Can a novel published in 1980 count as a classic? I say yes, when it’s a good as this one. Hilarious and unforgettable.
Classics
Emma by Jane Austen
Emma Woodhouse is not half so wise as Elizabeth Bennett, but I have a spot soft for her, just the same. She’s a bit of an idiot but she does learn from her mistakes, eventually having the good sense to marry Mr Knightley and install him in her house, a no doubt unorthodox arrangement that […]
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Reading this book again as a adult, rather than a adolescent, I realised what a prick Heathcliff is. And Catherine is also quite a nasty piece of work. But the point is that they’re so well suited, and you can’t beat Wuthering Heights for atmosphere. Unforgettable.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
If the Brontes taught us high school English students how to love with passion, Jane Austen taught us how to choose our great loves with intelligence. Eliza Bennett chooses Fitzwilliam Darcy with her head before her heart, after freeing herself of pride and prejudice. This one stands up to multiple rereads because it’s thick with […]
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
”Do you think because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am souless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you, and full as much heart. And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, […]
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
It’s a classic for a reason – profoundly good, unexpectedly funny and unforgettable. If you were unfortunate enough not to encounter it in your early teens, read it now. But whatever you do, don’t read the appalling Go Set a Watchman afterwards. That book should never have been published. It makes me so mad I […]