I recently finished East of Eden and I already miss the feeling of dwelving into a story that never seems to end. I already have my family’s library so here are the voluminous classics already in the collection : Homer’s Iliad, Boccaccio’s Decameron, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, Dumas’ Count, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Proust’s Remembrance, and Joyce’s Ulysses.
I have found good reasons to read each one of them, but as a not-so-frequent reader I’m not sure which one to tackle first. Feel free to suggest books that are not in the list above!
by getoutofthewaves
11 Comments
The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas
Count of Monte Cristo will always get my vote. Also love the Iliad but start with Count
Anna Karenina
[The Hands of the Emperor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/af2bba9c-8f41-4a3e-b87a-8532a44ccb67) by Victoria Goddard! It’s a beautifully written slice of life book about the personal secretary to the emperor of the world, with a heavy focus on platonic relationships. It’s too recent to really qualify as a classic, but it’s very very worth reading.
Les Mis by Hugo. Great book
David Copperfield by Dickens
From your list, start with Iliad. Further recommendations: Lonesome Dove, Crime and Punishment, Suttree, Moby Dick.
Honestly, I tell everybody to read Wilkie Collins and his *The Woman In White* – it’s Victorian and first published as a serial which means it does go on .. but in a page-turning way.
Also, a tome and more of a bonafide classic: Laurence Sterne’s *Tristram Shandy*. 18th century early novel that reads incredibly fresh and weirdy modern.
Dickens is next. Great Expectations or David Copperfield. Or Bleak House. Or …. (Though wouldn’t go wrong with Middlemarch, Moby Dick, The Brothers Karamazov, Tom Jones, etc.)
Middlemarch
*East of Eden* by Steinbeck or *The Forsyte Saga* by Galsworthy will keep you busy.