Classics I enjoyed

Classics aren't something I've read many of. I think school really put me off but in recent years I have picked up a couple to read and have found I rather enjoyed. I'm keeping this more classic classic than modern classic because I feel there is a very different writing style of books written before this Elizabethan era. The only reason this isn't a list of pre 1900 titles is due to the inclusion of a 1913 publication and without that I'd only have two books.. I might enjoy a good classic but they're hard work! Anyway, onto the "list".

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Bottle Imp by Robert Louis Stevenson
I'm sure if you haven't read this book you know this story - at least in part. I truly did not expect to love this book as much as I did but something about Stevenson's writing gripped me and I found it near impossible to put the book down. I happened to have the gorgeous Penguin Leather-bound Classics edition of this book which comes with The Bottle Imp story also. This story isn't one I'd ever heard of before but I also very much enjoyed it. I won't lie and tell you I can recall specifics of it but I do remember being enamoured by the tale.

Le Grand Meaulnes or The Lost Estate by Alain Fournier
I was in a charity shop when I found this bit of French literature in it's original language. As a francophile who likes to pretend she's fluent in French and not just merely able to ask from some croissants in a boulangerie, I bought it. One of my French friends informed me it is a classic and gave me a description and suggested we buddy read as she wanted to experience it again as an adult after first reading it in school many years ago. Whilst I did give the first few pages a go en francais, I had an English translation to hand and thoroughly enjoyed this story. It's a damn shame Alain Fournier was killed in action during World War I, before ever writing another book.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
You may already know I'm a huge theatre nerd and you just read above that I'm a francophile so OF COURSE this book is on here, albeit it was a translation. My goal is to one day read this hefty tome in the very words Hugo himself penned. Meanwhile, I plan to reread it in a different translation(s? if I'm brave!!) to see how someone else interprets Hugo's masterpiece. Also, did you really expect a synopsis? It's over 1000 pages. There's way too much to talk about! But also, it gives me the opportunity to recommend you go listen to the soundtrack or watch the movie or whatnot - I won't blame you for skipping this read!