Wednesday, March 25, 2020

A Reading List of 19th Century Novels

A Reading List of 19th Century Novels The novels of the 19th century remain some of the most taught literary works of any period. They not only continue to influence the canon but also cinema and popular culture. Get better acquainted with these groundbreaking works with this reading list, categorized by author. The most popular authors from the eraJane Austen, Charles Dickens and Nathaniel Hawthorneappear on this list in alphabetical order. Alcott, Louisa May Little Women Austen, Jane EmmaMansfield ParkPersuasionPride and Prejudice Blackmore, Richard Doddridge Lorna Doone Braddon, Mary Elizabeth Lady Audley’s Secret Bronte, Charlotte Jane EyreVillette Bronte, Emily Wuthering Heights Burnett, Frances Hodgson The Secret Garden Butler, Samuel Erewhon Carlyle, Thomas Sartor Resartus Carroll, Lewis Alice in WonderlandThrough the Looking Glass Collins, Wilkie ArmadaleNo NameThe MoonstoneThe Woman in White Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Rodney StoneA Study in Scarlet Conrad, Joseph Heart of DarknessLord Jim Cooper, James Fenimore The Last of the MohicansThe Prairie Crane, Stephen Red Badge of Courage Dickens, Charles Bleak HouseDavid CopperfieldDombey Son DGreat ExpectationsHard TimesLittle DorrittMystery Of Edwin DroodNicholas NicklebyThe Old Curiosity ShopOliver TwistPickwick PapersTale of Two Cities Disraeli, Benjamin Sybil, or The Two Nations Dostoevski, Fedor Brothers KaramazovCrime and PunishmentThe Idiot Dreiser, Theodore Sister Carrie Dumas, Alexandre The Count of Monte CristoThree Musketeers Eliot, George Adam BedeDaniel DerondaMiddlemarchMill on the FlossSilas Marner Flaubert, Gustave Madame BovaryA Sentimental Education Gaskell, Elizabeth CranfordWives and Daughters Gissing, George New Grub Street Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von Elective Affinities Gogol, Nikolai Dead Souls Hardy, Thomas Far from the Madding CrowdJude the ObscureThe Mayor of CasterbridgeThe Return of the NativeTess of the d’UrbervillesThe WoodlandersUnder the Greenwood Tree Hawthorne, Nathaniel Blithedale RomanceScarlet Letter Hugo, Victor Les MiserablesThe Hunchback of Notre-Dame de Paris James, Henry The AmericanThe BostoniansDaisy MillerThe EuropeansPortrait of a LadyWashington Square Le Fanu, Sheridan Uncle Silas MacDonald, George LilithPhantastes Melville, Herman Moby DickRedburnTypee Meredith, George Diana of the CrosswaysThe Egoist Norris, Frank McTeague Oliphant, Margaret The Perpetual CurateSalem Chapel Scott, Sir Walter The AntiquaryThe Heart of Mid-LothianIvanhoe Sewall, Anna Black Beauty Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Frankenstein Stevenson, Robert L Catriona (aka David Balfour)KidnappedThe Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeTreasure Island Stoker, Bram Dracula Stowe, Harriet Beecher Uncle Tom’s Cabin Thackeray, William M Barry LyndonThe History of Henry EsmondThe NewcomesVanity Fair Tolstoy, Leo Anna KareninaResurrectionThe Forged CouponWar and Peace Trollope, Anthony Ayalas AngelFramley ParsonageBarchester TowersJohn CaldigateThe Last Chronicle of BarsetMarion FayPhineas FinnThe Prime MinisterThe WardenThe Way We Live Now Turgenev, Ivan Fathers and Children Twain, Mark The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnAdventures of Tom SawyerPersonal Recollections of Joan of Arc Verne, Jules Around the World in 80 DaysJourney to the Center of the Earth20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Wells, HG Invisible ManIsland of Dr MoreauThe Time MachineWar of the Worlds Wilde, Oscar Picture of Dorian Gray Zola, Emile L’AssommoirTherese Raquin

Friday, March 6, 2020

Write Daily or Not

Write Daily or Not Stephen King (On Writing) and Julia Cameron (The Artists Way) believe strongly in writing daily. A few others, however, argue that writing daily isnt necessary. So whats a new or struggling writer to decide is the best for them? My take on writing daily is this: DO IT EVERY DAY. Until you find a voice, until you know your direction, until you are a hard-core writer and not a hob Unfortunately when you stop writing for a period, or skip weeks between poems or chapters, you lose ground. You backslide. Its like building a house for a week then letting the weather erode it for a couple months, then you go back to it and have to spend several days fixing whats deteriorated due to neglect. And thinking about writing doesnt work. It doesnt count. While it feels good, and you might consider new ideas to write about, its not writing. Nothing is a substitute for putting words down for a conclusion. Now there may come a day when you have so much on your plate, that you feel discombobulated. Too many deadlines, too confused where to take a scene, uncertain whether a character is needed. At that point, take a day off. Maybe even a weekend but only after youve been writing so steadily that you are honed to scribble each day. My light day is Saturday after a busy Friday putting out newsletters, when Im most likely to have family drop in. There have been times when Ive been at conferences and missed three days, but Im itching to get back to business Youll build your writing in layers. Your talent doesnt embed itself into your brain unless its repeated on a steady basis. If you put weeks and months between your chapters, be prepared to have to do a lot of starting over. Like going to college, taking Spanish 1 this year, and Spanish 2 three years from now a lot is going to be lost in the interim. Yes, you might have been writing for years. But how many years would it really be if you tallied only those days you actually wrote? Write daily. Youll be flabbergasted at your rate of improvement.