The Great British Novel

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Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
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sweden
I just planned to list some of my faves by decade. I start in 1890,s so we have to take all the early good stuff as read. Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Middlemarch, all of Dickens and so on.

1890; Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891)
00: Rudyard Kipling, Kim (1901)
10; D.H. Lawrence, Sons And Lovers (1913)
20; Virginia Woolf; Mrs Dalloway (1925)
30: Daphne du Maurier, Rebecka (1938)
40; George Orwell; Animal Farm (1945)
50; William Golding, Lord Of The Flies (1954)
60; Evelyn Waugh, Sword of Honour (wartrilogy, completed 1961)
70; Richard Adams, Watership Down (1972)
80; Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides (1985)
90; Pat Barker, The Regeneration Trilogy (1991, 1993,1995)
00; Hilary Mantel; Wolf Hall (2007)
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
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United States
I just planned to list some of my faves by decade. I start in 1890,s so we have to take all the early good stuff as read. Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights, Middlemarch, all of Dickens and so on.

1890; Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891)
00: Rudyard Kipling, Kim (1901)
10; D.H. Lawrence, Sons And Lovers (1913)
20; Virginia Woolf; Mrs Dalloway (1925)
30: Daphne du Maurier, Rebecka (1938)
40; George Orwell; Animal Farm (1945)
50; William Golding, Lord Of The Flies (1954)
60; Evelyn Waugh, Sword of Honour (wartrilogy, completed 1961)
70; Richard Adams, Watership Down (1972)
80; Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides (1985)
90; Pat Barker, The Regeneration Trilogy (1991, 1993,1995)
00; Hilary Mantel; Wolf Hall (2007)
Great list. I haven't read Watership Down, yet. I want to find a copy soon. Btw, Pat Conroy is American. He was born in Georgia and raised in South Carolina. :)
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
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Cambridge, Ohio
GoodExample.jpg
 

Owenk

Well-Known Member
Nov 13, 2014
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Good starting list but I would have to add:

The Buddha of Suburbia - Hanif Kureishi
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
Earthly Powers – Anthony Burgess
The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
Decline and Fall - Evelyn Waugh
The Good Soldier Ford Madox Ford His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

Also I wasn't a big fan of Watership Down, but the Girl in the Swing by the ame author is well well well worth a read.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
Mrs. Dalloway- Virginia Woolf
Brideshead Revisited- Evelyn Waugh
Atonement - Ian McEwan
While I was first introduced to this wonderful novel way back in the 80's after I had seen the BBC mini-series, it is quite droll compared to the television show. Don't get me wrong, I do love the novel, but it is quite another animal to watch the great actors in the miniseries bring this book to life. It is truly an exquisite production!!! Breathtaking sets (they actually used REAL locations!) and wonderful acting by everyone involved in it. If you haven't seen it I highly suggest that you seek it out. It was the forerunner to Downton Abbey- without Brideshead there wouldn't have been a Downton.
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
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United States
While I was first introduced to this wonderful novel way back in the 80's after I had seen the BBC mini-series, it is quite droll compared to the television show. Don't get me wrong, I do love the novel, but it is quite another animal to watch the great actors in the miniseries bring this book to life. It is truly an exquisite production!!! Breathtaking sets (they actually used REAL locations!) and wonderful acting by everyone involved in it. If you haven't seen it I highly suggest that you seek it out. It was the forerunner to Downton Abbey- without Brideshead there wouldn't have been a Downton.
I don't know, I saw a production with Emma Thompson and Matthew Goode that was beautifully done. Is that the one you mean? I didn't read the book until 5 years ago...something like that.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
I don't know, I saw a production with Emma Thompson and Matthew Goode that was beautifully done. Is that the one you mean? I didn't read the book until 5 years ago...something like that.
The one I'm referring to is with Anthony Andrews and Jeremy Irons in the two male lead roles. Sir John Gielgud, Diana Quick, Claire Bloom and Sir Lawrence Olivier round out the cast. It's a very lush production.