Streetlife

Two of my favourite books are:

'The Diary of a Nobody' by George and Weedon Grossmith (1888).  It's a book that makes you realize that humour has not reallly changed much in 100 years and offers an alternative to Dickens.

'As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning' by Laurie Lee.  Not really a 'classic' but his 'Cider With Rosie' was on every CGSE syllabus for decades

These all raise lots of topics and are easy reading

1984 George Orwell  Medium length

Candide Voltaire    Short

Therese Racine Emile Zola     Medium

Count of Monte Christo  Alexandre Dumas Long

Therese Raquin.  You meex it up with famous French playwright Jean Racine!!!

Betty Blue by Philippe Djion, a contemporary classic and a beautiful but tragic love story with some wonderful quotable lines!

Oh ! Caroline I stand corrected Were you like that at school? " Please miss Nicky G has put down the wrong answer!!!"   Mind I liked Laurie Lee I once had a contract in the Slad Valley and met him in The Woolpack he was almost a fixture.  I have not read Diary of''''',,.  Shame on me I am going to get it on my Kindle at once.  Do you enjoy discussing literature? I see a thriving book club has been organised in Clapham Junction on SL There is one at most libraries; does anyone attend?

Nicholas, lol I'm not really a pedant but I have the book in the original french on my bookshelf...and Racine was a personal fave of mine at school...

depends if you want contemporary or past, long or short.  a fascinating little known - and short - classic is James Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner, a gothic tale with lots of unreliable narrators.  i love Fanny Burney's novels, pre-Jane Austen but definitely where Austen learnt to use humour - but they are enormous.  for good contemporary novelists, Hilary Mantel, Susan Gee and Jane Gardam are all possibilities.  short stories - i'd recommend anything by Lorrie Moore, an American writer of wit and subtlety. you could surprise everyone and suggest poetry - what about The Rubbyiat of Omar Khayyam translated by Edward Fitzgerald?  i know its not a perfect translation, but it is perfect poetry, joyous and entertaining as well as philosophical.  i like the novel, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society very much, it reads light at the same time as engaging with all manner of dilemmas of human relationships.  another alternative would be an Icelandic saga, Penguin Classics do several - my personal favourite is the Laxdala Saga, with Burnt Njal a close second.  so ... some kind of equation of time available for reading x desire to be interesting/challenging/pleasant x general group preferences is needed.  

Anna Karenina 

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Ah Catherine you've reminded me of a favourite.  And from a (briefly) Tooting resident too!  "Far From The Madding Crowd" by Thomas Hardy.

I'd second Tess of the D'urbervilles. It's a real page-turner. Didn't realise Thomas Hardy lived in Tooting at one point. Wow!

The Great Gatsby.

"Cold Comfort Farm", which still makes me laugh out loud though I've read it many times.

At Naomhan:  There is a blue plaque to him on a house on Trinity Road...I think its on the corner of Brodrick Road, right hand side as you go up.  Apparently he only lived here a couple of years when Tooting was a country village in Middlesex.

How about 'the Pilgrim's progress' by John Bunyan? It is one of my favourites! It is a very much tried and tested classic.

Happy reading! 

Adrian

Thank you all for taking the time to give me your suggestions it is much appreciated. I will busy finding out about the titles mentioned.

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

We are so lucky we live in a golden age of access to literature and the most popular mags are Hello and such crap  Will our childrens children read for pleasure or fidget at unattainable goals and the smells of others lives?

When one reads very often it is about unattainable goals and most certainly about the lives of other, very often imaginary, people.

I hope our children's children wont believe that past times were any better.

Very enjoyable book (following description from a web-site).

By: Tobias Smollett

The Expedition of Humphry Clinker

was the last of the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett, and is considered by many to be his best and funniest work.

Published in London on 17 June 1771, it is an epistolary novel, presented in the form of letters written by six different characters: Matthew Bramble, a Welsh Squire; his sister Tabitha; their niece and nephew, Jery and Lydia Melford; Tabitha’s maid Winifred Jenkins; and Lydia’s suitor, Wilson.

Much of the comedy arises from differences in the descriptions of the same events by different participants. Attributions of motives and descriptions of behavior show wild variation and reveal much about the character of the teller. The setting, amidst the high-society spa towns and seaside resorts of the 18th century provides his characters with many opportunities for satirical observations on English life and manners.

Someone has already mentioned Voltaire's Candide, which I think is almost a life changing book...as is Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky).

Candide! what a fantastic book! The laguage is so modern it could have been written yesterday.  Other favourites of mine include 100 years of solitude Gabriel Marquez, Siddhartha  Herman Hesse Tin Drum Gunther Grasse Midnights Children & Shame Salman Rushdie A Fine Balance  Rohinton Mistry.  Non Fiction Manufacturing Cosent Naom Chomsky  How the Mind works Stephen Pinker.  The Invention of the Jewish People Schlomo Sands  Perhaps we should start a top[ twenty

I have an idea .I think I will start a new thread. 'Streetlifers' Book Reviews'.  (Nicholas, I thought of this before I saw your top twenty suggestion as it happens, but was thinking about how it could work!)

The idea would be that we only write about one book at a time, that we have just read/ are reading or particularly remember.  I am sure we would all enjoy recommendations from other people. Good ones and bad ones. I recommend one at a time because too many would end up as a list and it would be good to write about books that are fresh in ones mind, whatever age the actual book. All contributions are open to comments and discussion.  Obviously this idea could develop differently, but this is just to start the ball rolling!  Hope this idea meets with approval. I am sure a lot of people would join in. Anyway, I will give it a try!

At Julia.  Great idea...I love reading and value real books and think the idea of having an online book club is great.;  Go for it..

Thanks Brian. I did it...under the heading as above. Bit difficult to find but just feed Streetlifers' Book Reviews into the Search Box.  I actually wrote as much last night, but for some reason my message didn't land here.  Am now obliged to take my own medicine and write one!  I hope people won't feel they have to write a lot.  Long or short, it doesn't matter.

Julia No mind I love it when an idea spreads simultaneously All the best ideas have wings. One cant 'own' an idea.  Yes I think it would be a great thing for it to develop along the lines you suggest.  Perhaps the first book would be a very popular one that a lot of people have read so that others could catch up.  Maybe reading commentary whilst reading the book would spoil it especially if tension is the keynote or there is a twist in the plot.  Should we begin with a novella? Say Candide as any serious reader could read it in a few days and get the ball rolling with another say Wolf Hall pending as it would take busy people a few weeks to read.  Another great novella is Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Marquez.  Any way I think it a wonderful way to have intelligent discourse other than the meaning of 'antique' or similar threads