Best Love Story of All Time

2 Antiquarian
Gillian Anderson - agree. she is a very good actress.
though her best role is Dana Scully, i would like to watch some other films where she starred.

i like the way love was described in "Granet brecelet" by Kuprin
a very sad story but true unrequited love

...To me it would definately be Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series. I just LOVE the relationship between Edward and Bella.
And I also really love Neil Gaiman's Stardust. That was amazing too.

:blush:

Mea Culpa, Kelby! You are correct, To Kill a Mockingbird is not a Love Story in the sense that it is not about the love between a man and a woman (or woman and woman, man and man). Therefore, I change my "vote" to Persuasion, another of Jane Austen's wonderful love stories.

"Tess of he D'Urbevilles" by Thomas Hardy.. Though excessively tragic... it is still a beautiful love story.. and one that inspires many tears..

Antony and Cleopatra, why not?

My favourite love story is between Will Ladislaw and Dorothea Casaubon in Middlemarch: The way he adores and loves her just the way she is and how she gradually realizes that she loves him because he doesn't restrict her in any way. And yes, I know, the book is not a proper love story, actually; it contains much more than that …

O.Henry The Gift of the Magi =)

Without doubt Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte ;)

i wouldnt call either of the books im about to mention "love stories" in the strictest sense but they are what come to mind nevertheless...

i am a big fan of hardy, austen and bronte who seem to be mentioned often but...

its been many years since ive read it---i remember being struck by the incredible dangers the male characters faced in dracula, for the love they had for the women in the book (particularly lucy if i remember rightly).

i also remember enjoying agnes' love for david copperfield after his first wife, dora, died.

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Originally Posted by Antiquarian

Two books I've been meaning to read, but have yet to do so. I do love Dickens, though. So far, Great Expectations has been my favorite. I received the Masterpiece Theatre version DVD for Christmas. :) I still haven't watched that! Shame on me.

I, too, love Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Thomas Hardy.

My favorite love story is Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and Thomas Hardy is one of my all time favorite authors. I'm on a quest to read everything he ever wrote, even his poetry. I have a long way to go with that, but am anticipating loving the journey as I've loved all of his writing so far.

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hi antiquarian---im a big dickens fan also and have pretty much enjoyed everything of his ive read. have you read a tale of two cities yet? i can put that book into a similar sort of way i gave in my post above---its not a love story proper but when it gets right down to the very end, what one of the former rivals does is incredibly powerful.

i enjoy hardy quite a bit too. i think tess was my first hardy novel---probably because i used to like nastassia kinski!

yes---you must read david copperfield and dracula! smiles...

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Originally Posted by Antiquarian

I hate to admit it, but I haven't read A Tale of Two Cities, either, but it's high on my list to read, as is David Copperfield. One I love is Bleak House.

I love everything about the writing of Dickens and Thomas Hardy, especially Thomas Hardy. I love his tragedy and bleakness, probably because he does it so well. If I had to choose one all time favorite author, it would definitely be Thomas Hardy, though I think Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is my all time favorite book.

Since you're a big fan of Dickens, you might like the book I just finished - The Quincunx. It took me a long time to read it, but it was worth it. It's very reminiscent of Bleak House and the author even chose "John Huffam," Dickens' middle names, as the name for his protagonist.

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ive got a small handful of dickens' and hardy books at home, still unread, bleak house being among them. maybe i'll make a point of reading it this summer. i read hard times not too long ago. although, ive also got anna karenina at home too, and since youre saying its your all time favorite, perhaps i'll give that one a shot first. smiles...

ive not heard of quincunx, i'll keep my eyes peeled for it...thank you.

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Originally Posted by Antiquarian

I love that one, too, islandclimber. I think it's my favorite Thomas Hardy novel.

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mine as well... "Jude the Obscure" is just far too sad and tragic, and hopelessly depressing... and his other works, though amazing, just don't quite stand up to these two... Though "The Mayor of Castorbridge" is wonderful... and "Far From the Madding Crowd" is one of my favourites because it is so light hearted, and not so tragic, even has moments of comedy... as well, I don't know about you, but I find his short works to be completely overlooked and underrated... they are great.. same with his poetry... he is just an exceptionally versatile writer...

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Originally Posted by Antiquarian

I think The Quincunx was published about ten years ago. Maybe more. But when it was published, it made quite a stir in the literary world. It's a neo-Victorian mystery on the order of Bleak House. Set mainly in Victorian London and revolving around five branches of a family, a purloined will, a suppressed codicil, and lots and lots of mystery. I finally finished it last night, so no more long books for me for awhile. I need a break. LOL

I highly recommend the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of Anna Karenina. I think their translations are so much more readable.

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I do like the Pevear and Volokhonsky translations of Russian works... I have all their translations of Dostoevsky as well as AK and several others... but sometimes I just like to slip back into the comfortable Victorian style of a Constance Garnett translation... I just find she has a certain power, and stylistic approach that suits the time period... Overall I do like Pevear and Volokhonsky much more, but on occasion reading a Garnett translation can be quite wonderful...

Mine is Jane Eyre all the way. Unforgettable heroes and a love story that combines romantic love with sexuality. Who can resist that? ;)

Ps: you should also have made this question a poll. It would be easier to see the results.

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Originally Posted by Negar

Without doubt Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte ;)

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I was gonna say that .. diffinately Jane & Rochester..

i can also say Edward & Bella in Twilight

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Originally Posted by hoope

I was gonna say that .. diffinately Jane & Rochester..

i can also say Edward & Bella in Twilight

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Hoope,

For God's sake don't confuse Jayne Eyre with Twilight.

Love you anyway.

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Originally Posted by Brian Bean

Hoope,

For God's sake don't confuse Jayne Eyre with Twilight.

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y not? Cuz Jane Eyre can't come NEwhere close 2 Twilight's gr8ness?

:D

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

y not? Cuz Jane Eyre can't come NEwhere close 2 Twilight's gr8ness?

:D

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Sheherezade,

You do Hoope a disservice. She is not a native English speaker and, unfortunately, seems to have absorbed the current American vernacular into her writing. Because I have been in contact with her as a friend, I know that her main concern is to help disadvantaged people, and that is why she is studying nursing. Compared to myself, she is very young but her sincerity reaches beyond considerations of age or nationality and I have great respect for her. As for her literary concerns, she is a great supporter of Charles Dickens and has read more of his works than I have.

I would vote for the following three:

Love in the Time of Cholera
Lolita (yes, it is a love story in my opinion)
The Age of Innocence

Cyrano de Bergerac for me. He is the ultimate romantic hero.

Also Persuasion and Their Eyes Were Watching God.

"The Gift of the Magi", as so many have mentioned, is THE warm and fuzzy little love story of the century.

I haven't read Love in the Time of Cholera yet, though I'd like to. I just read my first Gabriel Garcia-Marquez in January and adored it.

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Originally Posted by hoope

I was gonna say that .. diffinately Jane & Rochester..

i can also say Edward & Bella in Twilight

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Not Twilight!

I'd add Lolita, not because it is a romance, but because it is a story of love. Lolita doesn't have any and Humbert has the wrong sort, but that scene right near the end...it made me cry it was so beautiful.

A Tale of Two Cities! Silly Darnay!

I'm not going to read through the whole thread, but I did notice R&J crop up near the beginning. I can I therefore add Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado - infinitely more credible, and, I think, deeper!

Romeo and Juliet. No doubt.

Won't give scores, but try "Simon and Hiroko," by Marius Hancu. Contemporary, Japan and US. E-book only for now. Starts sweet, ends big drama. Found at Goodreads.

Hmmm, I'll just list a few interesting love stories off the top of my head, refering to the story of the characters, not the novel in its entirety.

Marius and Cosette - Les Mis.
Catherine Barkley and Frederic Henry - A Farewell to Arms
Yuri Zhivago and Lara - Doctor Zhivago

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Originally Posted by Big Dante

Hmmm, I'll just list a few interesting love stories off the top of my head, refering to the story of the characters, not the novel in its entirety.

Marius and Cosette - Les Mis.
Catherine Barkley and Frederic Henry - A Farewell to Arms
Yuri Zhivago and Lara - Doctor Zhivago

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Can't but approve:-)

The story that comes to mind as the best for me at the moment is Isaac Bashevis Singer's Gimpel the Fool, but there are so many good ones many already mentioned in this thread.

my thanks to everyone for all the books so far mentioned, i will have to get around to getting some of them, i could do with something emotional for a change.
i really like romantic sub-plots to novels, they add great character development and something more to the full plot, yet i have never read a book where it was the main theme. i was today in a book store reading the first pages of 'First Love' by Turgenev. i know the basic plot and am intrigued by it yet it was way too pricey to buy just yet. anyone here read it, what did you think of it?

Anna Karenina, both her story and that of Levin and Kitty. It is in watching the arc of the two stories play out that brings such depth to the novel.

I also love O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi. I cry whenever I read it. It is the best of all love stories because it shows what genuine love is. Emma, because it is funny, and also because I adore George Knightley, and Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew; I like the fiery tempestuousness of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Na...1594-96%29.jpg

Narcissus I believe.... :wink5:

I would recommend these texts.
The Arrow of Gold - Conrad
The Slave - Singer
A Child Possessed - Hutchinson
Wuthering Heights - Bronte (although the comments directed against it above are tru-ish)
The Taste of Too Much - Hanley
I should pick something by Lawrence but I won't as I don't much like him
The Book of Ruth
But I want to throw in a wonderful film - In the Mood for Love
I agree about Pasternak
And for the young and uncynical The Snow Goose - Gallico and Goodnight Mr Tom - Magorian

Joyce's "The Dead"

Anna Karenina, but Levin and Kitty not Anna and Vronsky.

Troilus and Cressida :) I'l third/fourth the Kitty and Levin recommendation as well.