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Actually Good Classics
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items If you are traumatized from having to read classics in high school that you hated, then this is the list for you. These are classics that I've read of my own free will as an adult and enjoyed, and I think you will too!
Sections
3
Beginner-Friendly
A Bit of a Challenge
Feeling Confident
Beginner-Friendly
Great books to start with if you are nervous about picking up classics. Many of these are shorter books, and all have prose that is similar to modern English.
Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen. A second-chance romance full of Austen's signature quick wit and a lot of longing.
Persuasion
My personal favorite Vonnegut, Player Piano is a great point of entry into his works (after all, it was his first!). A bit less kooky and satirical than some of his later novels, this one still deals with themes of automation that are very relevant t...
Player Piano: A Novel
If you read Grapes of Wrath and decided you were done with Steinbeck, this is me telling you to give this one a try! I thought Steinbeck just wasn't for me after GoW, but this one is completely different.
East of Eden
Not what you think it is--Frankenstein is actually a very sad, gothic story about the hubris of man, the boundaries of scientific knowledge, and otherness.
Frankenstein: The 1818 Text
If you lived through the pandemic, then you need to read this.
The Plague: A new translation by Laura Marris
James Joyce is notoriuos for being practically unreadable, but this short story collection has simple, beautiful prose. The key to these stories is what is left unsaid. A dark meditation and scathing critique of Dublin.
Dubliners
A Bit of a Challenge
Classics that are a bit of a challenge due to their language and/or length but are still very readable! The Russian classics automatically get put here because the names can be confusing!
The Count of Monte Cristo is the world's greatest revenge story. Filled with mystery, intrigue, and epic “gotcha” moments, this 1200 page classic will fly by!
The Count of Monte Cristo
Russian classics can often seem scary, but Tolstoy is a great place to start! Anna Karenina tells the story of three families and how their lives intertwine and tangle over the years. A book where you see bits and pieces of yourself and those you lov...
Anna Karenina: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
My favorite Dickens, Great Expectations shines through its smaller cast of characters (for a Dickens novel), telling the story of a poor boy whose life is suddenly transformed upon mysteriously inheriting a great sum of money. Exploring questions of ...
Great Expectations
One Hundred Years of Solitude is the story of an isolated town and the family that founds it over 100 years. Weird and fascinating, you'll be hooked by Marquez's gorgeous writing and the desire to see if the family and the town will be able to put th...
One Hundred Years of Solitude
This book has something for everyone! I struggled a little with the “war” chapters, but some of my friends loved them. An interesting look at the Napoleonic Wars, and, more importantly, at the futility of life without love.
War and Peace
Feeling Confident
Classics that I personally found to be difficult but rewarding reads. These books have more challenging prose and are also quite long!
If you're a Jane Austen fan and haven't read this, then this is your sign. Middlemarch raises the stakes on your average Jane Austen novel and add some extra bite to the witty remarks. An absolute joy to read!
Middlemarch: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
This Russian classic is actually a murder mystery! Funny and philosophical, The Brothers K is a must-read.
The Brothers Karamazov: Bicentennial Edition
C&P was my first Russian novel, so if I get through this one without any initiation, then so can you! A challenging and philosophical read exploring guilt and redemption and centered around a horrific crime.
Crime and Punishment