What's Your Favorite Classic Novel!

Jonathan Figaro · Jan 24, 2012

I cannot tell a lie. I'm 23 year olds and I still think peter pan is probably one of the bestwritten book I've ever read. I don't know about you, but when I see the opening lines, " All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this." I'm like, they sure don't make books like this anymore..lol.

So I ask everyone. What's your favorite novel and why? Also what makes a book a classic?

gothicangel · Jan 24, 2012

Jonathan Figaro said:
I cannot tell a lie. I'm 23 year olds and I still think peter pan is probably one of the bestwritten book I've ever read. I don't know about you, but when I see the opening lines, " All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this." I'm like, they sure don't make books like this anymore..lol.

So I ask everyone. What's your favorite novel and why? Also what makes a book a classic?

What do we mean as classic? Is there a time limit?

Favourite classic novel: The Eagle of the Ninth [Rosemary Sutcliff]

Favourite classic-classic novel: Kidnapped [Robert Louis Stevenson]

Phaeal · Jan 24, 2012

It would be by Jane Austen, but who could decide between Emma and Pride and Prejudice? Or Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion? Or even Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park?

So it would have to be an omnibus edition of Jane.

virtue_summer · Jan 24, 2012

I don't know how we're defining classic in this thread, but I'm going to say Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

dolores haze · Jan 24, 2012

For classic I'm going to personally define it as something more than a hundred years old. Based upon the amount of times I've re-read it I'll have to go with Les Liasons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos. Absolutely unputdownable every single time.

DeleyanLee · Jan 24, 2012

I take "classic" to mean that it appeals to generations beyond the one it was written for/in.

My favorite is The Scarlet Pimpernel. It's a fun adventure story wrapped in a love story with social commentary that makes me think long after I've finished reading.

Grunkins · Jan 24, 2012

Moby Dick. Greatest novel ever, greatest prose ever.

zahra · Jan 24, 2012

Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair'. Wonderful characters. Becky Sharp is one of the best anti-heroines in literature.

crunchyblanket · Jan 24, 2012

Hm. I have three: 'Rebecca' by Daphne Du Maurier, 'Slaughterhouse 5' by Kurt Vonnegut and 'Lord Of The Flies' by William Golding.

(I consider them classics, anyway)

Marumae · Jan 24, 2012

Definitely agree with the OP on 'Peter Pan' that's number four on my list of top four, but before them it's "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, "Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum, "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen.

Chandy · Jan 24, 2012

Nothing beats The Great Gatsby to me.

Although To Kill a Mockingbird is a very close second.

Hansey · Jan 24, 2012

crunchyblanket said:
... 'Slaughterhouse 5' by Kurt Vonnegut ...

Yay, another Slaughterhouse 5 fan! It's one of my favorites also.

I also adore Watership Down by Richard Adams.

Hip-Hop-a-potamus · Jan 24, 2012

Crunchy beat me to "Rebecca" and Chandy beat me to "To Kill a Mockingbird." I'll also add "Native Son" and "East of Eden."

Jamesaritchie · Jan 24, 2012

Too many to choose from. Huckleberry Finn, Kidnapped, Robinson crusoe, Wuthering Heights, almost anything by Dickens, or London, or half a dozen other writers.

I think you have to break classics down by genre. Then I can start naming favorites.
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readitnweep · Jan 24, 2012

Pride & Prejudice and Rob Roy for classics defined as before the current (or previous) generation.

Other than that I'd say my favorite is Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck.

scarletpeaches · Jan 24, 2012

dolores haze said:
For classic I'm going to personally define it as something more than a hundred years old. Based upon the amount of times I've re-read it I'll have to go with Les Liasons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos. Absolutely unputdownable every single time.

Oh, I read that recently, encouraged by an online friend who's a French Literature nut. Loved it. Kept picturing John Malkovich, though.

I define 'classic' as something on my bookcases with a matching spine, with 'vintage' or 'classic' printed somewhere on it.

My favourite would probably be Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, which I've read three times.

magicmint · Jan 24, 2012

Frankenstein for me

blacbird · Jan 24, 2012

I'll confine my definition as books written before my lifetime.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain.

close second:

The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

caw

Alvah · Jan 24, 2012

David Copperfield by Dickens

Baliseth · Jan 24, 2012

I'm with blacbird, The Count of Monte Cristo" is my all time favorite classic book.

Laineywrites · Jan 24, 2012

DeleyanLee said:
My favorite is The Scarlet Pimpernel. It's a fun adventure story wrapped in a love story with social commentary that makes me think long after I've finished reading.

This is one of my all time favorites! When a production of The Scarlet Pimpernel came to Broadway I was one of the first people on line.

Laineywrites · Jan 24, 2012

Hansey said:
I also adore Watership Down by Richard Adams.

Another one of my favorites! I can't choose just one, but if I was forced to, I'd have to say A Tale of Two Cities. Love it.

elindsen · Jan 24, 2012

I define classic as 50 years or older. I love The Great Gatspy(?)

elindsen · Jan 24, 2012

Hansey said:
I also adore Watership Down by Richard Adams.

I forgot this one, but YES! Totally awesome!

Smish · Jan 24, 2012

My very favorite is To Kill a Mockingbird. 1984 and Lord of the Flies probably round out my top three.

What's Your Favorite Classic Novel!

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