[West Ender]

Is it the stories, the style of language or the sheer volume of the books that makes people dislike the "classical" authors? Most people, not everyone but a lot, enjoy film and TV interpretations of these books but is there just too much detail in the writing, particularly for modern tastes?

I like Jane Austen's books because she really gets the personalities of her characters across. She was a very astute observer of human nature and you can believe in them, warts and all.

Has anyone read any John Masters? He wrote about the Savage family (mythical) who were connected with India from the 18th to the 20th centuries. His most well known book was probably "Bowhani Junction", which was made into a film with Stewart Grainger and Ava Gardener, but all his stories are historically accurate and very well written. "Night Runners of Bengal" tells the story of the Indian Mutiny and it's a "can't put down" sort of book. If you like a good read, try it.