Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of… the 1850's, pt.1 (1850-1855)

Villette's my favourite novel, so there's my vote

There are 'it's Charlotte's best' takes out there going into great detail, so I'll just say Lucy and Ginevra's relationship is the best, and the sweetest little joke the unreliable narrator plays on us.

Moby Dick was a great book that was nearly ignored when it was published, but Uncle Tom's Cabin was a book that will probably be ignored by ILB, which had huge social repercussions, and not just in the USA. Hard Times falls somewhere between the two.

It seems I have read many fewer of these than the 1840s ones. Even the dickens ones here are more familiar in adaptation than through actually reading.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I keep meaning to read Uncle Tom's Cabin. The only one of these I've read is Moby Dick.

S'gotta be Moby Dick, a pleasure to read and deeply weird.

Please, let us preserve our illusion of a luxurious variety of choices for as long as possible.

I really like Vilette as well. as well as the repeated embarrassing lack of coverage of non English lit, poll reminds me i’ve never read Westward Ho!

Otherwise it’s a Bleak Dick scenario folks, and v hard to see how yerman Herman doesn’t win out.

Since Moby Dick will deservedly win this, I'll toss my vote to the elegant, romantic Graziella.

There was a piece about that:

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v41/n04/tim-parks/fresh-generous-colourful-idyllic

Hey, thanks for that!

I've only read Moby Dick. Love it very much, like everyone else.

What's The Scarlet Letter like? The only other novel in this list that was on my radar at any one time.

Can I be that guy and ask why we are splitting decades into 6- and 4- year polls instead of two halves?

This is I Love Books not I Love Maths.

What's The Scarlet Letter like?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4c/Scarletlettermovieposter.jpg

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

Predictable, utterly deserved.

I have hateful memories of being forced to read The Scarlet Letter at a young age, but reading it as an adult would probably be very different

It was chosen for a book club me and the missus attend and I admit we chickened out on that one

Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Novels of… the 1850's, pt.2 (1856-1859)

Just started reading Villette. Iirc there is or was a twitter thread about women dying in 18thC literature, this one has to be top five: the lady having over-exerted herself at a ball, caught cold, took a fever, and died after a very brief illness.

yes yes, 19thC.