When you look at lists of bestselling novels, and then at lists of what the “greatest novels” are, you don’t see as much overlap as you do in other media. It seems as though when it comes to those GOAT lists, people seem way more concerned with magnitude as works of literature as art, when in reality the kinds of books you’re taught in school won’t as often be the kinds of books people choose to buy and read. As much as reading is viewed as an “intellectual” hobby by society, I don’t think most readers are as concerned with that side of it, and often will even read stuff they know is trashy. Which is great! As long as people are reading, in a time when reading seems to be going away, it can only be a good thing. But that being said, having combed through some such lists, I’m wondering which books people consider to maximize both sides, being exciting and engaging reads while also being immensely powerful and well written as works of art. So for instance a Colleen Hoover novel may not be atop many people’s lists of contemporary masterpieces, but Ulysses won’t exactly be something people are addicted to and can’t stop themselves from devouring. What books hit that sweet spot between the two arenas in the best way?

  • jaitran@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    The Book Thief Pillars of the Earth Girl with the Dragon Tattoo To Kill a Mockingbird 1984

  • The_Sceptic_Lemur@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I really did enjoy reading „Wuthering Heights“. And a few years back -in preparation for seeing „Macbeth“ for the first time in English (better to get a bit familiar with the language)- I read it in English and it was surprisingly gripping.

    • Andjhostet@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Wuthering Heights is like a trashy soap opera where everyone is toxic and hates each other. But it’s incredible and you can’t stop reading.

  • 7356124@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    The Count of Monte Cristo is the first one that comes to my mind. The plot is really entertaining and even tho it’s quite a long book, I don’t find it to be boring. So many great characters, so many great scenes and chapters. This book is the true definition of a masterpiece and Alexandre Dumas is a genius, really. The plot is so complex, that it’s amazing to think a single person just thought of this and wrote it.

    • oilpit@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I’m kind of shocked that this is so far down in the thread. I feel like Count of Monte Cristo is usually the go-to example for old classics that feel modern and engaging.

  • dilettantechaser@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    • Possession by A S Byatt

    • Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

    • Things Fall Apart (and Arrow of God) by Chinua Achebe

    • Lolita by Nabokov

    • We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson

    I’ve also found most of Thomas Hardy’s novels to be pageturners but YMMV.

  • SlyTheMonkey@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. About a year ago I was in a total reading slump and couldn’t finish a book for the life of me. Then I picked this one up at the local bookstore (obviously I knew about it beforehand but had never gotten around to actually reading it) and devoured it within 24 hours.

  • jakarooo@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Other people have mentioned great books, I’ll toss in most books written by Toni Morrison. I’ve read Beloved, Song of Solomon, and am reading The Bluest Eye, and her prose is addicting to read. Every sentence seems to just dance off the page. It’s truly astounding how she can write so beautifully about such dark topics.

    • Traditional_Land3933@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I never read this book or watched the old Mifune miniseries bc it seemed to me (maybe erroneously, I don’t know) in the same vein as stuff like Lawrence of Arabia where it’s centered around some white dude becoming a folk hero or something in an ‘exotic’ place, but the new miniseries looks really good so I’m prob gonna watch that

  • calamityseye@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    The Sot-Weed Factor by John Barth. I know the title makes it sound really boring, but it’s hilarious, dramatic, and action-packed.