A Uk survey lists readers' favoritest love stories:
"It's really heartening to see how these stories, written so long ago, retain the power to captivate 21st century audiences," said Richard Kingsbury, channel head of UKTV Drama, which commissioned the study. (aha! a TV station commissioned it eh?)
My main girls Jane and the Brontes are definitely representing. I might add some post-1900 romances like The Age of Innocence or Tender is the Night but since those all end so miserably... I see why they didn't get votes. But then again Wuthering Heights' "and then the two ghosts wandered around the depressing moors forever" ending isn't exactly heartwarming. Nor is R and J. So go figure.
The top 20
1 Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë, 1847
2 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen, 1813
3 Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare, 1597
4 Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë, 1847
5 Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell, 1936
6 The English Patient Michael Ondaatje, 1992
7 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier, 1938
8 Doctor Zhivago Boris Pasternak, 1957
9 Lady Chatterley's Lover DH Lawrence, 1928
10 Far from The Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy, 1874
11 = My Fair Lady Alan Jay Lerner, 1956
The African Queen CS Forester, 1935
13 The Great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald, 1925
14 Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen, 1811
15 = The Way We Were Arthur Laurents, 1972
War and Peace Leo Tolstoy, 1865
17 Frenchman's Creek Daphne du Maurier, 1942
18 Persuasion Jane Austen, 1818
19 Take a Girl Like You Kingsley Amis, 1960
20 Daniel Deronda George Eliot, 1876
Ah, but no NORTH & SOUTH? I can understand though, it took three readings for me to slog through the polemics and just feel the LOVE.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'll have to give the very modern answer of The Time Traveler's Wife.
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