Quote:
Originally Posted by BookCat
[...] While I love Dickens' novels, I'm not looking for non fiction. His novels are fairly easy to read imho. Thanks anyway.
[...]
I hope I haven't offended anyone with my reactions to the recommendations.
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I agree that Dickens' novels are fairly easy reading, which was why I suggested some non-fiction as they do present more of a challenge. (Well, that and the assumption that you'd probably read at least some Dickens's fiction.) But, non-fiction is something I definitely have to be in the mood for, so I can easily understand it not being what you want.
I wonder if you might like to try:
The Little White Bird by J.M. Barrie. (1902)
(The edition I read was off Project Gutenberg, because I read it long before GrannyGrump's kind addition to the MR library.)
Don't be put off (or otherwise) by its associations with Peter Pan, there is much more to it than that. It's probably not that challenging in the grammar or writing style sense (you probably have to go older than 1902 for much of that), but there are depths to the story and characters that I found wonderfully well portrayed. There is a particular charm, I thought, in the early chapters and again in the last.
If you haven't already read any of Wilkie Collins (eg:
The Woman in White,
The Moonstone) then you may find interest the writing style of these and other novels of his. I enjoyed these very much. Again, there are good clean editions here on MR.