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

Re: Recommendations

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

Is Germinal the novel with the horse that spent its entire life down the mine? If so, it features heavily in Tom Wolfe's essay "People Should Write More Novels Like the Ones I Enjoy" from the late 1980s (oh, wait, that wasn't the actual title).

Re: Recommendations

[(Anonymous)]

"A novel may be good, though Tom Wolfe may praise it." -- The Black Panther to Monica Lynne, *Avengers* #74.

Oh, sorry, that was "a cause may be right, though a leader or two may be wrong."

Seriously...I'm sure it is, but I don't remember the horse at all. (I read *Germinal* a long time ago.) I do remember a rabbit named Poland (John Kerry wouldn't have, right, Turdblossom? No, Mr. President), though.

My memories of *Nana* are much sharper, despite my annoyance that the titular heroine is able to cause so much damage in such a short period of time (Zola began plotting out his sequence before the Second Empire fell, and didn't realize how little time it had). If you don't want to give Tom Wolfe any satisfaction, you could read that instead. According to Gustave Flaubert, "it is a Colossus with dirty feet...but it is a Colossus."

Elsewhere, I see that times are trying for you, Nellorat and Supergee. If there's anything an Anonymous Sparrow can do, please let me know.

Carry on.