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Classic Titles You Should Really Read
12
items Classic titles from the reading interests of a former and recovering academic!
Sections
2
Women Writers
The Norm (Ostensibly Male Authors)
Women Writers
This book is seriously overlooked in favor of Brontë’s Jane Eyre. If you wanted to be haunted right along with the narrator, this is a must read.
Villette|Hardcover
One of the first female authors to take the male dominated Gothic and turn it into something new. Gothic horror versus gothic terror wouldn’t be a distinction without Radcliffe’s contribution!
The Mysteries of Udolpho|Paperback
Another Radcliffe gothic goody. They aren’t the scintillating, scandalous reads of the 19th century Penny Dreadful, but have seriously atmospheric vibes.
The Italian|Paperback
Did you know that Percy Shelley heavily edited Mary Shelley’s now-classic Frankenstein? This edition allows you to compare the original manuscript to Percy’s editorial craft!
The Original Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus ...
Want to read the groundbreaking sci-fi novella before sci-fi was even a thing? Want to read about a portal fantasy with polar bears that talk? I've got the book for you! From the heart and mind of Mad Madge (Margaret Cavendish's not so kind nickname ...
The Blazing World and Other Writings|Paperback
Gaslighting before it was a term, the Victorian obsession with hysteria, and disturbing yellow wallpaper that drives a woman who was otherwise sane to the brink of madness. A brilliant piece of writing from a time not unlike our own.
The Yellow Wall-Paper, Herland, and Selected Writings|Paperback
A book about grief and regret and the cultural memory that never forgets as much as it is about the haunting of a woman forced to do the unthinkable. A beautiful piece of writing that is well-loved for a good reason.
Beloved (Pulitzer Prize Winner)|Paperback
Wonderfully witty and an acerbic critique of her period, George Eliot's Middlemarch looks at the politics and problems surrounding marriage, class, and what happens when love doesn't follow the rules.
Middlemarch|Paperback
A lot of people don’t like this novel because there are repeated names and there is a narrative within a narrative within a narrative, but I can’t recommend it enough. The language is beautiful and wonderfully evocative.
Wuthering Heights|Hardcover
The Norm (Ostensibly Male Authors)
If you’ve never read the original western vampire classic that started it all? Don’t expect swooning and morally grey MMCs, but a story that’s told through letters and explores the terror of contagion in the British imagination.
Dracula (Signature Classics)|Hardcover
My favorite Dickens novel. I’ve read it four or five times. I will never stop being entranced by Dickens’s use of florid imagery and unnecessary details. Cannot recommend enough.
Bleak House|Hardcover
An amazing compendium of Greek drama that includes really up-to-date translations of the texts by the likes of Dr. Emily Wilson! Amazing way to get a taste of theater in Ancient Greece
The Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides|Paperback