I love Dickens. I would add Little Dorrit and Our Mutual Friend to your list of favourites.

I don't read novels with the enthusiasm I once did. I used to be mad keen on the Big Russians, but I can't see myself ever sitting down and re-reading War and Peace or The Brothers Karamazov.

Chekhov maybe...

Somewhere along the line I transferred my affections from novels to the cinema.

Bergman
Kurosawa
Fellini
Welles
Hitchcock
Powell

I fully agree with what you say about the Satanic Verses. Fundamentalism of every stripe is the Enemy.