I’m about to finish Bleak House. I’m looking for my next lengthy classic to read. I’m considering: David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, War and Peace, Les Miserables, Anna Karenina, or The Brothers Karamazov.
Which one would you suggest and why?
I’d go with Les Miserables. One because I really enjoy comparing it to the musical. Two, I just love the ambiguity and depth of both Valjean and Javert’s characters.
War and Peace
No reason, I just liked it better than your other choices. If you understand the significance of Natasha’s dance you will have an insight into the soul of Russians.
I second War and Peace.
Les Miserables has been on my top five list since I read it in the summer of 1969. Forget the musical and the movie. Lose yourself in this book.
It absorbed me totally.
If you haven’t read anything by Victor Hugo, then there’s no way to know whether you would like him. Supposedly he tells great stories, but personally I could never stand him enough to find out for sure (except through movie/musical adaptations.)
As I recall it, he was writing serialised novels; released in the newspaper.* And since instead of getting paid for a finished work, he got paid per “chunk,” the more chunks he could write, the longer he could stay securely employed (once the story is finished, though you will probably be picked up to write a new one, you never know for certain.)
In result, Hugos solution seems to be to pad his stories out by incessantly describing everything. If he describes a room, he’ll tell you everything there ever was to know about every single wall, who leaned on the wall, when the building was built, what all furniture is in the room, any particular events that might have occured in the room, the history of the pot over in the corner…etc, etc, until 10 pages later he actually tells you that there is even any characters in the room, who he then goes on to incessantly describe, and finally on page 20 he allows the characters to start talking. At which point I threw the Hunchback of Notre Dame away and have been all the happier for it. Maybe from Honoré de Balzac I could take twenty pages of sheer description, as he would–I am sure–layer it with such adjective usage that just his way of describing things would be enthralling, but Hugo just doesn’t have that artistic a way of going about it besides long.
But, many like the sheer level of detail in Hugo, so it just depends on whether you think it would bother you or not.
I’ve read some Russian literature, and my general take on it is amazing in-depth character studies, with plots as thick as quarks (i.e. mostly not-to-be-found, even though obviously it is there.) Certainly, if you have never read anthing from Russia I would recommend giving it a try–though I might pick a shorter one first just to see whether I like the style enough to try something as weighty as War and Peace.
I have oddly not read any Dickens, though he seems to not be loved on the SDMB, from what I have seen.
- Assuming my brain didn’t make this up at some random point
Yeah, if you go for Les Mis, find an abridged version and skip all the incredibly detailed descriptions of Napoleonic battlefields and the Parisian sewers.
Les Miserables. And do not get the abridged version- if you’re going to do this, do it right.
I also really loved Brothers Karamazov.
Can I assume from your list that you’ve already read Moby-Dick? 'Cause that’s a damn good book.
Some people hate him – I know I’m not alone in being a fan.
As far as the OP is concerned, though – since you know you like Dickens, you may want to hold off on Nicholas Nickleby* (which I loved, BTW) and David Copperfield for some future Dickens jonesing that might arise. I’ve got several that I’ve never read, but I figure I have a good 30 years of reading ahead of me, I want to pace myself.
I loved Anna Karenina, but if you’re not a teenage girl, I’m not sure how it holds up. I found War and Peace a slog – don’t think I finished it. Brothers Karamazov didn’t do much for me. Haven’t read Les Miserables.
War and Peace
It took time for me to get “used” to Dickens. The level of detail was overwhelming at first. Still, now that I know that I don’t have to read any of these for class and I don’t have to finish the book in a week, I can relax with the detail.
That is one reason why I thought I’d try Les Miserables.
I’ve started War and Peace several times but never got very far. I’m thinking of finding a translation that doesn’t have so much French it it. I got very frusterated with the amount of French in one of the translations.
+1 for War and Peace. I think of it like I think of Pride and Prejudice - the first of its kind and the best. In this case, W&P is the first Sweeping Epic.
Really great read.
Karamozov is amazing, too, but lacks the readability of W&P, IMHO.
I’d suggest something other reading more Dickens. I have loved just about everything I’ve read by him but variety is always a good idea. **The Brothers K ** was probably my favorite Dostoyevski work. I recommend it highly. I’ve tried **War and Peace ** twice and was unable to slog my way through it, but that may be the translator’s fault and not the author’s. I’d welcome any suggestions about a good translation of the work. I couldn"t get past the first chapters of Les Miserables, again maybe this was a translation problem. I know I was less miserable after I gave up and went on to another book. 
I haven’t read Anna Karenina.
Les Miserables, cuz it’s the only one of the bunch that I’ve read.
I think I’ve read both of the Dickenses, but I’m not certain… Other than A Christmas Carol and A Tale of Two Cities, most of Dickens strikes me as eminently forgettable (tastes obviously vary, here). On the other hand, Les Miserables I’m quite certain I’ve read, and I found it quite good. So of the three (I think) I’ve read, I’d recommend Les Mis.
I’ve never read any Melville. I guess I’ll add it to the list.