 | First Love by Ivan Turgenev
Buy used from: £0.01 Beautiful, shocking, and readable in one sitting. I recommend this translation (as I do with the other translated books on this list).
|
 | Le Grand Meaulnes (Penguin Modern Classics) by Henri Alain-Fournier
Buy used from: £6.46 Evokes a magical world with great poignancy. The author died aged 27.
|
 | I, Claudius (Penguin Classics) by Robert Graves
Buy new: £6.59 / Used from: £3.77 A hugely enjoyable romp through history. Livia, Caligula et al in a gory soap opera.
|
 | The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake
Buy new: £9.98 / Used from: £0.86 A Gothic masterpiece set in a vast, crumbling castle. Written with fantastic detail.
|
 | Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck "Essentials") by John Steinbeck
Buy new: £5.00 / Used from: £0.25 A tremendously powerful novel about friendship. Poor Lennie and his rabbits.
|
 | Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Buy new: £3.99 / Used from: £0.01 'Reality' fiction that is deeply moving. British boys up to fun and games in a book which hauntingly and thrillingly explores the duality of human nature.
|
 | The Ballad of the Sad Cafe: Wunderkind; The Jockey; Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland; The Sojourner; A Domestic Dilemma; A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud (Penguin Modern Classics) by Carson McCullers
Buy new: £5.42 / Used from: £1.99 Unrequited love between a hunchback, a cross-eyed woman and a ne'er-do-well. Together with such stories as Wunderkind and A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud, really rather wonderful.
|
 | The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Buy new: £4.90 / Used from: £1.45 A brilliant portrayal of youthful disaffection.
|
 | The Count of Monte Cristo (Penguin Classics) by Alexandre Dumas
Buy new: £6.46 / Used from: £2.15 Dumas, I believe, is the most widely read French author, and this book comprises 1312 pages of the most exciting literature ever!
|
 | The Go-Between (Penguin Modern Classics) by L. P. Hartley
Buy new: £6.19 / Used from: £4.26 An elegantly written tale of lost innocence. Brilliant film, too.
|
 | Anna Karenin (Classics) by L.N. Tolstoy
Buy used from: £0.01 Each character is drawn with such skill that you can't help but sympathize with his or her viewpoint. (I also favour the Edmonds translation of War and Peace.)
|
 | Wind in the Willows (Penguin Classics) by Kenneth Grahame
Buy new: £3.97 / Used from: £1.52 A delightful book penned by the Secretary of the Bank of England and featuring Ratty, Mole, Badger and, of course, the inimitable Toad. Poop-poop!
|
 | 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Buy new: £5.08 / Used from: £2.10 Dark, terrifying and essential. 'Ratty' has a different rôle to play here . . .
|
 | Ethan Frome (Oxford World's Classics) by Edith Wharton
Buy used from: £0.01 A compelling psychological study of three lives, set in a frozen New England landscape. Heart-rending -- and wonderful -- tour de force.
|
 | A Christmas Carol (Wordsworth Children's Classics) by Charles Dickens
Buy new: £1.99 / Used from: £0.01 Hardly needs my recommendation. Who -- except Santa -- has done more for Christmas than Dickens?
|
 | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Penguin Classics) by Mark Twain
Buy new: £5.21 / Used from: £2.27 My favourite book at school. Huck rejects attempts to 'sivilize' him.
|
 | Love in a Cold Climate (Penguin Modern Classics) by Nancy Mitford
Buy new: £6.89 / Used from: £2.26 Literary chocolate: gossipy, upper-class, romantic adventures told in a distinctive voice (e.g. saying a peach is 'too peach-like').
|
 | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Buy new: £4.80 / Used from: £0.01 A very welcome rendering of a widely misunderstood condition.
|
 | Flashman (The Flashman Papers) by George MacDonald Fraser
Buy new: £5.99 / Used from: £0.01 The exciting adventures of a complete cad. At least he's honest and funny.
|
 | Replay (Fantasy Masterworks) by Ken Grimwood
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £3.02 A thought-provoking book about time travel. An obvious influence on Groundhog Day.
|
 | Lady of the Manor by Chris Marr
Buy new: £16.14 / Used from: £11.10 Bonus item. Has attained legendary status in the Marr household.
|
 | The Director by Chris Marr
Buy new: £16.14 / Used from: £12.73 Bonus item no. 2. Definitive proof that lightning can strike twice.
|
Listmania!
