Classics

[chigreyofthenorns]

I am recently binge-reading books again because I have a lot of free time these past few weeks. I love reading classic novels because the use of the language is very beautiful. Also, the stories and lessons incorporated in these novels are very unique. Can anyone suggest good classic literature for me to read? Thank you very much!

[Traveler]

I'm reading Thoreau's Walden right now. It's a simple, beautiful book and he was a great observer of the world. It is a wake-up call to live life simply and beautifully, and to fully live a good life. 

[SpeakSpanish]

I am recently binge-reading books again because I have a lot of free time these past few weeks. I love reading classic novels because the use of the language is very beautiful. Also, the stories and lessons incorporated in these novels are very unique. Can anyone suggest good classic literature for me to read? Thank you very much!

I see what you're saying, and I'd definitely have to agree with you! Novels are the absolute best , and I greatly admire the beautiful use of language, and the interesting play on words, characters and plot.

I would have to suggest to you my favorite English novel , which is "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens.

It really is a classic , and Dickens is quite a Classic author. You will surely gain insight on life from this novel, and you'll get a good touch of mystery, from start to finish! Get into it!

Bendiciones

[beccagreen]

I haven't read that much classic books but I did read Dracula and I think it's as classic as you can get with horror books at least. I don't really like reading classics that much because I was born reading modern and contemporary books so I feel like a lot of the cliche in the classics ruin it for me for all the wrong reasons.

[wayzteacher]

My favorite all-time classic book is Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.  I love this book and I can't recommend it enough.

This book taught me so many lessons and gave me unforgettable characters, including one of my favorite book heroes, Atticus Finch.  If you haven't read it yet, I think  you are in for a treat.  If you already have, maybe this can be an excuse for a reread.

Favorite line in the book:  "you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them."

[LSJ-8]

My favorite all-time classic book is Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.  I love this book and I can't recommend it enough.

This book taught me so many lessons and gave me unforgettable characters, including one of my favorite book heroes, Atticus Finch.  If you haven't read it yet, I think  you are in for a treat.  If you already have, maybe this can be an excuse for a reread.

Favorite line in the book:  "you never really know a man until you stand in his shoes and walk around in them."

I absolutely adore To Kill a Mockingbird.  I taught this book to my 8th grade students and is always a big hit.  They learn about racism in the deep south, get some information about life during the Great Depression, and is filled with so many great character lessons... without beating you over the head with them.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

[deathbyprayer]

It's not really a book or a novel it's a short story. I really love that Edgar Allan Poe story "The Cask of Amontillado". I love Poe's works, you can just feel his all out rage anger and frustrations in his writings. I also love "The Black Cat" and the "The Mask of the Red Death"

[NATASHA]

I love classics and a good read would be ones by Charles Dickens and Fitzpatrick. Great reading and they are so interesting, inspiring and in this day and age really lighthearted. You will finishthe book with a message and feel satisfied for reading it.

[zabina12]

I used to read classic books when I was in collage cause there were subjects that require classics reading. Some of those classics that I can still remember and I think these are good to read include Odyssey by Homer, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

[Baburra]

Catcher in the rye seems to be one of the popular classics so I'd recommend that. I myself never made it past halfway but I've heard from lots of people that did love it and they really seem to like the main character a lot. I still plan on rereading it someday as I may just have been in the wrong state of mind at the time.

[Juan Fuentes]

I always enjoy to read Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. One of my first interests when learning how to speak english was to understand exactly what "The Raven" meant. Also, from Poe, one of my favorites is "The Murders in the Rue Morgue".

Also, Salinger's "Catcher In The Rye" and Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird" were previously mentioned here. You can't go wrong with either of those.

As for tales, my favorite reading when I was a kid was Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". I still read it every now and then.

[AureliaeLacrimae]

I'm reading Thoreau's Walden right now. It's a simple, beautiful book and he was a great observer of the world. It is a wake-up call to live life simply and beautifully, and to fully live a good life.

Well, if you love Walden and are so immersed into American transcendentalist literature, you must read Emerson then! His essays are very vivid and fairly short, his poems are also beautiful and he's definitely one of the most erudite men of his age. Whatever Thoreau had written about was present in Emerson's works, especially Nature and The American Scholar. I've enjoyed both very much.

Classical literature... well, Bronte sisters are definitely classics, so are Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and many others. If you choose Dickens, I think you'll enjoy most Little Dorrit.

[lauraxoxo]

I love "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte, "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov (my favorite), "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and I am currently reading "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins. I love a good classic book too; the characters and the language are both so complex and intricate. 

[Baburra]

I enjoyed the Narnia books a lot. I now read a lot about how it's religious propaganda but I never got that from reading it during high school. For me it was just an enjoyable story with lots of great characters. Whatever propaganda they were pushing it didn't affect me that much I guess since now that I'm older it doesn't seem to have had much effect on me at all because I went the total opposite way. 

[tracy18]

If you are into sci-fi and enjoy reading a layered story, then you should definitely read Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde 

[ElijahAR]

Although it is not an English classic, I would dare recommend you to read "One hundred years of solitude" by Gabriel García Márquez. It is regarded as one of the master pieces of the Spanish literature and it has been widely acclaimed by critics and by the public in general. I think you will like it a lot even with the limitations imposed by the translation.

[Serrrgio]

On 13/10/2017 at 10:03 AM, tracy18 said:

If you are into sci-fi and enjoy reading a layered story, then you should definitely read Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde 

Well, I was going to suggest something from the same hand, Stevenson. It's a classic and he writes in an easy, simple way, which is really difficult to achieve in literature.

All their short tales are really great, they catch your attention and you can really enjoy his style. That man knew how to write.

[armitur]

I would recommend Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. It's a beautiful novel that gives a poignant take on South African history. The vocabulary isn't too difficult, although the writing does have a poetic style that may be difficult to get into at first.

[Ailcua]

Hands-down Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstroy, you may also want to check out the movie. Although adaptations do not always live up to the book itself, Anna Karenina the movie is just as good and will surely make you cry...a lot!