BBC's best British novels - Page 3

ElspethB · 12-10-2015, 10:41 AM

I tried and tried to read Middlemarch but would inevitably fall asleep midway through a paragraph (I mostly read at night). Then last spring I started listening to the unabridged recording narrated by Juliet Stevenson on my long commutes, and I was hooked. Many times I would sit in the car in my driveway just to listen longer. I highly recommend both the novel and that audio version of it.

issybird · 12-10-2015, 10:46 AM

As for Jude the Obscure, it's at the top of my "most depressing" list.

pdurrant · 12-10-2015, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

As for Jude the Obscure, it's at the top of my "most depressing" list.

Cough. Only moderators can see the interim results of the poll. The results will be visible to all when the poll closes in a few weeks.

I think a big reveal at the end will be more fun.

issybird · 12-10-2015, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Cough. Only moderators can see the interim results of the poll. The results will be visible to all when the poll closes in a few weeks.

I think a big reveal at the end will be more fun.

Oopsy! Apologies and fixing.

doubleshuffle · 12-10-2015, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

As for Jude the Obscure, it's at the top of my "most depressing" list.

Indeed. I think that's what the Dalek in the latest Doctor Who episode was reading.

SleepyBob · 12-10-2015, 12:23 PM

Ugh. I don't know how Heart of Darkness got on there. That has to be pretty much the least memorable book I ever read.

Rizla · 12-10-2015, 01:58 PM

The people who voted this top 25 are a pretty dull bunch. No Harry Potter, no LOTR, no Iain Banks, no Arthur C. Clarke. But we get two Virgina Woolf in the top 25. What a joke. I guess this is what's meant by the literary snobocracy.

soulfuldog · 12-10-2015, 02:14 PM

I've only read three in total. The two read at school were Great Expectations & Pride and Prejudice, and I didn't really like either of them, but then I don't like 'old' books never mind ancient ones set in the 1800's!

The only one I've read myself is Nineteen Eighty-Four, and I read it after Ira Levin's This Perfect Day, which I enjoyed a lot more.

doubleshuffle · 12-10-2015, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rizla

No Harry Potter

No Enid Blyton either!

HarryT · 12-10-2015, 03:38 PM

I think it's very unlikely that any children's book would make a "great novels" list. I love reading children's books myself, but by their very nature they don't have the depth of character development that makes a great novel great.

badgoodDeb · 12-10-2015, 03:39 PM

I read Jane Eyre when I was .... under 13. Not sure exactly, but it was in my grandfather's bookcase, and we moved when I was 13, so I was younger than that.

I was scarred for life. All I remember was the fact of a mad-woman living in the attic and everything being really weird. I haven't been able to touch anything by any Bronte since. Except for movie versions, which are basically "Clif Notes".

Wearever · 12-10-2015, 04:31 PM

I've read 7 in the Top 25 list. I also liked Lord of the Flies, read it in 7th grade. There are more books I liked below the Top 25 then above.

Hitch · 12-10-2015, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

As for Jude the Obscure, it's at the top of my "most depressing" list.

+1. I mean, for the love of heaven. It's bloody hard to finish that book.

Hitch

HarryT · 12-10-2015, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hitch

+1. I mean, for the love of heaven. It's bloody hard to finish that book.

Hitch

It is a little lacking in the "feel good factor"

. So are most of Hardy's books, come to that. Not a great fan of happy endings, our Thomas!

Hitch · 12-10-2015, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

It is a little lacking in the "feel good factor"

. So are most of Hardy's books, come to that. Not a great fan of happy endings, our Thomas!

Screw the endings, it's just dread dire reading. I don't always have to have "happy-happy joy-joy" books, but, man. That put me off reading Hardy for years. And when I did--as you said--he's not a feel-good kind of writer. That doesn't mean that I don't think that folks ought to read a few, but, patently, not for the normal type of reading enjoyment.

Hitch

View Poll Results: Which of these "25 Best British Novels" have you read?
Middlemarch (George Eliot, 1874)	31	25.83%
To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf, 1927)	25	20.83%
Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf, 1925)	24	20.00%
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens, 1861)	64	53.33%
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë, 1847)	68	56.67%
Bleak House (Charles Dickens, 1853)	32	26.67%
Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë, 1847)	63	52.50%
David Copperfield (Charles Dickens, 1850)	46	38.33%
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818)	67	55.83%
Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray, 1848)	19	15.83%
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen, 1813)	76	63.33%
Nineteen Eighty-four (George Orwell, 1949)	97	80.83%
The Good Soldier (Ford Madox Ford, 1915)	12	10.00%
Clarissa (Samuel Richardson, 1748)	5	4.17%
Atonement (Ian McEwan, 2001)	22	18.33%
The Waves (Virginia Woolf, 1931)	11	9.17%
Howards End (EM Forster, 1910)	25	20.83%
The Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro, 1989)	29	24.17%
Emma (Jane Austen, 1815)	49	40.83%
Persuasion (Jane Austen, 1817)	49	40.83%
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad, 1899)	44	36.67%
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (Henry Fielding, 1749)	23	19.17%
Jude the Obscure (Thomas Hardy, 1895)	17	14.17%
The Golden Notebook (Doris Lessing, 1962)	10	8.33%
White Teeth (Zadie Smith, 2000)	9	7.50%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 120. You may not vote on this poll

12-10-2015, 10:46 AM	#32
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,294 Karma: 234636059 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	As for Jude the Obscure, it's at the top of my "most depressing" list. Last edited by issybird; 12-10-2015 at 10:59 AM.

12-10-2015, 01:58 PM	#37
Rizla Member Retired Posts: 3,183 Karma: 11721895 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Nook STR (rooted) & Sony T2	The people who voted this top 25 are a pretty dull bunch. No Harry Potter, no LOTR, no Iain Banks, no Arthur C. Clarke. But we get two Virgina Woolf in the top 25. What a joke. I guess this is what's meant by the literary snobocracy. Last edited by Rizla; 12-10-2015 at 02:15 PM.

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12-10-2015, 10:41 AM	#31
ElspethB Passionate Reader Posts: 276 Karma: 1829152 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Central Jersey, USA Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab S3, Kobo Clara HD, Fire HD 8, Voyage, Oasis 3, PW5	I tried and tried to read Middlemarch but would inevitably fall asleep midway through a paragraph (I mostly read at night). Then last spring I started listening to the unabridged recording narrated by Juliet Stevenson on my long commutes, and I was hooked. Many times I would sit in the car in my driveway just to listen longer. I highly recommend both the novel and that audio version of it.

12-10-2015, 12:23 PM	#36
SleepyBob Evangelist Posts: 426 Karma: 8522810 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Wisconsin, USA Device: Kindle PW3	Ugh. I don't know how Heart of Darkness got on there. That has to be pretty much the least memorable book I ever read.

12-10-2015, 02:14 PM	#38
soulfuldog I ♥ Calibre Posts: 2,073 Karma: 5678911 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis, Voyage, Sony PRS-350, Hudl2	I've only read three in total. The two read at school were Great Expectations & Pride and Prejudice, and I didn't really like either of them, but then I don't like 'old' books never mind ancient ones set in the 1800's! The only one I've read myself is Nineteen Eighty-Four, and I read it after Ira Levin's This Perfect Day, which I enjoyed a lot more.

12-10-2015, 03:38 PM	#40
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I think it's very unlikely that any children's book would make a "great novels" list. I love reading children's books myself, but by their very nature they don't have the depth of character development that makes a great novel great.

12-10-2015, 03:39 PM	#41
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,550 Karma: 64462893 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	I read Jane Eyre when I was .... under 13. Not sure exactly, but it was in my grandfather's bookcase, and we moved when I was 13, so I was younger than that. I was scarred for life. All I remember was the fact of a mad-woman living in the attic and everything being really weird. I haven't been able to touch anything by any Bronte since. Except for movie versions, which are basically "Clif Notes".

12-10-2015, 04:31 PM	#42
Wearever Wizard Posts: 1,063 Karma: 10944084 Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: New England Device: Oasis 2,Voyage, Kindlle hdx 8.9, Ipad mini 4. Air 2	I've read 7 in the Top 25 list. I also liked Lord of the Flies, read it in 7th grade. There are more books I liked below the Top 25 then above.

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