As a librarian and person with English/Drama degree I am slightly embarrassed to admit I've only read 9 on this list (although I'm relieved to report we have 20 of them in our school library!)
Knew Jane Eyre would feature, but actually Villette is my fave Bronte, and I would add Great Expectations, and probably Howard's End by E M Forster to the list. But that's my homeland loyalty coming out (as I live in NZ now!)
I suppose it's just embarrassing in that way where I just nod my head sagely as if I understand when anyone references something from some Great Whereever Novel 🙃 will report back on whatever I pick up next!
I read Native Son a few years back, and I was surprised by how much I loved it. The book is so intense, so angry. My impression is that it's fallen out of fashion lately, but that meant reading it felt like a discovery!
this is just about exactly how i felt! i think baldwin’s (also excellent) essay on the book has been more popular than the book itself, but its rage jumped off the page
Yes totally. I understand Baldwin had to kill his father in order to write—every generation has to do that. But now that all this time has passed, the time has definitely come to reevaluate Wright.
I love this list. The books are so diverse as to subject matter, author background, length, etc. I would add The Stranger (Camus), Night (Wiesel), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemingway).
I love that a lot, I have been (slowly) getting into classics last year, mostly thanks to a friend of mine who picks amazing ones to read.
Also, I would add Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I read it in last August and it was fantastic.
I love talking about books, so I just wanna say, from your list I read :
• Pride and Prejudice is fantastic, and like you, it's the first classic I genuinely *loved*
• I also read Macbeth. It was the second Shakespeare I read (the first one being Hamlet) and it was the first time I read Shakespeare in English (my first language is French and I read Hamlet in French), and omg I spent so much time on Internet to firgure out what some stuff meant but I still enjoyed it 😭
• I was heartbroken by Giovanni's room.
• also. okay. our dear homer. *technically* i have not read his two extremely famous books. BUT i had ancient greek classes for 5 years and translated some parts from ancient greek to french if that somehow counts ☝🏻
• I started reading The Trial by Kafka, I'm like 30% in and I'll pick it up again. Same goes for Jane Eyre, picked it up but idk I stopped reading it but I'll definitely continue reading bc I know that it's worth it.
• I bought Frankenstein in September, it's definitely going to be one of my next reads :) I have high expectations from it bc i heard it was amazing
I agree that Rebecca absolutely would have to be on my list of best classics!!! That book stuck with me for weeks and I still think about it months later.
I seem to have read more classics than other genres. As a 13 year old we read Charles Dickens’ books in class. Although this was a long time ago, I vividly remember Uriah Heep in David Copperfield and Miss Haversham in Great Expectations. I think Thomas Hardy was also a great classical writer.
Good list! 😊 I would include The House of Mirth; The Portrait of A Lady, The Sun Also Rises, The Odyssey, Wuthering Heights, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. And there's always more to add, including scores of books, like Marquez's, not written in English -- but happily translated.
Loved this post. I’ve found it difficult to find classics that I actually enjoy, do you have a list of classics that you don’t feel are worth the hype or didn’t enjoy?
Solid list. The Dorian Gray call is spot on, that book really does deliver on the over-the-top decadent prose people expect from Wilde. Read it during a bleak winter few years back and the whole aesthetic vibe of it kept me hooked even when the plot slowed. Also totally agree on Inferno being the best part of the Comdey, once you get past the punishments and allegory it's hard to stay as invested. One suggestion for the "brag-worthy" section might be Don Quixote, espeically if you can get past the windmill jokes dominating every reference to it.
Great selections! Pride and Prejudice is a great shout for the fun section, when I first read it this summer I was surprised at just how enjoyable it was. Like I didn't expect to be laughing so much from a book written in the 1810s but Austen is just that great
One of my favorite classics is Dubliners by James Joyce which I think would def count for stunning, his prose is so beautiful. It's also a good choice for something accessible since it's a collection of short stories rather than freaky experimental stuff like Ulysses lol
I'd love to get one of those brag-worthy choices under my belt they all seem great but also intimidating... I think the longest book I've read is the ~600 page Crime and Punishment (which I loved) but maybe I gotta get those numbers up
thank you! i totally agree about austen - when i read it as a teenager i had no idea books that old could even be so fun!
this is great to hear about dubliners - i read just the final story for a class (weird choice!) but otherwise the only joyce i’ve read is ulysses, which was excellent in its way but not exactly making me eager for the next one.
all of the brag worthy choices are worth it, i swear - and reading books like them at a chapter a day has totally changed my ability to get through them! i’ve yet to make it to crime and punishment, though.
That final story of Dubliners is (rightfully imo) considered the best and I think it works well enough on its own. I was actually assigned to read it + Araby + Counterparts for a class I took on short fiction and I loved them enough I decided to go for the full collection.
A chapter a day def sounds like a good way to break things down so maybe I'll try that!
As a librarian and person with English/Drama degree I am slightly embarrassed to admit I've only read 9 on this list (although I'm relieved to report we have 20 of them in our school library!)
Knew Jane Eyre would feature, but actually Villette is my fave Bronte, and I would add Great Expectations, and probably Howard's End by E M Forster to the list. But that's my homeland loyalty coming out (as I live in NZ now!)
i do like villette but i liked jane eyre more! i think it hit me at an impressionable age.
great expectations could very well have made this list honestly! i have not read howard’s end but now i want to
If you will, I will! Cos honestly, I read it last century (!), so I'm due a re-read!
deal!!
I needed this post; I am an avid reader but I have an embarrassing gap of classics under my belt due to some abnormal schooling situations.
i truly don’t think it’s embarrassing — they’re just books! — but at the same time i’d love to know your thoughts on them!
I suppose it's just embarrassing in that way where I just nod my head sagely as if I understand when anyone references something from some Great Whereever Novel 🙃 will report back on whatever I pick up next!
lol usually that’s a sign of not a cool person anyway. looking forward to it!
the different sections makes so much sense...... manifesting 2026 being the year i read the counte of monte cristo
if you tackle it in surmountable pieces (i read a chapter-ish a day) it becomes easy AND fun!
I read Native Son a few years back, and I was surprised by how much I loved it. The book is so intense, so angry. My impression is that it's fallen out of fashion lately, but that meant reading it felt like a discovery!
this is just about exactly how i felt! i think baldwin’s (also excellent) essay on the book has been more popular than the book itself, but its rage jumped off the page
Yes totally. I understand Baldwin had to kill his father in order to write—every generation has to do that. But now that all this time has passed, the time has definitely come to reevaluate Wright.
I love this list. The books are so diverse as to subject matter, author background, length, etc. I would add The Stranger (Camus), Night (Wiesel), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemingway).
thank you!! i haven’t read night, but i would definitely add the other two too!
real people know macbeth is the best shakespeare (biased)
hell yeah
I love that a lot, I have been (slowly) getting into classics last year, mostly thanks to a friend of mine who picks amazing ones to read.
Also, I would add Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I read it in last August and it was fantastic.
I love talking about books, so I just wanna say, from your list I read :
• Pride and Prejudice is fantastic, and like you, it's the first classic I genuinely *loved*
• I also read Macbeth. It was the second Shakespeare I read (the first one being Hamlet) and it was the first time I read Shakespeare in English (my first language is French and I read Hamlet in French), and omg I spent so much time on Internet to firgure out what some stuff meant but I still enjoyed it 😭
• I was heartbroken by Giovanni's room.
• also. okay. our dear homer. *technically* i have not read his two extremely famous books. BUT i had ancient greek classes for 5 years and translated some parts from ancient greek to french if that somehow counts ☝🏻
• I started reading The Trial by Kafka, I'm like 30% in and I'll pick it up again. Same goes for Jane Eyre, picked it up but idk I stopped reading it but I'll definitely continue reading bc I know that it's worth it.
• I bought Frankenstein in September, it's definitely going to be one of my next reads :) I have high expectations from it bc i heard it was amazing
i do really like rebecca — i almost included it in this list. i love talking about books too so here are my answers :)
- p&p will forever be the first austen i recommend (and sometimes the first classic in general) for this reason!
- honestly english is my first language and most of my shakespeare experience is just googling stuff too. but with macbeth it's so worth it!
- giovanni's room is so devastating
- translating some of homer is so cool! if/when you do get to the iliad or odyssey, it's going to seem so much easier lol
- the trial is very dull in parts, purposefully, and jane eyre can be slow to get into! but both are worth it in my opinion.
- enjoy frankenstein, i think you'll love it!
- YES p&p >>
- yes Macbeth was definitely very interesting but I did have an easier time reading Hamlet in French ngl 😭
- My heart genuinely broke for everyone
- for Homer's books, I'm thinking about reading the translations by Emily Wilson :)
- thank youuu, i got myself a pretty edition of Frankenstein hehe. I have high expectations bc i heard such great things !!
I agree that Rebecca absolutely would have to be on my list of best classics!!! That book stuck with me for weeks and I still think about it months later.
Omg same, I finished it in August and it's still with me
Assuming politicians are literate 🎯
🥴
I seem to have read more classics than other genres. As a 13 year old we read Charles Dickens’ books in class. Although this was a long time ago, I vividly remember Uriah Heep in David Copperfield and Miss Haversham in Great Expectations. I think Thomas Hardy was also a great classical writer.
i really enjoyed great expectations! some of thomas hardy impressed me too, but others i found repetitive after a while
Love this list; highly recommend Moby Dick.
it’s on my to-read list!
Good list! 😊 I would include The House of Mirth; The Portrait of A Lady, The Sun Also Rises, The Odyssey, Wuthering Heights, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. And there's always more to add, including scores of books, like Marquez's, not written in English -- but happily translated.
great ones for sure!!! thank you!
Loved this post. I’ve found it difficult to find classics that I actually enjoy, do you have a list of classics that you don’t feel are worth the hype or didn’t enjoy?
i don’t at the moment but i’m thinking of making one!
I was wondering if Middlemarch would make the cut 🤍
in every lifetime
Solid list. The Dorian Gray call is spot on, that book really does deliver on the over-the-top decadent prose people expect from Wilde. Read it during a bleak winter few years back and the whole aesthetic vibe of it kept me hooked even when the plot slowed. Also totally agree on Inferno being the best part of the Comdey, once you get past the punishments and allegory it's hard to stay as invested. One suggestion for the "brag-worthy" section might be Don Quixote, espeically if you can get past the windmill jokes dominating every reference to it.
thank you so much! the level to which we agree is made almost magical by the fact that i am reading don quixote right now and finding it a total blast
Great selections! Pride and Prejudice is a great shout for the fun section, when I first read it this summer I was surprised at just how enjoyable it was. Like I didn't expect to be laughing so much from a book written in the 1810s but Austen is just that great
One of my favorite classics is Dubliners by James Joyce which I think would def count for stunning, his prose is so beautiful. It's also a good choice for something accessible since it's a collection of short stories rather than freaky experimental stuff like Ulysses lol
I'd love to get one of those brag-worthy choices under my belt they all seem great but also intimidating... I think the longest book I've read is the ~600 page Crime and Punishment (which I loved) but maybe I gotta get those numbers up
thank you! i totally agree about austen - when i read it as a teenager i had no idea books that old could even be so fun!
this is great to hear about dubliners - i read just the final story for a class (weird choice!) but otherwise the only joyce i’ve read is ulysses, which was excellent in its way but not exactly making me eager for the next one.
all of the brag worthy choices are worth it, i swear - and reading books like them at a chapter a day has totally changed my ability to get through them! i’ve yet to make it to crime and punishment, though.
That final story of Dubliners is (rightfully imo) considered the best and I think it works well enough on its own. I was actually assigned to read it + Araby + Counterparts for a class I took on short fiction and I loved them enough I decided to go for the full collection.
A chapter a day def sounds like a good way to break things down so maybe I'll try that!
this is now inspiring me to go for the full collection! it’s also been a million years since i read the dead so hopefully i don’t remember it anyway.
i hope you enjoy!