Now might be the time to finally read the Elizabeth Gaskells on my shelves. Or a Dickens chunkster like Bleak House. Thanks for reminding me they're right here! 🤣

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I liked North and South, but I liked Cranford so much more.

Okay, I yelled, "YES!" when you said The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as your favorite Brontë novel! I adore that book and I think Anne is so underrated! Agnes Grey is also wonderful, but it is similar enough to Jane Eyre that it frequently gets lost in JE's shadow. I am one of those people who loves Wuthering Heights, but I get your feelings about it. I actually hate the characters as well, and that is the charm of it for me? I know, that makes me sound like a psychopath. But, I guess I'm just dark and twisty inside. I don't think I would list it as a beginner Victorian Novel. I think you have to go into it with a lot of context, both of the world it was written in and the literature of the time. One (not book specific) tip I would recommend to someone new to reading Victorian, or any classic, literature is to consider the Serial app. It's free and has pretty much everything in the public domain. You choose a title and each day it will send you a chunk of it until you are done. I read Middlemarch using it and that's probably the only way I got through that one. The one drawback is that it isn't great for translated literature. They do have the translations, but they usually aren't the best translations available. But, for anything written in English, it's great.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I feel like there is a secret society of Anne Bronte appreciators on BookTube. We should make T-Shirts 🤓 I know what you mean about WH, but I have a feeling it is the first and only Brontë for many people. Thank you for the recommendation. That is not a service that I was aware of.

I really enjoyed your video! Can't believe somebody else read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. It is really, really interesting. And I didn't like Wuthering Heights either. In fact, every human person I know that loved it, turns out that they never actually read the book, they saw a film version. I really love Charlotte's third book, Villette as well.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I need to expand my Bronte reading beyond the big three. Maybe Villette this year. It never occurred to me that WH lovers might be movie people more than book people. Very interesting. Thanks shirleyanne.

@shirleyanne6573

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan It's not that strange, actually. There are a lot of 'literature' lovers who are are really movie fans. I once joined a fb Jane Austen group and found that probably no other member had actually read one of her books. They spent their time comparing movies. My brother's a librarian and sometimes gets calls from people looking for a bunch of films. He realizes that what they're doing is trying to cover reading lists for some course. Villette is really good, btw.

😂my thoughts on the Bronte books exactly - re read these three just recently and totally agree, as I do also on the wonderful Barchester Towers!

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Great minds obviously think alike. Thanks for watching.

@barbarahelgaker390

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan 🤣🤣👍

I've always loved how Jane Eyre uses her teaching credentials several times to maintain her independence and support herself. I also love The Tenant of Wildfell Hall so I bought Agnes Grey to read this October. Also thinking about rereading Cranford! So delightful.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

YES! Jane is able to maintain her independence because of her talent and knowledge so that she can make her own choice. As problematic as Rochester is, I have always been glad that she chose him over the religious cousin (?) to whom she would have had to submit completely. I always felt like she could hold her own with Rochester because she new his flaws and secrets. Because he wasn't perfect they could make a life together as a couple.

@readandre-read

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan I agree. And when I read it as a younger woman I was disappointed with her final decision but I understand it better now. I still think she should have just taken her windfall and bought her own villa but the heart wants what it wants, lol.

My impression of Victorian literature got soured when growing up in an Anglican School in Kenya and our English teacher was so taken with Dickens and his book „The Bleak House“, his main goal was to teach us his quotations from the book!

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Yikes that sounds awful and I loved Bleak House.

@hopeforbetter382

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan I still love Bleak House but it was just tedious going to make 7-10 yers olds love literature

Silas Marner is outstanding! I’m a sucker for sentiment. I think you might have accidentally sold people on Wurthering Heights lol. Your description made it sound extremely interesting.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

People should read WH. I just hate it.🤓

I love Trollope so much. I will be working on Phinneas Redux for Victober. Moonstone is on my want to read list.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

He has been one of my favorite authors I discovered through BookTube

"IMA Winner! Chicken Finger!" _Wuthering Heights_ is The Shite.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Another Win! WH, meh.

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your thoughts on Wuthering Heights. It's exactly the way I explain to people why I so strongly dislike it and why I can't find any enjoyment in it.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Thank you. Glad to know I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Hi -- I think Elizabeth Gaskell's very best novel is Wives and Daughters. I liked North and South, but the main character in W&D, Molly, is just such a warm & wonderful character.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I will definitely have to give Wives and Daughters a read. Thanks.

Your video was brought up to me by coincidence and because I'm a bookworm myself I clicked on it. And I am so glad I did! I already read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre and now I have downloaded The Tenant of Wildfell Hall on my e-reader. Thank you for your recommendations and greetings from germany :)

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I'm glad you found the video and thank you for your comment. I hope you love Tenant! I will be in Germany briefly next week.

I completely agree with your Bronte opinions. I love Tenant the most and think Wuthering Heights is awful. I also love Cranford and the Barsetshire series although I have only read the first three. I like Great Expectations, but my favorites by Dickens so far are Bleak House and Dombey and Son. I plan to read The Way We Live Now and something else that isn't too long for Victober. I love Victorian literature, and I always look forward to October.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I never thought I would like Victorian literature as much as I do. Like you I look forward to Victober every year. I think Bleak House is a true masterpiece. Glad we agree about the Brontes

I recommend Thomas Hardy's poetry, I would also recommend 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' - personally I enjoyed it, though he can be bleak. I'm never reading 'Wuthering Heights' ever again, I've read it twice once as a child (who put that in the children's section of the library?) once as an adult when I had to study it, hated it both times, they're all irredeemable. So many possibilities for Victorer - possibly 'Sybil' or "Trilby' neither I've read before. Shout out for 'Vanity Fair' - I think he's better than Dickens. Or as Mr Trollope said in 'The Warden'. - "Mr Popular Sentiment' 🤣 ''The Warden's' worth reading for his take down of the newspaper owner alone. They're always more Trollope to be found.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

You are right about The Warden's take down of the newspapers. I have read a bit of Hardy's poetry and I don't hate it. I have read a good bit of Hardy (it seems to me anyway) and I liked Far From the Madding Crowed. Not sure I am willing to go on though. Glad we agree on Wuthering Heights. Irredeemable is correct.

Trollope is truly delightful. He is such fun to read. Good choices, although on my own personal list, I would include Thomas Hardy.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Tom Hardy and I do not get along. I reread Jude this May and he just isn’t for me. I did like Far From the Madding Crowd

I think it's time I reread Wuthering Heights. Pretty sure I agreed with all your criticisms and still managed to enjoy something in it.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

My hatred for Wuthering Heights goes deep. I just can't get past how terrible everyone (Heathcliff!) is.

Good list Brian. I was going to read Trollop for Victober but they all seem very long. So, I think I'll do Poe or even Cranford. I love Wuthering Heights, but a lot of people read it as a romance which I believe it isn't. I will try to read Tenent at some point too but probably not this year.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I agree that the popular idea that WH is a romance hurts it. Cranford is great and in the Penguin classics edition it is paired with Cousin Phyliss which I also liked. Trollope wise, The Warden, is short.

I am 80% in reading The Moonstone and omg it is AMAZING. And surprisingly funny! The Miss Clack chapters with her texts, i giggled all the way through

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

It is funny. And there is so much in it. I had actually forgotten about Miss Clack.😂😂

@feanorian21maglor38

9 ай бұрын

I read it over 40 years ago, as a teen, and have forgotten most of it, you make me want to re-read it.

@virginiafernandes336

9 ай бұрын

@@feanorian21maglor38 in fact i've finished yesterday and LOVED IT. Amazing book.

Tell us what you really think about Wuthering Heights. 🤣 I'm still picking my Victober TBR. I will be reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I hope to get to The Moonstone since I already own it and it's been on my shelf for 20 years.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

It’s Possible that I am too free with my opinions. 🤓 Happy Victober reading ! I hope you like Tenant.

Solid list/reviews … I need to get to Cranford, Grub Street, Wildfell Hall, and Moonstone

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Thanks Doris.

I love wuthering heights because its characters are unlikable and disturbing, but I can see why others might dislike it for the same reasons.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

When Heathcliff killed Isabell's dog I was done with him. Its silly but I just didn't enjoy the experience of being in the company of such cruel people for so long.

Just started the tenant of wildfell Hall thanks to your review and I think Britta also did a review. Good list.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Yes, Britta also had a great review. I hope you like it.

I read Tess when I was 14 and have never read Hardy again... so depressing and melodramatic. I read Cranford just a couple of months ago and found it delightful, in fact, the whole list is very much to my taste, including the HG Wells, but it is his short stories that I really love and often re-read. Would recommend them to anyone who enjoys short stories. Must try Gissing, a new name to me.

@louise7552

9 ай бұрын

Please read Mary Barton or audiobook. Really good.

@feanorian21maglor38

9 ай бұрын

​@@louise7552 Thanks, I will! I actually picked up Mary Barton in a second-hand shop just a few weeks ago. Will read it very soon 😊

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Thanks for recommending Wells’ short stories that I’d not something I have ever thought of.

I am not much of a classic reader, but having said that, there are some that i have really enjoyed. I have read a good few off your list, Wuthering Heights and Tenants. I enjoyed Treasure Island and War of the Worlds, those two authors i have read a few from. Have you listened to the WOTW radio edition with the music? i just love it!

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I never have listened to the WOTW radio broadcast, but I really feel like I need to. Thank you.

I love your list. I read The Moonstone in college and remember how funny it is. Did you read The Woman in White? It has a great villain.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

The Moonstone has so much in it that I have actually forgotten some of it, in the sense that when I think about plot points or characters I don't always remember that they come from The Moonstone. I am thinking of making The Woman in White my audiobook for October.

I love Jane Eyre. My eyes are failing now so im loving my favourite books on audiobook at night. Can't wait to read The Tenant of Wildfell 😊

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Audio books are such a great resource! Hope you enjoy The Tenant.

Thank you

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Thank you.

Some great ones! ❤ I need to try Gissing. I haven’t seen any of him available in my secondhand shops, but maybe I’ll look more intently. I wish I was a Trollope fan, alas I am not ( I’ve read 5 or 6.) You should read Wives and Daughters- my favorite Gaskell. It’s unfinished & yet I love that about it. 🤗

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Gissing is hard to find. I had to order my copy of The Odd Women and I read New Grub Street on my Kindle before finding a copy in a second had book store in Edinburgh

@novelideea

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan Soooo, what you are saying is I need to go to Edinburgh! 😁

@pjreads

9 ай бұрын

I'm not a fan of Trollope either -- especially the women characters. I did like The Warden.

I read Treasure Island as a teenager and loved it. I may read it again. I read Frankenstein in college. It scared me. I wonder what I'd think of it now? Moonstone sounds kind of interesting, but a bit long.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Moonstone is long. If I had tried to read it instead of listening I wouldn’t have made it.

I discovered Trollope in 2021 with the Warden. I have also read Barchester Towers, and Doctor Thorne. I think Framley Parsonage is the next in the series, but I know nothing about it.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Framley Parsonage is next in the series. I read it last year. Trollope is great.

You know, Mr. Rochester is still a catch. Even if he did lock his first wife in the attic 😂😂

How are you doing mr Brian. Thank you for your wonderful cultural channel. As I mentioned before I studied English both language and literature till second year and left college it’s will of god not mine. But I still remember famous novel pride and prejudice by Jane Austen. I amazed right now as I read this novel Known as regency period takes place in early 19 th century not victorian era . I gathered key points about victorian literature here it’s it years of Queen Victoria ruled Great Britain empire ( 1837 - 1901 ) . Characteristics of victorian literature tends to depict daily life and focused on realism . Victorian literature is important period because saw British empire grow to became first global industrial power , producing coal , iron , steel , textiles. Literally movement in victorian age paralleled social changes that occurred. Major influences on victorian literature firstly through lived experiences backgrounds and authors, secondly through characters and period they depict.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Hello Khatoon! Always nice to here from you. I hope you are well. Sorry that your university was interrupted, but glad that you continue to read and learn and to share your knowledge with me. I had always thought Austen was Victorian too and only learned she was regency a few years ago. The Victorian period was certainly very important in terms of the development of Western literature.

Wuthering Heights is a book I want to reread at some point in time to see if I still hate it or can finally see what people love about it.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

It is a great book, I just hate it.😁

When I was a young pre-teen kid, Treasure Island was my very favourite book (and yes, it's the book that is responsible for most of the pirate tropes that have worked their way into modern culture)! I really need to do my first re-read of the book in about 35 years. I loved Great Expectations (and A Tale of Two Cities), and I've never really come across an author who has a way with the English language quite like Dickens does. I generally count Les Misérables as my favourite classic, though due to the large number of very long tangents that Hugo goes on that are barely connected to the plot and have more to do with the historical setting, I don't know if it would be enjoyed by people who aren't as fascinated by history as I am. (In any case, it wouldn't be a good starting point!)

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Glad to know I got the pirate/ Treasure Island thing right. Dickens books are so rich in language, character, and details. I’ve even considered Les Mis because it is so long. I have seen the musical .

@joshyaks

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan I watched the Les Mis film from 1998 (I think) and was blown away by the story of grace, then I read the novel (an English translation) and was surprised by how much the film had differed from the book, then I went to New York and watched the musical on Broadway and was surprised by how faithful the musical was to the book (I don't like musicals, but I enjoyed that one, having read the book first).

I also love Jane Eyre, and HATE Wuthering Heights. I've never read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, and never heard of George Gissing so thanks for that!

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Gissing is so wonderfully grim🤓 Glad to know you are a fellow WH hater.

@feanorian21maglor38

9 ай бұрын

Both my daughters love Jane Eyre and hate Wuthering Heights. It's the only Bronte i've never re-read. The characters are so unlikable!

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

@@feanorian21maglor38 You all have great taste!

I picked up a copy of The Moonstone from an apartment lobby, maybe I'll pick it up in October!

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

That is a big book to pick up in a lobby. Were they using it as a doorstop.

Great advice (with the major exception of Thomas Hardy, of course).

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Tom and I are not friends.🤓

@HannahsBooks

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan ha!

0:26. INSTANT LIKE!!!! I am now invested in this video. You have my full attention, sir. Carry on. I admire your taste in disliking Thomas Hardy. Can't stand the miserable git's novels. Ok, that was harsh. I don't know if he was a miserable git. His novels are certainly miserable though. I had to read a couple for my English A level. Ugggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Edit: Ok, I'm going to continue waffling. Frankenstein is *fine* but holy moly is Frankenstein a narcissistic snobbish git. He's willing to let a servant be killed for something he knows is his fault - but that's ok cos she's just a servant, right? Oh, and any time something happens he doesn't like he just goes to bed and lies there for months and lets other people wait on him. And don't get me STARTED on the monster. He chaunters on and on til you're all, "Will you shut up already?" Dracula's not bad. Yaassssss, preach on Wuthering Heights! Dishonour on Heathcliff the abuser and dog killer! Dishonour on him! Dishonour on Cathy! The only good thing about that book is it inspired Kate Bush to write that amazing song. I know Bleak House isn't often recommended as a Dickens novel to read, but I love it. I had to read it for my A-level. I got through *literally* at least 3/4 of the book just reading words and not understanding anything that was going on. I didn't know or understand the characters or the plot or anything. And then right when Bucket and Esther find the person at the cemetery all of a sudden something clicked in my head and I understood it. I finished the book....and *immediately* started reading it again, this time reading with full understanding. I've read it many times over the years and each time I get more and more insight. It's a good 'un. Thanks for this great video.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Thanks for the great comment! Nice to meet a fellow Hardy hater. There aren't many of us here on BookTube. I loved Bleak House. I think it is a true masterpiece. I would have recommended it here, but it is so long. Thanks again.

@madiantin

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan It's true, Bleak House is chonky. =D

Every one a winner for sure.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Thank you.

I am reading Silas Marner this Victober. Haha, I think Anne will be my favourite Bronte, I mostly love Jane Eyre and hated Wuthering Heights 😂 Small House at Allington is amazing. I love the Warden so much better then Barchester Towers.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Looks like I am in good company when it comes to my Brontë opinions. I am looking forward to Small House. I didn’t like Framley Parsonage last year.

@KierTheScrivener

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan I found that I loved The Warden, Dr Thorne and Small House and felt more mid about the even numbered ones.

Great

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Thanks!

Just here to strongly agree with everything you say about the Bronte sisters. Cranford is good for capturing the atmosphere of a Victorian village, and it's written with more love and less exaggeration than North and South. Still not trued any Gissing but that does sound good.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Glad to see you echo part of my issue with North and South. Gissing is wonderfully depressing.🤓

Ive tead them all except George Gissing all excellent choices. I would add Arnold Bennet The Old Wives Tale and the Woman in White.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I hope you will give Gissing a try.

haven't read dracula either but someone I trust said it's awful liked wuthering heights the moonstone and great expectations but first I've heard of grub street have got some beautiful editions of bleak house and middlemarch from bn and look forward to reading them SOMEDAY always thought trollope and smollett were kind of stodgy dry old-fashioned writers but recently have been told some of their works are quite good and still relevant⚛😀

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Good to know about Dracula. It has never really tempted me. Bleak House is a great book. I read Framley Parsonage last year and it was the first Trollope that I found to be boring and without wit. Barchester Towers I as witty and delightful

I chose one of novels you mentioned just main theme and author biography briefly here withering heights plot summary about story heath cliff, orphan who falls in love with girl above his class and loses her and devotes rest of his life to wreaking revenge on her family . Emily Brontë ( 1818- 1948 ) she was English novelist, poet who is best known for her novel withering heights , now it’s considered classics of English literature. She also published book of poetry with her sisters Charlotte, Anne little poems . She published under pen name Ellis bell . Best wishes for you your family friends.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Thank you for the comment and the information. I hope that you and your family are doing well.

I read Silas Marner in school. I have zero recollection of it. If I want to read the Bronte sisters I just read Joyce Carol Oates. She's all of them rolled into one. lol

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I’ve never read JCO. Where would you recommend starting?

@JeffRebornNow

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan That's hard to say. I prefer her short stories to her novels. I don't know of any author in the last 50 years who's written better short stories than she has. (Maybe John Cheever but that's about it.) "Them" which won the National Book Award is a good novel; "Wonderland," "You Must Remember This," and "Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart, " are all good.

Ya know, Ive never read _Frankenstein,_ nor _Dracula,_ either! 😮

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I honestly don't have much desire to read either😂😂

@bighardbooks770

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan I do. Ill get to 'em, someday

It's a good list. I'm glad Cranford is on it; the main character reminds me of my mother. I recommend Trollope's Eustace Diamonds and The Way We Live Now which are on my list of the greatest novels of all time. And also Thackeray's Vanity Fair. I also think Benjamon Disraeli's Conigsby should be on the list. Disraeli invented the political novel and it is full of biting wit and intelligent commentary Disraeli never makes any of these lists and it's a shame because he really is a great writer and very modern in technique and tone. It's a good Victorian starter kit.

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

Thank you Frank. I am one of those who never thinks about Disraeli as a writer, but I appreciate the recommendation. And I will get to The Eustace Diamonds one day.

@frankmorlock1403

9 ай бұрын

The Way We Live Now is even better, and about the same length. BTW I had a lot of trouble posting yesterday on several sites. My power went off yesterday morning as I tried to post a lengthy comment on one site. Then at night I tried posting on this site but my internet connection went off. Very frustrating. Very unusual, we usually have reliable power here in San Miguel and the power outages only lasted a minute or two but there were 5 in less then an hour. I was going to stay home but decided to go out, and did.

I'm reading "Frankenstein" (halfway through) and am not liking it. It's slow and Victor is a very annoying character. Cranford is wonderful and anything by Elizabeth Gaskell is great. Middlemarch, by George Eliot, takes a while to get into, with a slow pace, but is very moving. Finally, not strictly Victorian, but Jane Austen is fabulous!

@BookishTexan

9 ай бұрын

I have never had much motivation to read Frankenstein and your comment is a welcome reminder that I have probably made a wise choice in not reading it. I share your enthusiasm for Gaskell. What is your favorite Austen novel Mine is Persuasion.

@RossMaynardProcessExcellence

9 ай бұрын

@@BookishTexan Yes Persuasion just blew my socks off. Emma is hilarious and P&P and S&S lovely but Persuasion is fabulous. I enjoyed the first half of Northanger Abbey (the brother and sister "villains" are delicious) but the second half bored me. Mansfield Park is too long, slow and uneventful