. This book blew me away. Thank you so much for your videos. You keep me inspired to go on!
You started chuckling when mentioning Code of the Woosters. I can totally relate. Wodehouse is the only author who reduced me to tears of mirth. His books are the gold standard of English humour IMO.
Thanks so much, Tristan! 😊 1. Genuinely great choices! Many of the books you mentioned are definitely in my top all-time favorites as well: * The Count of Monte Cristo. Not only is it high adventure and worthy of a good Hollywood film, but more fundamentally the redemptive character arc is amazing. In my opinion, the redemptive character arc is even better than Les Miserables. By the way, I also enjoyed The Stars My Destination which is a sci-fi version of The Count of Monte Cristo. * Crime and Punishment. As well as The Brothers Karamazov. Although I think I actually liked Crime and Punishment more. Or at least it's hard to choose between the twi. And Dostoevsky wrote other great books like Notes from Underground, The Idiot, Demons, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. * Hamlet. Like you, on a different day I might have gone with a different Shakespeare play. Such as MacBeth, King Lear, or The Tempest. Shakespeare is indeed the GOAT of English literature. * Robinson Crusoe. So underrated and overlooked! You're absolutely right it's far more than a mere children's book. * Mansfield Park. Or really any of Jane Austen's six novels. They're all awesome. I probably like Northanger Abbey best since it was my first and since it is such a hilarious send-up of Gothic literature. At the same time I realize it's not her most well crafted novel from a purely critical literary perspective. * The Code of the Woosters. Again, a few different Wodehouse books could have been chosen as you noted. Such as Piccadilly Jim, Thank You Jeeves, Leave It to Psmith, and Joy in the Morning. I believe the latter is Wodehouse biographer Robert Crum's favorite Wodehouse work, if I recall correctly. * A Month in the Country. I had never heard of A Month in the Country, but thanks to you I will try to read it next chance I get! 2. For Dostoevsky, I think translation choice makes a huge difference in whether one loves or hates Dostoevsky. * For Crime and Punishment, I'd strongly recommend the translations done by either Oliver Ready (if one prefers British English) and/or Michael Katz (if one prefers American English). These two translations are both faithful to Dostoevsky's Russian (which is a mixture of 19th century Russian and old Church Slavonic Russian and other things) and also very readable, with exciting literary flow, lively, and capture the idioms and subtle meanings in Dostoevsky that are so often missed by other translations. Ready's translation has a good introduction and helpful notes, while Katz's translation is also published in the Norton Critical Edition which is a great series for classic literature including Dostoevsky since it comes with so much informative material. It's an immense aid to better understanding the book to have good supporting material in addition to a good translation when reading the classics. I think this is especially so in Dostoevsky's case since he can be a bit of a challenge to follow at times. * Crime and Punishment is probably the best place to start with Dostoevsky, I think, since it is fairly straightforward plot-wise and thematically relatively uncomplicated (without lacking profundity) at least for Dostoevsky and since it is an utterly gripping read that immediately grabs you by the throat and compels you to keep turning the page. * In general, unless one can't afford to buy the Ready or Katz books (currently approximately $20 or less each in the US), I'd prefer to shy away from the (free) Constance Garnett translation. It was a beautiful translation for its time, and Garnett deserves our undying gratitude for translating almost all the major works of Russian literature into English, but today her translation feels a bit dated (published in the early 1900s). Of course, it can't be and it's not as up to date with the latest scholarship on Dostoevsky. It uses older Victorian/Edwardian English which tends towards the prim and proper, whereas a lot of Dostoevsky doesn't sound like a British Victorian (e.g. how Dostoevsky portrays the Russian peasants speaking). Garnett simply skipped or elided some phrases, sentences, and passages in Dostoevsky that she didn't quite understand. She also smoothed out these sections for better readability, since Dostoevsky's style is often jagged and chaotic in Russian, as if he is a stranger on the street who has suddenly grabbed you by the arm and is shouting at you in a somewhat though not entirely incoherent fashion. Garnett felt the need to make Dostoevsky more comprehensible to her audience than Dostoevsky is. Modern translations like Ready and Katz attempt to keep some of the "mystery" or at least jagged language of Dostoevsky in tact, as it were. * That said, and to be fair, there have been really good modern updates of Garnett that are definitely worth reading. For instance, the Norton Critical Edition of The Brothers Karamazov is based on Garnett's translation which in turn has been revised and updated by Matlaw and McReynolds. That's a fantastic translation of The Brothers Karamazov which uses Garnett as the base text. Although for The Brothers Karamazov I'd personally still tend to prefer Michael Katz, but Garnett-Matlaw-McReynolds is arguably just as good. Ignat Avsey also did a good translation of The Brothers Karamazov or so I hear. Again, I'd prefer Katz personally, but the Norton Critical Edition of The Brothers Karamazov is outstanding too, especially since it contains so much supplementary material to help one grapple with Dostoevsky's novel. * Finally, I'd prefer to avoid Pevear and Volokhonsky. They're probably the most popular or commonly used English translation today. Not only for Dostoevsky but for other Russian writers as well (e.g. Tolstoy, Chekhov, Turgenev, Pushkin, Gogol, Bulgakov). I mean, P&V aren't as horrible as some might have you believe, they're decent, but they're nowhere near as good as other translators like Ready and Katz. For example, read the free articles: "The Pevearization of Russian Literature" (Gary Morson), "The Pevear/Volokhonsky Hype Machine and How It Could Have Been Stopped or At Least Slowed Down" (Helen Andrews), "Socks" (Janet Malcolm), and "Pevear and Volokhonsky Are Indeed Overrated" (John McWhorter). Just my two cents' worth. 😊
I am just beginning my journey of reading the Classics. I started with Robinson Crusoe, and I am loving it! I am also using your technique of annotating while reading which makes a huge difference on understanding what I am reading. Thank you for your channel.
:"Just a single man, Fyodor Dostoevsky, is enough to defeat all the creative novelists of the world. If one has to decide on 10 great novels in all the languages of the world, one will have to choose at least 3 novels of Dostoevsky in those 10. Dostoevsky’s insight into human beings and their problems is greater than your so-called psychoanalysts, and there are moments where he reaches the heights of great mystics. His book BROTHERS KARAMAZOV is so great in its insights that no BIBLE or KORAN or GITA comes close. In another masterpiece of Dostoevsky, THE IDIOT, the main character is called ‘idiot’ by the people because they can’t understand his simplicity, his humbleness, his purity, his trust, his love. You can cheat him, you can deceive him, and he will still trust you. He is really one of the most beautiful characters ever created by any novelist. The idiot is a sage. The novel could just as well have been called THE SAGE. Dostoevsky’s idiot is not an idiot; he is one of the sanest men amongst an insane humanity. If you can become the idiot of Fyodor Dostoevsky, it is perfectly beautiful. It is better than being cunning priest or politician. Humbleness has such a blessing. Simplicity has such benediction. , Fyodor Dostoevsky is a very special case - he was a genius. . His insight into human beings and their problems is greater than your so-called psychoanalysts, and there are moments where he reaches the heights of great mystics. But he is a sick soul; he himself is a psychological case. He needs all the compassion, because he lived in suffering, utter suffering. He never knew a moment of joy; he was pure anguish, angst. But still he managed to write novels which perhaps are the best in the whole literature of the world"
Thanks for that review. I've read "Crime and Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov". Lots of people are telling me about the rest of Dostoevsky's works. I will get to "The Idiot" as soon as I can. Do you have any thoughts on 'Demons"?
The Idiot is the only book of Dostoevsky’s I have read. It has a very unfortunate title that turns most people off sadly. It’s a stunning portrayal of the most endearing fictional character I could hope to encounter.
That last line you read from Lord Jim, absolutely gorgeous and powerful. In my opinion Joseph Conrad isn’t mentioned enough when it comes to the classics.❤
Tristan - magnificent work. You & your exceptional videos are a powerful tonic for me. You & your personality are incredibly relatable as a highly successful professor and leader through the vast and extremely intimidating literary landscape. It is most difficult to express my appreciation & gratitude in mere words. Very nicely done…..thank you so very much!
Now we're talking! 👏👏👏 I'm overdue for a reread of some of these. Mansfield Park! It's so underrated (shame on her mother). I really enjoyed the depth in that one, but I think the romance leaves something to be desired, for women at least, which is perhaps why it isn't as popular.
i absolutly love listening to you. You have helped me enjoy classics I thought I'd never read, let alone understand. East of Eden is my all time favorite!!! (so far)
I'm to the point where if I do lend a book to someone, I assume it's gone forever. Which reminds me, someone STILL has one of my books. I broke my rule of not lending my books because this person is generally more responsible than most. ARGH! Why do people do that?!
Thank you! I love this one and hope someday you do one on friendships. I need to read Peter Pan but I absolutely love Mansfield Park and Fanny’s strength and friendship .. Love the book of Mice and Men but will never read it again because it was too painful.Anyway there are so many and hoping you take my suggestion for a friendship video 🤗🤗🤗
I just wanted to hop on here with a book recommendation for you. It's a funny thing but most of the books you have raved about over these years, I have also enjoyed and I assume many of your viewers enjoyed too. It's why we keep coming on back to your channel. Plus, your sense of wonder and humor that you dole out during your discussions, keeps us coming back too. Anyway, I digress, I have just completed the most wonderful, beautiful book that I have read in quite some time, and that is....drum roll, please.....Stoner by John Williams. Breathtakingly beautiful prose, superb character development and oh wow, how this book moved me. The quiet desperation is palpable and the final pages, well, you asked for books that speak to me and this one quietly screamed at me. That's Stoner by John Williams, now go get stuck in will ya;)
Hello! A splendid list, thanks for providing it. I have been asking friends for recommendations to fill my shelves at home with classics that serve to ennoble and enlighten the reader, so that my children may have them on hand as they grow up. I will certainly be adding several of these to the list.
Emily Jane Bronte had an amazing sense of place, but all her characters deserve to be autopsied while still alive. I've not read Crime and Punishment or anything by Shakespeare. I want to reread Robinson Crusoe and have downloaded the Standard Ebooks edition onto my phone. I should seek out A Month in the Country and Mansfield Park, but I loved The Count of Monte Cristo, which I think is the best revenge novel ever written.
I read The Count of Monte Cristo for the second time last year. It and Middlemarch were both highlights of my reading year. Last year I also read all of Shakespeare's plays in chronological order, Hamlet was my least favourite of his top plays. However, I loved I loved the experience of seeing how Shakespeare's skills developed. this video, Tristan. Thanks for making my morning.
I lived on an island for a few years that Barrie stayed on - apparently when he wrote the play Peter Pan... fabulous little island in Scotland - the owners 'sell it' as a place to stay as 'Neverland Found'... It is a favourite of mine along with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 'Adult classics' are a part of my reading I'm trying to improve - hence watching your channel - I'm loving learning about what may appeal to me.
A month in the country is an extremely moviing book. Its language is wonderful. The link between art, its somehow redeeming aspect, religion, the traumatic experience of war, love... I was so enthralled by this novel that I ended up buying the dvd made out of it, it is also very good 😊
Great Video...i always had reservations on Lord Jim ( because i didn t know what it was about)...but it sounds really interesting...also ordered Mansfield Park
Thank you for this great list and your wonderful synopses. I have read them all but a few and agree! Hamlet is my fave too, not that I get it all. Need to revisit Lord Jim and Mansfield Park. Ordered up A Month and pulling out my Jeeves Omnibus. But I cannot tell a lie: I do love Jane Eyre more than WH.
I have read Crime and Punishment and Mansfield Park, a lot of Wodehouse and I am about 1/3 into The Count of Monte Cristo! Some of my favorite characters in literature are in The Wind in the Willows, and it would definitely be in my top ten.
Tristan You are the literary reviewers' precious gem. Dostoyevsky always remaind among my favourites. I also enjoyed (besides the big ones such as the Brother Karamazov, The Idiot and The Possessed) his shorter work The Gambler. Have you read it? I am looking forward to your next video 😊
Thank you for this video! 🤩One of my favourites is 'Dubliners' by James Joyce. I didnt't like the stories during high school, but as I got older I realized that they have a lot of truth about life.
Hey mate,,, love that quote where you likened Kathy n Heathcliff to quatum entanglement (the band Genesis have a song ENTANGLED) 😂 Love your choice of books And the way you explain things also reading passages 😂 😂
The inspiration behind Robinson Crusoe is the 12th century Arabic book Hay Ibn Yaqzan, a philosophical book that asks questions about human nature and and human’s relationship with the universe and religion. I highly recommend reading it and comparing it to Robinson Crusoe.
Thank you! Mansfield Park is extremely underrated, but it does take more work to get through. Footnotes are key. I couldn't stand Crime & Punishment when I read it in college, but I have a mind to pick it up because back then I just didn't have as much of an attention span or patience as I apply to my reading now.
I love Mansfield Park! I'm planning to reread it this summer. And I just read Peter Pan in March. It's always fun seeing the mix of books in your videos of things I've read and quite enjoyed, and things I have not read.
"The Count of Monte Cristo", "Peter Pan and Wendy" and "Robinson Crusoe" are some of my favorites too, but I would put "Persuasion" above "Mansfield Park". "Lord Jim" and "Hamlet" are definitely on my list!
I adored A Month In The Country following your recommendation on the channel. Will be a long time favourite. I would love to read Robinson Crusoe and Hamlet from your list and your passion for Shakespeare . Wuthering Heights is my next read.
Great video My top 10 (in no particular order) Hamlet War and Peace Pride and Prejudice The Brothers Karamazov Middlemarch Wuthering Heights Don Quixote Bleak House Moby Dick The Count of Monte Cristo
One reason I appreciate Mansfield Park is that Fanny Price lives her life in an extremely vulnerable position. She has everything to lose. And it can happen suddenly. She is quick to accept undesired tasks others put upon her because she dare not refuse. She keeps silent except when almost forced to speak. In her position, she almost has no choice. People who don't like the book because Fanny seems prudish or timid would act like she does if forced into her world. Or they would soon be very sorry that they did not. In the game of life, Fanny Price was dealt a poor hand. And she plays it well and honorably in her attempt to make it through.
My absolute favourites so far would be Count of Monte Cristo, Great Expectations, Jane Austen’s Emma, Wuthering Heights, Wilkie Collins’ Woman in White, Hardy’s Mayor of Casterbridge, Macbeth, Jane Eyre, Thackeray’s Vanity Fair-but I have yet to read any Tolstoy or Don Quixote or many more!
I loved the opening scene of TCOMC. That is, if I remember it correctly. It’s the scene where the ship is coming into the harbour. Am I recalling that properly? Anyway, I loved that scene.
Very good and very enjoyable. Glad you rescued Peter Pan and Robertson Crusoe from the children's rack. For me Peter Pan was rather dark in the emphasis of a boy who doesn't want to grow up.
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite classics and I reread it every few years. I just did a video on Wuthering Heights and although it’s my least favorite Brontë novel (I’m one of the people that calls it a hate story), I absolutely believe it needs to remain in the canon and continue to be read and studied. Mansfield Park was never my favorite Austen but I have developed an appreciation for it as I’ve gotten older (although I still think that Fanny and Edmund need to lighten up 😂).
I just watched your "HOW TO GET INTO CLASSIC LITERATURE" video. I really wanted your opinion. So if you don't mind, here is the comment I posted there: Well that's fine if you have an English accent, I suppose, but even then, I sound ridiculous at the mere attempt of cockney. And further still, that manner of comfortable verbiage is seldom found in translated works from some of the best, like Dostoevsky or Victor Hugo. P.S. There is a marvelous musicality to your reading, by the way. Thank you.
I'm reading the Count of MC at the moment, known in this house as The Fat Count because the 1300 page edition I bought didn't fit through the letter box and had to be re-delivered twice. It's a great story and the Robert Buss translation flows much better than the 19th century one.
When I was at university, I lent my paperback copy of 'The Secret History' to a housemate. He went to Thailand with it and wrecked the book so badly (and back then I wasn't super precious about books like I am now). Since then, the only person I lend books to is my sister.
Let me and others know some of your favourite classics.
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. This is a book that (to me) never gets old. I can read and reread it. Peter Pan is another.
Nostromo by Joseph Conrad! What a masterpiece.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Rabbit, Run and progeny by John Updike, The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck, The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner, Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis and everything else he wrote, including Main Street. Yes, being American, is part of my choices, but I also have several other other favorites.
A Tale of Two Cities and Oliver Twist, both by Charles Dickens
Gone With the Wind! Even if you've never seen the movie, this is a movie in you head.
(Edit to fix spelling. I need to stop typing when tired.)
47 minutes and 25 seconds well-spent! A highlight of my week, each and every time
I picked up a copy of Lord Jim before going out to an extremely remote part of Central America. On the narrow beach, hemmed in by the jungle, in the stultifying summer heat, I could look in all directions and see no signs of humanity at all. I would read out there sometimes and feel every bit of Jim's enormous loneliness as well as his creeping sense of failure and disappointment in himself. No other novel has ever borne up so harmoniously with my own immediate reality. I recall it more as a mystical journey than a fascinating read, though it certainly was both. My copy is just a cheap paperback, but I really treasure it and even after all these years, I swear I can still smell the sweat and sand on it.
That's just beautiful 😍
Awesome.
I recently read Peter Pan and Wendy and got blown away by the beauty of the language and the story. As a nonnative English speaker I found so many inspiring expressions and quotes.
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Thanks for your recommendation. I would definitely put Alice on my May TBR :)
The Count of Monte Cristo was my first read after many years of not being that much of a reader and it has been a great start into reading again. Griping story, intersting charaters and a lot to think about justice and revenge etc. Many followes since, but it is a book that I hold dear. Thanks for all your videos Tristan!
Your elucidation on classical literary texts is always a rewarding indulgence! Thanks man👍🙏
Thank you, Joel. That's very kind of you. I appreciate it immensely. 🙏
It’s kinda weird not gonna lie that most of your picks for this video are books I planned on reading this year. I see my mental prowess has grown and shall telepathically transmit my thoughts to other booktubers. 😂 Actually, upon watching your videos for several years now I want to thank you for helping me discover a whole new level and meaning in my reading. I’m now reading Shakespeare, Dumas, Dickens, Austen, and Dostoevsky when I never thought I would before your lessons on the classics. Thanks so much Tristan!❤
You got me thinking what my 10 favorites would be. Not sure if some of these are classics, but I’m choosing books I’ve read at least twice and loved, and can see myself reading them again:
1. Complete Works of William Shakespeare (I don’t read the plays often, but rather see many of the plays performed each year. But I do love to dip into the written plays occasionally to read over favorite parts and drink in the brilliant wordplay. Shakespeare’s effect on my life can’t be measured, and he is and always will be my favorite writer of all time).
2. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
3. Call of the Wild - Jack London
4. Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Emma - Jane Austen (haven’t yet read her others)
5. Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
6. Kindred - Octavia E Butler
7. Dune - Frank Herbert
8. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
9. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
10. The Trumpet of the Swan - EB White
After decades of reading escapist books, I’ve been enjoying reading more “literary” works over the last few months, so I imagine this list will change in a year or two as I discover new favorites. You have me curious about reading Peter Pan. Thanks for another fun video!
Just mention P.G.Wodehouse and I’m grinning from ear to ear. It’s been a long time since I read every one in the library. Thank you for reminding me.
Sold on 'A Month In The Country'! Never heard of it, but I am keen.
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my all time favourites.
Very fond of Mansfield Park too. Also Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, great story!
I truly enjoyed A Month in the Country. Check out the film starring Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh-so good!
@@Nurse_Kathy I am more of a reader than a watcher :) I am looking forward to finding the book though.
A Month in the Country is a beautiful read as is Scenes of Clerical Life.
Thank you for recommending great expectations in past videos. Everytime I thought I knew how the book was going to play out it completely changed, down to the last page. The epiphanies hit like a hammer to the head as you turn the pages.
I love le Comte de MonteCristo, Middlemarch, Great Expectations, mrs Dalloway, Pride and Prejudice,
One hundred years of solitude. Colette’ s Gigi.
Love your talks always.
I am part of your Patreon community.
Love it when you read excerpts. As an English major , I know the authors and plots of many books but have never read them . Your channel is wonderful and you are quite accomplished in what you do . Thanks ❤!!!
YES! "Code of the Woosters" is grrrrreat! You can never read enough Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse.
Hi, Tristan! I've enjoyed your videos for a while, but this particular one brought me to tears. Tears of joy, that is. Your passion for these books, especially A Month in the Country, reminded me how books can not only enrich life, they can transform it. Joy and wisdom is ours to find between the pages... and on TH-cam! 😊 Thanks for the exceptional content. I'm so excited to join you on the Great Literary Adventure.
I still can't believe I didn't know Peter Pan was a book until fairly recently. I love children's literature, so I do want to get a copy!
Finally got around to reading The Count of Monte Cristo, long way to go but I'm loving it. Just spent 5 minutes piecing together the 2 halves of the Abbe's burnt letter only to find it printed in full in the next paragraph 😂
That's hilarious 😂 at least it shows how gripped you are. You won't forget that letter in a hurry.
Oh Tristan, I LOVE your reviews. Almost all of these are on my shelves and now on my radar! Thanks
My favorite quote from The Count of Monte Cristo is “ I do as I please, Mr. Beauchamp, and believe me, what I do is always well done.” - Edmond Dantes The Count of Monte Cristo.
What a character Dumas created!
Hello Tristan, I knew Shakespeare would make it onto this list! Great choice of play although it was the edition which caught my eye. There is little I can find online which compares different editions and I find myself often turning between them. I found your channel through Shakespeare and I respect your opinion and infectious delight on the bard! I wondered if it might make a good video, or if you had a cut and dry on which editions you prefer. Scholarship, readability, digital, faithfullness etc all change.. Even between publishers quality varies... I would certainly enjoy your opinion on the versions if you have one.
I'll note I am someone who has read the plays all my adult life and am grateful to have experienced them without the various annotated distractions etc for many years - I have recently been looking to dive deeper!
Thanks for taking the time to share on this and your other channel - your effort makes it clear that you care deeply about what you discuss - a great quality!
Always so good when there's a new Tristan programme to listen to. At your recommendation, and because of my own loves, I have in the last two months read The Return of the Native followed by The Mayor of Casterbridge, then, at a loss to how to follow those two very favourites, I read Mansfield Park, up to then my least favourite Jane Austen; not any more, I really enjoyed it this time. Next was something completely different, The Thirty-Nine Steps which was a slight disappointment, so now I'm immersing myself in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, both at your suggestion! I too love A Month in the Country owning a beautiful Folio edition that my younger daughter gave me.
Would need a great deal of thought, which no doubt you did too, to pick my 10 best beloved books. Thank you Tristan for your inspiration and enthusiasm.
Oh how lovely, another Thomas Hardy fan!! A lot of people are put off having had to read it at school but i never had that so lt was lovely to get to know him and his style. Love him and give me a Thomas Hardy over a Dickens.
I very much appreciate your recommendations, Tristan! I wish I liked Wuthering Heights. I have tried to read it repeatedly over the years and each time, after a few chapters, I stop. I just don’t like it! I think you would tolerate my distaste of this novel, even though it’s one of your favorites. As a student, I loved everything my teachers assigned and I taught high school English for several years, so it’s hard for me to so dislike a piece of literature that most of the world considers a masterpiece.
I agree, I have never seen why people rave about it so much.
I’m in your corner too, the violence and abuse makes it such an uncomfortable read……. Kindle tells me that I made it to 70% on my last attempt. It’s definitely an “ought to” not a “want to” for me!
Thank you, I try about once a decade, started in my young teens and am now in my sixties and still haven’t finished it. The only version I’ve finished was the Kate Bush video ( and it was a bit of a struggle, too). At this point I can safely say it’s not for me.
Please do part II of this video!
You communicated why I waffle around with Persuasion and Mansfield Park being my favorite Austen. MP is so different and has a different undercurrent and less comical than the other stories.
I absolutely love that copy of "Mansfield Park" that you have. Beautiful.
Good Day Tristan
In my mid life I read much especially “the classics.” They would always be on my lips and in my mind. Indeed I began talking as if I were one of the characters. Recently I returned to the love of reading. This, I may say with pleasure, is because I found you on TH-cam.
You have a brilliant and mesmerizing summary of great works of literature. If only all the literature professors of my past would have conveyed what you do for your love of books!!
Thankyou. Tom
Over the holidays I listened on Audible to some PG Wodehouse stories based on your recommendation (it included Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit) and enjoyed it so much! “Jeeves! Follow me like a leopard!” Hilarious. Thanks for the reminder to read more Wodehouse.
I think I’ll find some on Audible too after this video
The Count of Monte Cristo is truly spectacular! I recommend the Penguin black spine unabridged edition translated by Robin Buss. Don’t do an abridged version. The full story is absolutely amazing. ❤
Recent subscriber here and I love the content, thank you man, keep it up! :)
Thanks so much. I really appreciate it. 🙏
Your channel is amazing and so are you Tristan. Keep up the good work. You inspire us readers.❤
A Month in the Country by JL Carr is a wonderful book. It is definitely a classic. Another modern classic , in my opinion, is Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys.
I couldn't agree more. 😀
I love Code of the Woosters but my favourite Wodehouse story is Leave It to Psmith. So glad Wodehouse made it onto your list of favourites.
Some of my favourite classics include:
“Master and Man” by Tolstoy
“Fifth Business” by Robertson Davies
“The Brothers Karamazov” by Dostoyevsky
“The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood
This is the best SPOILER video ever!! But the funniest part is comparing Wuthering Heights to quantum entanglement!
My all time favorite (so far) is East of Eden. I have Count of Monte Cristo, Crime and Punishment and Wutherington Heights on my TBR for this year (actually having second thoughts on the last one WH). Your comments about Woman in White and Moonstone added them to my list. I am also a Patreon member, but have not been active…yet. Thank you for helping to ignite my love of the classics.
I just finished The Count of Monte Cristo and I don't think I'll ever find another book to match it. This book blew me away. Thank you so much for your videos. You keep me inspired to go on!
You started chuckling when mentioning Code of the Woosters. I can totally relate.
Wodehouse is the only author who reduced me to tears of mirth.
His books are the gold standard of English humour IMO.
Thanks so much, Tristan! 😊
1. Genuinely great choices! Many of the books you mentioned are definitely in my top all-time favorites as well:
* The Count of Monte Cristo. Not only is it high adventure and worthy of a good Hollywood film, but more fundamentally the redemptive character arc is amazing. In my opinion, the redemptive character arc is even better than Les Miserables. By the way, I also enjoyed The Stars My Destination which is a sci-fi version of The Count of Monte Cristo.
* Crime and Punishment. As well as The Brothers Karamazov. Although I think I actually liked Crime and Punishment more. Or at least it's hard to choose between the twi. And Dostoevsky wrote other great books like Notes from Underground, The Idiot, Demons, The Dream of a Ridiculous Man.
* Hamlet. Like you, on a different day I might have gone with a different Shakespeare play. Such as MacBeth, King Lear, or The Tempest. Shakespeare is indeed the GOAT of English literature.
* Robinson Crusoe. So underrated and overlooked! You're absolutely right it's far more than a mere children's book.
* Mansfield Park. Or really any of Jane Austen's six novels. They're all awesome. I probably like Northanger Abbey best since it was my first and since it is such a hilarious send-up of Gothic literature. At the same time I realize it's not her most well crafted novel from a purely critical literary perspective.
* The Code of the Woosters. Again, a few different Wodehouse books could have been chosen as you noted. Such as Piccadilly Jim, Thank You Jeeves, Leave It to Psmith, and Joy in the Morning. I believe the latter is Wodehouse biographer Robert Crum's favorite Wodehouse work, if I recall correctly.
* A Month in the Country. I had never heard of A Month in the Country, but thanks to you I will try to read it next chance I get!
2. For Dostoevsky, I think translation choice makes a huge difference in whether one loves or hates Dostoevsky.
* For Crime and Punishment, I'd strongly recommend the translations done by either Oliver Ready (if one prefers British English) and/or Michael Katz (if one prefers American English). These two translations are both faithful to Dostoevsky's Russian (which is a mixture of 19th century Russian and old Church Slavonic Russian and other things) and also very readable, with exciting literary flow, lively, and capture the idioms and subtle meanings in Dostoevsky that are so often missed by other translations. Ready's translation has a good introduction and helpful notes, while Katz's translation is also published in the Norton Critical Edition which is a great series for classic literature including Dostoevsky since it comes with so much informative material. It's an immense aid to better understanding the book to have good supporting material in addition to a good translation when reading the classics. I think this is especially so in Dostoevsky's case since he can be a bit of a challenge to follow at times.
* Crime and Punishment is probably the best place to start with Dostoevsky, I think, since it is fairly straightforward plot-wise and thematically relatively uncomplicated (without lacking profundity) at least for Dostoevsky and since it is an utterly gripping read that immediately grabs you by the throat and compels you to keep turning the page.
* In general, unless one can't afford to buy the Ready or Katz books (currently approximately $20 or less each in the US), I'd prefer to shy away from the (free) Constance Garnett translation. It was a beautiful translation for its time, and Garnett deserves our undying gratitude for translating almost all the major works of Russian literature into English, but today her translation feels a bit dated (published in the early 1900s). Of course, it can't be and it's not as up to date with the latest scholarship on Dostoevsky. It uses older Victorian/Edwardian English which tends towards the prim and proper, whereas a lot of Dostoevsky doesn't sound like a British Victorian (e.g. how Dostoevsky portrays the Russian peasants speaking). Garnett simply skipped or elided some phrases, sentences, and passages in Dostoevsky that she didn't quite understand. She also smoothed out these sections for better readability, since Dostoevsky's style is often jagged and chaotic in Russian, as if he is a stranger on the street who has suddenly grabbed you by the arm and is shouting at you in a somewhat though not entirely incoherent fashion. Garnett felt the need to make Dostoevsky more comprehensible to her audience than Dostoevsky is. Modern translations like Ready and Katz attempt to keep some of the "mystery" or at least jagged language of Dostoevsky in tact, as it were.
* That said, and to be fair, there have been really good modern updates of Garnett that are definitely worth reading. For instance, the Norton Critical Edition of The Brothers Karamazov is based on Garnett's translation which in turn has been revised and updated by Matlaw and McReynolds. That's a fantastic translation of The Brothers Karamazov which uses Garnett as the base text. Although for The Brothers Karamazov I'd personally still tend to prefer Michael Katz, but Garnett-Matlaw-McReynolds is arguably just as good. Ignat Avsey also did a good translation of The Brothers Karamazov or so I hear. Again, I'd prefer Katz personally, but the Norton Critical Edition of The Brothers Karamazov is outstanding too, especially since it contains so much supplementary material to help one grapple with Dostoevsky's novel.
* Finally, I'd prefer to avoid Pevear and Volokhonsky. They're probably the most popular or commonly used English translation today. Not only for Dostoevsky but for other Russian writers as well (e.g. Tolstoy, Chekhov, Turgenev, Pushkin, Gogol, Bulgakov). I mean, P&V aren't as horrible as some might have you believe, they're decent, but they're nowhere near as good as other translators like Ready and Katz. For example, read the free articles: "The Pevearization of Russian Literature" (Gary Morson), "The Pevear/Volokhonsky Hype Machine and How It Could Have Been Stopped or At Least Slowed Down" (Helen Andrews), "Socks" (Janet Malcolm), and "Pevear and Volokhonsky Are Indeed Overrated" (John McWhorter).
Just my two cents' worth. 😊
Crime and Punishment, Mansfield Park, A Month in the Country, Stoner, The Professor's House are my favorite gems.
I am just beginning my journey of reading the Classics. I started with Robinson Crusoe, and I am loving it! I am also using your technique of annotating while reading which makes a huge difference on understanding what I am reading. Thank you for your channel.
:"Just a single man, Fyodor Dostoevsky, is enough to defeat all the creative novelists of the world. If one has to decide on 10 great novels in all the languages of the world, one will have to choose at least 3 novels of Dostoevsky in those 10. Dostoevsky’s insight into human beings and their problems is greater than your so-called psychoanalysts, and there are moments where he reaches the heights of great mystics. His book BROTHERS KARAMAZOV is so great in its insights that no BIBLE or KORAN or GITA comes close.
In another masterpiece of Dostoevsky, THE IDIOT, the main character is called ‘idiot’ by the people because they can’t understand his simplicity, his humbleness, his purity, his trust, his love. You can cheat him, you can deceive him, and he will still trust you. He is really one of the most beautiful characters ever created by any novelist. The idiot is a sage. The novel could just as well have been called THE SAGE. Dostoevsky’s idiot is not an idiot; he is one of the sanest men amongst an insane humanity. If you can become the idiot of Fyodor Dostoevsky, it is perfectly beautiful. It is better than being cunning priest or politician. Humbleness has such a blessing. Simplicity has such benediction.
, Fyodor Dostoevsky is a very special case - he was a genius. . His insight into human beings and their problems is greater than your so-called psychoanalysts, and there are moments where he reaches the heights of great mystics. But he is a sick soul; he himself is a psychological case. He needs all the compassion, because he lived in suffering, utter suffering. He never knew a moment of joy; he was pure anguish, angst. But still he managed to write novels which perhaps are the best in the whole literature of the world"
Which English translations do you prefer?
Thanks for that review. I've read "Crime and Punishment" and "The Brothers Karamazov". Lots of people are telling me about the rest of Dostoevsky's works. I will get to "The Idiot" as soon as I can.
Do you have any thoughts on 'Demons"?
Did you read his "The Humiliated and the Offended"? A brilliant book!
The Idiot is the only book of Dostoevsky’s I have read. It has a very unfortunate title that turns most people off sadly.
It’s a stunning portrayal of the most endearing fictional character I could hope to encounter.
@karinberryman2009 I recommend "Crime and Punishment". But after reading your review, I might make "The Idiot" my next book.
I love your suggestions. My husband and I are currently working on The Man Who Was Thursday.--we are loving it.
That last line you read from Lord Jim, absolutely gorgeous and powerful. In my opinion Joseph Conrad isn’t mentioned enough when it comes to the classics.❤
Great list!
Crime and Punishment is my favorite.
Tristan - magnificent work. You & your exceptional videos are a powerful tonic for me. You & your personality are incredibly relatable as a highly successful professor and leader through the vast and extremely intimidating literary landscape. It is most difficult to express my appreciation & gratitude in mere words. Very nicely done…..thank you so very much!
Now we're talking! 👏👏👏 I'm overdue for a reread of some of these.
Mansfield Park! It's so underrated (shame on her mother). I really enjoyed the depth in that one, but I think the romance leaves something to be desired, for women at least, which is perhaps why it isn't as popular.
i absolutly love listening to you. You have helped me enjoy classics I thought I'd never read, let alone understand. East of Eden is my all time favorite!!! (so far)
I am thinking of suggesting Frankenstein for our work book club. A video on classics for book clubs that are adverse to classics may be fun.
Love that idea 😅❤️
Really enjoyed this. I've been diving back into some classics I've missed and you've given me some great ideas (not just in this video!)
Its a real treat to know someone shares my favorite Mansfield Park what a character driven power house of a novel that is
So glad we agree.
Never lend your books to anyone...theyre never returned. So annoying
My friend who lent me their copy of 1984 over three years ago probably agrees with you.
I'm to the point where if I do lend a book to someone, I assume it's gone forever.
Which reminds me, someone STILL has one of my books. I broke my rule of not lending my books because this person is generally more responsible than most. ARGH! Why do people do that?!
Lend a book and lose a friend.
@@MrSyntheticSmile HA!
@staygoldponyboy8881 lol...this is your sign to return that book.
Count of Monte Cristo! My #1 standalone. Time to read/listen again.
Fabulous to hear your thoughts on some less obvious selections! Love that other perspective!
I’m reading Moonstone at the moment and the character Betteredge had already convinced me to read Crusoe and then you popped up with this endorsement!
Thank you! I love this one and hope someday you do one on friendships. I need to read Peter Pan but I absolutely love Mansfield Park and Fanny’s strength and friendship .. Love the book of Mice and Men but will never read it again because it was too painful.Anyway there are so many and hoping you take my suggestion for a friendship video 🤗🤗🤗
I just wanted to hop on here with a book recommendation for you. It's a funny thing but most of the books you have raved about over these years, I have also enjoyed and I assume many of your viewers enjoyed too. It's why we keep coming on back to your channel. Plus, your sense of wonder and humor that you dole out during your discussions, keeps us coming back too. Anyway, I digress, I have just completed the most wonderful, beautiful book that I have read in quite some time, and that is....drum roll, please.....Stoner by John Williams. Breathtakingly beautiful prose, superb character development and oh wow, how this book moved me. The quiet desperation is palpable and the final pages, well, you asked for books that speak to me and this one quietly screamed at me. That's Stoner by John Williams, now go get stuck in will ya;)
Hello! A splendid list, thanks for providing it. I have been asking friends for recommendations to fill my shelves at home with classics that serve to ennoble and enlighten the reader, so that my children may have them on hand as they grow up. I will certainly be adding several of these to the list.
Emily Jane Bronte had an amazing sense of place, but all her characters deserve to be autopsied while still alive. I've not read Crime and Punishment or anything by Shakespeare. I want to reread Robinson Crusoe and have downloaded the Standard Ebooks edition onto my phone. I should seek out A Month in the Country and Mansfield Park, but I loved The Count of Monte Cristo, which I think is the best revenge novel ever written.
I read The Count of Monte Cristo for the second time last year. It and Middlemarch were both highlights of my reading year. Last year I also read all of Shakespeare's plays in chronological order, Hamlet was my least favourite of his top plays. However, I loved I loved the experience of seeing how Shakespeare's skills developed. this video, Tristan. Thanks for making my morning.
I lived on an island for a few years that Barrie stayed on - apparently when he wrote the play Peter Pan... fabulous little island in Scotland - the owners 'sell it' as a place to stay as 'Neverland Found'... It is a favourite of mine along with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 'Adult classics' are a part of my reading I'm trying to improve - hence watching your channel - I'm loving learning about what may appeal to me.
That's fascinating, Lynn. Thanks for sharing. I'm off to look up that island now. 😀
Thank you Tristan. I plan to work my way through this list 👍
Such a great list Tristan!
Thank you for all these wonderful videos on the classics!
A month in the country is an extremely moviing book. Its language is wonderful. The link between art, its somehow redeeming aspect, religion, the traumatic experience of war, love... I was so enthralled by this novel that I ended up buying the dvd made out of it, it is also very good 😊
This is excellent collection. Thanks for putting together this brilliant video.
Great Video...i always had reservations on Lord Jim ( because i didn t know what it was about)...but it sounds really interesting...also ordered Mansfield Park
You are a fabulous book reviewer! You don’t feed us ‘fashionable’, sour or revisionist views!
Thank you, Karin. That's kind of you and I really appreciate it. 😀🙏
Thank you for this great list and your wonderful synopses. I have read them all but a few and agree! Hamlet is my fave too, not that I get it all. Need to revisit Lord Jim and Mansfield Park. Ordered up A Month and pulling out my Jeeves Omnibus. But I cannot tell a lie: I do love Jane Eyre more than WH.
I think I have read and enjoyed 3 of the books on the list: The Count of Monte Cristo, Peter Pan and Mansfield Park
I love how you laughed just saying the title of Code of the Woosters. 😂
That’s what I do…😂black shorts
So great to see Joseph Conrad feature on the list! Ethereal prose.
I have read Crime and Punishment and Mansfield Park, a lot of Wodehouse and I am about 1/3 into The Count of Monte Cristo!
Some of my favorite characters in literature are in The Wind in the Willows, and it would definitely be in my top ten.
Tristan You are the literary reviewers' precious gem.
Dostoyevsky always remaind among my favourites. I also enjoyed (besides the big ones such as the Brother Karamazov, The Idiot and The Possessed) his shorter work The Gambler. Have you read it?
I am looking forward to your next video 😊
Thank you for introducing Wooster and Jeeves. My husband and I have been reading this amazing series.
Thank you for this video! 🤩One of my favourites is 'Dubliners' by James Joyce. I didnt't like the stories during high school, but as I got older I realized that they have a lot of truth about life.
Hey mate,,, love that quote where you likened Kathy n Heathcliff to quatum entanglement (the band Genesis have a song ENTANGLED) 😂 Love your choice of books And the way you explain things also reading passages 😂 😂
The inspiration behind Robinson Crusoe is the 12th century Arabic book Hay Ibn Yaqzan, a philosophical book that asks questions about human nature and and human’s relationship with the universe and religion. I highly recommend reading it and comparing it to Robinson Crusoe.
Thank you for this recommendation. 😀👍❤️
Thank you! Mansfield Park is extremely underrated, but it does take more work to get through. Footnotes are key. I couldn't stand Crime & Punishment when I read it in college, but I have a mind to pick it up because back then I just didn't have as much of an attention span or patience as I apply to my reading now.
I love Mansfield Park! I'm planning to reread it this summer.
And I just read Peter Pan in March. It's always fun seeing the mix of books in your videos of things I've read and quite enjoyed, and things I have not read.
delightful as always .....great recommendations 💌💌💌💌
Great choices! 🎉 Just wondering, do you like audiobooks? Any classic books recommendations on Audible by any chance? 😁 thank you
"The Count of Monte Cristo", "Peter Pan and Wendy" and "Robinson Crusoe" are some of my favorites too, but I would put "Persuasion" above "Mansfield Park". "Lord Jim" and "Hamlet" are definitely on my list!
I adored A Month In The Country following your recommendation on the channel. Will be a long time favourite. I would love to read Robinson Crusoe and Hamlet from your list and your passion for Shakespeare . Wuthering Heights is my next read.
Thank you..always so interesting.
I simply loved “The Count” 😊
Great video
My top 10 (in no particular order)
Hamlet
War and Peace
Pride and Prejudice
The Brothers Karamazov
Middlemarch
Wuthering Heights
Don Quixote
Bleak House
Moby Dick
The Count of Monte Cristo
One reason I appreciate Mansfield Park is that Fanny Price lives her life in an extremely vulnerable position. She has everything to lose. And it can happen suddenly. She is quick to accept undesired tasks others put upon her because she dare not refuse. She keeps silent except when almost forced to speak. In her position, she almost has no choice. People who don't like the book because Fanny seems prudish or timid would act like she does if forced into her world. Or they would soon be very sorry that they did not. In the game of life, Fanny Price was dealt a poor hand. And she plays it well and honorably in her attempt to make it through.
My absolute favourites so far would be Count of Monte Cristo, Great Expectations, Jane Austen’s Emma, Wuthering Heights, Wilkie Collins’ Woman in White, Hardy’s Mayor of Casterbridge, Macbeth, Jane Eyre, Thackeray’s Vanity Fair-but I have yet to read any Tolstoy or Don Quixote or many more!
Favorite classic: Tess of the D’Urbervilles ❤
It's brilliant 👏
I loved the opening scene of TCOMC. That is, if I remember it correctly. It’s the scene where the ship is coming into the harbour. Am I recalling that properly? Anyway, I loved that scene.
Very good and very enjoyable. Glad you rescued Peter Pan and Robertson Crusoe from the children's rack. For me Peter Pan was rather dark in the emphasis of a boy who doesn't want to grow up.
Thanks Tristan! A great list that inspires ours lectures.👏🏼👏🏼🇧🇷
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my favorite classics and I reread it every few years. I just did a video on Wuthering Heights and although it’s my least favorite Brontë novel (I’m one of the people that calls it a hate story), I absolutely believe it needs to remain in the canon and continue to be read and studied. Mansfield Park was never my favorite Austen but I have developed an appreciation for it as I’ve gotten older (although I still think that Fanny and Edmund need to lighten up 😂).
You said something about medium or hard books. Do you have a video of the easy to hard....may one at a time. Awesome again...as usual 🥂
Thank you for another great video! I’m curious, have you ever read The Go-Between by LP Hartley? I highly recommend it 🙂
Just started Robinson Crusoe!
I hope you like it 💓
I just watched your "HOW TO GET INTO CLASSIC LITERATURE" video. I really wanted your opinion. So if you don't mind, here is the comment I posted there: Well that's fine if you have an English accent, I suppose, but even then, I sound ridiculous at the mere attempt of cockney. And further still, that manner of comfortable verbiage is seldom found in translated works from some of the best, like Dostoevsky or Victor Hugo.
P.S. There is a marvelous musicality to your reading, by the way. Thank you.
I'm reading the Count of MC at the moment, known in this house as The Fat Count because the 1300 page edition I bought didn't fit through the letter box and had to be re-delivered twice. It's a great story and the Robert Buss translation flows much better than the 19th century one.
😊 Funny story! 👍
When I was at university, I lent my paperback copy of 'The Secret History' to a housemate. He went to Thailand with it and wrecked the book so badly (and back then I wasn't super precious about books like I am now). Since then, the only person I lend books to is my sister.
I started the count of monte cristo last week and can’t put it down. Already I think it’s my favourite book and I’m only 25% through!
I just finished it myself. It is now a new favorite!
I recently read Robinson Crusoe. They say it’s the first English novel. After reading it, I’m surprised anyone bothered to write another one