Tuesday Tea: What's your favorite classic novel and why?
Let's get old-timey up in here
Let's talk old books! We thought it would be fun to generate a list of your favorite classics and why you love them. How we define 'classic' can be kind of thorny. A nice, loose rule of thumb is a book that's at least 50 years old. (If you need a prompt, this is a good list of 100 must-read classics.)
Dave says...
One of my favorite classics is Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. As a poor kid who went to a private school, there’s resonance for me. I first read this book surrounded by the children of lawyers and doctors, who are now themselves lawyers and doctors. The dissection of the American dream is amazing for such a short work — plus I like to think about the grand parties of that time.
Mel says...
This time of year, I get excited about reading Spooky Season books — horror, Gothic, anything that evokes the fall — and literary classics. Something about the cool weather makes me want to commit to a long read with a period sensibility, and if it's infused with a Gothic atmosphere, that's all the better.
Which is a longish way to say: I'm currently listening to Jane Eyre (narrated by the sublime Juliet Stevenson) for the eleventy-billionth time. Whenever I read this story, it evokes a different set of feelings than the last time. Charlotte Brontë has packed so much meaning and emotion into its pages, it's new on each re-read. Sometimes Rochester makes me swoon; others, I want to punch him in the nose. The Gothic vibes are consistently (deliciously) spooky, and Jane is a heroine for the ages. #TeamJane4Ever
Jane Austen’s six novels. I read them starting each January to get me through the long dark nights of winter. A tradition of half a century now!
I love The Secret Garden. I love the story and how when I read it, I’m 10 years old again…There have been surprisingly good movie adaptations over the years, and I loved The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, which played tribute to The Secret Garden and featured Frances Hodgson Burnett as a minor character.