Classics Club Meme Question

Friday, March 7, 2014

 
Here’s the question for Classics Club members this month: What is your favorite “classic” literary period and why?
 
I am a sucker for Victorian England. The Victorian era is usually defined as the lifespan of Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837-1901. Books published during these particular years and authors who lived during this time usually fall in the Victorian category. Coming-of-age stories, mysteries, romance, tragedy, there are some wonderful tales told during this time.
 
I’ve found dozens of classics that I love from that time period. I don’t know what it was about that time that led authors to write so many rich stories, but here’s a list of a few of my favorites.
 
1) David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)
2) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1847)
3) The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890)
4) Middlemarch by George Eliot (1874)
5) Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (1895)
6) Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)
7) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)
8) The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (1881)
9) The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (1859)
10) Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell (1851)
11) The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton (1905)
12) Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (1848)
13) The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1844)
14) The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Writings by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)
15) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1869)

7 comments:

Heather said...

I'm a sucker for Victorian England too. I love the sensational ones the most. They are just so much fun to read.

Jeanne said...

Interesting. I'm a fan of the 18th century, myself.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Heather - They are! Everything is so dramatic.

Jeanne - It's my go to classics period.

Helen said...

The Victorian period was my answer too. I love the Victorian writing style, the stories, the characters...everything!

Brona said...

Seems like Victorian England is the place we all want to be in our reading lives :-)

o said...

Same answer here as well :) So many books on your list that I love.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

Helen - I picked a popular one!

Brona - Definitely reading life, I can't imagine living during that time period as a woman though!

o - It makes me want to reread a few of them!