Pre-Blog classic Classics – Part 1 

Now we’ve got the SF classics out of the way I can move on to my original idea of listing my pre-Blog classic Classics. Like with the SF list(s) I did struggle a bit with the question of what meets the ‘classic’ standard. For example, are the original Fleming Bond novels classics? What about Michael Crichton novels or at least some of the Alistair MacLean books? As before, if I was in any significant doubt I erred on the side of caution and the questionable books failed to make the ‘cut’. But that left a fair few to list, so here they are – in the order I read them. 

1984 by George Orwell 

The War of the Worlds by H G Wells 

I, Claudius by Robert Graves 

The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien 

The Time Machine by H G Wells 

The First Men in the Moon by H G Wells 

The War in the Air by H G Wells 

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

Sherlock Holmes Investigates by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

The Invisible Man by H G Wells 

The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

His Last Bow by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 

The Food of the Gods by H G Wells 

The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien 

 And then there were None by Agatha Christie 

I think that’ll do, for a start! Looking through my (very old) list to glean these from I was actually most impressed by the number of classics I managed to work through in my teens and 20’s. 1984, for instance, was leant to me by my English teacher who obviously saw something in my age 14-15 persona that cried out for quality literature. Looking back on my years of seeing classics as ‘difficult’ or ‘outdated’ I do regret missing out on the experience of reading great books at a young age. But I guess that books often come to you when you’re ready to receive them – which means I have some great reading still ahead of me. Part 2 next week.