Best 19th-century fiction?

[Malthus]

If you're just into Victoriana I hear the Sarah Waters novels are good and personally enjoyed 'Quincunx' a lot.

Ever read "Betrayals" by the same authour as "The Quincunx"?

It's really, really good - a scathing satire on literary theory (and much else) and very funny to boot. Totally twisted self-referential work.

Here's a somewhat-ambivalent review:

http://wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2006/06/betrayals-by-charles-palliser.html

[Richard Hakluyt]

The Pickwick Papers is a good read, apart from anything else it details a risque time that preceded Victorian Britain, so it can be quite surprising. I would regard Dickens (1812-1870) as a creator of Victorian Britain rather than a mere chronicler of the period. His books describe the world of coaches, not railways, of violence rather than respectability.............and so on..........taken together they are a huge criticism of the old (Georgian) way of doing things. Bleak House, for example, is a brilliant attack on England's Court of Chancery, a court which was reformed during his life and ultimately abolished after his death.

[Sheilbh]

On a more frivolous level than the Court of Chancery, I think Dickens is probably the single greatest influence on what makes a 'traditional Christmas'.  But you're entirely right, I think his sentimentalism which is easily attacked is actually just a standing rebuke to that Georgian indifference you get in a lot of Georgian literature and, presumably, culture.

One of my courses is on equity and trust law, formerly of the Court of Chancery.  A lot of the principles were established in 19th century cases and reading the judgements is very enjoyable and always puts me in mind of Dickens.  We were also all recommended 'Bleak House' in our first lecture

Edit:  Thinking of the Georgians, I'm sure you've read her Meri, but Jane Austen really is brilliant.

[Malthus]

On a more frivolous level than the Court of Chancery, I think Dickens is probably the single greatest influence on what makes a 'traditional Christmas'.  But you're entirely right, I think his sentimentalism which is easily attacked is actually just a standing rebuke to that Georgian indifference you get in a lot of Georgian literature and, presumably, culture.

One of my courses is on equity and trust law, formerly of the Court of Chancery.  A lot of the principles were established in 19th century cases and reading the judgements is very enjoyable and always puts me in mind of Dickens.  We were also all recommended 'Bleak House' in our first lecture

Edit:  Thinking of the Georgians, I'm sure you've read her Meri, but Jane Austen really is brilliant.

"Bleak House" gets cited in Canadian cases on occasion ...

http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/highlight.do?text=%22bleak+house%22&language=en&searchTitle=Search+all+CanLII+Databases&path=/en/on/onsc/doc/2009/2009canlii68472/2009canlii68472.html

[dps]

Not 19th century, and you've probably already read it, but it is from before 1910--Gulliver's Travels.

[grumbler]

I've already read my way through most of Jane Austen's books, multiple Sherlock Holmes novels, Kipling's The Jungle Book, and am now on The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne.

I love Jane Austen and Sherlock Holmes (though I cringe at the constant mention of Holmes' drug addiction). The Jungle Book was cute and light, which I expected. Are most of Kipling's like that? I am entirely bored with Verne. He seems to love to get into the scientific specifics far more than I'm interested in, with entire chapters being about some scientific way to figure something out. I'll plod through the rest of this book, but I'm not thinking I'll dive into anything else of his soon.

Dickens is definitely on my list. I've read Great Expectations several times and A Christmas Carol, too. I'd like to try something different of his.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall sounds interesting. May put that high on my list.

The only way to read Sherlock Holmes is using The Annotated Sherlock Holmes by Bering-Gould. http://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Sherlock-Holmes-Fifty-Six-Complete/dp/0517481022/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1323913882&sr=8-7

Don't get the disappointing newer version.  Get the original green-covered version.  It's quite reasonable at used prices, and is just a great read, with all the annotations, the illustrations, and whatnot.  Trust me - this is a sure thing.

[Maximus]

We have that. 

Probably hard to read it while you work though.

[Josephus]

FWIW, I'm starting to read A Christmas Carol now. Never read Dickens, managed to get by without it, but am thinking of getting into him more. I read Dan Simmon's Drood which is sort of about Dickens.

[Capetan Mihali]

The free market.   

[Scipio]

Chekhov.  Dumas.  Turgenev.  Stendahl.

[Zoupa]

Le Comte de Monte Cristo.

Revenge with panache. What else do you need?

[CountDeMoney]

Le Comte de Monte Cristo.

Revenge with panache. What else do you need?

True.  An awesome read even today.

Personally, I recommend Shelley's Frankenstein.  More than a horror story, an indictment on the hubris of science without ethics at the advent of the Industrial Revolution.  Very topical, albeit more of a late 18th century work.

[The Brain]

Le Comte de Monte Cristo.

Revenge with panache. What else do you need?

Maybe some maple syrup?

[Martinus]

I'm looking for good books to read published on or before 1910.

Suggestions?

What about the Good Book itself?

It's neither 19th century nor certainly "best" but fiction alright.

[BuddhaRhubarb]

Hunger - Knut Hamsun
Jude The Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Frankenstein, A Modern Prometheus - Mary Shelley
Portrait of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
The Count Of Monte Cristo - Alexnadre Dumas