I actually just took a break from reading Wuthering Heights to watch this! I'm reading both that and Frankenstein for my required reading. Mary Shelley is amazing.
Lots of people mentioned it, but Jane Eyre is amazing. I also loved Agnes Grey, by Anne Brontë; North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell; and Dracula by Bram Stoker. Jane Austen is my favourite so I really recommend Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, in my opinion they're both better than Emma or Mansfield Park. A bit more modern, but I loved Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.
Mrs Dalloway, The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Lord Of The Flies, A Christmas Carol, and a Shakespeare play (you gotta have some Shakespeare)... maybe Hamlet... Those are my top 5, from what I've read so far (though I also really like the books you've mentioned)
I would recommend Frankenstein as well, I just finished it and the language is so beautiful holy hell. I'd also recommend Peter Pan and The Portrait of Dorian Gray (let's just ignore the fact that Oscar Wild was Irish).
I would be interested in a review on at least one of the books you've recommended to Chelsea. You could make another video once she's finished one and she could tell you what she thought of it :)
British classics? Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, my favorite Austen is actually Mansfield Park (followed very closely by Pride and Prejudice), The Importance of Being Ernest (maybe a play would've been good for a film lover), Women in Love, Mrs. Dalloway, I Capture the Castle, etc.
I remember parts of Wuthering Heights from a sickly haze after coming out of hospital something about it really upset me so I hated it forever and just wanted it erased from history, it to never be mentioned around me again, for Kate Bush and her flailing arms to go away and die after later having to read it watching it I'm not sure why I had such a strong negative reaction but I like it now it's not my favourite and I don't usually like books with such sad themes throughout or I didn't I mean.
Wuthering Heights is your favorite everything? I probably need to revisit it, but it is literally the only school-assigned novel I wasn't able to finish. I hated it. The Kate Bush song "Wuthering Heights" though...that is the bomb-diggity.
I intentionally picked books published before 1900, because those are the books I studied at university. (I'm aware that books written after that are still considered classics, but Harry Potter is way too recent for that.) I've never read any books by the authors you mentioned, so I couldn't have recommended them. However, some of them have been on my to read list for a while.
I had to pick between American and British, so I just did British lit classes. I do have a video up called 'My American Classics to Read List' where I talk about (as you might have gathered from the title), American classics I still want to read :D
Hahaha The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy is my arch enemy. I had to write an essay on 'A Sentimental Journey' but EVERY SINGLE source about the author was about Tristram Shandy.
Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - although they all divide opinions heavily.
Alice in Wonderland and Wuthering Heights meh! AIW would probably be better if you smoked something before reading. I would suggest Jane Eyre, The House of Mirth, and Dracula. Love Frankenstein!
OK, here's an answer and a question for you, Sanne.... Firstly: Lord of the Flies - I'm not an avid reader, BUT, as you mentioned, having studied it at school, I definitely appreciate it much more, and I've re-read it since then. Maybe it's not old enough to be a classic, but it sure is British. Either that or The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; for the same reason. And now a question: have you read Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath? It's definitely my fave book, wondering what you thought?
I would recommend my friends 'Dracula', 'Jane Eyre', 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', 'Oliver Twist' and 'The Woman in White' :) Also, like Chelsea I hated 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' by Thomas Hardy when I read it for uni, but I'm taking 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' on holiday with me and hoping it's better! :)
Oh my god yes wuthering heights one of the most confusing, complicated, disturbing and amazing books I've ever read😍😍 but my favourite Jane Austen is actually Emma. 💖 i love your channel 🙈👑
Interesting selection! I would definitely recommend The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. If you haven't read any classics this is a good place to start. It's fast page, short and it has some magical elements that I love, it makes it so mysterious and meaningful. Also Oscar Wilde is one of my favorite writers ever, he just SO clever, witty and funny! Please try it you won't regret it!
I love Alice in Wonderland! I'm planning on reading Frankenstein too, but I've been very behind on reading. I surprisingly didn't like Dracula as much as I thought I would, but I'd still recommend it for any vampire lover who needs to get their facts straight (specifically aimed towards twilight fans). I'd also suggest some Jules Verne and HG Welles, their starting to make a big comeback through the Steampunk genre that's been gaining more popularity lately.
my favourite jane austen book is emma because the main character is so unlikeable compared to the pride and prejudice characters lol... i would recommend jane eyre and northanger abbey : ) i loved wuthering heights! i can see why a lot of people may hate it but i also really like anti-heroes and gothic novels... if you liked wuthering heights you're gonna like jane eyre for sure : )
Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice are the two I read and loved. I think Shakespeare is fairly obvious to suggest if you have the patience for reading it, which I don't always possess. I read King Lear this year for class and it was so wonderfully confusing and dark, but somehow still so much fun. You really have to delve into it to understand how things happen and it's lovely. I need to read more Jane Austen and Bronte since I have yet to finish Wuthering Heights. Oops.
I think one of my favorite Austen's is Northanger Abbey (even though S&S is my favorite) it's really funny. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books but I'd recommend Villette. It's wonderful & nobody ever knows about it! I'd also recommend Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. As for Thomas Hardy, he's definitely slow, but I like Jude the Obscure far more than Tess, I find the characters more relateable. My 5th would be Brideshead Revisited, I just love how subtle & finely formed it is.
I agree with all of these recommendations, but only wondered why you limited your choices to the 19th century? If you wanted to only include novels, then the 19th century is a very impressive era. So keeping to English novels, the big writer not to miss (in my opinion) is Dickens. Then according to my own very personal preferences, I always always recommend Virginia Woolfe. Honourable mentions to Forster, Waugh, Hardy, Charlotte Bronte, and Eliot. Just to name a few...I'm such a nerd.
Wuthering Heights would defo be on my list because it's my all time favourite book of all time EVER. Also Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (not sure if this counts as a classic? I'd say it does) is fantastic. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh is one of the most beautifully written books of all time (although apparently his satire stuff is better, but I haven't read anything else by him).
I would definitely have gone with Jane Eyre for one of them. I also wouldn't have picked Sense and Sensibility. It's one of my least favorite Austen books. If I wanted to go with a less obvious choice (not P&P), I might have chosen Northanger Abbey. I think it's her funniest, and it often goes overlooked. I would also pick something by P.G. Wodehouse, because that man was brilliant writer, and everyone should experience that. The Mating Season is my favorite, but any of them would do.
You had me until Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I'm still mad about having to read that book back in high school. I refused to finish it and will never read Thomas Hardy again. But... I'm going to have to give Frankenstein a try, now! I hadn't put much stock in it but it did sound interesting. I'd recommend I Capture the Castle (is that old enough to be a classic?) and Northanger Abbey.
SO MUCH TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES LOVE Hardy is a really under appreciated writer - there's this assumption that because the plots in his books are sometimes slow they aren't interesting, and that's just not true at all. Other than that, I'd probably recommend Northanger Abbey, Great Expectations, and Peter Pan, if children's classics are allowed. Also the Sherlock Holmes books!
"The Tennant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Bronte (hipster Bronte sister and kick-ass feminism FTW), "Daniel Deronda" by George Elliot (the book's not like anything else in 19th century Brit Lit and George Elliot just really gets people and is brilliant) and "North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell (it's like a Dickens novel mated with an Austen to highly favorable results, and also the BBC miniseries is perfect).
Don't write Hardy off yet! You should read Jude the Obscure first! And don't watch the film/tv version...it is awful! But the novel is so wonderful, creepy, scandalous, and dark. I also highly recommend The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Ann Bronte, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, and Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. And of course The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. :)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles is so good. So are the BBC miniseries and the 1999 movie, but my favourite Thomas Hardy is probably Far From the Madding Crowd, which is also very slow I guess, but funnier and lighter than his usual works. A bit. I have this irrational dislike towards Col. Brandon, and Edward is kind of bland, so I prefer every other Austen to S&S. They're all so good. Wuthering Heights was good, too. I also really liked Anne Bronte. Sorry. And North and South. And Great Expectations.
the BBC series of Tess of the D'Urbevilles - I was emotionally unwell for months after I went through a phase of watching it as much as I could. Ended up putting a downer on my birthday sleepover thingy - we decided it was a good idea to watch the whole series and spent the rest of the evening crying - never read the book and after that have no intention of reading it because the feels.
I will always recommend Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. So far I've only read Agnes Grey myself but I'm planning on reading Wildfell Hall this year. It makes me so unbelievably sad that Anne Bronte is so underappreciated compared to her sisters, so I think everyone should read her work. :)
If you like Gothic kind of story lines and Jane Austen's style of writing then try Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, because in it the main character loves Gothic novels and references them a lot. So it's a Jane Austen romance,with a hint of mystery that still includes Austen's classic wit and observations.
Personally I really love the 70s BBC version. It's a bit slow for modern audiences, but it's definitely the closest to the book, and since I love the book so much, that makes it worth it for me. The most recent one was . . . not good, but the Amanda Root version does a really good job of showing Anne's reawakening through the course of the story.
Sanne, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is not the saddest. Jude the Obscure (also Thomas Hardy) is. My recommendations would be: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Bleak House by Charles Dickens, Middlemarch by George Eliot, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, and Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Great choices here! I thought Tess/Hardy's style was very depressing at the beginning but soon got used to it and eventually ended up loving the story. I'd probably add Dracula and Jane Eyre if you haven't already read those 2. Both of you together is just awesome in this video by the way... Can you guys not do a joint channel?!
I've tried Wuthering Heights three times, and I have never been able to get through it. Even in grad school when I was required to read it, I kind of faked my way through it. (I know, I am a horrible graduate student!) However, I LOVE Frankenstein! It is definitely one of my favorite classics!
I recommend: 1.) Persuasion by Jane Austen 2.) Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle P.S. I also hate Thomas Hardy. I had to read Jude the Obscure for AP English Lit and despised the slow pace, pastoral ---> city setting, the violence and sex ...and the most depressing ending.
For pre-1900's I would recommend The Picture of Dorian Gray; The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy and Dracula. I would also recommend Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell, which as you can probably tell from the title is a collection of Gothic short stories.
My recommendations would include Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (actually my favourite novel) and Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (though I'm not sure it's considered a classic, anyway it is to me :P)
I have a hatred for Tess of the d'Ubervilles because in my senior year of high school we had to analyze a passage from it and I was so lost and couldn't understand anything about it. So I'm not too sure if I would want to read it. I don't know any other British classics :(
I'd recommend the Picture of Dorian Gray or other Wilde, although he was admittedly Irish. Lord of the Flies and any Orwell, if those count as classics but they're probably too recent. Also Chrome Yellow and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and maybe a bit of Wodehouse. :)
I love Far from the madding crowd, by Thomas Hardy;) Jane Austen, though, I think reading Mansfield Park first did not make a good impression on me (I so hate Fanny), but I would really recommend The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins, though I'm not sure it's considered a classic.
My favourite classic is Jane Eyre, but I read Wuthering Heights first and it was the first time I realized that classics could be really exciting and fun to read. I love Frankenstein too. side note I'm really enjoying all the videos that you two have been doing together, keep it up :)
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - my fav gothic novel (loathe Wuthering Heights). Persuasion by Jane Austen (def an overlooked Austen book but arguably her best work, imo). A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - the ending is worth it. The end.
These were probably already said by others in the comments, but my two most favorite British classics are The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson :) I absolutely love those stories!
Villette by Charlotte Bronte! It was such a powerful book, I like it much more than Jane Eyre and Emily's novel Wurthering Heights. I may have to go back and read WH again, though, because I really struggled through it as you said you did yourself.
Hey, Sanne... can you suggest me any good poems? I have to do this paper for school but I'm not really into poetry and I don't have a clue on how to choose one... I was going to do Lady of shalott, but my teacher wants short poems... So, help?
James Joyce, I think? Early 20th century, but I think he can count as a classic. Dubliners is easier to digest than his long stuff because it's a collection of short stories; The Dead is a particularly good one that's just amazing to analyze and such.
There's still a special place in my bookshelf for Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood. just so wonderfully written. But Tess of the D'urbervilles is probably my favorite Industrial revolution- and its rammifications- novel
I would definitely recommend E.M. Forster's 'A Room with a View' as it is so cleverly woven together and just a brilliant piece of work! At first I really didn't like it, but then, by the end of the book I loved it and am loving it more now I'm studying it.
My favorite Jane Austen is Persuasion. I really love Anne, and am just a sucker for second chances. I've never been a fan of Wurthering Heights, but I've recently been wondering if I should give it another try...
We had to read Far From The Madding Crowd by Hardy at school and it was slow and dull. Put me off Hardy too I hated Frankenstein. He was such a whiner. The monster was the best character. Dracula is soo much better.
I had to read Frankenstein during senior year of high school and didn't really like it much. I loved the story line and points of view, but the writing style made it really hard to want to keep reading. I didn't even finish it.
I'd recommend Sherlock Holmes for friends who aren't that into reading, because besides being great, it's a collection of short tales instead of a whole book... I guess that's easier for people who don't like reading so much...
My recommendation wouldn't be from a British author, but a French one instead - Les Miserables. For British classics, I would go for Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Edgar A. Poe. What would I be without classic literature?
I love when two people I love and watch regularly show up in each others vlogs! It makes the world feel a little bit smaller ;) Loved it! Although my world was shattered when I just found out her name isn't actually Ophelia...
I finished Wuthering Heights a couple of days ago and I really liked it :D As you said, it was a bit complicated with all these characters and names, but mostly at the beginnning :) I hope to reread it some time in the future.
I absolutely love Wuthering Heights! I was afraid to read it at first, since I thought it would be a dull love story, but it's not! It is anything but a typical love story. It's also quite creepy which I like.
I absolutely hated Wuthering heights. Some of my favorite classics are Anna Karenina, The Orient Express, any Sherlock holmes books, The Picture of Dorian Gray... there are too many dammit.
I had to read Frankenstein for my a2 Gothic literature exam and everyone in my class hated it and I loved it and the same as yourself my favorite part was the monsters narrative was introduced
I'm reading Frankenstein and I'm enjoying it so much, because I had this idea in my mind that pop culture had created and as it turns out, the story is much more complex. Also, female writers ftw.
i haven't read that many british classics so i think the ones i would have to recommend would have to be The Secret Garden and The Little Princess by Frances Hodgston Burnett (spelling?)
British I'd say Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, Dracula. Irish: anything by Oscar Wilde. I have to admit that I hated Pride and Prejudice more than any other book I've ever finished reading.
Forgot about Dorothy Sayers. I'd love to pick Gaudy Night, but you really can't start there, so I'd have to say Strong Poison. Or The Nine Tailors, if you don't get creeped out easily.
Best choices ever! Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Wuthering Heights are two of the best books in existence! Go you! I would have to recommend Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.
Would also have to recommend Brave New World by Huxley! Read it in high school and I loved it. Middlemarch by Eliot is great too. A bit intimidating, but such a satisfying novel.
To be considered a "British classic", the books should have been written before 1900? Really? That might have been a feature of your list. In this video, you could have made a point about coming up with your own definition of a 'British classic'. By intentionally or unintentionally restricting yourself to "before 1900", you are failing to recognise the novels of Virginia Woolf, Muriel Spark, Doris Lessing, Evelyn Waugh, P.G. Wodehouse, Henry Green, Pat Barker..., and the list can go on and on!
I love Jane Austen, and she remains one of the writers I always go to for a laugh, particularly as a sarcastic person and a feminist. She's just so snarky, I love it! Things I would recommend to friends would be 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte because it has LITERALLY EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER WANT FROM A NOVEL, and 'Persuasion' by Jane Austen because I can never choose between her books and people are always most surprised by this one in my experience.
My favourite classic (technically a modern classic because it was written in 1949) would have to be The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles and idk why people don't talk about it! It's so beautifully written and you get sucked into the world he's describing. Any short summary wouldn't do it justice so READ IT :D On Austen, more people should read Persuasion! It's so satirical and hilarious, but not in her typical fashion. It was published posthumously so it remains quite raw and bitter.
Oh, Brave New World....probably my favorite book I've ever been assigned. I loved that book so much.
I would definitely recommend Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, my all time favourite book!
I actually just took a break from reading Wuthering Heights to watch this! I'm reading both that and Frankenstein for my required reading. Mary Shelley is amazing.
Other than the ones you already mentioned, I would recommend: pride and prejudice, 1984, Lorde of the flies, Jane Eyre, and Mrs. Dalloway.
Definitely A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess! One of my favorite books of all time. Love the film too (although they are both rather violent!)
You make me want to buy a ridiculous amount of books I could never finish
Lots of people mentioned it, but Jane Eyre is amazing. I also loved Agnes Grey, by Anne Brontë; North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell; and Dracula by Bram Stoker.
Jane Austen is my favourite so I really recommend Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, in my opinion they're both better than Emma or Mansfield Park.
A bit more modern, but I loved Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.
Mrs Dalloway, The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Lord Of The Flies, A Christmas Carol, and a Shakespeare play (you gotta have some Shakespeare)... maybe Hamlet...
Those are my top 5, from what I've read so far (though I also really like the books you've mentioned)
I would recommend Frankenstein as well, I just finished it and the language is so beautiful holy hell. I'd also recommend Peter Pan and The Portrait of Dorian Gray (let's just ignore the fact that Oscar Wild was Irish).
J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I don't know if people class this book as a classic but I certainly do.
I love Frankenstein!
I would be interested in a review on at least one of the books you've recommended to Chelsea. You could make another video once she's finished one and she could tell you what she thought of it :)
British classics? Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, my favorite Austen is actually Mansfield Park (followed very closely by Pride and Prejudice), The Importance of Being Ernest (maybe a play would've been good for a film lover), Women in Love, Mrs. Dalloway, I Capture the Castle, etc.
I remember parts of Wuthering Heights from a sickly haze after coming out of hospital something about it really upset me so I hated it forever and just wanted it erased from history, it to never be mentioned around me again, for Kate Bush and her flailing arms to go away and die after later having to read it watching it I'm not sure why I had such a strong negative reaction but I like it now it's not my favourite and I don't usually like books with such sad themes throughout or I didn't I mean.
Oops, you misspelt 'Love' there...
Wuthering Heights is your favorite everything? I probably need to revisit it, but it is literally the only school-assigned novel I wasn't able to finish. I hated it. The Kate Bush song "Wuthering Heights" though...that is the bomb-diggity.
I miss "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde. :(
Everything by Virginia Woolf!
I intentionally picked books published before 1900, because those are the books I studied at university. (I'm aware that books written after that are still considered classics, but Harry Potter is way too recent for that.) I've never read any books by the authors you mentioned, so I couldn't have recommended them. However, some of them have been on my to read list for a while.
I had to pick between American and British, so I just did British lit classes. I do have a video up called 'My American Classics to Read List' where I talk about (as you might have gathered from the title), American classics I still want to read :D
Hahaha The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy is my arch enemy. I had to write an essay on 'A Sentimental Journey' but EVERY SINGLE source about the author was about Tristram Shandy.
No Dickens? Really? David Copperfield, Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities: three of the best books I've ever read.
I wouldn't quite call that a classic yet :P (All the books in the video were written before 1900).
Animal Farm by George Orwell is a great piece of British Lit.
Haha, I have to admit I'm mostly in it for ladies, the men in S&S are definitely a bit blah.
Thanks! I've got another couple of videos with Chelsea in the editing vault!
Try some of Tennyson's other poems. I really like 'The Sisters'
Persuasion, probably my favorite Jane Austen book, together with Pride and Prejudice
I haven't! But I'll look it up :)
But I haven't read Dracula yet!
Ahhhh that sounds amazing!
Lies. Lies and slander.
Ja!
Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - although they all divide opinions heavily.
Alice in Wonderland and Wuthering Heights meh! AIW would probably be better if you smoked something before reading. I would suggest Jane Eyre, The House of Mirth, and Dracula. Love Frankenstein!
I enjoy you.... there is a bit of hate there though, lets be honest. I have a low level of hate for everyone.
I mean, I understand; it's probably all my inoffensive videos and lack of personal attacks ;) x
I'm liking this two for one Chelsea and Sanne deal. Makes my youtubing much more efficient.
I'll make you feel better about that when you visit *creepy wink*
Baby, you know what your creepy winks do to me.... pregnant.
OK, here's an answer and a question for you, Sanne....
Firstly: Lord of the Flies - I'm not an avid reader, BUT, as you mentioned, having studied it at school, I definitely appreciate it much more, and I've re-read it since then. Maybe it's not old enough to be a classic, but it sure is British. Either that or The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; for the same reason.
And now a question: have you read Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath? It's definitely my fave book, wondering what you thought?
I would recommend my friends 'Dracula', 'Jane Eyre', 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', 'Oliver Twist' and 'The Woman in White' :)
Also, like Chelsea I hated 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' by Thomas Hardy when I read it for uni, but I'm taking 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles' on holiday with me and hoping it's better! :)
Oh my god yes wuthering heights one of the most confusing, complicated, disturbing and amazing books I've ever read😍😍 but my favourite Jane Austen is actually Emma. 💖 i love your channel 🙈👑
I would recommend Jane Eyre, but if you include non-British then definitely Anne of Green Gables
Interesting selection! I would definitely recommend The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. If you haven't read any classics this is a good place to start. It's fast page, short and it has some magical elements that I love, it makes it so mysterious and meaningful. Also Oscar Wilde is one of my favorite writers ever, he just SO clever, witty and funny! Please try it you won't regret it!
Since we're on Jane Austen - Mansfield Park is one of my faves. Also, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
I love Alice in Wonderland! I'm planning on reading Frankenstein too, but I've been very behind on reading.
I surprisingly didn't like Dracula as much as I thought I would, but I'd still recommend it for any vampire lover who needs to get their facts straight (specifically aimed towards twilight fans).
I'd also suggest some Jules Verne and HG Welles, their starting to make a big comeback through the Steampunk genre that's been gaining more popularity lately.
my favourite jane austen book is emma because the main character is so unlikeable compared to the pride and prejudice characters lol...
i would recommend jane eyre and northanger abbey : )
i loved wuthering heights! i can see why a lot of people may hate it but i also really like anti-heroes and gothic novels... if you liked wuthering heights you're gonna like jane eyre for sure : )
Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice are the two I read and loved. I think Shakespeare is fairly obvious to suggest if you have the patience for reading it, which I don't always possess. I read King Lear this year for class and it was so wonderfully confusing and dark, but somehow still so much fun. You really have to delve into it to understand how things happen and it's lovely. I need to read more Jane Austen and Bronte since I have yet to finish Wuthering Heights. Oops.
I think one of my favorite Austen's is Northanger Abbey (even though S&S is my favorite) it's really funny. Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books but I'd recommend Villette. It's wonderful & nobody ever knows about it! I'd also recommend Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. As for Thomas Hardy, he's definitely slow, but I like Jude the Obscure far more than Tess, I find the characters more relateable. My 5th would be Brideshead Revisited, I just love how subtle & finely formed it is.
I agree with all of these recommendations, but only wondered why you limited your choices to the 19th century? If you wanted to only include novels, then the 19th century is a very impressive era. So keeping to English novels, the big writer not to miss (in my opinion) is Dickens. Then according to my own very personal preferences, I always always recommend Virginia Woolfe. Honourable mentions to Forster, Waugh, Hardy, Charlotte Bronte, and Eliot. Just to name a few...I'm such a nerd.
Wuthering Heights would defo be on my list because it's my all time favourite book of all time EVER. Also Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (not sure if this counts as a classic? I'd say it does) is fantastic. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh is one of the most beautifully written books of all time (although apparently his satire stuff is better, but I haven't read anything else by him).
I would definitely have gone with Jane Eyre for one of them. I also wouldn't have picked Sense and Sensibility. It's one of my least favorite Austen books. If I wanted to go with a less obvious choice (not P&P), I might have chosen Northanger Abbey. I think it's her funniest, and it often goes overlooked. I would also pick something by P.G. Wodehouse, because that man was brilliant writer, and everyone should experience that. The Mating Season is my favorite, but any of them would do.
You had me until Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I'm still mad about having to read that book back in high school. I refused to finish it and will never read Thomas Hardy again. But... I'm going to have to give Frankenstein a try, now! I hadn't put much stock in it but it did sound interesting. I'd recommend I Capture the Castle (is that old enough to be a classic?) and Northanger Abbey.
SO MUCH TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES LOVE Hardy is a really under appreciated writer - there's this assumption that because the plots in his books are sometimes slow they aren't interesting, and that's just not true at all.
Other than that, I'd probably recommend Northanger Abbey, Great Expectations, and Peter Pan, if children's classics are allowed. Also the Sherlock Holmes books!
"The Tennant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Bronte (hipster Bronte sister and kick-ass feminism FTW), "Daniel Deronda" by George Elliot (the book's not like anything else in 19th century Brit Lit and George Elliot just really gets people and is brilliant) and "North and South" by Elizabeth Gaskell (it's like a Dickens novel mated with an Austen to highly favorable results, and also the BBC miniseries is perfect).
Don't write Hardy off yet! You should read Jude the Obscure first! And don't watch the film/tv version...it is awful! But the novel is so wonderful, creepy, scandalous, and dark.
I also highly recommend The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Ann Bronte, Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, and Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe. And of course The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. :)
Tess of the d'Urbervilles is so good. So are the BBC miniseries and the 1999 movie, but my favourite Thomas Hardy is probably Far From the Madding Crowd, which is also very slow I guess, but funnier and lighter than his usual works. A bit.
I have this irrational dislike towards Col. Brandon, and Edward is kind of bland, so I prefer every other Austen to S&S. They're all so good.
Wuthering Heights was good, too. I also really liked Anne Bronte. Sorry. And North and South. And Great Expectations.
the BBC series of Tess of the D'Urbevilles - I was emotionally unwell for months after I went through a phase of watching it as much as I could. Ended up putting a downer on my birthday sleepover thingy - we decided it was a good idea to watch the whole series and spent the rest of the evening crying - never read the book and after that have no intention of reading it because the feels.
I will always recommend Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. So far I've only read Agnes Grey myself but I'm planning on reading Wildfell Hall this year. It makes me so unbelievably sad that Anne Bronte is so underappreciated compared to her sisters, so I think everyone should read her work. :)
If you like Gothic kind of story lines and Jane Austen's style of writing then try Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, because in it the main character loves Gothic novels and references them a lot. So it's a Jane Austen romance,with a hint of mystery that still includes Austen's classic wit and observations.
Personally I really love the 70s BBC version. It's a bit slow for modern audiences, but it's definitely the closest to the book, and since I love the book so much, that makes it worth it for me. The most recent one was . . . not good, but the Amanda Root version does a really good job of showing Anne's reawakening through the course of the story.
Sanne, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is not the saddest. Jude the Obscure (also Thomas Hardy) is.
My recommendations would be: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Bleak House by Charles Dickens, Middlemarch by George Eliot, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, and Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Great choices here! I thought Tess/Hardy's style was very depressing at the beginning but soon got used to it and eventually ended up loving the story. I'd probably add Dracula and Jane Eyre if you haven't already read those 2. Both of you together is just awesome in this video by the way... Can you guys not do a joint channel?!
I've tried Wuthering Heights three times, and I have never been able to get through it. Even in grad school when I was required to read it, I kind of faked my way through it. (I know, I am a horrible graduate student!) However, I LOVE Frankenstein! It is definitely one of my favorite classics!
I recommend:
1.) Persuasion by Jane Austen
2.) Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
P.S. I also hate Thomas Hardy. I had to read Jude the Obscure for AP English Lit and despised the slow pace, pastoral ---> city setting, the violence and sex ...and the most depressing ending.
For pre-1900's I would recommend The Picture of Dorian Gray; The life and opinions of Tristram Shandy and Dracula. I would also recommend Gothic Tales by Elizabeth Gaskell, which as you can probably tell from the title is a collection of Gothic short stories.
My recommendations would include Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (actually my favourite novel) and Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (though I'm not sure it's considered a classic, anyway it is to me :P)
I have a hatred for Tess of the d'Ubervilles because in my senior year of high school we had to analyze a passage from it and I was so lost and couldn't understand anything about it. So I'm not too sure if I would want to read it. I don't know any other British classics :(
I'd recommend the Picture of Dorian Gray or other Wilde, although he was admittedly Irish. Lord of the Flies and any Orwell, if those count as classics but they're probably too recent. Also Chrome Yellow and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and maybe a bit of Wodehouse. :)
I love Far from the madding crowd, by Thomas Hardy;)
Jane Austen, though, I think reading Mansfield Park first did not make a good impression on me (I so hate Fanny),
but I would really recommend The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins, though I'm not sure it's considered a classic.
My favourite classic is Jane Eyre, but I read Wuthering Heights first and it was the first time I realized that classics could be really exciting and fun to read. I love Frankenstein too.
side note I'm really enjoying all the videos that you two have been doing together, keep it up :)
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - my fav gothic novel (loathe Wuthering Heights). Persuasion by Jane Austen (def an overlooked Austen book but arguably her best work, imo). A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - the ending is worth it. The end.
These were probably already said by others in the comments, but my two most favorite British classics are The Picture of Dorian Gray by Wilde, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson :) I absolutely love those stories!
Villette by Charlotte Bronte! It was such a powerful book, I like it much more than Jane Eyre and Emily's novel Wurthering Heights. I may have to go back and read WH again, though, because I really struggled through it as you said you did yourself.
Hey, Sanne... can you suggest me any good poems? I have to do this paper for school but I'm not really into poetry and I don't have a clue on how to choose one... I was going to do Lady of shalott, but my teacher wants short poems... So, help?
James Joyce, I think? Early 20th century, but I think he can count as a classic. Dubliners is easier to digest than his long stuff because it's a collection of short stories; The Dead is a particularly good one that's just amazing to analyze and such.
There's still a special place in my bookshelf for Charles Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood. just so wonderfully written. But Tess of the D'urbervilles is probably my favorite Industrial revolution- and its rammifications- novel
I would definitely recommend E.M. Forster's 'A Room with a View' as it is so cleverly woven together and just a brilliant piece of work! At first I really didn't like it, but then, by the end of the book I loved it and am loving it more now I'm studying it.
My favorite Jane Austen is Persuasion. I really love Anne, and am just a sucker for second chances.
I've never been a fan of Wurthering Heights, but I've recently been wondering if I should give it another try...
We had to read Far From The Madding Crowd by Hardy at school and it was slow and dull. Put me off Hardy too I hated Frankenstein. He was such a whiner. The monster was the best character. Dracula is soo much better.
I had to read Frankenstein during senior year of high school and didn't really like it much. I loved the story line and points of view, but the writing style made it really hard to want to keep reading. I didn't even finish it.
I'd recommend Sherlock Holmes for friends who aren't that into reading, because besides being great, it's a collection of short tales instead of a whole book... I guess that's easier for people who don't like reading so much...
My recommendation wouldn't be from a British author, but a French one instead - Les Miserables.
For British classics, I would go for Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Edgar A. Poe.
What would I be without classic literature?
I love when two people I love and watch regularly show up in each others vlogs! It makes the world feel a little bit smaller ;) Loved it! Although my world was shattered when I just found out her name isn't actually Ophelia...
I finished Wuthering Heights a couple of days ago and I really liked it :D As you said, it was a bit complicated with all these characters and names, but mostly at the beginnning :) I hope to reread it some time in the future.
I absolutely love Wuthering Heights! I was afraid to read it at first, since I thought it would be a dull love story, but it's not! It is anything but a typical love story. It's also quite creepy which I like.
I would recommend Pride and Prejudice as I enjoy that the most, but also Treasure Island, Peter Pan and Lord Of The Rings
I absolutely hated Wuthering heights. Some of my favorite classics are Anna Karenina, The Orient Express, any Sherlock holmes books, The Picture of Dorian Gray... there are too many dammit.
I had to read Frankenstein for my a2 Gothic literature exam and everyone in my class hated it and I loved it and the same as yourself my favorite part was the monsters narrative was introduced
I'm reading Frankenstein and I'm enjoying it so much, because I had this idea in my mind that pop culture had created and as it turns out, the story is much more complex. Also, female writers ftw.
i haven't read that many british classics so i think the ones i would have to recommend would have to be The Secret Garden and The Little Princess by Frances Hodgston Burnett (spelling?)
British I'd say Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, Dracula. Irish: anything by Oscar Wilde.
I have to admit that I hated Pride and Prejudice more than any other book I've ever finished reading.
Forgot about Dorothy Sayers. I'd love to pick Gaudy Night, but you really can't start there, so I'd have to say Strong Poison. Or The Nine Tailors, if you don't get creeped out easily.
Best choices ever! Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Wuthering Heights are two of the best books in existence! Go you! I would have to recommend Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.
Would also have to recommend Brave New World by Huxley! Read it in high school and I loved it. Middlemarch by Eliot is great too. A bit intimidating, but such a satisfying novel.
To be considered a "British classic", the books should have been written before 1900? Really? That might have been a feature of your list. In this video, you could have made a point about coming up with your own definition of a 'British classic'. By intentionally or unintentionally restricting yourself to "before 1900", you are failing to recognise the novels of Virginia Woolf, Muriel Spark, Doris Lessing, Evelyn Waugh, P.G. Wodehouse, Henry Green, Pat Barker..., and the list can go on and on!
I love Jane Austen, and she remains one of the writers I always go to for a laugh, particularly as a sarcastic person and a feminist. She's just so snarky, I love it!
Things I would recommend to friends would be 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte because it has LITERALLY EVERYTHING YOU COULD EVER WANT FROM A NOVEL, and 'Persuasion' by Jane Austen because I can never choose between her books and people are always most surprised by this one in my experience.
My favourite classic (technically a modern classic because it was written in 1949) would have to be The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles and idk why people don't talk about it! It's so beautifully written and you get sucked into the world he's describing. Any short summary wouldn't do it justice so READ IT :D On Austen, more people should read Persuasion! It's so satirical and hilarious, but not in her typical fashion. It was published posthumously so it remains quite raw and bitter.
Hoi Sanne. Vraagje: Waar heb jij gestudeerd? In Londen of in Nederland? En wat heb je gestudeerd? xx