Classic Romance?

[ahavah]

I'll tell you now: I am not a “classics” fan, and I am not a romance fan. All those books we were supposed to read in school? I hated them. I even skipped or didn't finish several, and I was not the type of student who skipped assignments. I tried revisiting a few when I was older, hoping maybe I would 'get' them better, but...nope. Not my bag. I

Comments

[calico_pye]

As part of my degree, I have to read the classics too - I have to get through several Virginia Woolf's, James Joyce and other 'meaty' books.

Good luck with yours :-)

[ahavah]

Thanks! Glad to know I'm not the only one who struggles with them.

[kiwiria]

Stay far away from Wuthering Heights unless you enjoy reading about incredibly emo and dysfunctional people :-P

Other recommendations though... I rather like Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, and together with Elizabeth Bennet of P&P, they're two of the more enpowered FMC in classic literature.

Love "The Rosary" by Florence Barclay (free on gutenberg), and like that the FMC is a strong, single older woman.

Would "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery count as a classic? Lots of romance in the third book - "Anne of the Island", which also just happens to be my favourite :)

You could always go with "These Happy Golden Years" by Laura Ingalls Wilder - my favourite of the Little House books, and a quick read.

And finally, one of my all-time favourite books, "The Blue Castle" by L.M. Montgomery offers a very different romance, as the FMC proposes to the man. Strong and empowered FMC? Oh yeah! At least after the first few chapters.

[ahavah]

Thanks so much for all the recs! I tend to dislike emo & overly dysfunctional people in my fiction (I go there to escape that!), so I appreciate the heads up. lol Pride & Prejudice is mildly in the lead because I do one day plan to read Pride, Prejudice, & Zombies or whatever that is.

I've never read the last few Laura Ingalls Wilder books! We looked for them when we read the whole series together, and our library system didn't have them. That was back in NC. I wonder if I could find them now. I almost feel like I'd have to start rereading the series again from the beginning, it's been so long.

[kiwiria]

I have all the ones I mentioned as ebooks, and could happily email you some of them, if you're interested?

[ahavah]

I'll take any you send my way! I think I'll do P&P for the romance, but I have loads of books to try to read this year (I'm so behind!), so I'll take all of them I can get. Thank you! I've been collecting ebooks since I got my tablet back, but I don't know how to share them. :/ I'm still new to them!

[theafaye]

Personally, I adore Wuthering Heights and detest Jane Eyre, so it's horses for courses.

If you're going the Jane Austen route, I actually think that Sense and Sensibility is a better bet. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is another good one (another Bronte sister wrote that one).

Little Women is fab, but I don't know that I'd count it as a romance myself. It's a very tenuous connection IMVHO. On the other hand, if it counts, Dodie Smith "I Capture the Castle" is one of the most beautifully written books of all time. It's a young girl coming of age story and about her falling in love for the first time, but it's chock full of quirky characters, like a writer father, suffering from writer's block, married to a former model who loves to run around naked in the ruins of the castle where they live. I've never read another book like it and it's wonderful.

"Tuck Everlasting" is also another possibility. First love with a twist of immortality.

[ahavah]

"I Capture the Castle" sounds a lot like my house! I'll have to see if I can get that through the library. Sounds interesting. Thanks!

Eden really likes Little Women, and she wants me to read it at some point, but if it's not a romance, I don't know. I read the first couple chapters of her book and wondered if it had been dumbed down for kids. I wasn't particularly interested.

[theafaye]

It's a kid's book, so it wouldn't have been dumbed down. I love it, but it's more of a historical book than a romance, although there are relationships in it. I mean, if Little Women is a romance, then so's What Katy Did...

[ahavah]

Okay, I didn't realize it was a kid's book to start with. I may finish it at some point since I already started it, but not as my romance book.

[felisdemens]

I love Pride and Prejudice. Wuthering Heights gives me hate hives. :)

[ahavah]

Lots of folks seconding (and fifthing) P&P. I may go with that one. I'm sure most of the others fall into similar categories, like 'book you should have read in school but didn't'. I like some of the new recs I'm hearing about, too.

Thanks!

[rosegardenfae]

I love "Wuthering Heights" or probably should say loved, as it's been years since I read it. I am not overly fond of classics and will admit to never being able to get through any of the Jane Austin books.

[ahavah]

People seem to either love or hate that one. I feel like I need to read most of these just because everyone has, not necessarily because I'll like them. lol