The Good Soldier, Ford Madox Ford.
OMG, someone else who has read and loved this!! (As in, I third the rec!) This was my favorite book I read in college--I had the same teacher for Freshman Lit and the Modern Lit class I took a few years later, and he had us read that book for both classes. I completely fell for it, and remember getting into a very impassioned argument with a classmate in the Modern Lit class over whether Leonora was a complete bitch or justified in what she did (I defended her, of course). A book that reveals something new at every reading, and one I am waaay overdue in looking at again. I still have my copy, and might bring it with me on my Xmas trip to Mom's.
Oh, and I could have sworn I saw a movie version of Good Soldier in college (told you the teacher was a big fan), and I was right! It even starred Jeremy Brett as Edward and John Ratzenberger (yes, Cliff Claven!) as Jimmy.
P-C, if the 19th Century English appeal to you, I'd recommend Anthony Trollope. Many, many novels of the "realistic" school. The Way We Live Now is an English Gilded Age. Can You Forgive Her? is the first of the Palliser novels, which explore the political scene of the era.
If the "sensationalistic" school appeals to you more, I'd suggest Willkie Collins, The Woman in White.
Hee. I don't think the 19th Century English actually appeal to me. Good writing appeals to me. I remember now that another rec I need to follow up on is Markus Zusak's
The Book Thief.
OK. If you like Middlemarch, I'd recommend Trollope. Especially if you like dry wit.
Example: In one novel, he explained how a will worked to give a particular person a large inheritance. Unfortunately, he apparently got the law wrong. So, the next time he had to explain how a will worked to etc., he concluded with the equivalent of, "Well, at least that's how it was explained to me. Anyway, it worked so She inherited." The "So lay off, already!" was implied.
whether Leonora was a complete bitch or justified in what she did (I defended her, of course).
I don't know if I'd go as far as "justified." But I love Leonora.
It even starred Jeremy Brett as Edward and John Ratzenberger (yes, Cliff Claven!) as Jimmy.
Ooo, that's wacky.
Have all you
Good Soldier
fans read
Parade's End?
You should!
And if you read Trollope, you can feel all in the know when listening to Dave's True Story "I'll Never Read Trollope Again."
Stendahl's "The Red and the Black" is a frequently overlooked book that everybody should read.
P-C if you get Middlemarch make sure to get an edition with footnotes Eliot has lots of references to events and people contemporary to the time so it makes it much more enjoyable when you know what people are refering to.
