# Classic novels that have aged well. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599 "2007-09-26T21:09:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/41 "2007-09-27T08:18:57Z")
[ul] [li] **Short stories from the golden age of magazines.** Saki, O. Henry, Ambrose Bierce, and the short work of W. Somerset Maughm lead the pack, but second-stringers such as Bret Harte can be amusing as well. This is all public domain now, so trawling through [Project Gutenberg](http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page) is a good way to find it. Going through used book stores and chancing upon anthologies is also a good way of finding this stuff.[/li][li] **Mark Twain.** Pretty much all of his work is at least amusing, and plenty of it is absolutely wonderful. He set the tone of American prose for decades, so it all sounds reasonably modern to our ears. Again, all public domain and plenty of it at Project Gutenberg.[/li][li] **George Orwell.** Have you read _Nineteen Eighty-Four_ and _Animal Farm_ yet? If not, what the hell have you been up to!? If so, don’t write Orwell off so easily. He wrote lesser-known works well worth seeking out and reading. _Down and Out in Paris and London_ and _Burmese Days_ are standouts, and don’t forget the essays. [Project Gutenberg of Australia has them.](http://gutenberg.net.au/plusfifty-n-z.html#orwell)[/li][li] **The Sherlock Holmes stories.** Arthur Conan Doyle had a real way with creating prose fiction you can just fall into. I have read Sherlock Holmes stories compulsively for a while now. Project Gutenberg has them all, I think.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/42 "2007-09-27T11:44:07Z")
Can’t believe no-one’s mentioned _Treasure Island_, which is tightly-written, nicely plotted, brilliantly characterised and a page-turner from start to finish, and has barely aged in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/43 "2007-09-27T11:49:37Z")
[QUOTE=BlakeTyner] And let me just back off my original statement about Austen. I’m judging her based only on “Emma,” and that is likely unfair. If I judged Stephen King on “Cell”… [/QUOTE] Emma is a fine book to judge her by - way better than Mansfield Park. The thing to remember about Austen is that her best books are Romantic Comedies - she is funny. But you have to get into 200 year old language (and the culture - Regency gentlemen landowners are probably not a culture a lot of us get) enough to get the jokes. Persuasion is short, has some of the best Austen elements, and isn’t much of a committment. If you can’t get through Persuasion, you probably aren’t going to get into Austen. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/44 "2007-09-27T12:02:12Z")
Kim by Rudyard Kipling magically captures that point in time in India. It’s no wonder he won the Nobel Prize for literature. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/45 "2007-09-27T12:04:34Z")
I agree with a lot of the books already recommended, and I’ll add _Vanity Fair_. Okay, it’s long, but entertaining and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/46 "2007-09-27T13:09:29Z")
I found Jerome K Jerome’s _Three Men In A Boat_ (1889 - non-fiction, probably embellished a bit) incredibly readable and interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/47 "2007-09-27T13:14:52Z")
[QUOTE=China Guy] Kim by Rudyard Kipling magically captures that point in time in India. It’s no wonder he won the Nobel Prize for literature. [/QUOTE] Speaking of Kipling, **The Man Who Would Be King** is a good (and short) read. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/48 "2007-09-27T13:17:26Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Can’t believe no-one’s mentioned _Treasure Island_, which is tightly-written, nicely plotted, brilliantly characterised and a page-turner from start to finish, and has barely aged in my opinion. [/QUOTE] :smack: Yeah, and _Kidnapped_! ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/49 "2007-09-27T13:18:39Z")
**AuntiePam** already mentioned Main Street in her post, but I think it bears repeating. I’m working my way through Sinclair Lewis (I’m on Elmer Gantry now) and I find his books amazingly fresh. Really worth checking out. I’d recommend starting with Main Street or Babbitt. I didn’t like Arrowsmith quite as well but I’m really enjoying Elmer Gantry so far. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/50 "2007-09-27T13:39:47Z")
I second Dumas’ Three Musketeers and Dracula. Hunchback was…good, but he completely derails his story repeatedly at times to talk about French architecture or French civilization or something else. This may have been the point of the story; I just think it’s sorely vexing. But if you can skim through those parts, feel free. I thought Gulliver’s Travels was horribly boring and the guy immensely egotistic and annoying. Just my view. I confess I could never read Treasure Island. Is it really worth it? I have never been able to get past the first chapter; it bored me to death right there. As for the Divine Comedy, I have read most of all three. Inferno was marvelous, Purgatory was meh, and the last one was the one I didn’t finish as it was also kind of boring. I also agree with Candide! Marvelous! ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/51 "2007-09-27T14:32:52Z")
I picked up a copy of _Ivanhoe_ a few months back and absolutely **could not** put it down. Yes, it’s wordy and bloated. But damn, I didn’t care. Fabulous from start to finish. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/52 "2007-09-27T14:36:51Z")
[QUOTE=Kizarvexius] I picked up a copy of _Ivanhoe_ a few months back and absolutely **could not** put it down. [/QUOTE] Really? Not even in the shower? ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/53 "2007-09-27T15:28:02Z")
Just came in to mention **All Quiet on the Western Front**. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/54 "2007-09-27T15:43:32Z")
There’s quite a bit of **W. Somerset Maugham** ’s stuff that’s aged well. _Of Human Bondage, The Razor’s Edge_ and _The Painted Veil_ are still particularly powerful. _The Moon and Sixpence_ perhaps not as much. Or is he too modern to qualify as classic? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/55 "2007-09-27T15:44:40Z")
I don’t know if it’s truly a classic, but Shogun was one of the awesomest books I ever read in my life. I think there are very few books I could put in the same category. It started out slow and without me even knowing it it dragged me in until I was obsessed. It should be a classic. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/56 "2007-09-27T16:02:41Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I found Jerome K Jerome’s _Three Men In A Boat_ (1889 - non-fiction, probably embellished a bit) incredibly readable and interesting. [/QUOTE] Perhaps the funniest book, ever. ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/57 "2007-09-27T16:49:57Z")
[QUOTE=kelly5078] Just came in to mention **All Quiet on the Western Front**. [/QUOTE] \*\*All Quiet on the Western Front \*\* is one of the best. I also quite liked George Eliot’s **Daniel Deronda** , though it sure ain’t to everyone’s taste. Boris Pasternak’s **Doctor Zhivago** was a good read. Got through it in two very long sittings. For pure fun and a quick easy read, Mikhail Lermontov’s minor classic **A Hero of Our Time** is good. Anything dealing with plagues is usually good too: _ **La peste** _, by Camus, or **A Journal of the Plague Year** , by Daniel Defoe. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/58 "2007-09-27T17:00:23Z")
[QUOTE=yellowval] **AuntiePam** already mentioned Main Street in her post, but I think it bears repeating. I’m working my way through Sinclair Lewis (I’m on Elmer Gantry now) and I find his books amazingly fresh. Really worth checking out. I’d recommend starting with Main Street or Babbitt. I didn’t like Arrowsmith quite as well but I’m really enjoying Elmer Gantry so far. [/QUOTE] My mother’s family is from Sauk Center, Minnesota and the towns around it - home of Main Street and I confess I’ve never read Sinclair Lewis. I’ll put it on my list. ---
**Author:** ![beowulf573](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@beowulf573](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulf573)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/59 "2007-09-27T17:31:42Z")
I read [Captain Blood](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Blood_(novel)) last year and enjoyed the heck out of it. “The Sea Hawk” also by Sabatini is next on my stack of books to read. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599/60 "2007-09-27T18:10:18Z")
**Burmese Days** By Orwell, or \*\*The Quiet American \*\* by Greene. Both are written in the past, but predict the future very accurately…makes for fascinating reading. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classic-novels-that-have-aged-well/420599.md?page=4)