Who are your favorite classic authors?
By pyewacket
@pyewacket (43903)
United States
May 28, 2007 10:15pm CST
Believe it or not, I didn't read many classics as a kid...my mother was never much of a reader, so she never encouraged me to read--oh, yes she once got those Illustrated Classic comics but as far as reading the original books, nope, never read.
Well I believe it's never too late...so I've taken up on reading some of the old time classics. Some that I've read so far are:1). Dracula--Bram Stoker
2). Frankenstein-Mary Shelley
3). Jungle Book-Rudyard Kipling
4). Black Beauty-Anna Sewall
5). The Three Musketeers-Alexandre Dumas
6). Man In The Iron Mask-Alexandre Dumas**
7). Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde-Robert Louis Stevenson
8). Peter Pan- JM Barrie
Little by little I'm trying to read more of these books of the classics--Are there any you can recommend? And what were your faves to read either as a kid or even now?
**PS--I loved the movie version of Man In The Iron Mask which was actually quite different than the book...but still loved it
6 people like this
16 responses
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
29 May 07
Of course you ask for classics and they all go out of my head hehe. My favorite author though would be Mark Twain and his books "Tom Sawyer" and "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn".
I've never read The Man in the Iron Mask but my father had and he'd said the movie followed the book fairly well. Overall I love the movie and watch it often :)
2 people like this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
29 May 07
Believe it or not haven't read any of Twain's books..except those quotes I had in my other discussions......I think The Connecticut in King Arthur's Court would be great to read...mmm..gee, I think I have a copy of those books somewhere...maybe should dig them out and read
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@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
29 May 07
Oops that's Connecticut Yankee in King Artur's Court
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@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
29 May 07
I knew which you meant :) It's been done often into movies actually but with different twists. Mark Twain is a very good author. He uses a lot of wit in his stories that I find enjoyable.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
29 May 07
Fairy tales are nice...I did manage to read those as a kid
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
29 May 07
I read Dracula for a couple of different classes I was in. It's not a bad book but it isn't that great I agree. I found it to be very dry and drawn out.
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@Katlady2 (9904)
• United States
31 May 07
I've read all the ones you mentioned, and loved them too. My other favorite of the classic authors is Edgar Allen Poe. I know that for some people, his stories are pretty gruesome and frightening. But I absolutely love him. I even did several of my book reports in school on his novels, and actually got pretty good grades on them. (My bragging moment....sorry. LOL)
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@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
31 May 07
No problem...brag away---Need to read Poe's works---actually gruesome is up my alley--LOL
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
29 May 07
I should get "into" Jules Verne--I always liked the movies, like Journey Into The Center of the Earth, Mysterious Island..
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@Woodpigeon (3710)
• Ireland
29 May 07
I recommend all the MArk Twain books. I loved them as a child, as well as the other old chestnuts like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Black Beauty, Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe, all the Wizard of Oz books, and the Little House on the Prarie books. They might not all be classics, but I remember them being wonderful.
Some books that are still favorites are Alice In Wonderland and the Chronicles of Narnia.
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@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
29 May 07
I plan to get some Mark Twain books at the library...would love to read them
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@ozangel82 (753)
• Australia
30 May 07
When I was little I loved loved loved enid blyton. She had books like the wishing chair and the magic faraway tree, the secret seven and the famous five. I loved to read as a kid and i still do, i have to read every night before bed to get me off to sleep. and besides there is nothing better than a good story!
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
30 May 07
Mmmm...I think you're the second or third person who has mentioned Enid Blyton and I have to admit to ignorance of her and her books...but you've peaked my curiosity, so next time I go to the library I'll give a look...I love to read before I go to bed too! I have a bad habit though nowadays, or should I say nights where I drift off to sleep --I wake up a few hours later with the book smashed up against my face cause I feel asleep! LOL..How annoying though
@Withoutwings (6992)
• United States
30 May 07
Jane Austen is my absolute favorite author from the classics. I also read the Little Women Books, Watership Down, Gone with the Wind, Dracula, The House of 7 Gables, Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, and of course Shakespeare.
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@Maryam_Nazir (249)
• Pakistan
30 May 07
ummm...there are so many eg Jane Austin,Shakespere,Charles Dickens.....Georgette Heyer and so on.
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@pilbara (1436)
• Australia
29 May 07
I have read some of those but not all.
I would add the Little women books by louisa may alcott.
One of my favourites when I was growing up were the series by dianna wynn jones relating to magic.
When I was younger I loved many of the books by Enid Blyton.
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@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
29 May 07
It's funny I don't know why I didn't remember to list Little Women as well...I liked it...I loved the newer movie version of it too...with Gabriel Byrne and Winoa Ryder
@sumofalltears (3988)
• United States
29 May 07
I'm not much of a classic reader, but I did like Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I am much more of a contemporary reader.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
29 May 07
It's kind of nice though to read the older novels to get a sense of style and how they wrote then
@dalip32 (100)
• United States
29 May 07
Two authors that definately deserve a try are George Orwell and Jack London. Orwell writes from a rather cynical viewpoint but shows the world for what it is. It gets a bit bleak at times but is interesting none the less. Animal Farm and 1984 are two classics that I've read many, many times. London is all about adventure. The Call of the Wild and White Fang both focus on the gold rush in the Yukon Territory. They're exciting books that show the stuggle to survive in the harsh wilderness. If you want just a sample of what London does, check out To Build a Fire, it's a short story that captures what London was all about.
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@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
29 May 07
I did read George Orwell's 1984--the whole big brother concept and how everyone is monitored for their actions...gee, isn't that true today??
I've never read London's books, but I have seen the movie version of White Fang --since it was a Disney film though I doubt that it kept to the book scenerio
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
30 May 07
Well, my main thing to read is sf/f, especially young adult books, like of course Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, The Books of Abarat, the Warrior series, books by Avi...and on and on...can't think of all right now
@spiderdollar (298)
• India
29 May 07
Jane Austen. Her insightful look into the microcosm of her life in the 1800's makes you feel that you would have enjoyed her company immensely.Her ability to flesh out her characters so that you form a very clear picture in your mind of them. This makes it difficult for people wanting to turn her books into films or TV series, They know that the awaiting audience has such fixed ideas and will be very critical of both the casting and the editing of the stories.
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