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There’s a lot of discussion about what makes a book a classic: popularity, success, literary merit, or all the above. But, are most of the books we consider to be classics worthy of the moniker?
Shouldn’t any lesser-known books be regarded as classics instead?
There seem to be no simple answers to these queries. As a result, people’s views about which classic books everybody should read will still differ.
10 Classic Books that are a Must-Read
The books mentioned below are a great starting point since they cover literature from various periods and genres.
1- The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third novel, is his career’s pinnacle success. Generations of readers already praise this classic Jazz Period novel.
It’s a beautifully detailed tale of America in the 1920s about the fabulously rich Jay Gatsby with his new love for the glamorous Daisy Buchanan, of fancy dinners on Long Island at a moment when “gin was the popular beverage and sexuality was the national obsession,” according to The New York Times.
2- Hamlet (c. 1599-1601), by William Shakespeare
Hamlet is a dark, twisted story about a Danish prince who sets out to murder his uncle, urged on by his dying father’s ghost. It regards as Shakespeare’s best work. He pretends to be insane to avoid suspicion, but as he loses his hold on truth, the lines between fact and fiction blur.
3- Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
The story opens in Monte Carlo when our heroine is swept off her feet by the dapper widower Maxim de Winter’s unexpected wedding proposal. She’s an orphan and employed as a lady’s helper, and she can’t believe her good fortune.
4- Pride and Prejudice (1813), by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice is something more than a romance novel. It’s a family sitcom, a Viceroy parody, and a moral tale that tells us not to pass judgment on others too quickly. With her quick wit and fiery attitude, Elizabeth Bennet is much more than a match for Mr. Darcy, who is brooding and humorous yet always kind-hearted.
5- Jane Eyre (1847), by Charlotte Brontë
Jane Eyre follows the titular character’s transformation from a simple, shy orphan to a powerful, principled young lady who finds love with her boss, Mr. Rochester but refuses to let him compromise her freedom. She faces poverty, the death of loved ones, and strange noises arising from Mr. Rochester’s mansion’s attic in her search for peace and happiness.
6- Wuthering Heights (1847), by Emily Brontë
Cathy and Heathcliff, school friends in Wuthering Heights, are divided by class as well as their own dubious decisions; yet, their all-consuming love for each other is something that never fails. It’s a story about desire, but it’s also about the harm that violence and alienation can have on children.
7- War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
Tolstoy saw a catastrophe involving all of humanity in Russia’s war with Napoleon. War and Peace are more than a historical account; it is an assertion of existence itself, “a complete image of everything in which people would find their pleasure and greatness, their sorrow and humiliation,” as one contemporary critic put it.
8- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle
If you’re new to classics, Sherlock Holmes is ideal, especially the short story collections, which are mini-mysteries that you’ll breeze through in little time. I recommend starting with the short stories and working your way up to the novels!
9- Great Expectations (1860-1), by Charles Dickens
It tells the tale of Pip, who is told to have “high hopes” for his future after assisting an escaping prisoner on the marshes and serving as a friend to the terrifying, naïve Miss Havisham. Raised from obscurity to lead the lavish lifestyle of a London socialite.
10- The Color Purple (1982), by Alice Walker
Alice Walker became the first black woman to earn a Pulitzer Prize with this unusual and uplifting epistolary book. Celie, an abused African-American woman living in the early twentieth century in the southern United States, tells her story. Her spouse and the man she calls father have repeatedly raped her.
Wrapping It Up!!!
As you can see, a classic book is described by a diverse collection of characteristics. They aren’t all published by long-dead white British men; they’re all wonderful stories that have existed for a long time and can be enjoyed by anyone.
https://www.stackedshelves.com/2019/10/15-must-read-classics-for-beginners.html
https://www.oxfordscholastica.com/blog/classic-books-everyone-should-read/