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 DAVID COPPERFIELD
by Charles Dickens
This is one of my favorite books. I picked up a used copy in high school (don't ask me why!) and read it. It took me three months, but I loved it. The book is densely populated with entertaining characters. There is plenty of action, and Dickens� use of words is amusing.
A warning. 19th century English novels are wordy and digressive by modern standards. Many people do not have the patience for them. Years ago, when I was in graduate school, I had lunch with a buddy, and we talked about our favorite books. I recommended David Copperfield. A week or so later, we had lunch again. He said, �You�ve got to be joking. I read seventy pages, and it�s the most digressive piece of drivel I�ve ever encountered.� Alas.
 THE WAY WE LIVE NOW,
by Anthony Trollope
Trollope is a lot like Dickens. He writes long novels with multi-layered plots and widely varied characters. Both novelists capture the hustle and bustle of the Victorian era. The Way We Live Now features unscrupulous finanical dealings,various literary schemes and a couple of good love stories. It's great fun--for me at least.
 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
by Jane Austen
The world of Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope was noisy and boisterous. So are their books. Jane Austen�s world was slower and quieter, as are her books. But in a more tidy and disciplined way, Jane Austen�s books are as complex and humorous as Dickens and Trollope�s. Pride and Prejudice is one of the sharpest and wittiest books ever written.
Another warning. Sometimes I teach this in introductory literature classes. Most students don�t like it much. I can't convince them that it is really funny.
 MIDDLEMARCH
by George Eliot
I am betraying my preference for Victorian novels. I had a freshman literature teacher who said, �Middlemarch is the most tedious book ever written; don�t ever try to read it.� I had never heard of it, but I checked it out of the library the next day.
I liked it, though I didn�t understand anything more than the surface plot. I�ve had occasion to read it a couple of times since, and it�s better each time. Admittedly, it has a leisurely pace. But it explores the stresses of late Victorian life very well�the strong pull of tradition struggling against new forces of skepticism. The characters are masterfully drawn. To me it is great writing. But if you read it, don�t rush it.
 THE WINDS OF WAR
by Herman Wouk
I almost always regret making definitive judgments about books, but I do think this book and its sequel, War and Remembrance, are the best historical novels I�ve ever read. The Winds of War covers the events up to Pearl Harbor. War and Remembrance covers the period from Pearl Harbor to the war�s end�with a gut-wrenching account of the Holocaust.
The books feature multi-layered narrative perspectives, extremely interesting characters and an ocean of realistic detail. If you read these two books you�ll learn more about World War II than if you take a college history course�but you'll enjoy yourself more.
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