1850

4 books

sort genre era audiobooks

David Copperfield Charles Dickens
Dickens at his warmest, following a boy from a miserable childhood into messy adulthood. You get Aunt Betsey chasing donkeys off her lawn, Micawber forever expecting something to turn up, and Uriah Heep making your skin crawl.
Sonnets from the Portuguese Elizabeth Barrett Browning
You get a remarkably candid record of love taking shape, from guarded doubt to the famous “How do I love thee?” and its steady, almost prayerful answer. The language is ornate and intensely Victorian, but the fear of being unworthy and the relief of being chosen still feel startlingly close.
The Black Tulip Alexandre Dumas, translated by P. F. Collier and Son
You get Dumas in a compact, good-humored mood, following Cornelius van Baerle’s stubborn devotion to growing a truly black tulip while Rosa Gryphus brings warmth and practical sense to his troubles. It’s romantic, slightly absurd, and much less demanding than his sprawling adventures.
The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne
You watch Hester Prynne carry the scarlet A through a judgmental Puritan town, while Dimmesdale’s private guilt grows more painful than any public punishment. The prose is solemn and old-fashioned, but its sympathy for Hester, and its sharp sense of hypocrisy, make the slow reading worthwhile.

4 books

sort genre era audiobooks

David Copperfield Charles Dickens
Dickens at his warmest, following a boy from a miserable childhood into messy adulthood. You get Aunt Betsey chasing donkeys off her lawn, Micawber forever expecting something to turn up, and Uriah Heep making your skin crawl.
Sonnets from the Portuguese Elizabeth Barrett Browning
You get a remarkably candid record of love taking shape, from guarded doubt to the famous “How do I love thee?” and its steady, almost prayerful answer. The language is ornate and intensely Victorian, but the fear of being unworthy and the relief of being chosen still feel startlingly close.
The Black Tulip Alexandre Dumas, translated by P. F. Collier and Son
You get Dumas in a compact, good-humored mood, following Cornelius van Baerle’s stubborn devotion to growing a truly black tulip while Rosa Gryphus brings warmth and practical sense to his troubles. It’s romantic, slightly absurd, and much less demanding than his sprawling adventures.
The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne
You watch Hester Prynne carry the scarlet A through a judgmental Puritan town, while Dimmesdale’s private guilt grows more painful than any public punishment. The prose is solemn and old-fashioned, but its sympathy for Hester, and its sharp sense of hypocrisy, make the slow reading worthwhile.