The Virginian

A friend of mine wrote "it would be a crime for an American to go through life without ever reading this book." I think he is right. The Virginian is the original western, and the character of the Virginian is the very definition of Western masculinity. This story of his friendship with a visiting New Yorker, and his love affair with a school teacher from New England, is a masterpiece.

Prince Otto

Prince Otto is at risk of losing both his middle-European principality and his wife, and is not sure if he cares enough to keep either. The enjoyable story keeps you hanging until the end, as to which he gets to keep, if any.

Pan Michal

Pan Michal, a secondary if delightful character in With Fire and Sword, and one of the main characters in Deluge, is now the protagonist of this, the final novel of Sienkiewicz's trilogy. Apparently Sienkiewicz was affected by the criticism of his earlier novels as being too (now unfashionably) romantic (in other words having happy endings) and so he wrote Pan Michael to be a much darker novel, with a not so happy ending. But he would only go so far to satisfy the critics--he added a chapter-long postscript describing the historic battle of Chochim, in which we get a happy ending after all. (But if you're reading Kuniczak's newer translation, beware, he leaves this postscript out. I didn't realize this until I finished the book, and had to go and buy another copy, with Jeremiah's older translation, to get the postscript).

The Deluge

Part two of Sienkiewicz's Polish trilogy. In this volume, several of the characters from the first return, including the lovable Zagloba and the stellar swordsman Michal. The hero of the novel is a new character, Andrei Kmicec, who goes through enormous trials, including the siege of Czestochowa, to overcome a grave mistake he makes early in the novel.

With Fire and Sword

Have you ever read a novel and loved it so much, you wished it would never end? Well, Sienkiewicz's Trilogy, of which With Fire and Sword is the first volume, comes as close to that as is possible in a finite world--it's that good, and that long. This first volume is about 800 pages in length (the second is twice that), and is a magnificent tale of four friends, fighting for Poland during the Cossack uprising of 1648. The hero's fiancee is kidnapped by a fierce and charismatic Cossack leader, and his friends go through many battles and adventures to rescue her.

The second volume is The Deluge.

The Talisman

The action in this book takes place a few years before Ivanhoe, with Richard the Lionheart still fighting in the Crusades in Palestine. There are two heroes in this novel, and neither is Richard. The first is a mysterious and apparently poor knight, in love with a ward of Richard, and the second is an even more mysterious Arabian warrior who is a great fighter, a master of the healing arts, and a great leader.

Rob Roy

If you can work your way through the Scotch (language, not drink), you will find this to be a very powerful and satisfying tale of love and treachery in the Highlands.

Kenilworth

A powerful Earl lures away an innocent beauty, while at the same time trying to win the heart of the Queen of England. A captivating inside look into the inner workings of the court of Elizabeth the First, with a cameo appearance by William Shakespeare.

Ivanhoe

The story begins with a conversation between Gurth the swineherd and Wamba, interrupted by a Templar Knight fresh from the Crusades and an arrogant churchman. In short order we have a love triangle between the disinherited hero, Wilfred of Ivanhoe, his forbidden love, the beautiful Saxon princess Rowena, and Rebecca, the also beautiful daughter of Isaac of York, the wealthy Jewish money lender; a jousting tournament; the secret return to England of Richard the Lion Heart and his encounter with Friar Tuck; the storming of a castle with the aid of Robin Hood and his merry men; trial by combat; and a final confrontation with the evil King John.

This is an absolutely delightful novel.

The Cloister and the Hearth

Gerard and Margaret fall in love in 15th. century Holland. They get married and are separated, and the rest of the book tells of their struggles to be reunited. Some of the most interesting parts of the book are the descriptions of Gerard's travels all over Europe. It's an engaging story, but I found the ending to be unsatisfying--it felt like Reade's own biases were getting in the way of the story resolving itself convincingly.

The Count of Monte Cristo

A young man is deprived of his freedom and the love of his life when he is unjustly imprisoned in the Chateau d'If, an impregnable castle on a small rock off the coast of Marseilles. He spends many years on the rock, during which he meets a man who teaches him many things. With what he learns from this man, he is able to plan and then execute a terrible revenge on those who wronged him.

(Personal note: At one point in the book, the hero is mistakenly thought to be from the island of Malta, which is where I am from. How appropriate, then, that a few years ago a movie version of this book was shot on location in Malta. The role of the Chateau d'If was played by the Santa Maria Tower, one of my favorite buildings anywhere.)

Quatre-vingt-treize ('ninety-three)

I looked for a copy of this book for a long time, finally finding one for $2 in a library book sale on Shelter Island, NY. Hugo created several very large personalities in this book about the fatal year of 1793, during the Terror of the French Revolution. Each of the characters is admirable in his own way, but I found the conclusion of the book to be somewhat unconvincing. I think that Hugo's romanticism is running out of steam here, or at least out of credibility.

Les Miserables

This magnificent book will test your commitment to reading only unabridged versions. Working through the six chapters on the history of the Paris sewer system will try even the most determined--but I suppose it's ok to skip over some of the long lists of names of French engineers.

I read this after watching the musical, because I wanted to know how come M. Thenadier, the innkeeper, and his wife, became so rich at the end of the show. The book answered that question, and also provided a rich and haunting story that so inspired me, it changed my life. The nobility of the character of Jean Valjean will always remain an inspiration to me.

Tom Brown at Oxford

This is a worthy successor to Tom Brown's School Days. The themes in the book are more mature, as is Tom himself. He continues to grow, aided by some good friends, including the heroic Hardy.

Tom Brown's School Days

This is a truly lovely book. The beginning part of the book tells of Tom's childhood amidst English village life before the development of the railways began to erode the uniqueness and integrity of country life. The rest of the book is about his time at Rugby, the famous boys school, and the friends he made their and the life lessons he learned. I avoided this book for years, because as a child I watched an unpleasant TV series with the same name, which was all about bullying. Once I read the book, I realized that it was nothing like the TV series--it was much more uplifting and joyful. It is one of my all time favorites. (As soon as I finished reading it I realized I had unwittingly read an abridged version, while all along I had a complete edition right there on my bookshelf. So I immediately started the unabridged version, and enjoyed the story even more the second time. As with everything on the good books list, read the original, unabridged versions.

The Call of the Canyon

The hero, Glenn Kilbourne, returns from World War I a deeply changed, and troubled, man. He moves to Arizona and starts to rebuild his life--and his self--by working on the land. His fiancee, Carly, a New York society woman, struggles to try to reignite their relationship. A moving and lovely story.

The Whites and the Blues

I can't think of a more enjoyable way to learn French history than to read this book, Dumas' account of the struggles between the royalist and revolutionary sides after 1789.

Twenty Years After

In this sequel to the Three Musketeers, Athos is now living as a country gentleman, Porthos has married a rich widow, and Aramis is a (not very good) priest, making money selling homilies.

The Three Musketeers

Easily Dumas' most famous novel, the story of Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and their leader, young D'Artagnan, is an absolute delight.

The Black Tulip

This is one of the shorter of Dumas' most popular novels. The hero in this work, set during the height of the Dutch "tulip-mania" of the early seventeenth century, tries to cultivate an "impossible" black tulip. It's a sweet love story with some gory political violence.

The Moonstone

Wilkie Collins is the first detective fiction novelist. The Moonstone is one of his finest works. It tells the story of the theft of a rare and precious gem from an Indian statue, and the trail of murder and misery that follows all who possess this gem.