The World's Best Books : A Key to the Treasures of Literature Part 11

One who wishes to make a study of the novel will be interested in Dunlop's "History of Fiction," Tuckerman's "History of English Prose Fiction," Hazlitt's "English Novelists," Lanier's "Novel," Ma.s.son's "British Novelists and their Styles," and Jeaffreson's "Novels and Novelists."

The best fiction should be read: R. D. G.

[213] "Heart of Midlothian," "Waverley," "Ivanhoe," "Kenilworth," "Guy Mannering," "The Antiquary," "Rob Roy," "Old Mortality," "Red Gauntlet,"

etc. Scott is by very many--and among them some of the greatest--loved more than any other novelist. The purity, beauty, breadth, and power of his works will ever place them among the most desirable reading. (Eng., 19th cent.) Hutton's "Sir Walter Scott," Carlyle's "Essay on Scott,"

Hazlitt's Essay in "The Spirit of the Age," and other books referred to in the head notes to Poetry and Fiction will be useful to the student of Scott.

[214] "Adam Bede," "Mill on the Floss," "Romola," "Silas Marner," etc.

Deep philosophy and insight into character mark all George Eliot's writings. (Eng., 19th cent.) Lanier's "Development of the Novel" is practically only an enthusiastic study of George Eliot.

[215] "Pickwick," "David Copperfield," "Bleak House," "Martin Chuzzlewit," "Old Curiosity Shop," etc. d.i.c.kens needs no comment. His fame is in every house. (Eng., 19th cent.)

[216] Hawthorne's "Scarlet Letter," "Marble Faun," "Great Stone Face,"

etc., are by universal consent accorded the first place in the lists of American novels, and are among the best to be found anywhere. (U. S., 19th cent.)

[217] "Vicar of Wakefield." One of Goethe's earliest favorites. (Eng., 18th cent.)

[218] "Rienzi," "Last Days of Pompeii," "Last of the Barons," etc. Most powerful, delightful, and broadening books. (Eng., 19th cent.)

[219] "Malcolm," "Marquis o' Lossie," "David Elginbrod," etc. Books of marvellous spiritual helpfulness. (Eng., 19th cent.)

[220] "Esmond," "Vanity Fair," etc. Very famous books. (Eng., 19th cent.)

[221] "Westward, Ho!" "Two Years Ago," etc. Among the best and most famous pictures of true English character. (Eng., 19th cent.)

[222] "Ben Hur." This book has been placed close to the Bible and Bunyan. (U. S., 19th cent.)

[223] "Hot Plowshares," "The Fool's Errand," "The Invisible Empire,"

"Appeal to Caesar," etc. Books widely known, but whose great merit is not fully recognized. Tourgee, though uneven, seems to us a writer of very great power. His "Hot Plowshares" is a powerful historical novel; and few books in the whole range of literature are so intensely interesting, and so free from all that is objectionable in subject or execution. (U.

S., 19th cent.)

[224] "Les Miserables," "Notre Dame de Paris," "Les Travailleurs de la Mer," etc. Wraxall's translations of these great French novels are most excellent. (France, 19th cent.)

Some critics think that no characters in Shakspeare are better drawn than those of Dumas. "Monte Cristo," "The Vicomte de Bragelonne"

(Stevenson's favorite), "The Three Musketeers," "Twenty Years After,"

"The Marie Antoinette Romances," etc., are powerful and intensely interesting novels. (France, 19th cent.)

[225] "Robinson Crusoe." There are few persons who do not get delight and inspiration from Defoe's wonderful story. (Eng., 1661-1731.)

"Tom Brown at Rugby" and "Tom Brown at Oxford," by Thomas Hughes, are delightful books for boys. (Eng., 19th cent.)

[226] Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was G.o.d's bugle-call to the war against slavery. Her "Oldtown Folks" and "Sam Lawson's Fireside Stories"

are very humorous sketches of New England life. (U. S., 19th cent.)

Cooper's "The Spy," "The Pilot," "Leather Stocking," "Deerslayer,"

"Pathfinder," etc., are books that interfere with food and sleep, and chain us to their pages. (U. S., 19th cent.)

[227] "Prue and I," by George William Curtis, is one of the most suggestive stories in print, and is in every way a delightful book.

"Potiphar Papers," "Our Best Society," "Trumps," "Lotus Eaters,"--in fact, everything Mr. Curtis writes, is of the highest interest, and worthy of the most careful attention. (U. S., 19th cent.)

The same may be said of the works of Charles Dudley Warner,--"Being a Boy," "A Hunting of the Deer," "In the Wilderness," "Backlog Studies,"

"My Summer in a Garden," etc. (U. S., 19th cent.)

[228] T. B. Aldrich, while perhaps not destined to rank with Scott, Eliot, and Hawthorne, is nevertheless one of the most wholesome and interesting of living authors. "The Stillwater Tragedy" is his strongest book. "Prudence Palfrey," "The Story of a Bad Boy," "Margery Daw," and "The Queen of Sheba" will doubtless be read by those who once become acquainted with the author. (U. S., 19th cent.)

The first part of Hearn's "Chita" exceeds in beauty and strength any other piece of descriptive writing with which we are familiar. (U. S., 19th cent.)

[229] Ebers' "h.o.m.o Sum," "Uarda," and "An Egyptian Princess" are very powerful studies of Egyptian life and history. (Ger., 19th cent.)

"With Fire and Sword," and its sequels, "The Deluge" and "Pan Michael,"

by Henryk Sienkiewicz, are among the greatest books of modern times.

They are historical romances of the conflict between Russia, Poland, and Sweden; and their power may be guessed from the fact that critics have compared the author favorably with Scott, Dumas, Schiller, Cervantes, Thackeray, Turgenieff, Homer, and even Shakspeare. (Poland, 19th cent.)

[230] Miss Austen's "Emma," "Pride and Prejudice" (Eng., 19th cent.), and Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" (Eng., 19th cent.), are all n.o.ble and renowned novels.

[231] Louisa Alcott's "Little Women" is a lovely story of home life; and its exceeding popularity is one of the most encouraging signs of the growth of a taste for pure, gentle, natural literature. (U. S., 19th cent.)

Mrs. Burnett's "Little Lord Fauntleroy" deservedly met at once a high reward of popularity, and was placed in the front rank among stories of child-life. As a teacher of gentleness and good manners it is invaluable. (Eng., 19th cent.)

[232] Cable's "Grande Pointe," "The Grandissimes," etc., should be read by all who wish to know the best living novelists. (U. S., 19th cent.)

Craddock's "Where the Battle was Fought," "Despot of Broomsedge Cove,"

"Prophet of Great Smoky Mountain," "Story of Keedon Bluffs," and "Down the Ravine" are fascinating stories, the last two being fine books for children. (U. S., 19th cent.)

[233] Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney's "Sights and Insights," though somewhat too wordy for this busy world, is worthy a place here, because of its spiritual beauty and its keen common-sense in respect to marriage and courtship. (U. S., 19th cent.)

Sarah Orne Jewett has won a good name by her excellent stories, "Deephaven," "Betty Leicester," etc. Her "Play Days" is a fine book for girls. (U. S., 19th cent.)

[234] Fielding, Le Sage, and Balzac are writers of great power, whose works are studied for their artistic merit, their wit, and the intense excitement some of them yield; but the general moral tone of their writings places them below the purer writers above spoken of in respect to their value to the general reader, one of whose deepest interests is character-forming.

Fielding's "Tom Jones" is by many considered the finest novel in existence; and it undoubtedly would be, if along with its literary skill it possessed the high tone of Curtis or Scott. "Jonathan Wild" is also a powerful story. (Eng., 18th cent.)

"Gil Blas," by Le Sage, is one of the most famous and widely read books in the world. (France, 1668--1747.)

Balzac's best are "Le Pere Goriot" (and especially the magnificent preface to this book), "La Recherche de l'Absolu," "Eugenie Grandet,"

"La Peau de Chagrin," etc. (France, 19th cent.)

[235] Rousseau's "Emile" has been called the greatest book ever written; but we presume that bias and limitation of knowledge on the part of critics (not rare accomplishments of theirs) might procure a similar judgment in respect to almost any strong and peculiar book. Rousseau's "Confessions" are worth some attention. (France, 18th cent.)

Saintine's "Picciola" is a beautiful story. (France, 19th cent.)

[236] Coffin's "Boys of '76," "Boys of '61," "Story of Liberty," etc., are splendid books for young people. The last describes the march of the human race from slavery to freedom. (U. S., 19th cent.)

Charles Reade's "Hard Cash," "Peg Woffington," "Cloister and Hearth" are fascinating stories. (Eng., 19th cent.)

Warren's "Ten Thousand a Year."

[237] Landor's "Imaginary Conversations of Great Men." (Eng., 18th cent.)