My flist has an impeccable taste, no?

[mieronna]

So tell me, dear flist, what would you recommend if I asked you for novels and film recommendations for the 18th - mid 19th century? I don't care what genre it is, as long as it all happens between 1700-1850. I also don't much care if the books were actually written in that period or if they are modern historical fiction. Give me your recs,

Comments

[aseneth]

If you are enjoying the Patrick O'Brian books, you may like Naomi Novik's "Temeraire" series, though it's more Fantasy than History. Dragons can make up for quite a bit of lack of depth in other areas, however, I've found

[mieronna]

I just bought the fourth Temeraire book (it came out a few days ago)! But I think I'm going to reread the first three before I start on the new one. I've forgotten the finer details of His Majesty's Dragon and Throne of Jade, though amazingly enough I remember almost everything of Black Powder War, which I liked least.

Oh Gods, that's a lot of series:D I think I'll try to get through Aubrey-Maturin first, or I'll get hopelessly muddled! That is, if I can stop myself from trying to read/watch all at once ;)

Thanks for the recs!

[fairylein]

Jane Austen wäre meine erste Empfehlung... von ihr haben mir alle Bücher gefallen. Ansonsten sind auch die Bronte-Schwestern alle sehr empfehlenswert. Besonders gut hat mir die "Sturmhöhe" (im Englischen "Wuthering Heights") von Emily Bronte gefallen.

Unterhaltsam ist auf jeden Fall auch "Jahrmarkt der Eitelkeit" ("Vanity Fair") von W. Thackeray...das Buch ist nur so gespickt von scharfsinnigem Humor.

[mieronna]

Hast du die auf Deutsch oder Englisch gelesen? Weißt du vielleicht was über die Qualität der Übersetzungen? Ich bin eigentlich kein großer Fan von Übersetzungen, aber ich hab so das Gefühl, dass ich durch Austen und so auf Englisch nicht durchkomme.

[fairylein]

Ich hab sie nur auf Deutsch gelesen... ältere englische Romane lese nicht so gerne im Original, da ich die damalige Ausdrucksweise immer ein wenig anstrengend finde.
Bei den Austen-Romanen würde ich dir die Übersetzungen von Ursula und Christian Grawe empfehlen - die machen ihre Sache richtig gut!

[fools_trifle]

Austen is surprisingly easy to read in the original. One would think over 200 years would change the language significantly, but apparently it doesn't mean much. You should be able to get the original books at the library and I recommend that you give them a go, before settling for a translation. :)

[fools_trifle]

I recommend Kerstin Ekman's book Rövarna i Skuleskogen - just to throw in a Scandinavian author. :)

[fools_trifle]

Oh and - this wasn't written within the timeframe you gave, but you might want to give it a shot anyway.

[mieronna]

Oh wow, this sounds really interesting! Myth and history thrown together - looks just like my type of book! Doesn't matter that it's not the right period. Thank you very much. I'd love to read more Skandinavian authors. Somehow everything I end up reading is either English (modern fiction) or English and French (classics).

[fools_trifle]

Well, Kerstin Ekman is a very good author, and she writes a lot of different kinds of stuff, so you can always explore some of her other writing if you like this book. :)

[glockgal]

Buh, d'you mind pop culture at all? Because Charles Dickens is so wonderful, for me (but I'm a sucker for pop. :D) Anyway, my favourite book by him is David Copperfield; my favourite movie is the Charlie Hunnam version of Nicholas Nickleby. So darling.

My hands down favourite Euro-centric book from this period is Henry Fielding's A History of Tom Jones: A foundling. If you are in the mood for a fantastic and hilarious comedy? Awesome. Similarly awesome is the A&E 2-part miniseries of Tom Jones, if it's available to you!

[mieronna]

You know, the funny thing with Dickens is: I loved him when I was younger (I practically gulped down David Copperfield), but I couldn't get into him at all when I tried again recently. Maybe he just doesn't work for me in English, I don't know. But I won't give up. I tried Oliver Twist, which I also loved before and Great Expectations. I guess Copperfield is next on my list of getting-back-into-Dickens try-outs.

I haven't read Fielding, I'll give him a go. Comedy is always good. And hey, what do you mean available? We're on the internet, everything's available if you know where to look. And if you don't your flist does.
:D

Thank you <3

[glockgal]

*HEE* I'm glad you are of those already familiar with Copperfield. But it's true - Dickens is definitely a style you have to be in the mood for; ie, you wanna curl up with a tea and a good old fashioned soap opera!

Oh man, Tom Jones is hilarious and absolutely adorable. And yes! Dude it'll totally be available one the interwebs, ahah! I forget that people don't mind watching things of their computer. I'm stodgy and fussy and prefer seeing stuff on TV, hehe! Hope you enjoy it! *MWAH*

[agarfuith]

There's always Goethe, I suppose...

[mieronna]

On my death bed.

All right now, I guess I'm going to finish Faust one day. Only didn't finish that out of protest. And I guess I'm gonna read the rest some day, too. But really, I'm somewhat of a sucker for prose and what glimpses I had of his prose didn't convince me of their entertainment value ;P

Yeah, I'm shallow, I know.

[agarfuith]

On, the contrary, I don't blame you in the least. I have to read Faust I and II for school at the moment and it is such a pain.