Introduction Book Recommendations?

[EstherAlexandra]

hello :)

I'm fairly new to the forum and wish to broaden my horizons and begin reading more classic literature. Are there any books you would recommend? 'Starter' books in the world of sophisticated literature, if you will.

[Calidore]

For general recommendations, we've got two top 100 lists:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?40711-Lit-Nets-Top-100-Books-Official-List

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?72867-The-New-LitNet-Top-100-Books

Otherwise, if you describe what you like, people can suggest books based on that.

[EstherAlexandra]

Thank you :)

Well, at the moment, I'm reading and enjoying Jane Eyre; which I see is on the list. I read the Great Gatsby with school and at first didn't like it but got into it once exploring the depth of the symbolism. I quite enjoy books with a slightly gothic slant such as Grimms Fairy Tales or Alice in Wonderland, and folksy simplistic stories like When God Was A Rabbit by Sarah Winman. I also very much enjoyed the Harry Potter books.

[PeterL]

You might just go into a library and wander around. There are all sorts of novels that are interesting, and many of the best are not widely recognised.

[mal4mac]

As you like Jane Eyre why not specialise in the Bronte sisters for a while? If you like one, I think you'll like the others. Then you can move to other Victorians ... Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, ... for starters. Reading the introductions to these novels should give you hints about what might be worth trying next, given what you already like.

[grechzoo]

What began my fascination with the great prose writers of our generation and past, was the Road by Cormac McCarthy,