Emma's Bookery: Top Ten Classics I Can't Believe I Haven't Read

Happy Tuesday everyone, how are we all doing? This week's Top Ten Tuesday is Top Ten "___ " I Can't Believe I Haven't Read, I have chosen to choose my top ten classics that I can't believe I haven't read- believe me there's more than ten so let's get cracking!

1) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens- "Pip's life as an ordinary country boy is destined to be unexceptional until a chain of mysterious events lead him away from his humble origins and up the social ladder. His efforts to become a London gentleman bring him into contact not just with the upper classes but also with dangerous criminals. His desire to improve himself is matched only by his longing for the icy-hearted Estella, but secrets from the past impede his progress and he has many hard lessons to learn." (Source)

Known as one of Dickens' most well loved novels, I myself haven't experienced yet except for a poem I studied in GCSE English on the character Miss Havisham. Other than this I haven't been acquainted with this novel but it sounds like a great read!

2) The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S Lewis- "When Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are sent to stay with a kind professor who lives in the country, they can hardly imagine the extraordinary adventure that awaits them. It all begins one rainy summer day when the children explore the professor's rambling old house. When they come across a room with an old wardrobe in the corner, Lucy immediately opens the door and gets inside. To her amazement, she suddenly finds herself standing in the clearing of a wood on a winter after-noon, with snowflakes falling through the air. Lucy has found Narnia, a magical land of fauns and centaurs, nymphs and talking animals- and the beautiful but evil White Witch, who has held the country in eternal winter for a hundred years." (Source)

A classic I think we all must know, but with this I've never read the book or the whole of The Chronicle's of Narnia! Despite this, they appear not to be very long books which surprises me. Its even more daft of me because I have the whole collection in my bedroom waiting patiently to be read! I enjoyed watching the film and having a crush on Mr Tumnus thanks to the gorgeous James McAvoy, at least when reading the books I can think of him too haha.

3) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood "The Republic of Gilead offers Offred only one function: to breed. If she deviates, she will, like dissenters, be hanged at the wall or sent out to die slowly of radiation sickness. But even a repressive state cannot obliterate desire- neither Offred's nor that of the two men on which her future hangs." (Source)

A well-known book I'm pretty sure I've spoken about a couple of time's before, a book about oppression and lack of women's rights. From what I've heard a very powerful book that is simply a must read! I'm hoping soon, me and my friend Sarah will read it together as one of our buddy reads. It looks like a book that can be thoroughly discussed.

4) North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell "North and South depicts a young woman discovering herself, in a nuanced portrayal of what divides people, and what brings them together. Gaskell's compassionate, richly dramatic novel features one of the most original and fully-rounded female characters in Victorian fiction, Margaret Hale. It shows how, forced to move from the country to an industrial town, she develops a passionate sense of social justice, and a turbulent relationship with mill-owner John Thornton. (Source)

Just from reading the synopsis I know I will love this book a lot, so why I've put off reading this novel for so long I have no idea! I have a funny feeling I will love John Thornton as much as Margaret does.

5) 1984 by George Orwell "Hidden away in the Record Department of the sprawling Ministry of Truth, Winston Smith skilfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Yet he inwardly revels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands absolute obedience and controls him through the all-seeing telescreens and the watchful eye of Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for truth and liberty, Smith begins a secret love affair with a fellow-worker Julia, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal." (Source)

I'm pleased to say that 1984 is on my to-be-read list for this year and to be read very soon too! Since watching BookTube videos, this book has popped up numerous amount of times. I have two more books of Orwell's that I'm excited to read to, and from what I've been told all of his books are must-reads!

6) The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wt hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

Recognised as a timeless classic, this introduction to Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent." (Source)

Admittedly I have seen all three films of the Hobbit trilogy, to which I enjoyed very much, along with The Lord of The Rings trilogy. I've heard these books are fairly hard to get into so that's perhaps why I haven't taken the plunge and got stuck in, but now that I know the stories I will find them a lot better to read. This may seem pointless because I know what happens but I think appreciating the works of a man who wrote these classics seems somewhat respectable- is that silly? Haha.

7) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov "Humbert Humbert- scholar, aesthete and romantic- has fallen completely and utterly in love with Lolita Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lolita herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious world play. Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust." (Source)

I already knew the basics of what this books is about, purely because of the controversy around it. I mean its obvious that it is from the synopsis of Humbert Humbert being sexually obsessed toward Lolita a twelve year old girl, just from that you can tell that from the books release its had a lot of mixed views. Despite this, the majority of reviews I've read on this book have said its simply a masterpiece and beautifully written. I want to read it so I can give my own opinion on it, and I think to give an opinion you need to read the book first before slating it without giving it a go!

8) The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger "Holden Caulfield is a seventeen-year old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school. Navigating his way through the challenges of growing up, Holden dissects the 'phony' aspects of society, and the "phonies" themselves: the headmaster whose affability depends on the wealth of the parents, his roommate who scores with girls using sickly-sweet affection" (Source)

I've expressed my wanting of reading this book previously on this blog, and like all of these classics I've been told it is a must read that you want to keep reading over and over again!

9) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen "When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever." (Source)

Strangely enough I read Persuasion and most recently Sense and Sensibility before this, Austen's most famous novel. I'm not sure why this happened but I know this story very well thanks to the BBC's television adaption starring Colin Firth (yum!) as the gorgeous and moody Mr Darcy. I can't wait to read this classic from one of my favourite author's!

10) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo "A tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him. But his attempts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: by his own conscience, when owing to a case of mistaken identity, another man is arrested in his place; and by the relentless investigation of the dogged policeman Javert. It is not simply for himself that Valjean must stay free, however, for he has sworn to protect the baby daughter of Fantine, driven to prostitution by poverty. A compelling and compassionate view of the victims of early nineteenth-century French society, Les Miserables is a novel on an epic scale, moving inexorably from the eve of the battle of Waterloo to the July Revolution of 1830." (Source)

Again, I've been naughty and watched the film version starring Hugh Jackman before reading the novel. Is it wrong to say I fell in love with this story? As depressing as it really is, the film and music and is one of those I will never tire of, but I really do want to experience the novel that I hear is so much better than any film adaption. Despite its length, I will get round to it eventually!

There you have it everyone, they are my top ten classics that I can't believe I haven't read. In fact I have so many classics I am seriously debating whether to dedicate a month or even a year to read all of these classics! I had so much fun with his Top Ten Tuesday, I could have gone on forever.