# The Best CLASSIC novel of ALL TIME!



## William L.K. (Aug 5, 2010)

OK, I thought this might be fun.
I am talking about CLASSIC novels only.

Which is the best of ALL TIME? In your opinion.

I am going to say my all-time favorite in terms of story, writing quality and substance is _Dune_
I just think Frank Herbert was an absolute genius.


----------



## Hippie2MARS (Sep 3, 2010)

Jane Eyre


----------



## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

_Pride and Prejudice_ (or _To Kill a Mockingbird_. The hopeless romantic in me has to put P&P first. (Of course, to my way of thinking, the question is like asking who one's favorite child is. For some people, that might be easy ( ), but for others of us, it would be impossible.)


----------



## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

Les Miserables


----------



## a7dk (Jan 17, 2010)

Uh, I have to pick JUST ONE!! That is like choosing one's favorite child - ouch!

I'll say The Grapes of Wrath, since you force me to limit myself...but I'll think of 5 more as soon as I hit "reply"!


----------



## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

My experience with classics is sadly limited. From the few I've read, I'd pick...

The Hobbit  .


----------



## 13500 (Apr 22, 2010)

Definitely Pride and Prejudice.


----------



## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Well, first, I think we need to settle on what is considered to be "classic." As much as I like _Dune_, I have difficulty considering anything written during my lifetime to be a classic. (An it's not like I'm all that old: still 13 more years before I qualify for full Social Security benefits.  )


----------



## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

NogDog said:


> Well, first, I think we need to settle on what is considered to be "classic." As much as I like _Dune_, I have difficulty considering anything written during my lifetime to be a classic. (An it's not like I'm all that old: still 13 more years before I qualify for full Social Security benefits.  )


I agree, I refuse! Refuse I say *while waving a stick in the air* to call ANY book written in my life time a "classic" , now a book that could potentially be a classic that was written in my lifetime, yip, got a list. But "classic"... where did I put that stick..

P.S I have 19 1/2 years before I qualify for social security, and I still feel this strongly about it


----------



## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I agree with Nog: What's a Classic? 'Cause in my "Classics" collection on my Kindle I have both _Hithhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ and _The Princess Bride_.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

My gut reaction to _Dune_ was, that's a classic?  I tend to think of classics as things I was required to read in high school, but mostly didn't. By that standard, Pride and Prejudice is my favorite, as it is the one of the few that I read. And I did like it.

Betsy


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I think that of the books I had to read, I would pick _Moby Dick_.


----------



## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

Very loosely defined, I think "classic" could entail any book a modern college and university wants to teach in general literature courses. Personally, I think that's a little too loose, so will add a 50 years minimum qualifying clause.

So...

*Best Modern American Classic:*
_Lolita_ by Vladimir Nabokov or maybe _The Sound and Fury_ by William Faulkner

*Best Pre-Modern American Classic:*
_Moby-Dick_ by Herman Melville

*Best Modern British Classic:*
? Let me think about it. Maybe _Ulysses_ by James Joyce.

*Best Pre-Modern British Classic:*
_Jude the Obscure_ by Thomas Hardy


----------



## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

_Les Miserables. To Kill a Mockingbird. The Stranger. Dracula_.


----------



## J.M Pierce (May 13, 2010)

I'm torn between Of Mice & Men and To Kill A Mockingbird.


----------



## Thalia the Muse (Jan 20, 2010)

wow, that's hard. 20th Century classic, I'd probably have to go with "the big read" by Marcel Proust. Call it In Search of Lost Time or Remembrance of Things Past, it's huge, funny, sad, gossipy, lyrical, and endlessly entertaining. It's hard to pass up Lolita and Light in August, though. And there's The Master and Margarita, too.

Pre-20th Century, I've probably gotten the most pleasure from my readings of Jane Eyre and David Copperfied. I'm a sucker for coming-of-age stories!


----------



## William L.K. (Aug 5, 2010)

I suppose the term "ClASSIC" has a substantial amount of variables. 
But I still stand by my assertion that _DUNE _ ranks way up on the list. 
I feel there is backlash sometimes against pure sci-fi as being not worthy of so-called CLASSIC recognition, and that's ashame.

Of course, I could be completely wrong about this also, it's been known to happen. lol


----------



## div (Aug 25, 2010)

_Of Mice and Men_

Is Stephen King's _It_considered a classic yet?


----------



## Joel Arnold (May 3, 2010)

Bridges of Madison County.

Okay, kidding...

I guess I'd go with The Brothers Karamazov by that Fyodor fella.


----------



## William Meikle (Apr 19, 2010)

NogDog said:


> Well, first, I think we need to settle on what is considered to be "classic." As much as I like _Dune_, I have difficulty considering anything written during my lifetime to be a classic. (An it's not like I'm all that old: still 13 more years before I qualify for full Social Security benefits.  )


I'm with you... CLASSIC to me means at least pre-WWII. Heck, I remember reading DUNE in its serial form in ANALOG.

Either "Gulliver's Travels" or "Pride and Prejudice" would get my vote in the "adult" category, with "Peter Pan" or "Treasure Island" in the children's section.


----------



## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

If we're talking about modern classics, I would have to pick Daphne Du Maurier's _Rebecca_. It faultlessly combines so many elements of literary and genre fiction into an incredibly satisfying whole.


----------



## Nick Steckel (Sep 2, 2010)

Going with Joyce's "Ulysses" here.


----------



## tdmsu (Feb 5, 2010)

I'll second The Grapes of Wrath. 
Native Son is right up there, too.


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

_Les Miserables_, _The Three Musketeers_ and _To Kill A Mockingbird_ are absolutely a few of my favorite books.

Whether any of them are "the best classic novel of all time", I'll leave to someone else. All I know is that I loved them.


----------



## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

Treasure Island


----------



## William Meikle (Apr 19, 2010)

Dawn McCullough White said:


> Treasure Island


I knew I liked you


----------



## Dawn McCullough White (Feb 24, 2010)

williemeikle said:


> I knew I liked you


::blush::


----------



## Guest (Oct 4, 2010)

*Catch-22*


----------



## Debra Purdy Kong (Apr 1, 2009)

Yes, I guess classic is probably something we should define. Although I loved Dune, I don't think of it as a classic. But for me, it's To Kill a Mockingbird.

Debra


----------



## M.S. Verish (Feb 26, 2010)

The Neverending Story  -  by Michael Ende


----------



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

_To Kill a Mockingbird_ is my favorite book (and film) of all time. I still tend to think of it is modern literature not a classic. But I'm old. 

Betsy


----------



## William L.K. (Aug 5, 2010)

Well, I doubt we will ever be able to all agree on a single definition of what _Classic _ really is. So, instead, here is my proposition. Can we agree that a classic would be a novel that has/or will stand the test of time (In your opinion).

In other words, a novel that appeals to more than one generation of readers.

That leaves it pretty open ended. 
Again, that is why I still believe _Dune_ to be classic. It's just an opinion, but it certainly has stood the test of time so far.


----------



## Chloista (Jun 27, 2009)

East of Eden by John Steinbeck.  It says everything that I believe in for me.  Greatest book I ever read.


----------



## purplepen79 (May 6, 2010)

scififan said:


> In other words, a novel that appeals to more than one generation of readers.


That's a great definition. And thinking about it, I would have to pick _To Kill A Mockingbird _ over _Rebecca_. Daphne Du Maurier's writing is beautiful and her characters compelling, but Harper Lee captured a whole society and its mores while at the same time creating unforgettable individual characters. And, for being a fairly short, easily read book, _To Kill a Mockingbird _ touches on so many universal truths. And I'll repeat easily read--to me that's a biggie. A writer should be able to write a novel so that it seems effortless yet still portrays universal truths, and Harper Lee definitely accomplishes this. _To Kill a Mockingbird _ has no stylistic pretenses, and to me, that makes it a timeless work.


----------



## Addie (Jun 10, 2009)

_East of Eden_


----------



## Markus_Kane (Sep 10, 2010)

Ask me tomorrow and my answer will probably be different. But today:

Catch-22


----------



## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

One Hundred Years of Solitude is pretty incredible. I'd say it's a classic, though it's not as old as some.


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

scififan said:


> Well, I doubt we will ever be able to all agree on a single definition of what _Classic _ really is. So, instead, here is my proposition. Can we agree that a classic would be a novel that has/or will stand the test of time (In your opinion).
> 
> In other words, a novel that appeals to more than one generation of readers.
> 
> ...


As much as I like _Dune_, even within SF it does not quite make it to the top of my list. I'm not entirely decided which SF book would be my classic favorite, but I'd probably go with Zelazny's _Lord of Light_, based on my having read it more times than any other SF book I might consider to be "classic" -- unless you include his "Amber" novels in the SF category (most consider them fantasy) in which case I'd rate the first series about Corwin ahead of _Lord of Light_. And if I use the criteria of most-read, the Amber books would beat everything in any genre hands down for me.


----------



## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

"Wuthering Heights."  "Pride and Prejudice."  "The Count of Monte Cristo."  "The House of Mirth."  Etc.

I read "Dune" ages ago and enjoyed it quite a bit.  As a sci-fi classic - sure, I'll buy that.


----------



## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Catch-22.  Now, how could I forget to list that one?  I must have read that book three or four times by now.


----------



## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

_Gone with the Wind_ - romance, history, drama, a brilliant host of charaters, this gets my vote. Epic film too.


----------



## Carolyn A (Jul 25, 2010)

Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".

Carolyn


----------



## Patricia (Dec 30, 2008)

Gone with the Wind is what first popped into my head, too.


----------



## lorezskyline (Apr 19, 2010)

1984 - great book and will always remain relevent.


----------



## LauraB (Nov 23, 2008)

Carolyn A said:


> Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".
> 
> Carolyn


I read this every year.


----------



## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

LauraB said:


> I read this every year.


Me, too...and it's on my Kindle right now waiting to be read again. It's almost "that time."


----------



## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Ah, yes . . . . The Christmas Season. Almost time for the annual viewing of my all-time favorite Christmas movie-_On Her Majesty's Secret Service_. Never fails to bring a lump to my throat.


----------



## Tatiana (Aug 20, 2010)

Carolyn A said:


> Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".
> 
> Carolyn


I just told a friend yesterday that it soon would be time for my annual reading of this book.


----------



## redshift1 (Jun 20, 2009)

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West


----------



## tbrookside (Nov 4, 2009)

If we're allowed to use something as recent as _Catch-22_ or _To Kill A Mockingbird_ as classic, then I need to throw in Vonnegut's _Mother Night_ or John Gardner's _Grendel_.


----------



## Guest (Oct 5, 2010)

As I Lay Dying

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

Don Quixote


----------



## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Carolyn A said:


> Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".
> 
> Carolyn


Although technically this is considered a novella, not a novel.


----------



## Carolyn A (Jul 25, 2010)

A couple of people have said they read "A Christmas Carol" every year. I do too, and for the past couple of years, have added a modern novel, Rosamunde Pilcher's "Winter Solstice" as a pre-Christmas read. Not a classic (yet!) but really puts me in the mood for snow, Aga cookers, hot tea and chocolate biscuits, and brisk Scottish breezes.

too bad I live in North Carolina, where pre-Christmas weather hovers in the 60 degree temps, we do our Christmas shopping in shirtsleeves, and sometimes the trees aren't even bare yet.... 

Carolyn


----------



## Cardinal (Feb 24, 2010)

Classic: _The Three Musketeers_

20th Century Classic: _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_


----------



## Victorine (Apr 23, 2010)

My favorite classics: _A Christmas Carol_, _To Kill a Mockingbird_, and _Pride and Prejudice_. Oh, and _Little Women_.

Vicki


----------



## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

Carolyn A said:



> A couple of people have said they read "A Christmas Carol" every year. I do too, and for the past couple of years, have added a modern novel, Rosamunde Pilcher's "Winter Solstice" as a pre-Christmas read. Not a classic (yet!) but really puts me in the mood for snow, Aga cookers, hot tea and chocolate biscuits, and brisk Scottish breezes.
> 
> too bad I live in North Carolina, where pre-Christmas weather hovers in the 60 degree temps, we do our Christmas shopping in shirtsleeves, and sometimes the trees aren't even bare yet....
> 
> Carolyn


Oh, me, too. I love WINTER SOLSTICE. I'll have to get the eBook soon. I've only "read" the book as an audiobook, but it was wonderful.


----------



## Carolyn A (Jul 25, 2010)

The audiobook was great - Lynn Redgrave did a fabulous job - but imo it left out the most important line of the book!

Carolyn


----------



## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

Carolyn A said:


> The audiobook was great - Lynn Redgrave did a fabulous job - but imo it left out the most important line of the book!
> 
> Carolyn


Lynn Redgrave? I thought Lisa Burgett narrated the unabridged book I listened to. Hmmmm.


----------



## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

I've been hearing radio ads for a stage musical of _Jane Eyre._ I haven't read it, but when someone puts money into adapting a book to a new form so long after it was published, you know it has legs.

The oldest books I have read that I would happily read again include:

Frankenstein
The Adventures of Huck Finn
Candide


----------



## SuzanneTyrpak (Aug 10, 2010)

Tough question.

I love Edith Wharton, especially _The House of Mirth_. Anything by Henry James, Jane Austen, D.H. Lawrence, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Do plays count? Because I have a whole other list of those!


----------



## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Either  "Gone  With The  Wind"  or  "Anna  Karenina"


----------



## Fardog (Sep 6, 2010)

CATCHER IN THE RYE or Albert Camus' THE PLAGUE


----------



## buzzspark (Apr 26, 2010)

For me it's The Great Gatsby and The Picture of Dorian Gray.


----------



## Carolyn A (Jul 25, 2010)

Candee15 said:


> Lynn Redgrave? I thought Lisa Burgett narrated the unabridged book I listened to. Hmmmm.


I just looked it up - the Lynn Redgrave version was abridged, done in 2000. I borrowed it from the library, didn't even know until now that there was an unabridged version out there.

Carolyn


----------



## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

Carolyn A said:


> I just looked it up - the Lynn Redgrave version was abridged, done in 2000. I borrowed it from the library, didn't even know until now that there was an unabridged version out there.
> 
> Carolyn


That's kind of what I thought was the answer. I never listen to abridged books. I'm really quirky about that. I don't want to miss part of the book. The unabridged version of Winter Soltice was fantastic, and I would highly recommend it to anyone.


----------



## pahiker (Feb 27, 2010)

Pride and Prejudice!  Mr. Darcy is dreamy!


----------



## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

pahiker said:


> Pride and Prejudice! Mr. Darcy is dreamy!


Sure is..........<sigh>


----------



## Paul Clayton (Sep 12, 2009)

Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, Incident at Owl Creek Bridge, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Day of the Locusts, I love the American classics, The Nake and the Dead, From Here to Eternity,


----------



## Harry Shannon (Jul 30, 2010)

I could never pick just one, but if you put a gun to my head probably Moby Dick with honorable mention to The Grapes of Wrath or Mice and Men.


----------



## Monique (Jul 31, 2010)

pahiker said:


> Pride and Prejudice! Mr. Darcy is dreamy!


*sigh* So true.


----------



## strawhatbrat (Aug 20, 2010)

I like the Count of Monte Cristo. The Decameron is great, too.


----------



## Candee15 (Jan 31, 2010)

strawhatbrat said:


> I like the Count of Monte Cristo. The Decameron is great, too.


I never heard of The Decameron so I went to Manybooks.net and downloaded it. I love finding "new" reads. Thank you!!!


----------



## bsabiston (Sep 16, 2010)

Count of Monte Cristo


----------



## warobison (Aug 29, 2010)

Of all the classics I have read (or have been forced to read), _A Tale of Two Cities_ is by far the best. I've gone back and reread it many times during the last fifty years. (And now its on my kindle, so I'm reading it once again!)

How about a list of the WORST classic you were ever forced to read. Mine is Ole Rolvaag's _Giants in the Earth_. Maybe it isn't quite as bad as I remember because I did have a terrible case of flu at the time.


----------



## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

Anna Karenina. Utterly fantastic book. Close seconds: David Copperfield, Brave New World (though, I guess that's still a bit young), and The Count of Monte Christo. Steinbeck's Sweet Thursday as a light, finger-food classic.


----------



## 5711 (Sep 18, 2009)

I'm going with two:

_The Spy Who Came In From The Cold_

_Confederacy of Dunces_

I got a lot more in mind but these popped up first. If these aren't classic yet, they will be (I hope).


----------



## amira50 (Nov 10, 2010)

The Brothers Karamazov.


----------



## M. G. Scarsbrook (Nov 22, 2010)

TREASURE ISLAND by Robert Louis Stevenson - intelligent and imaginative style, compelling from chapter to chapter, memorable characters, appeals to young and old people. Need i say more?


----------



## Basilius (Feb 20, 2010)

Debra Purdy Kong said:


> Yes, I guess classic is probably something we should define. Although I loved Dune, I don't think of it as a classic. But for me, it's To Kill a Mockingbird.
> 
> Debra


Um... you know that Dune and To Kill a Mockingbird were only published five years apart, right?

To me "classic" means out of copyright.


----------



## AnnetteL (Jul 14, 2010)

Interesting lists. "Classic" really is so relative.

I'm listening to Dune right now. Interesting and fun, and I see why it's got such a cult following, but on a sheer writing level, my editor brain keeps rewriting stuff. (Holy point-of-view head hopping, Batman! And that's just for starters.)

Never did understand why Catcher in the Rye was so big. When I read it, I came away with, "Meh."

Totally I agree that To Kill a Mockingbird is right up there. Rebecca, too. Pride & Prejudice, definitely. And then I have to throw in Anne of Green Gables, not only because LMM hooked me on writing harder than ever with it, but because its appeal reaches across age and generations. It's 100+ years old and going strong.


----------



## sotto (Nov 29, 2010)

I want to cast a vote in favor of "Roughing It" by Mark Twain. Absolutely and hilariously fascinating look at the Old West through the eyes of someone who actually lived it, particularly the sections on silver and gold prospecting and mining. I read the book many years ago, and then promptly also read "Innocents Abroad", also wonderful. "Roughing It" was the first book I downloaded onto my Kindle 3. I read sections of it over and over, studying Twain's style and word-choices, and savoring the comedic moments that never seem to get old. "The deadest person that ever lived." Hilarious!

I'm going to work my way through all of his works now that I can get them free, or for less than a buck, in the Kindle Amazon Classics section. Oh, 90% of the time, I let the text-to-speech feature read the books to me while my Kindle 3, in a quart ziplock freezer bag, rides in my sportcoat breast pocket (perfect fit). Awesome.


----------



## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

First book I thought of on reading the thread title was A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, so I'm going to stick with that.


----------



## Ryl (Nov 25, 2010)

Fascinating! Although there are many classics that I've enjoyed, I have to go with one of the few that I'm inclined to read over and over.
Pride and Prejudice, followed closely by Emma.


----------



## Herzwords (Dec 4, 2010)

Interesting question. How can anyone touch Ralph Ellison's Invisible man?


----------



## joanhallhovey (Nov 7, 2010)

My favorite novel of all time is Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.  Here is the beginning: 

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.  We had been wandering.  Indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question."

Note the detail Bronte uses to draw you into her world: '...cold winter wind, clouds so sombre, rain so penetrating..."    Reading that, I'm tempted to go put on a sweater.


----------



## Lyndl (Apr 2, 2010)

Jane Eyre


----------



## VioletVal (Jul 26, 2010)

Jane Eyre is also my favorite novel and one of the few books I've read more than once.


----------

