Google Greatest Novels. Every list you find includes what I call the “unreadables” – Carissa, Middlemarch, Proust and Joyce. Moby Dick probably merits inclusion, but I along with many in my generation was forced to plow through it in high school. Anyone who has actually finished Ulysses, like my oldest daughter, has my admiration. However, she says she hated it.
Of course everyone has their favorite classic. I suspect Pride & Prejudice is the most popular. Everyone loves the irreverent Lizzy. Kristen is a bit like her.
You have to be interested in the Napoleonic Wars to follow War & Peace, which I did. But you can skip the historical expositions on the Great Man Theory and enjoy the romance those that end sadly and the uplifting ending. I hope the new BBC version does it justice.
By the way if any of you have finished In Search of Lost Time let me know. I’ll spring for a beer while you tell me about it.
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