FOUR OF MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE CLASSICS

I was thinking today of some of my favorite books and realized that among my favorites are four must-read classics. Over the years I have read all four of them several times. They never seem to get old to me. Also all four of them have been made into some excellent movies!

My number one favorite is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen:

An excellent book, but also it has been made into several excellent movies. Two of my favorites are:

 The first Pride and Prejudice movie that I ever saw was the BBC production with Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul. So I am rather partial to it. I remember going camping one time and taking my black and white TV with me. I hauled it down to the restroom to plug it in so that I wouldn't miss a part of the 6 part series on PBS. My absolute favorite production though is with Colin Firth. Even though at first he wasn't my picture of what Mr. Darcy would look like he kind of grew on me! Here is a lovely musical version of P&P entitled Bride and Prejudice that makes me laugh out loud every time I watch it:

My next favorite book is Christy by Catherine Marshall

I fell in love with this book when I was a teenager. I love the characters Christy and the Dr. I always hoped that Christy would end up with him instead of the preacher. I loved Christy's idealism and how she grew up by the end of the book.

This book actually was made into a series with Kellie Martin playing Christy. I have all of the DVD's. There were a couple of movies made after the series stopped, but they didn't add up to the original show:

My next favorite book is Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Who could not fall in love with Rhett Butler? And oh my word is Scarlett something else? I always hoped that Scarlett would get her act together and realize how much Rhett truly loved her. Of course Margaret Mitchell left us hanging. Many years later Alexandra Ripley wrote a continuation of Scarlett's story in Scarlett which was pretty good, but not in comparision with GWTW. And the movie reproduction of Scarlett just stunk!

But the movie production of GWTW was excellent and who wouldn't fall in love with Clark Gable as Rhett Butler?

My last favorite is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte:

Poor tragic Jane. An orphan forced to live with miserable relatives and then sent off to a foundling home and later to become a governess. Finally finding true love only to be thwarted by her love's crazy wife kept in an upper room at Thornfield Hall. Forced to shift for herself once more she stumbles upon relatives that she didn't know she had. Still longing for true love she spurns becoming a wife of convenience and heads back to Thornfield only to find that it has burned to the ground and her love deformed by the fire. Ever the kind and loving Jane, she marries him and they live happily ever after.

My favorite movie productions are:

I love the movie with George C. Scott and Suzanna York. He is just the right amount of crusty and she is a perfect Jane. But I also love the BBC production with Timothy Dalton. I find that he makes a very handsome Mr. Rochester though and according to the book Mr. Rochester was not very handsome!

Here are my copies of the books:

Have you read any of these and do you have a favorite? I would love to hear your favorite classics!