Novels with Indulgently Tragic Endings

Sometimes I you just need once of those dense 19th century novels that ends in complete and utter desolation and despair.  Sure there’s no happy ending. Sure they’re depressing.
But hear me out. In some ways they’re the most indulgent books you can read.  They’re histrionic. They’re suspenseful. They have that headlong out of control feeling that you find in the best horror movies. The ones where you can see there’s doom ahead but are powerless to stop it or know exactly what form it will take.

Intimidating and Unread

Inspired by this post that I randomly ran across, I’m creating a list of the most intimidating (read: long and/or difficult) books that I haven’t yet read- but plan to.
I’m very proud to admit that of their ten, I’ve read six- but also a bit ashamed because I’m reminded of my tendency to put off the longest and scariest of books for as long as possible. It’s hard to make that kind of commitment.

the last long book I read was Swann’s Way, and I’m waiting for my next break (coming up in a week!) to approach part two of Remembrance of Thing’s Past, In The Shadow of Young Girls in Flower.

And while I have no desire to read Ulysses and Ayn Rand is anathema, a few are ones that I share with the list originator. Thanks to Parchment Girl for this idea!

My Favorite Authors

What qualifies an author to be counted among my favorites?
I have very high standards, as befits such a coveted distinction.  You know Orwell is just rolling over in his grave because he’s not on here.

It’s a fairly simple standard actually: if a book is written by one of these authors, I don’t have to worry too much about the risk of disliking it… because I generally won’t.

So in no particular order:

 

Henry James

The first book I read by Henry James was The Portrait of a Lady and it took me so long to begin because the first sentence was so convoluted I was terrified. But it’s an absolutely beautiful book, as are most of his novels and short stories.