Top 10 Most Loved Victorian Novels
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- Опубліковано 8 жов 2019
- I did a little Internet research for the most loved Victorian novels and this is the Top 10 most recommended. A couple of surprises for me in there that’s for sure.
This was all inspired by this great video by Tom Reads Things
• MY FAVOURITE VICTORIAN...
Thanks for coming along with me to solve a little query I had.
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1. Jane Eyre
2. Wuthering Heights
3. The tenant of Wildfell Hall
4. Far from the Madding crowd by Thomas Hardy
5. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
6. North and South
7. William Makepeace Thackeray
8. The picture of Dorian gray
9. Bleake House bu Dickens
10. Great Expectations by Dickens
You’re wrong about dickens, not male-biased point of view & yes he focuses on class relations & London as a city of slums in many of his books; which was the reality of his days. His writing style & his plots are riveting and he shows the bourgeois upper class of London alongside the downtrodden quarters with a lot of interest, not with depressing melodrama. He’s also funny, which was at first surprising for me, but he masters his irony & his sense of the absurd and knows how to make me giggle.
Can’t wait to giggle to Dickens some time soon. Thanks for your amazing insight!
My first Victorian was a Hardy too, only I read Tess of the D'Urbervilles first. Almost glad that was the first because I know so many people are intimidated, or are afraid it won't live up to their expectations. I had zero going in, all I knew was that my best friend loved it.
What a list though! thanks for putting this together
I recently bought Far From the Maddening Crowd -it sounds SO up my alley, can’t wait to start it! Great research 😎
I was SO GLAD to see that Jane Eyre is #1 on this list! I have read that book countless times and it never ceases to split my heart in two with each reading. Even today, my eyes were welling with tears when reading through the famous proposal scene for the 7,000th time...even though I know what’s going to happen and can recite the entire scene by memory. Jane is just so *real* to me - it’s so difficult for me to read this as fiction. And the love between her & Mr. Rochester still stands the test of time after almost 175 years. In fact, I think it only gets stronger with each passing year - I want to believe it really happened instead of being the product of Bronte’s imagination. Jane Eyre literally changed my life the first time I read it, and it’s never lost its power or appeal to me. I was also go glad that North & South made the list - another unforgettable story that retains its relevance to this day. I never tire of this one either; I only wish there had been more passionate interactions between Margaret & Mr. Thornton...but what is there, is genuine & believable, and I hold it as a standard to which a strong relationship should strive for even in the 21st century. The strong, almost immortal characters of Jane Eyre & Margaret Hale are so important to me that if I had ever had a daughter, she would have been named Jane Margaret - not kidding! Thanks for your research and this video!
Wow! I have to pick up that book now after you have shared your love for it. I can’t wait! Thank you x
Can't trust anyone who doesn't have Middlemarch on a their list.
I just finished North and South as well. It was my first Gaskell and I loved it. I’m almost finished with Jane Eyre and I have to say I’m really enjoying it. But I’m a little surprised it was number one. I guess I did feel a bit more emotionally connected in Jane Eyre and more intellectually connected to North and South. I haven’t read any Victorian lit for years and years. So, I’m really enjoying this Victober. It’s my first.
Hooray to your first Victober!!
Love your thoughts about the difference between being emotionally and intellectually connected
I loved this video! I'm going to finally read Jane Eyre over my Winter break, I'm so excited for it.
I read Vanity Fair earlier this year and really enjoyed it. The main character is so frustrating but such fun to follow. Thomas Hardy is divine. I loved Tess and Jude. I have just started Little Dorrit but am going to read it slow along side other reads. Enjoy Victober. xxx
Enjoy your slow reading x
This is so much fun. Wonderful video! In defense of Dickens, it's true that his novels are city-based. He's an advocate for reforms that are crushing the poor, especially policies like debtor's prison and allowing the poor to live in squalor. So that's true, but he's also hilarious at his best. There are weaknesses and lots of coincidences and plot twists, but also he creates intricate storylines and characters with weird tics and habits. If you want some very stereotypical Dickens, read Great Expectations or David Copperfield. Then see if you want to dip in to some others. There are a lot of small joys in reading a long Dickens novel.
I have never heard of Dickens being hilarious. Love it! Thank you for sharing your thoughts about Dickens. It makes me very excited
What a fun idea! So interesting. For Dickens, I recommend starting with David Copperfield :)
I loved Jane Eyre, specifically the witty and flowery Victorian prose.
Fascinating video! Your copy of Wuthering Heights has a photo of a painting done by Branwell Brontë (the brother) of Emily. Jane and Anne are also featured in that particular picture. So, the cracks are probably now in the aged painting?
You are awesome! Thank you so much. I was going to look that up because after the video I just kept thinking about it. I didn’t even know they had a brother 🤦♀️
I've noticed that Middlemarch is also often cited as a Victorian favorite
It was mentioned a few times but not enough to get into the top 10...
I loved the concept of this video!! I'm very excited on your behalf for your reading Jane Eyre...I'm currently reading Vanity Fair and am enjoying it - it's quite lengthy but I'm just willing to slowly chip away at it and Becky Sharpe is a character you love to hate...As to Dickens I think David Copperfield would be a really great one to start with - it's narrated in the first person and is told in a really engaging way. I hope you enjoy whatever Victorian novels you pick up next!
Love those characters that you love to hate. Makes me want to read Vanity Fair more.
And thanks for the David Copperfield recommendation x
What a fun video! Thanks for doing the research!
What a great video! I have so much reading to do. 🥰 I’m halfway through Agnes Grey... it is a fast and enjoyable read.
Ooo nice to hear Agnes Grey is fast and enjoyable. It's up next for me in Victober
I've read where Charles Dickens was the first "star" in history. That is to say he was the first non royal, non political celebrity that people would line up for blocks to buy tickets to see him perform. Thousands attended his personal appearance shows. He imitated all his characters while reading passages. Women in the audience swooned (fainted). Today this seems almost incredible, at least it did to me when I learned of it.
I don't know - I have been known to swoon at an author I love! This is so amazing. Thank you for sharing x
What a great video! I loved Vanity Fair but it's a long while since I read it. I think Becky Sharp might be more of a villain protagonist or anti-heroine though, which was a revelation to me at the time. I'm hoping to read Silas Marner by George Eliot as I feel like it's been on my shelves since Queen Victoria was on the throne (ok, a slight exaggeration but it is a 1978 edition!). At my little local second-hand bookshop, I recently treated myself to a set of six Folio Society Thomas Hardy novels (including Far From the Madding Crowd), all in great condition. So I will be going on a Thomas Hardy binge very soon. Hope you don't mind the long comment.
Of course I don’t mind the long comment. The longer the better!
Those Hardy books sound devine!! Enjoy your binge x
Love your creativity here. Surprised Middlemarch didn't crop up in your top 10- i didn't love it but I know an awful lot do! I'm reading a few things at the moment- Deerbrook by Harriet Martineau, Mary Barton by Gaskell, and listening to Adam Bede. Having some lovely Victober reading xx
Enjoy your Victober reading. Sounds wonderful x
I was surprised about Middlemarch too
Great video! Wuthering Heights and Far from the Madding Crowd are my top favs from the list - Jane eyre used to be tops but they’re in more recent reads - I need to reread eyre.
This is SUCH a good idea for a video! LOVED it! Thank you so much for the shoutout! Ooohhh if you are looking for a Dickens that has amore rural setting with a female lead I would go for Hard Times. Its also quite short. A great place to start with Dickens is David Copperfield or Great Expectations as they’re easier to follow and fab stories! Happy Victober 😀📚
Thanks for inspiring this video!
David Copperfield has been the most recommended as a good place to start so I think I might give it a go. Also will keep my eye out for Hard Times.
Thank you lovely Tom!
This was a great idea for a video! I think my favourite victorian authors is Oscar Wilde, I particulary found the importance of being earnest incredibly funny and witty. I have to still start The tenant of wildfell hall for my victober this year, I hope is as good as the internet seems to think. I also want to read some Thomas Hardy and elizabeth gaskell at some point. I read wuthering heighs ages ago, I think it was about the second or third book I ever read in english, or more like struggled through it. So even though I didn't really liked it, I think I might enjoy it more than my english has dramatically improved. Maybe is something to buddy read next victober?
The fact that you can read these heavy English classics in your second language blows my mind. They are hard for me to read! And yep totally up for a buddy read any time x
Not surprised to see Jane Eyre in the top, to me it feels quite timeless in the personal struggles of someone pushing against their circumstances. Love the idea for this video - it'd be interesting to hear about the other side of the coin - the 10 most hated Vic. novels, because from what I've heard Wuthering Heights could easily make it to that list too, haha. Love that it's the Bronte sisters in the top three. Currently reading Great Expectations after being hesitant about Dickens for a long time and really liking it so far.
Nice to hear you are enjoying Dickens now that you have picked him up. I hope I do too!
The 10 most hated Victorian novels would be very interesting indeed.
Funny that you've mentioned it, Natalie, guess on which side I am with Wuthering Heights. 😉🤣
I'm participating in the Dickens' The Pickwick Papers readathon, because I've created my own project to read (or in some cases re-read) one of his novels a year and doing that in chronological order, so this readalong suited me perfectly.
Love your Victorian rabbit hole research! Shockingly I've read all of these but many of them a long long time ago and would reread them all in a heartbeat. Rereading Vanity Fair this year and I think it's fabulous. I love Bleak House but if you want real Dickens advice Katie from Books and Things is the one to go to.
Love that you have read them all x
Jane Eyre for the win! (I need to read Far From the Madding Crowd).
Yes you do!
My Reading Days I know I do! ;)
I remember really enjoying Great Expectations (I read it like 15 years ago). I started David Copperfield a few years ago but never finished it.
I have a few of those books that are sitting there unfinished
Those are number one and number two on my list as well! Very clever and love them so much! Thankyou love your Aussie accent! I’ve been to Western Australia twice , family there and I love it! I’m reading wives and daughters this victober!
Enjoy Wives and Daughters! It holds such a special place in my heart.
Love you like the Aussie accent. There's not a lot of us flying around Booktube. How exciting that you have been to WA. I haven't even been there!
Great video. My favorite Victorian novel is North and South, and I also love the play The Importance of Being Earnest. I recommend David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, it has wonderful storytelling and characters. The audiobook narrated by Nicholas Boulton is great. For Victober, I'm reading The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot.
Isn't North and South wonderful. I really love Gaskell's stories.
Thanks for the David Copperfied recommendation.
Great video, lots of books I fancy reading now. I've read Bleak House and Vanity Fair last year and loved both. Think I need to read Gaskell books next especially since I live 10 miles from where she wrote and based her books, it a crime I not read them before now xx
What a place to live!
Your list of Victorian novels does seem to be the most talked about and recommended on Booktube. I've read eight of them and nearly all of them are among my favourites. I haven't read Bleak House or Vanity Fair yet but they will be on a future Victober TBR. My favourite Victorian novel would be a tie between Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell and The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. I've read six of Hardy's novels and four of Gaskell's and am slowly reading all of their works - they are too good to rush. So far this Victober i'm nearly half way through Daniel Deronda by George Eliot and i've nearly finished the read along of The Importance of Being Ernest. I'm really interested in your thoughts on The Warden by Anthony Trollope as it is well known that it is quite a 'dry' read because of the church politics. Before reading The Warden I had already watched the BBC TV production of The Barchester Chronicles which incorporates the first two novels The Warden and Barchester Towers, so I actually think it made The Warden an easier read for me. If you can find a copy of the TV series then please watch it if only for Alan Rickman's performance as the slimy cringe-worthy Obadiah Slope.
The church politics were definitely hard for me to get into with The Warden but I am really enjoying it now I have settled in. Thanks for the heads up with the BBC series. I will try and find it.
Love your Victorian reading. Enjoy!
Dickens - try A Christmas Carol, it’s short, it’s fun, it’s nearly Xmas (! ) and it invented Xmas. I love David Copperfield but it’s too long for Victober, but A Tale of Two Cities and Oliver Twist are also short. I haven’t read Bleak House. I haven’t ( shock horror ) read any Trollope as far as I remember. Thomas Hardy - we went to see his birthplace and the house he lived in as an adult. It was a glorious sunny day. Heaven.
I personally put Wuthering Heights on a gothic horror list. It’s full of nastiness, vindictiveness and a ghost. Perfect Halloween!
I don’t see Jane Eyre as having a strong female lead, yes she has strength but she’s also got a soft centre. You decide! x😊
Nice to hear another side to Jane Eyre. Can't wait to see where I sit.
Would have loved a sunny day visiting all things Hardy. Sounds delightful.
I love Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Thank you lovely x
My fave Dickens is Great Expectations. Since you and Doris both love Far From the Maddening crowd I obviously need to read that one. I am super interested in Vanity Fair as well.
Heidi you would love Far from the Madding Crowd!
I need to give the Brontes another go round I think. Not for this Victober, but maybe soon.
It's so hard to revisit things when there are just too many books to read!
Great Expectations!!
Thanks for sharing your research with us. I am not surprised at all by Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights but I am surprised that Dickens isn’t higher up the list!
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall was a huge surprise!
I have read all of these books, except 'Wives and Daughters', which is on my TBR. I loved all of them.
I'm amazed that you have never read 'Jane Eyre'. I can definitely see why it's the top favourite.
'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' is one of my all-time favourite books. I've read 'Agnes Grey' too, but can't figure out why it's deemed to be the better of the two of Anne Bronte's books. I can't remember a single thing about it, but TTOWH has stayed with me.
You've definitely got the wrong end of the stick with Dickens. 'Bleak House' moves between shabby places in London to a grand country estate, and has several strong female characters. In fact the characterizations in that book are particularly rich. The famous opening chapter describing the interminable Jaundyce v Jaundyce case I found a bit heavy, but I was soon fully absorbed and often laughing out loud.
'Great Expectations' has the famous Miss Havisham, one of the great female characters of literature, and again moves from the shabby to the elegant.
I suspect your impression of Dickens comes from his being lauded for his descriptions of poverty. But I think the reason this gets praise has much to do with no one else before him paying the poor much notice, much less treating them with sympathy. Dickens books are written on a wide canvas, portraying a broad cross-section of society.
Thank you x
So insightful!
'Bleak House' is definitely a work of genius.
Don't spoil it by watching it first, but when you're done, treat yourself to the most recent BBC production. Gillian Anderson is exquisite as Lady Dedlock, and Charles Dance is excellent as Tulkinghorn.
I prefer Wilkie Collins . I recommend you.🥰
Wilkie Collins was definitely voted on but didn’t make the Top 10. I will absolutely follow your recommendation soon I hope. Thank you
Half of _Bleak House_ is written in first person by a _female._ I'm reading _Our Mutual Friend_ now and it's a corker.
I would also recommend 'Little Dorritt'
Great video idea! I love the Tenant of Wildfell Hall, I actually liked it more than Jane Eyre :)
I am so intrigued by The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I just thought it was a middle of the road book but apparently not
@@NatalieMeree I might even put it in my top 10 favourite books! I hope you'll read it soon :)
Thanks for all the work!
You are lovely - thank you
I have a controversial opinion that I think Bathsheba Everdeen was a horrible person who ends up screwing up a lot of lives with her game playing. Eek, sorry! Also, if you haven’t read Wuthering Heights, don’t go into it thinking it’s a love story... it’s more of a revenge story with a weirdly obsessive “love” subplot.
Two completely different views. I love it! Thank you for sharing x
My Reading Days maybe I need a Madding Crowd re-read because my view of her is definitely the minority opinion!
The sound on your video (is it me??) is almost non-existent. Still, I made it through the list. I've read only 3 of the 10, but they are all favorites (Great Expectations, Far From..., and Jane Eyre). I'll have to read Lizzie G. and the other two Bronte's. Thanks for posting.
Thumbnail was tight for this video (comments you never expected)
You are right - very unexpected. Thank you
I’m reading, My Absolute Darling, a tough read, emotionally!!!!!
I just looked that up - very emotionally heavy. Good luck!
Brontes blew it out of the water. My favorite is The Monk by Matthew Lewis. I guess I like a psychotic monk killing women more than a strong female. Lol 😳 I’ve been listening to a ton of nonfiction on audible, but just picked up a fun one, Joe Hills Full Throttle.
Go Brontes! Laughing about the psychotic monk hahaha
Of Human Bondage?
Somerset Maugham
Jane Eyre was my favourite but as for Wuthering Heights I just didn’t like it at all. Maybe one day I’ll revisit it to see what everyone else sees in it.
I can’t believe how many people have commented saying the same thing about Wuthering Heights. I don’t think you need to revisit it. There are too many good books to read without revisiting books you didn’t like...
David copper field is one of dickens best
It’s definitely on the list!
I enjoyed _Vanity Fair,_ but I love wicked humor and satire, so it's right up my alley.
Start with _Great Expectations._ Yes, he's a "city" author and often writes about male characters, but there are some fascinating women in _Great Expectations._ I've not read _Bleak House,_ and it's a major chunker.
Sounds like it will be right up my alley too
Can someone recommend me a Victorian romance with smut
Oooo I want to know that too!!
Great Expectations. I loved Vanity Fair and he was kind to Charlotte Bronte according to her bio. Dorian Grey is a fast read. Bleak House should be mandatory reading also Dickens is great for complicated sentence structure and plot instead of stream of consciousness nightmares. I think Middlemarch is overrated.
Audio 😥
Research of lists by college jrs.