One classic novel

To Kill a Mockingbird

Would Gone with the Wind be a classic?  I just finished reading it 5 minutes ago...love it.

Loved Gone with the Wind.  I've read it about 5 times.

I just bought "The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde" on Amazon and needed a top up to get free delivery and I thought about this thread so also purchased Middlemarch. I read the review and it sounds pretty interesting. Thanks!

Bridget Jones' Diary.

just kidding!

I'd have to say Pride and Prejudice.

Rebecca

There really is no "one" novel that's better than every other.

I agree.  Not one, but two that came to mind...

Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
O Pioneers! - Willa Cather

Huckleberry Finn - just picked one off the top of my head.

There really is no "one" novel that's better than every other.

No, not so much 'better' , and I haven't read 'Middlemarch' as often as, say, 'Jane Eyre' or 'Pride and Prejudice'  but I think I'd still choose 'Middlemarch' for the writing, the breadth of ideas and philosophies, out of all English classic novels (not sure I've read enough US classic novels to be able to judge what would be comparable - I love 'Little Women' but it doesn't make me think too hard)!  We were specifically discussing a friend's 17 year old daughter who is trying to broaden her reading for university applications - a recommendation for pure pleasure might be quite differen of course.

Just ordered Middlemarch off ebay, thanks for the recommendation all!

No, not so much 'better' , and I haven't read 'Middlemarch' as often as, say, 'Jane Eyre' or 'Pride and Prejudice'  but I think I'd still choose 'Middlemarch' for the writing, the breadth of ideas and philosophies, out of all English classic novels (not sure I've read enough US classic novels to be able to judge what would be comparable - I love 'Little Women' but it doesn't make me think too hard)!  We were specifically discussing a friend's 17 year old daughter who is trying to broaden her reading for university applications - a recommendation for pure pleasure might be quite differen of course.

Ok, fair enough.  I've not read that many classic English novels - certainly not enough to say 'Ah - this is the one!'  Sometimes I like to think, but I'm more about the Pleasure Principle (and if a bit of thinking sneaks in there with the pleasure, well that's ok too)...

I suggested American novels because they speak more to the things (places, people, history, etc) that I know best.

The first one that came to mind for me was The Scarlet Letter.  I know there are fewer and fewer people who are fans of it, but it's one of my favorites.

The first one that came to mind for me was The Scarlet Letter.  I know there are fewer and fewer people who are fans of it, but it's one of my favorites.

Oh I like that one too!

My vote is To Kill a Mockingbird. It's my all time favorite.

The first one that came to mind for me was The Scarlet Letter.  I know there are fewer and fewer people who are fans of it, but it's one of my favorites.

That's one of the few books I have really tried to finish but I just cannot get past the incredibly dull and dry writing.  To each their own I guess!

June

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. An amazing book. I recently recommended it to a friend, and after she read it, she loved it and couldn't believe she'd gone her whole life never even hearing of it, though I believe it's on several lists of best books of the 20th century.

Eek!  "Only one?" she asks wringing her hands.

(So this is how I will cheat.)

When is was 13, I would have said, Jane Eyre.

When I was 16, I would have said, Look Homeward, Angel or The Eighth Day.

When I was 18, I would have said, Franny and Zooey.

At 21...?  Flannery O'Connor.  Everything.

At the grand old age of 30, sheesh...I've gone back to classic young adult literature.  I lo-ove The Dark is Rising.  Susan Cooper rocks!

But, hey, reading should be a pleasure.  I often mix my Bridget Jones' with a Cormac McCarthy.  If this is to help a 17 year old ready herself for university, she should just be encouraged to read.  Anything.  (I think Franny and Zooey really spoke to the college "me.") 

P.S. My husband says, hands down, Anna Karenina...Nope, changed his mind.  The Unbearable Lightness of Being. 

A few of you said "Gone With the Wind." I just started reading it because I've seen the movie and always wanted to read the book. I'm really liking it, so far.

I was an English major at University (ages ago) so I've read lots of classics. I'm planning to go back and re-read some of the ones I had to read for school, so that I can read them from a "non-scholarly" point of view.    I remember Thomas Hardy was always a favorite author.