Leaving short stories aside, the novel I would nominate would be Wuthering Heights. It has a great story and shows a deep insight into the human psyche.
Many readers of this novel are never quite the same afterwards.
Leaving short stories aside, the novel I would nominate would be Wuthering Heights. It has a great story and shows a deep insight into the human psyche.
Many readers of this novel are never quite the same afterwards.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
I would agree with you there Emil. It is such a powerful story. I read it as a self obsessed young bloke, but it still made a great impression on me. It also seems to rise above a simple class depiction as well. Heathcliff is also a kind of Gypsey/ outsider/ immigrant to the moors as well.
Yes I think that Heathcliff is a major literary creation that transcends social barriers and is a force within himself. The one thing that keeps the force from imploding is his love for Kathy and this is at the heart of the novel.Originally Posted by Paulclem
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Not sure, but I bet it's boring!What is THE great British Novel?
Yes, that's what the question's getting at, although it's not so much a zeitgeist but themes that run throughout American literature. The Great Gatsby captured the zeitgeist but it also contains themes that we associate with the "American spirit", whether that spirit is a construct or not.
Are there novels that we can consider as being indicative of the British spirit? And if not, why?
Anyone for Henry James's The Golden Bowl? The behaviour of father and daughter is a masterpiece of subtlety.
Or is James a Yank?
"Love does not alter the beloved, it alters itself"
I think he is primarily an American although he spent a good deal of his life in England. The Golden Bowl was written before he took British nationality one year before he died and therefore, strictly speaking, it qualifies as an American novel.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
In this case, I would say Brideshead Revisted; it is just british, though the British people really have changed in 90 years time.
"What is THE great British Novel?"
There is no such thing.
There's no harm in putting some suggestions, though it would be difficut to encompass Britishness in one novel.
Ithink the greatest is David Copperfield.
My vote is for Dickens, Great Expectations, today, if I have to pick one.
And you are entitled to your opinion-I am reading Pride and Prejiduce right now and find it very interesting.
Now you sound American!
But why not? The US has long been a Mecca for those with a short attention span who seek instant gratification. The animated cartoon and instant coffee are but two examples. Exceptions such as Herman Melville and Henry James merely underline the rule.Now you sound American!
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
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