Polling the 19th-century novel (third series) - 1890-1891

Didn't check on serialisation v publication dates, anything like that. SHALLOW WIKI RESEARCH all the way. Every chance that important things are missing.

Haven't read a lot of these myself. Tight between Machen, Wilde and Hardy for me.

DAMMIT

the usual bit about not having read them all but Pan vs Dorian Gray is the toughest of calls. also you have just made me realise they are kind of the same book.

and for a sec i confused Là-bas with À rebours. i'd've probably voted for the latter above any of these, just

Tess. A Hazard of New Fortunes deserves a read but it's halting and compromised and timid like most of Howells' work.

Howells was a name I only know from charity/2nd hand shops - wondered if anyone had read him.

I am still wavering. I should reread Dorian Gray and The Great God Pan, or at least look at them tonight and scratch my head a bit… haunted Hellenic modernity is interesting to me atm.

A young man of this parish did a fairly good job of convincing me that I should read Machen, but I still haven't got around to it! I shall have to rectify this before attempting to vote in this poll.

Hamsun definitely deserves a look in, even among this competition...

Anyone read the Stoker? I gotta admit, I'm wholly ignorant of his work outside of Dracula

Hamsun only one I've read sadly.

Interested in News from Nowhere, not heard of it before..

I was wondering the same - wiki made it sounds interesting

(that last was xp)

Morris is a bit of a blind spot for me – medievalism + design once put me off, but in recent years feel like I should at least get to know him a bit, socialist utopianism & all that - never actually read more than a few poems or pages here and there tho'

read Morris in grad school; the novel is okay, def worth a read.

Hunger is Hamsun's best imo

haunted Hellenic modernity is interesting to me atm.

1890 is also the year of the first edition of The Golden Bough.

Three's a trend! There's a book in this.

& you should def read Machen, Branwell! Machen is great & the celtic uncanny horror-pastoral wld be up your street I imagine.

Ugh, probably Hunger.

I do love the Machen (and highly recommend it), and Dorian Gray is cool, but it's got to be Hunger. Sorry.

First on my 'to read' list: Là-bas.

i keep meaning to read some zola

& you should def read Machen, Branwell! Machen is great & the celtic uncanny horror-pastoral wld be up your street I imagine.

― woof, Thursday, May 22, 2014 2:22 PM (3 hours ago)

Yes, exactly. It was either you or Fizzles who was telling me I needed to read it, and I trust you both. Also emil.y.

Man, this is hard, Could easily go for Machen, Gissing, Zola, Hamsun or Howells in this. Fuuuuck.

Bram Stoker, outside Dracula, is not a lot of good, some short stories aside. Although if you want to read the, admittedly feverishly inventive, product of a mind in the late stages of syphilitic madness, try 'The Lair of the White Worm'

I was under the impression that that everyone but me had already read News From Nowhere; learning otherwise makes me kinda want to do an ILB book club...?

I thought this might be quite a rare book but I saw a copy of it last night..

since you did the other two polls i think i've read about 30-40% of what's on them

i have read nothing on here except the first part of 'tess' . i can only assume that the rest of these books are better than that

including the rest of Tess.

if someone frisbees a turd at your face and calls it an amuse-bouche you don't stick around to see what other courses are coming frankly

I love the horse-crash. And the garlic butter. I don't see why you wouldn't stick around.

how are you with Hardy in general thomp?

i also once tried to read 'the dynasts'

he is pretty marmite-y imo

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Unexpected Haggard/Lang showing

mb i shd get on w reading hunger

Just starting New Grub Street; it's not hooked me yet, and I'm way too exhausted to think about sitting up late even if it had... but I've got all day free for reading tomorrow!

Actually now that I think about it, Hunger might make a good companion piece to NGS (Romantic dreams about literary production vs. cold commercial realities)... Maybe I'll re-read it when I'm thru (although it's much more a winter than a summer book, I'd say)