Recommend some books to me

[womzilla]

Assume that I have read no novel published in the 19th century, in any language--I'm embarrassed by the degree this is almost completely true. (I will probably list the few I have read in a comment to this post.)

What are the first 20 or 30 novels I should read to close this chasm of ignorance? And where should I look for other recommendations? I've found a couple of "great novels of the 19th century" lists, but not many.

Oh, it probably doesn't make sense to recommend more than two novels by the same author. And for these purposes, "novel" can include "single, outstanding collection of short fiction and/or drama".

Edited to add: Lots of great stuff recommended so far, though unsurprisingly heavy on English-language works, though French and Russian have shown up. I'm haven't seen any recommendations for anything originally in Italian, German, or Spanish--is there really no one noteworthy in German literature between Goethe and Mann? Or Spanish between Cervantes and Borges?

Comments

[washa-way.livejournal.com]

Lots to think about here, Zilla.

*I'll state for the record my dislike for Melville, James (I've read the first fifty pages of The Portrait of a Lady three times), and Eliot, and Before reading any Cooper, I suggest a quick examination of Twain's brilliantly caustic essay "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses," which is sort of a "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex" for the 19th Century.

*So: Two Dickens for sure: Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities. (I'd also suggest his short story "The Magic Fishbone," which is like some kind of proto-Pratchett tale--quite spendid.)

*The Three Musketeers is a grand buckle to swash, much funnier than I'd expected, and not unlike the Richard Lester movies in tone (though sadly without Raquel Welch). Highly recommended.

*Frankenstein is a definite necessity. In fact, I just finished it last night.

*Austen is a scream--incredibly droll and pointed under a veneer of politeness. Pride & Prejudice is the place to start.

*My opinion of Henry James mirrors Oscar Wilde's--"Mr. Henry James writes fiction as though it were a painful duty"--but Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray is excellent (as is The Importance of Being Earnest if you're up for reading a play.)

*Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Emily B's Wuthering Heights. (I read the latter in Manchester, in the winter, during a snowstorm--perfect timing!) They're where all the romance novel and spooky-old-house tropes of modern lit came from.

*Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat is delightful, and gives you a good appreciation for Connie Willis' ...To Say Nothing of the Dog to boot.

*I'm very fond of The Return of the Native, which I read back in HS, and enjoyed Jude the Obscure, though I'm less fond of it.

*Gogol's short story "The Overcoat" is wonderful, and I keep meaning to read Dead Souls, but I haven't yet.

*I'm currently reading Edward Mackay's massive nonfiction book, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds; so far so good.

*My favorite 19th-Century book, however, is probably the surprisingly readable and beautifully presented Origin of Species.

And I've been meaning to read novels by Tolstoy and Dostoevsky for years and just haven't gotten around to them yet. Watch this space.