Victorians! discussion

I love the old editions too, Lushbug. They do look almost too pretty to read.

dont u miss the beatiful illustrations they had too. books these days are very plain

It's funny you should say that - I was in a second hand bookshop today browsing the classics and there were quite a few old copies all with illustrations. I was so tempted to buy them (in fact, now I am wishing I had!)

go back and get them!!!

The edition of Vanity Fair that I am currently reading has all the illustrations by Thackeray - they are a hoot.

Enjoying reading everyone's comments here! I can't believe some people started on classics so young.

I think I was first introduced to Victorian lit in highschool through mandatory reading. I read A Tale of Two Cities in grade 11 then Wuthering Heights in grade 12 and loved them both! But going in to university I got so busy with other reading material that I really left the classics behind for a while. Since graduating last year I have rediscovered my enjoyment of them :).

It was reading Jane Eyre last month that lead me to this group and reaffirmed my love for victorian novels. Now I have more than I can count on my TBR list!

I think my first Victorian was Black Beauty - oh how I loved that book and still do. Do Little Women, What Katy Did and Heidi count? I loved them too!

Mine was The Little Princess and the Secret Garden.

As a kid I read tons of classics. I probably read my first Victorian before I knew what it was. I remember Oliver Twist being read to us in gradeschool. Maybe 5th grade? I was fascinated!

Then I read Great Expectations in 9th grade for class and was unaware that it was abridged. Later I found the full length version and happily devoured it.

Heidi and the What Katy Did books were favorites of mine, too.

Susinok wrote: "As a kid I read tons of classics. I probably read my first Victorian before I knew what it was. I remember Oliver Twist being read to us in gradeschool. Maybe 5th grade?"

An act that would be totally impossible in today's public schools for a variety of reasons, when I was in 7th grade our teacher read us Paradise Lost in it's entirety, a half-hour a day right after lunch recess. And this was no special school, but an ordinary public junior high school.

Everyman wrote: "Susinok wrote: "As a kid I read tons of classics. I probably read my first Victorian before I knew what it was. I remember Oliver Twist being read to us in gradeschool. Maybe 5th grade?"

An act th..."

Lord, Eman, that is so amazingly awesome. I had a couple of teachers like that too; but "Paradise Lost" in the seventh grade. Way cool!

So much here is about children's books - could we start a thread for those? It brings back so many memories hearing the names of all the books I loved Little Women, The Secret Garden, Child's Garden of Verses, What Katy Did ... I'm sure there are more! I hadn't realised they were Victorian to start with.

Couldn't we read one of these children's classics one month?

Anna - yes, they are now up, and will be open until this Sunday, so please do nominate one of the children's Vic Lit books! So many of these are ones I read many moons ago and it would be true fun to return to a happy book memory of my youth!

I love the idea of a separate discussion for children's lit from the Victorian era, so set up a thread, as requested, for this topic. I kept it under the "General Vic Era Discussions," folder (same place as this topic) as it seemed most appropriate there given what Boof describes in her "what is this folder for" note. Enjoy! Can't wait to read your comments!

i watched the 1940ish version of whuthering heights w/laurence olivier and then read the book and was hooked. i picked up used copies of wuthering heights and jane eyre at a used store - 1940ish edition with great black/white illustrations. a couple of my prized books.

Susinok wrote: "As a kid I read tons of classics. I probably read my first Victorian before I knew what it was. I remember Oliver Twist being read to us in gradeschool. Maybe 5th grade? I was fascinated!

Then I..."

my 5th grade teacher read "the secret garden" to us. Mrs. Backer was the teacher that got me hooked on books. i think of her often and fondly

Cathy wrote: "So much here is about children's books - could we start a thread for those? "

Certainly very appropriate to have. The Victorian attitude toward children was quite different from ours, and I think it's reflected in their children's literature.

There is also, if you're interested, a fairly active Goodreads group on Children's Books which reads several books a month, as I recall (haven't visited there for awhile); they might also be interested in reading some Victorians. The group is at
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...

Jane Eyre changed my life at 13 years old and I haven't looked back since.

Though not quite Victorian, The Secret Garden sparked my interest in Victorian and Edwardian novels. I think the first proper Victorian novel I read was The Woman in White.

My first was Jane Eyre I read it when I was 13 or 14

I started reading English classics when my English was good enough to read the originals and somehow I discovered Pinguin books back then which were sold for ridiculous prizes at bookshops - the first one was "Wuthering Heights" (I was probably around sixteen, maybe seventeen) and then just couldn't stop reading the Brontes, Jane Austen (not Victorian, though...) and Elizabeth Gaskell. I haven't really discovered Dickens yet, though, except for the Christmas Carol and there are loads of Victorian classics I'd like to read.

mine first was unabridged david copperfield when i was 12.

I think my first one was Black Beauty. Loved that book.

My first read was "A Christmas Carol" followed by "Great Expectations" - my English teacher loved Dickens. But my first passion - a couple of years later - was "The Mill on the Floss" and I went on to read many more George Elliot novels.

I'm not sure, I remember reading Stevenson's "Treasure Island" and "Wuthering Heights" during the summer I was 14 years old.. don't remember wich one I read first but I loved both!

Maggie wrote: "Oh, yes love peter Rabbit - I love Beatrix Potter!"

gosh, I had forgotten what that book was called. I remember reading that when I was a child and loving it. Hearing the name now brings nostalgic memories to me.

My first was probably Little Women at about 12, then Wuthering Heights. But of course at that age, I didn't understand WH on the same level as I did as an adult. LW has no depth below the surface, making it suitable for young readers at that time.

At the age of 12 I read Great Expectations and from then my love of Charles Dickens developed as I began to devour everything he had worte.

When I was 12 my mother gave me "Wuthering Heights" as a 6th grade graduation gift because I'd seen the 1939 film version with Olivier and Oberon. That was the one that got me interested in classics. That summer I read "A Tale of Two Cities" and "Pride and Prejudice" (mainly because those were two titles that I was familiar with). The novel that got me completely hooked, though, was "Jane Eyre". I got it for my 13th birthday that year and I finished it that following Christmas Eve. I loved everything about it. So I just wanted to read more works from that period because of that story.

My first introduction to Victorian literature would've came at school and was probably Oliver Twist or Jane Eyre.

However, school is not always the best introduction to Victorian literature.

But once school was over a new edition of Benjamin Disraeli's Coningsby was published by Penguin Classics. Intrigued as I never knew that the one time British prime minister was also a popular novelist I bought a copy and fell in love with his literary style, vivid characterizations, sordid subplots, wit and humour.

It made me hunt out more of his work and Victorian literature in general.

Disraeli was a novelist that is so cool I must find them!!!!

He wrote a number of novels, Disraeli.

Lindz wrote: "Disraeli was a novelist that is so cool I must find them!!!!"

Yes, he's an highly sophisticated satirist. His later works are better than the earlier stuff. He can seem rather heavy going at first but when you get going he is quite sublime.

Coningsby, the first if his young England triology, is my favourite. It is considered the first English political novel. It contains his most memorable characters - the powerful and sordid statesman Philip, Marquess of Monmouth, and his vile sidekick Rigsby a M.P. Lord Monmouth is based on the Marquis of Hertford (who was also the inspiraion fot Lord Styne from Thacheray's vanity Fair), Rigsby is based upon Journalist John Coker, who felt libelled by the characterization. It is basically a simple romance about a young man's education and eventual entrance in the house of commons, set against the Reform Act of 1832.

The follow-up novel Sybil, is about trade unionism. Highly satirical and very funny. It picks up after the rather hard going chapter 3.

I don't know your tastes but I really love them. Coningsby is in my top five all time novels and top three Victorian novels

My first victorian novel was, I think, Jane Eyre since I don't consider Jane Austen a victorian writer. And it was given by my mom, at about 13, end of what in Italy we called "Middle school".
Dickens came much later, with Eliott and Thakeray, in university; Trollope and Collins even later...

Jane Eyre at 12. Before that, I would only read the Beano comic, so it was quite a leap!

I read mysteries when I was younger Phyllis Whitney, and all the old-timers, Agatha Christie. I am reading Bleak House now and finding it entertaining. I am sure I read Little Women when I was younger also.

I haven't read much but my first was either Black Beauty or A Christmas Carol, and since then I've read a few sci-fi Victorian (Verne, Wells). I haven't finished most the more historical I started mostly because I couldn't understand them. But now I'm older and read more Victorian history, I hope I'll enjoy them now.

How wonderful to see this thread get some interest again! I’d love to hear from more of our newer members on the topic of their first Victorian novel. (Especially since the last post was from 7 years ago!!)

The first Victorian novel that I read by choice is probably David Copperfield. I spent a good part of summer vacation reading it outside in the shade.

Anna wrote: "Here's a question, was anyone tipped on to the Victorians by something that was not a novel? Film or tv or non-fiction? Or perhaps a love of pretty dresses (this might just be me) in Gone With the ..."

My mother loved Gone With the Wind. We would watch it together every time it was on television. I loved the dresses and time. It is why I am fascinated with history, especially the Civil War. Probably not Victorian, but good for Mother's Day. My mom passed away in 2016. Thanks for the trip down memory lane

Cindy wrote: "Anna wrote: "Here's a question, was anyone tipped on to the Victorians by something that was not a novel? Film or tv or non-fiction? Or perhaps a love of pretty dresses (this might just be me) in G..."

I loved Samantha an American Girl when younger (Victorian/Edwardian), along with the other films. Those dolls really sparked my love for history. As for Victorian, there's the Secret Garden movie and the Victorian elements of the Harry Potter books and films.

Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. When I was 13 I memorized the Jabberwock poem. I am sure I drove my mother crazy. Beware the Jabberwock, my son.

That’s a hard one. It must have been Jane Eyre or Great Expectations when I was 12.

I think it was Alice in Wonderland, which I suppose I read when I was about eight. then when I was nine I think I read Little Lord Fauntleroy by France's Hodgson Burnett - I had loved The Secret Garden, so wanted to read her other books. first adult Victorian book I read was Three Men In A Boat, when I was ten or eleven, still think it is the funniest book ever written.