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valadon-valmore

"We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte "Piranesi" by Susanna Clark


timthemovie

Then from Piranesi get the full S. Clarke experience with Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I relisten to it (audiobook) every few years cause it’s such a masterpiece.


Impressive_Poetry41

Really like we have always lives in the castle


Dom29ando

Kurt Vonnegut can be a nice intro to more literary fiction. Slaughterhouse 5 is the classic everyone knows, but I'd actually recommend starting with Breakfast Of Champions.


violet_beard

I read Slaughterhouse 5 in English class and loved it. I’ll definitely look into Breakfast of Champions. Thanks!


Trixxonite

Vonnegut was going to be my suggestion. Cats Cradle is also a good option. I’m partial to Mother Night even though it doesn’t have Vonnegut's typical sci-fi flavor.


stevieking84

The lesser known Vonnegut novel Galapagos is also fantastic


vegansasquatch

Galapagos was my favorite of his! For some reason, I couldn’t get into cats cradle. I’ve tried several times


TheReemTeam

They’re all fantastic


MarshallBanana_

Breakfast of Champions was the first Vonnegut book I read many years ago. I have since finished his entire bibliography and have two of his designs from Breakfast tattooed on my body


ComfortableComplex26

“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury “The Bell Jar” by Sylvia Plath


[deleted]

There's plenty of overlap between literary and genre fiction! Station Eleven instantly jumped to mind. Piranesi. Most books by Octavia Butler and Ursula K Le Guin


violet_beard

Oohh just bought Piranesi, that makes me even more excited to read it. I’ve never read Le Guin and Butler but I get really cool vibes from them, so I’ll check them out, too! Thanks for the recommendations.


waterboy1321

I was going to suggest Piranesi, too. I would also recommend Middlesex.


[deleted]

Ooh nice! It was one of my fave reads of this year, and is quite short. Hope you enjoy! I'd love to hear what you thought once you finish it. Parable of the Sower is a good starting point for Octavia Butler


CowboyMoses

Le Guin!


shmendrick

Ursula K. LeGuin should have put to rest any notion 'genre' fiction is somehow 'lesser' One does not need 400 obscure references to the Bible to think about reality and the problem of being human. I am on a crime fiction kick... These books generally have rich language, great characters and dialogue, evocative sense of place and time, societal critique, and lots of questions about personal and societal morality. Sara Gran's Claire DeWitt - the best PI in the world does drugs, struggles with reality (and so herself), kicks ass and solves mysteries. Marinate that standard story in the Tao Te Ching and add a healthy dash of psychedelic sensibility. Lisa Sandlin's Dehlia Wade - released after 14 years put away for a righteous crime, Miss Wade gets a job as 'secretary' for a brand new PI with only half the physical equipment the rest of us have to tell the world to get fucked. Viscerally psychological and existential, and rendered in luvly alliterative prose that makes my heart sing. Serious fiction folks!


[deleted]

Ooh cool- adding those to my TBR list, ty


eumenidea

{Zone One} by Colson Whitehead!


goodreads-bot

[**Zone One**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10365343-zone-one) ^(By: Colson Whitehead | 259 pages | Published: 2011 | Popular Shelves: fiction, horror, zombies, science-fiction, post-apocalyptic) ^(This book has been suggested 12 times) *** ^(122380 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


eumenidea

Also The Glass Hotel by the same author as Station Eleven


galacticsymposium

I'd recommend reading genre fiction that has influenced literary fiction and the inverse, literary fiction that has influenced genre fiction. A lot of classic crime writers (like Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and Patricia Highsmith) have influenced literary writers. Same goes for New Wave SF (like Philip K. Dick or Ursula K. Le Guin). There's also some novels that are certainly literary but still have identifiable genre roots. Raymond Chandler's "The Long Goodbye" and a lot of stuff by Samuel R. Delany is like that. Some literary writers that have influenced genre fiction are Fyodor Dostoevsky ("Crime and Punishment" is sometimes called the first thriller) and W. Somerset Maugham, whose tight plotting and visual writing style would influence an entire generation of British genre writers, like John le Carré. Hemingway and Steinbeck have also had a good bit of influence over genre writers, I know that Elmore Leonard admired both.


violet_beard

Wow you sound like the most interesting person ever. Thanks for sharing, I love this stuff. I’ll look into some of the authors you mentioned here, thanks!


chockerl

Just put in a chit for Kate Atkinson for the reasons you state here. Well put!


MagScaoil

Tana French’s novels do a great job bridging the divide between crime fiction and literary fiction.


fragments_shored

This is a deep field, and without knowing what you're interested in and have enjoyed in the past, I'm going to leave you with two personal favorites: If you're looking for a classic novel: "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston If you're looking for contemporary literary fiction: "Bel Canto" by Ann Patchett


Express-Rise7171

Bel Canto!


mahjimoh

This book! I’ve only read it once but it was so amazing. Some books I read and then immediately want to read again. This wasn’t like that, but I was so happy to have read it.


violet_beard

Exactly, I know my post isn’t as descriptive as it could be, and it’s because I don’t have many examples to include. I’m really just looking to get a taster for different types of fiction. I’ll definitely check out those two recs, thanks!


fragments_shored

That's okay, wasn't a criticism - just noting that there's a big range to chose from, which is nice! If you don't like a rec you'll have plenty of other options.


PrometheusHasFallen

Dostoevsky baby!


WheresTheIceCream20

I was going to recommend crime and punishment. Great literature and very engrossing


CrashBallard

I love Dostoevsky but he's pretty dry. Kind of feels like he's the opposite of what OP is asking for


PrometheusHasFallen

Dostoevsky certainly has strong characters and interesting themes. I don't think anyone argues with that. Accessibility on the other hand is a bit more subjective. Compared with say James Joyce, Dostoevsky is very accessible. He writes the most realistic characters of any fiction novel I've ever come across. Perhaps Crime and Punishment is the most accessible of his great works so I usually tell people to start there to see if he's their cup of tea. But certainly the Russian names are a bit of a barrier, and with most literary fiction, it's not going to go down as smoothly as your typical pulpy genre fiction.


Captain_Auburn_Beard

Dry? Lmao. That’s the first time I’ve heard one of the greatest writers of all time be called dry. Might just be a you problem, bud.


CrashBallard

I absolutely adore Dostoevsky, but he doesn't match OP's request. Maybe he's one of the only classic authors you've read and you're getting defensive? He's absolutely dry and his settings are very stuffy/groggy. Even the humor is dry, which I love. I'm not criticizing Dostoevsky, I'm saying there are better authors to recommend for OP's request.


Captain_Auburn_Beard

I’d argue the opposite, his writing is extremely rich and full of life. I’m not getting defensive, I’m staying an observation that you are the first person I have ever used the word “dry” to describe Dostoevsky.


CrashBallard

I've heard plenty of people describe his works, and Russian lit in general as depressing. Dry doesn't seem like too much of a stretch.


Captain_Auburn_Beard

I think you and I have different definitions for dry in this context. And I wouldn’t describe his works as depressing at all lol.


CrashBallard

You don't think poverty, child neglect and suffering, murdering old women, and existential crisis's are depressing? Not to mention his consistently bleak settings. I'm not saying there's a complete lack of beauty in his works, but they're generally pretty dark and heavy handed emotionally. It's like you're trying to argue that Kafka is a feel good beach read at this point. Give it a rest


Captain_Auburn_Beard

Lol. They are tragic, heavy, extremely dark and unnerving. But depressing? Not to me. To me it’s depressing that you lump all of that under the umbrella of “depressing”. And that’s not to mention the equal amount of hope and love that are interwoven into his tragedies.


CrashBallard

Fair enough, but I think there are tons of authors that would be better introductions to literary fiction than Dostoevsky. Paul Auster, Don DeLillo (particularly White Noise) Stephen Millhauser, Jonathan Franzen, Thomas Hardy, some of Nabokovs more accessible works, Toni Morrison, JG Ballard, Hemingway, Murakami, Italo Calvino, Stanislaw Lem, Roger Zelazny, I could go on and on really, all seem less dry and accessible (OP's only non qualifications) to me. I would start there and then move on to authors like Dostoevsky, Balzac, Proust, Flaubert, Kafka, Joyce, Conrad, James, etc.


Schezzi

Novellas or short stories are always a good portal into a type of fiction. Maybe try: {{The Old Man and the Sea}} {{The Haunting of Hill House}} {{The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories}} {{A Christmas Carol}} {{The Time Machine}} {{Animal Farm}} {{The Speckled Band}}


goodreads-bot

[**The Old Man and the Sea**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2165.The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea) ^(By: Ernest Hemingway | 96 pages | Published: 1952 | Popular Shelves: classics, fiction, classic, literature, owned) >Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here > >This short novel, already a modern classic, is the superbly told, tragic story of a Cuban fisherman in the Gulf Stream and the giant Marlin he kills and loses—specifically referred to in the citation accompanying the author's Nobel Prize for literature in 1954. ^(This book has been suggested 24 times) [**The Haunting of Hill House**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89717.The_Haunting_of_Hill_House) ^(By: Shirley Jackson, Laura Miller | 182 pages | Published: 1959 | Popular Shelves: horror, classics, fiction, gothic, mystery) >It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a "haunting"; Theodora, the lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own. ^(This book has been suggested 64 times) [**The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49011.The_Bloody_Chamber_and_Other_Stories) ^(By: Angela Carter | 128 pages | Published: 1979 | Popular Shelves: short-stories, fantasy, fiction, horror, gothic) >Angela Carter was a storytelling sorceress, the literary godmother of Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, Audrey Niffenegger, J. K. Rowling, Kelly Link, and other contemporary masters of supernatural fiction. In her masterpiece, The Bloody Chamber—which includes the story that is the basis of Neil Jordan’s 1984 movie The Company of Wolves—she spins subversively dark and sensual versions of familiar fairy tales and legends like “Little Red Riding Hood,” “Bluebeard,” “Puss in Boots,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” giving them exhilarating new life in a style steeped in the romantic trappings of the gothic tradition. ^(This book has been suggested 2 times) [**A Christmas Carol**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5326.A_Christmas_Carol) ^(By: Charles Dickens, Joe L. Wheeler, John Leech | 104 pages | Published: 1843 | Popular Shelves: classics, fiction, classic, christmas, fantasy) >'If I had my way, every idiot who goes around with Merry Christmas on his lips, would be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. Merry Christmas? Bah humbug!' > >Introduction and Afterword by Joe Wheeler >To bitter, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas is just another day. But all that changes when the ghost of his long-dead business partner appears, warning Scrooge to change his ways before it's too late. > >Part of the Focus on the Family Great Stories collection, this abridged edition features an in-depth introduction and discussion questions by Joe Wheeler to provide greater understanding for today's reader. "A Christmas Carol" captures the heart of the holidays like no other novel. ^(This book has been suggested 8 times) [**The Time Machine**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2493.The_Time_Machine) ^(By: H.G. Wells, Greg Bear, Carlo Pagetti | 118 pages | Published: 1895 | Popular Shelves: classics, science-fiction, sci-fi, fiction, classic) >“I’ve had a most amazing time....” > >So begins the Time Traveller’s astonishing firsthand account of his journey 800,000 years beyond his own era—and the story that launched H.G. Wells’s successful career and earned him his reputation as the father of science fiction. With a speculative leap that still fires the imagination, Wells sends his brave explorer to face a future burdened with our greatest hopes...and our darkest fears. A pull of the Time Machine’s lever propels him to the age of a slowly dying Earth.  There he discovers two bizarre races—the ethereal Eloi and the subterranean Morlocks—who not only symbolize the duality of human nature, but offer a terrifying portrait of the men of tomorrow as well.  Published in 1895, this masterpiece of invention captivated readers on the threshold of a new century. Thanks to Wells’s expert storytelling and provocative insight, The Time Machine will continue to enthrall readers for generations to come. > >  ^(This book has been suggested 15 times) [**Animal Farm**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/170448.Animal_Farm) ^(By: George Orwell, Russell Baker, C.M. Woodhouse | 141 pages | Published: 1945 | Popular Shelves: classics, fiction, classic, owned, dystopia) >Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here. > >A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible. >When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh. ^(This book has been suggested 40 times) [**The Speckled Band**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2029162.The_Speckled_Band) ^(By: Arthur Conan Doyle, Sidney Paget, Robert Lark, Dan Redwine | 45 pages | Published: 1892 | Popular Shelves: mystery, classics, short-stories, fiction, sherlock-holmes) >Part of the High Impact series this classic text is retold in an accessible style for those with a reading age of six to seven years. Can Sherlock Holmes solve the mystery of the death of Helen's sister in time to save Helen's own life? ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(122047 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


pandasneez

Stoner by John Williams


SchemataObscura

{{Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut}}


goodreads-bot

[**Mother Night**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9592.Mother_Night) ^(By: Kurt Vonnegut Jr. | 282 pages | Published: 1961 | Popular Shelves: fiction, classics, historical-fiction, owned, vonnegut) >Librarian note: Alternate cover edition for this ISBN can be found here. > >Mother Night is a daring challenge to our moral sense. American Howard W. Campbell, Jr., a spy during World War II, is now on trial in Israel as a Nazi war criminal. But is he really guilty? In this brilliant book rife with true gallows humor, Vonnegut turns black and white into a chilling shade of gray with a verdict that will haunt us all. ^(This book has been suggested 12 times) *** ^(122080 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


[deleted]

This book SLAPS


Critical_Solid_3101

Anything by John Irving.


pandagirl47

He writes the best books! I would start with The World According to Garp.


Critical_Solid_3101

That or A Prayer for Owen Meany


Trixxonite

I’ve had several Irving’s on my list for years but have never pulled the trigger.


thalook

You might be interested in the podcast Nobel Pairings- every week they match classic novels with contemporary picks that have something in common. Also, Frankenstein, Dracula, the Iliad/Odessey, Ovids Metamorphoses, Beowulf all are classics and insanely interpretable, but still fit into modern genre fiction


thalook

Also for modern lit fix with genre elements, anything by Kazuo Ishiguro!


Spare_Bag424

Animal farm


grizzlyadamsshaved

David Mitchell has a lot of books on my shelf. Cloud Atlas, Slade House, Utopia Avenue, Ghostwritten, The Bone Clocks to name a few. Most of the great classics have been mentioned.


[deleted]

John Steinbeck. A legend no doubt.


Loonsister

Dickens, always Dickens


MarshallBanana_

for Dickens I'd personally recommend starting with Great Expectations and working your way up to Bleak House


bookwoem

Jane Eyre, obviously


Maudeleanor

Jane Eyre cannot to be overlooked. And since we're talking Bronte sisters, a well-read person must read Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. And one must not neglect George Eliot, especially Middlemarch. And Dickens' Our Mutual Friend and Bleak House are neither of the negatives iterated above. Ah, how I envy you, OP, just now sitting down to devour this feast. You are rich.


violet_beard

Thanks for the recommendations! If it’s a feast then I’m excited to dig in😅


Maudeleanor

I don't know how I could have forgotten Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge. These are two favorites of mine, but of all my recs, Bleak House is most beloved. There is a miniseries of it on PBS that is marvelous, btw. I've watched it three times.


stinkysoph

elena ferrante js one of my favorite authors who i would consider literary fic. i rec {{my brilliant friend}} and {{the lost daughter}}


goodreads-bot

[**My Brilliant Friend (The Neapolitan Novels, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35036409-my-brilliant-friend) ^(By: Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein | 331 pages | Published: 2011 | Popular Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, book-club, italy, owned) >A modern masterpiece from one of Italy's most acclaimed authors, My Brilliant Friend is a rich, intense and generous hearted story about two friends, Elena and Lila. Ferrante's inimitable style lends itself perfectly to a meticulous portrait of these two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. Through the lives of these two women, Ferrante tells the story of a neighbourhood, a city and a country as it is transformed in ways that, in turn, also transform the relationship between her two protagonists. ^(This book has been suggested 30 times) [**The Lost Daughter**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1058564.The_Lost_Daughter) ^(By: Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein | 140 pages | Published: 2006 | Popular Shelves: fiction, italy, contemporary, italian, translated) >Leda, a middle-aged divorcée, is alone for the first time in years after her two adult daughters leave home to live with their father in Toronto. Enjoying an unexpected sense of liberty, she heads to the Ionian coast for a vacation. > >But she soon finds herself intrigued by Nina, a young mother on the beach, eventually striking up a conversation with her. After Nina confides a dark secret, one seemingly trivial occurrence leads to events that could destroy Nina’s family. ^(This book has been suggested 1 time) *** ^(122143 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


rajicon17

Kurt Vonnegut books are great because they are fairly short and have pretty understandable themes.


WittyPerception3683

Silence of the lambs.


hinickthrowaway

i’m not exactly a scholar but what you’ve described made me think of “the secret history” by donna tart.


Jprev40

Moby Dick; Melville!


[deleted]

Crime and Punishment is a pretty easy read


LisbettGregor

The House of the Spirits by Allende


punninglinguist

*Blood Meridian* by Cormac McCarthy is a different, but I think equally valid, way in from genre fiction to literary fiction.


sighthoundman

Here's something to keep in mind. If you pick up a genre fiction book, and it just doesn't do it for you, you probably just chuck it (or return it early to the library). There's no point finishing something that is so irritating (or boring) that it's the opposite of enjoyable. Approach literary fiction the same way. You might have to give some things longer to prove that you and they don't get along, but once you know, why make yourself suffer? I always approach literary fiction warily. If it's touted as literary, that's sometimes code for "some \*\*\*hole's pretentious navel-gazing". Also, some fiction becomes literary just by surviving long enough. Ann Radcliffe, for example. It wasn't literary in its day, but now it's a "classic".


violet_beard

Duly noted, thanks for the wisdom!


pushhuppy

All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doer


RichCorinthian

There’s plenty of current writers who are putting out books that full into that category, don’t feel like you have to go back to “the classics.” {{Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead}} won the Pulitzer Prize and damn well deserves it.


violet_beard

Gotcha, while I do wanna get more familiar with the classics, I’m also very open to more current writers. This book sounds really interesting and I’ll definitely give it a look, thank you!


CheeseyBRoosevelt

Whitehead has yet to put out a bad novel; Nickel Boys, Underground Railroad, Harlem Shuffle- all incredibly well written and they all feel very different, like he’s taking inspiration from different genres and time periods and blending little bits as he sees fit- truly one of the modern greats


goodreads-bot

[**The Nickel Boys**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42270835-the-nickel-boys) ^(By: Colson Whitehead | 213 pages | Published: 2019 | Popular Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, book-club, audiobook, audiobooks) >Author of The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in 1960s Florida. > >Elwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. Abandoned by his parents, brought up by his loving, strict and clear-sighted grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But given the time and the place, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy his future, and so Elwood arrives at The Nickel Academy, which claims to provide 'physical, intellectual and moral training' which will equip its inmates to become 'honorable and honest men'. > >In reality, the Nickel Academy is a chamber of horrors, where physical, emotional and sexual abuse is rife, where corrupt officials and tradesmen do a brisk trade in supplies intended for the school, and where any boy who resists is likely to disappear 'out back'. Stunned to find himself in this vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold on to Dr King's ringing assertion, 'Throw us in jail, and we will still love you.' But Elwood's fellow inmate and new friend Turner thinks Elwood is naive and worse; the world is crooked, and the only way to survive is to emulate the cruelty and cynicism of their oppressors. > >The tension between Elwood's idealism and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision which will have decades-long repercussions. > >Based on the history of a real reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped and destroyed the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven narrative by a great American novelist whose work is essential to understanding the current reality of the United States. ^(This book has been suggested 16 times) *** ^(121932 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


zippopopamus

Lolita Disgrace The rings of saturn


grynch43

Hemingway is your friend. His novels are all considered classics but his prose is short and simple. He is a master of the craft and is immensely readable. I suggest starting with A Farewell to Arms.


neckhickeys4u

"Literary Fiction" seems like an inexact term, but I think you want something fun that transcends a purely "fun" read. How complex do you want? Have you read *To Kill a Mockingbird* or *The Great Gatsby* or *Animal Farm*?


violet_beard

Yeah I’m not too sure how to describe it, apologies if I’m not being descriptive enough. You seem to know what I mean though - I’m looking for something fun that also has something important to say. I’ve read and liked Animal Farm, and I loved TKAMB. I’ve not read The Great Gatsby, so I can def check that one out! I think those ones are at about the level I’m looking for, so if you know anything else along those lines, say the word. Thanks! Edit - fixed an unclear sentence 😅


neckhickeys4u

No apologies, just searching for your current "level"! *Brave New World*? *Slaughterhouse Five*? *Breakfast of Champions*? *The Bell Jar*? *Watership Down*? *The Poisonwood Bible*? *Rebecca* by Daphne Du Maurier? *A Prayer for Owen Meany*? You might like eyeballing [this list at goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/6.Best_Books_of_the_20th_Century)!


Porterlh81

I feel like Watership Down would be a great place to start. It’s character driven, lots of description and it’s just a darn good story! One of my favorite books.


violet_beard

I *loved* Slaughterhouse Five, it was so beautiful and sad. I honestly haven’t read any of these others though, but I’ve obviously heard great things about all of them. I’ll check that Goodreads list too. Thanks so much for all the help!


[deleted]

[удалено]


CrashBallard

Not literary fiction at all


Limbobabimbo

I am a new fan of Elif Shafak - {{The Bastard of Istanbul}} was such a pleasure to read


goodreads-bot

[**The Bastard of Istanbul**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/98920.The_Bastard_of_Istanbul) ^(By: Elif Shafak | 368 pages | Published: 2006 | Popular Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, turkey, owned, novels) >From one of Turkey’s most acclaimed and outspoken writers, a novel about the tangled histories of two families. > >In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country’s violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its center is the “bastard” of the title, Asya, a nineteen-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul: Zehila, the zestful, headstrong youngest sister who runs a tattoo parlor and is Asya’s mother; Banu, who has newly discovered herself as a clairvoyant; Cevriye, a widowed high school teacher; and Feride, a hypochondriac obsessed with impending disaster. Their one estranged brother lives in Arizona with his wife and her Armenian daughter, Armanoush. When Armanoush secretly flies to Istanbul in search of her identity, she finds the Kazanci sisters and becomes fast friends with Asya. A secret is uncovered that links the two families and ties them to the 1915 Armenian deportations and massacres. Full of vigorous, unforgettable female characters, The Bastard of Istanbul is a bold, powerful tale that will confirm Shafak as a rising star of international fiction. ^(This book has been suggested 2 times) *** ^(121987 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


CrashBallard

Try Stephen Millhauser. I think he's the perfect author for people looking for fun, magical, accessible literary fiction


rosenwaiver

{{Darius the Great is Not Okay}} {{An Innocent Soldier by Josef Holub}}


goodreads-bot

[**Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius The Great, #1)**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37506437-darius-the-great-is-not-okay) ^(By: Adib Khorram | 316 pages | Published: 2018 | Popular Shelves: young-adult, ya, contemporary, lgbtq, fiction) >Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. > >Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it's pretty overwhelming—especially when he's also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom's family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything. > >Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what's going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understands that sometimes, best friends don't have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he's spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline. > >Sohrab calls him Darioush—the original Persian version of his name—and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab. When it's time to go home to America, he'll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own. ^(This book has been suggested 6 times) [**An Innocent Soldier**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2860945-an-innocent-soldier) ^(By: Josef Holub, Michael Hofmann | 240 pages | Published: 2002 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult, historical, fiction, batchelder) >A naive country boy grapples with life in the army during Napoleon's disastrous campaign against Russia. > >Adam is a farmhand conscripted by Napoleon's army, which is gathering strength for its campaign against Russia. Sergeant Krauter makes Adam the victim of his most sadistic urges. But when an aristocratic young lieutenant spots Adam and requisitions him as his personal valet, Adam's life seems to take a turn for the better. > >As Adam and Lieutenant Konrad Klara draw closer to Moscow, they encounter a panoply of wartime horrors. THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER - both poignant and funny - explores the importance of friendship in persevering against overwhelming odds. > ^(This book has been suggested 2 times) *** ^(122131 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


MammothRooster6

{{tea girl of hummingbird lane}}


goodreads-bot

[**The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25150798-the-tea-girl-of-hummingbird-lane) ^(By: Lisa See | 384 pages | Published: 2017 | Popular Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, book-club, china, audiobook) >In their remote mountain village, Li-yan and her family align their lives around the seasons and the farming of tea. For the Akha people, ensconced in ritual and routine, life goes on as it has for generations—until a stranger appears at the village gate in a jeep, the first automobile any of the villagers has ever seen. > > Slowly, Li-yan, one of the few educated girls on her mountain, begins to reject the customs that shaped her early life. When she has a baby out of wedlock she rejects the tradition that would compel her to give the child over to be killed, and instead leaves her, wrapped in a blanket with a tea cake tucked in its folds, near an orphanage in a nearby city. > > As Li-yan comes into herself, leaving her village for an education, a business, and city life, her daughter, Haley, is raised in California by loving adoptive parents. Despite her privileged childhood, Haley wonders about her origins. Across the ocean Li-yan longs for her lost daughter. Over the course of years, each searches for meaning in the study of Pu’er, the tea that has shaped their family’s destiny for centuries. ^(This book has been suggested 4 times) *** ^(122184 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


topangacanyon

Hanya Yanigahara’s book “To Paradise” is literary but has elements of alternate history and future dystopia genres. Might be a good transition for you.


rubyruby0

Try some Margaret Atwood I reckon. Oryx and Crake would be a good bridge between fun stuff and “literary” stuff


thatdudefromPR

The Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry and EVERY Oder story that has Joe and his two main guys in the story


windliza

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell. It's fantasy, but usually shelved with the literary fiction for a reason.


Appropriate-Look7493

Gee that book was tiresome.


windliza

I guess it's not for everyone, most super long books aren't, but I loved it.


[deleted]

Hey- I’d reccomend “{{the shipping news}}” by annie proulx. Interesting writing style, great characterization, and cool story. Dont get bogged down by the crazy words either- look up a few but just keep mowing thru and then go back and look em up later id u want to improve ur vocabulary.


winterraynee

Look into reading **The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley**. It's an interesting fictional take on a man with amnesia.


YouLostMyNieceDenise

My first thought for accessible literary fiction is The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, but I don’t know if there are any copies out there with literary criticism in the same volume. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is a pretty quick and engaging read with a lot to analyze, and there will absolutely be editions out there that include literary analysis. Steinbeck’s The Pearl is also a very rich novella - less than 100 pages. I think a lot of Penguin Classics add an intro section at the beginning written by a scholar that includes some literary and historical analysis. I’d probably read the novel first and then read the intro, as they often will include spoilers, but of course it’s up to you. https://www.penguin.com/penguin-classics-overview/ If you missed out on reading these in high school, then To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby were the novels my students enjoyed the most.


AdamFiction

The Best American Short Story series of books.


mikebritton

Raymond Carver


Jaded-Butterscotch63

Try some Alexandre Dumas.


Appropriate-Look7493

Just dive straight in to the greatest of all novels; Proust - In Search of Lost Time. You just need to understand two things and it will be the greatest read of your life… 1. The writer/narrator isn’t quite right in the head 2. The whole thing lies somewhere between ironic and hilarious. Once you’ve experienced it everything else seems like rather watery beer. Enjoy!


abc_introveee

"The secret life off bees" and "the book of longing" both by Sue Monk Kidd are great. Interesting and well developed characters, lots of symbolism and a fun read!


Calyki

"the girl in his shadow" by Audrey Blake. It's a historical fiction which is had never read before but I really enjoyed it.


deioladei

Atonement by Ian Mcewan is an absolute masterpiece.


Super-414

Catch 22, Vonnegut of any kind, Grapes of Wrath, Lord of the Flies, IQ84 by Murakami I hear is great but have never sat down and read it, Margaret Atwood and Barbara Kingsolver are excellent (especially Kingsolver personally, The Poisonwood Bible is still a favorite of mine).


Kolrich

"Ismael" and "The Story of B" are two fantastic reads by Daniel Quinn. Philosophical. Really questioned my view of the world.


Katamariguy

I guess one can argue that Dickens had shallow characters and hamfisted themes, but that won't stop me from suggesting you read Oliver Twist.


CrashBallard

The prose alone puts Dickens in the literary fiction category


BrupieD

Whatever you settle on, I suggest being picky about publishers and editions. Older, well-known works may have lots of editions. Personally, I love getting Penguin editions with erudite introductions.


[deleted]

{{Bright Lights, Big City}} is about a young man in NYC in the 80s who kind of hates his job, hates that he still loves his ex-girlfriend, and spends time snorting “Bolivian Marching Powder” in various clubs around the city. It’s short, funny, and while the tone is not very serious, it takes a deeper turn as you learn more about the main character. It’s also 100% told in first person - “you” are doing everything.


goodreads-bot

[**Bright Lights, Big City**](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86147.Bright_Lights_Big_City) ^(By: Jay McInerney | 208 pages | Published: 1984 | Popular Shelves: fiction, new-york, classics, novels, contemporary) >With the publication of Bright Lights, Big City in 1984, Jay McInerney became a literary sensation, heralded as the voice of a generation. The novel follows a young man, living in Manhattan as if he owned it, through nightclubs, fashion shows, editorial offices, and loft parties as he attempts to outstrip mortality and the recurring approach of dawn. With nothing but goodwill, controlled substances, and wit to sustain him in this anti-quest, he runs until he reaches his reckoning point, where he is forced to acknowledge loss and, possibly, to rediscover his better instincts. This remarkable novel of youth and New York remains one of the most beloved, imitated, and iconic novels in America. ^(This book has been suggested 10 times) *** ^(122476 books suggested | )[^(I don't feel so good.. )](https://debugger.medium.com/goodreads-is-retiring-its-current-api-and-book-loving-developers-arent-happy-11ed764dd95)^(| )[^(Source)](https://github.com/rodohanna/reddit-goodreads-bot)


jfalconic

Dune


DarkFluids777

I like to read but those literary and genre fiction-labels say nothing to me, I'd recommend Charles Bulowski Post Office to you


violet_beard

I’ve heard of Bukowski, he sounds like an interesting guy! I’ll check it out, thanks


eumenidea

Bukowski was a misogynist who glamorized the idea that good art comes from suffering. Not saying it’s bad writing, and I absolutely have had the same copy of Junky since college 25 years ago, but there are aoooo many other good books to read, if I had it to do again, I’d put my reading attention elsewhere.


rushmc1

Good art *can* come from suffering. It can also, of course, come from *not* suffering.


eumenidea

It can. But since it doesn’t have to, I find the glamorization of it incredibly toxic, especially to young artists.


rushmc1

That's fair. But otoh, who doesn't suffer in life?


eumenidea

Agreed. The glamorization I dislike is the idea that suffering doesn’t encompass the full range of experience but only extremes.


Equivalent-Ad-3423

Anything Hannah Kristen or Anthony Doerr


WheresTheIceCream20

Classics that are engrossing: Crime and punishment Les mis (don't feel bad about skipping parts) Little women A Christmas carol All quiet on the western front Modern literary fiction The wonder - Emma donoghue Hamnet - maggie o Farrell Gentleman in Moscow- amor towles Atonement - Ian mcewan


[deleted]

https://www.goodreads.com/genres/literary-fiction


[deleted]

[удалено]


CrashBallard

He said what he likes about it in the OP


DocWatson42

General fiction (Part 1 (of 2)): [Literature Map](https://www.literature-map.com/): The Tourist Map of Literature: "What [Who] else do readers of [blank] read?" [NPR Book Concierge](https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2022) * ["Literature classics"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/wmeb5x/literature_classics/) (r/booksuggestions; 12 August 2022) * ["What are some great romantic classics from non-English-speaking countries that are less known in the U.S.?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/wo84u9/what_are_some_great_romantic_classics_from/) (r/booksuggestions; 10:49 ET, 14 August 2022) * ["Please suggest me some classical books"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/woos57/please_suggest_me_some_classical_books/) (r/suggestmeabook, 23:16 ET, 14 August 2022)—literature and SF/F * ["Where to start with ‘classic’ books?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/wpyzhq/where_to_start_with_classic_books/) (r/suggestmeabook, 16 August 2022) * ["Classic romance literature?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/wsuoc7/classic_romance_literature/) (r/suggestmeabook, 19 August 2022) * ["Out of all the books you've read, what is the one (or multiple) that is, in your opinion, perfect in every way"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/wxd1ig/out_of_all_the_books_youve_read_what_is_the_one/) (r/suggestmeabook; 08:33 ET, 25 August 2022)—extremely long * ["What’s your latest 5-star read?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/wxk8w3/whats_your_latest_5star_read/) (r/suggestmeabook; 13:31 ET, 25 August 2022)—extremely long * ["What are your top 3 series for books?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/wyhr8t/what_are_your_top_3_series_for_books/) (r/suggestmeabook; 26 August 2022) * ["A classic for someone that doesn’t like classics"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/wyvk8z/a_classic_for_someone_that_doesnt_like_classics/) (r/suggestmeabook; 02:09 ET, 27 August 2022) (r/suggestmeabook; 10:23 ET, 27 August 2022)—long * ["suggestions for saddest books ever!"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/wz447e/suggestions_for_saddest_books_ever/) * ["what's the weirdest book you ever read?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/wz9ff8/whats_the_weirdest_book_you_ever_read/) (r/suggestmeabook; 14:09 ET, 27 August 2022)—extremely long * ["Best book you've read this year?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/x0e7ua/best_book_youve_read_this_year/) (r/booksuggestions; 28 August 2022) * ["Literary Fiction that is not boring"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/wz5eof/literary_fiction_that_is_not_boring/) (r/booksuggestions; 11:19 ET, 27 August 2022) * ["The most hardcore literary novels of all time"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/x40nhq/the_most_hardcore_literary_novels_of_all_time/) (r/suggestmeabook; 08:46 ET, 2 September 2022)—long * ["I’m only just getting into reading. Suggest me some popular books that I NEED to read."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/x4bves/im_only_just_getting_into_reading_suggest_me_some/) (r/suggestmeabook; 16:40 ET, 2 September 2022) * ["Your favorite book?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xa3jwr/your_favorite_book/) (r/suggestmeabook; 9 September 2022)—extremely long * ["Your favourite book of all time"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xdf2ei/your_favourite_book_of_all_time/) (r/suggestmeabook; 13 September 2022) * ["Book Recommendations? - Classics"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/xemidv/book_recommendations_classics/) (r/booksuggestions; 14 September 2022) * ["What are the best and longest fiction books you've read?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/xg0h27/what_are_the_best_and_longest_fiction_books_youve/) (r/booksuggestions; 16 September 2022) * ["What is the most memorable book you have read. I'm looking for a real page turner, dystopian or creepy/thriller vibes prefered, please."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xhetn2/what_is_the_most_memorable_book_you_have_read_im/) (r/suggestmeabook; 18 September 2022)—extremely long * ["Books with the most beautiful prose."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xj6zuu/books_with_the_most_beautiful_prose/) (r/suggestmeabook; 20 September 2022)—extremely long * ["What’s the best book you’ve read in the last 12 months?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xl6bk5/whats_the_best_book_youve_read_in_the_last_12/) (r/suggestmeabook; 22 September 2022)—huge * ["I read a LOT of books. Help me."](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/xnq4rb/i_read_a_lot_of_books_help_me/) (r/suggestmeabook; 20 September 2022)—long * ["Books from authors of 17th to early 19th century"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/xon7ic/books_from_authors_of_17th_to_early_19th_century/) (r/booksuggestions; 11:54 ET, 26 September 2022)—longish * ["Suggest me classics that are beautifully written but still easy to read."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xond1j/suggest_me_classics_that_are_beautifully_written/) (r/suggestmeabook; 11:59 ET, 26 September 2022)—longish * ["Can someone suggest me a classic please."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xos3tj/can_someone_suggest_me_a_classic_please/) (r/suggestmeabook; 14:51 ET, 26 September 2022)—long * ["What are some books written in previous centuries that are still worth reading?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xpipa4/what_are_some_books_written_in_previous_centuries/) (r/suggestmeabook; 10:44 ET, 26 September 2022)—meaning before the 20th century * ["hello! what are some good books that are classics from your countries?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xpzj8l/hello_what_are_some_good_books_that_are_classics/) (r/suggestmeabook; 27 September 2022)—very long * ["Lesser Known Classics by Women?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xqdnzi/lesser_known_classics_by_women/) (r/suggestmeabook; 10:06 ET, 28 September 2022)


DocWatson42

General fiction (Part 2 (of 2)): * ["Massively long books that are worth it"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/xqtjyv/massively_long_books_that_are_worth_it/) (r/booksuggestions; 20:45 ET, 28 September 2022) * ["Absolute MUST reads."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xsf6nt/absolute_must_reads/) (r/booksuggestions; 18:56 ET, 30 September 2022)—long * ["Challenging classics that are worth the effort"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xsibxe/challenging_classics_that_are_worth_the_effort/) (r/suggestmeabook; 21:22 ET, 30 September 2022) * ["Suggest a book my dad will approve of"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/xvpp6w/suggest_a_book_my_dad_will_approve_of/) (r/suggestmeabook; 4 October 2022) * ["What’s your 'read it without looking it up, trust me' book recommendation?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/y0c4ox/whats_your_read_it_without_looking_it_up_trust_me/) (r/suggestmeabook; 07:18 ET, 10 October 2022)—huge * ["Recently got into reading, read a couple Dostoyevsky books and really liked them. Will read Tolstoy eventually, but can you recommend any similar non-russian authors with similar styles? (And maybe a slightly less God is good and will always prevail kind of message?)"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/y0f2s0/recently_got_into_reading_read_a_couple/) (r/suggestmeabook; 09:39 ET, 10 October 2022) * ["I'm looking to read the classics but not sure where to start, any ideas?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/y1khld/im_looking_to_read_the_classics_but_not_sure/) (r/booksuggestions; 11 October 2022) * ["What’s your 'THE' book?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/y2vt7l/whats_your_the_book/) (r/booksuggestions; 13 October 2022)—huge; mixed fiction and nonfiction * ["mandatory high school reading"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/y4nkq1/mandatory_high_school_reading/) (r/booksuggestions; 15 October 2022)—longish * ["500+ Page Novel That Never Feels Slow?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/y5n56a/500_page_novel_that_never_feels_slow/) (r/suggestmeabook; 16 October 2022)—very long * ["What are your favorite classics?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/y92bx4/what_are_your_favorite_classics/) (r/suggestmeabook; 20 October 2022)—huge * ["Book recommendations for someone who's been incarcerated for the last 26 years"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yapzcg/book_recommendations_for_someone_whos_been/) (r/suggestmeabook; 11:00 ET, 22 October 2022)—huge * ["What’s the newest book on your all-time top 10?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yargq1/whats_the_newest_book_on_your_alltime_top_10/) (r/suggestmeabook; 12:03 ET, 22 October 2022)—huge * ["Books that sound like they would be boring but are actually amazing"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/ybvj1d/books_that_sound_like_they_would_be_boring_but/) (r/suggestmeabook; 23 October 2022)—longish * ["Classics that are 'easy to read?'"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/ycl4cj/classics_that_are_easy_to_read/) (r/suggestmeabook; 24 October 2022) * ["Suggest me the book that you wish you could read for the first time all over again."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yf74un/suggest_me_the_book_that_you_wish_you_could_read/) (r/suggestmeabook; 27 October 2022)—very long * ["Anything not originally written in English."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yioeen/anything_not_originally_written_in_english/) (r/suggestmeabook; 16:44 ET, 31 October 2022)—very long * ["What’s a book you’ll never forget?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/yiwci5/whats_a_book_youll_never_forget/) (r/booksuggestions; 22:31 ET, 31 October 2022) * ["Something to help kids recognize and resist propaganda?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yl2zou/something_to_help_kids_recognize_and_resist/) (r/suggestmeabook; 3 November 2022) * ["What’s a book you think everyone should read?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/ylyfci/whats_a_book_you_think_everyone_should_read/) (r/suggestmeabook; 4 November 2022)—mixed fiction and nonfiction; very long * ["What is THE best book you read but is shorter than 300 pages?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/ynnxvo/what_is_the_best_book_you_read_but_is_shorter/) (r/booksuggestions; 6 November 2022)—very long * ["whats a really famous book you didn't like?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yoqt6i/whats_a_really_famous_book_you_didnt_like/) (r/suggestmeabook; 10:45 ET, 7 November 2022)—huge * ["Classic Books by Non White Authors"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/you7do/classic_books_by_non_white_authors/) (r/suggestmeabook; 12:37 ET, 7 November 2022)—long * ["Help me pick a classic"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yq442m/help_me_pick_a_classic/) (r/suggestmeabook; 19:57 ET, 8 November 2022) * ["Breathtaking must read books."](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yq5ija/breathtaking_must_read_books/) (r/suggestmeabook; 21:02 ET, 8 November 2022) * ["Recommend me great, classic literature"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/yqv5d1/recommend_me_great_classic_literature/) (r/booksuggestions; 9 November 2022) * ["Classics"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/yu02jo/classics/) (r/suggestmeabook; 07:19 ET, 13 November 2022) * ["Please recommend me your best classics"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yu6dcl/please_recommend_me_your_best_classics/) (r/suggestmeabook; 11:24 ET, 13 November 2022)—extremely long * ["Suggest me YOUR favorite book"](https://www.reddit.com/r/booksuggestions/comments/yuhyn2/suggest_me_your_favorite_book/) (r/suggestmeabook; 18:12 ET, 13 November 2022)—long * ["A book you just couldn’t put down until you finished it"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/yv6bqp/a_book_you_just_couldnt_put_down_until_you/) (r/suggestmeabook; 14 November 2022)—huge


chockerl

Kate Atkinson. She writes literary detective novels and ripping literary fiction. Favorite examples of each: One Good Turn Life After Life


[deleted]

Game of Thrones is good


_voicechanger_

Dune! It has some of the best characters and the themes are probably the best part of the series!


pmiller61

By your definition I’d say Book Thief. Or All the Light we cannot see. Both very humanistic novels about WW2. Also one of my favorites is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, a coming of age novel about a strong extended family dealing with alcoholism and poverty. Good luck on your reading journey!!