Classic Books Everyone Should Read
A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say. - Italo Calvino
Although written several centuries ago, classic books continue to allure the readers even in the modern world. They are termed as timeless, as the authors followed certain structural guidelines while writing them. Most of these books depict the period in which they were written. Here are a few classics that are all-time favorite books of the bibliophiles.
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
It is Jane Austen's second novel which was published in 1813. It's a tale about the misunderstandings and prejudices that arise between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, and is set in the backdrop of Victorian England. This novel is among the most popular novels of Jane Austen and has been adapted into several films.
Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
It is a classic tale of a young married woman, Emma, whose romantic expectations about love are not fulfilled by her husband. Due to this, she commits adultery which finally leads to her destruction.
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
Racial inequality is the central theme of Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' which was published in 1960. The story is told through the eyes of Scout Finch, who is a 6-year-old girl, and is set in backdrop of Great Depression in America.
A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens
It is a book where Charles Dickens, through his principal characters, portrays the oppressive nature of the French aristocracy towards the peasant class.
Paradise Lost John Milton
It is an epic poem which was written in 12 books, and published in 1674. In this poem, Milton tells the story of the fall of man from the grace of God by using a variety of poetic devices.
Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
It is a majestic novel, divided into 8 parts, which was published in the periodical 'The Russian Messenger' between 1873 to 1877. The main character of the novel is Anna Karenina, and the book deals with a variety of themes like marriage, fidelity, hypocrisy, society, family, desire, etc.
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark William Shakespeare
It is the longest, and most popular, play written by the great playwright, William Shakespeare. This play depicts the conflict of Prince Hamlet who faces a dilemma, where he has to choose between personal revenge and moral values.
Ulysses James Joyce
It was published, in the year 1922, in Paris. This great saga consists of 18 episodes, and approximately 265,000 words. Joyce structured it with the help of stream of consciousness technique. Though the book garnered a lot of criticism when it was published, it is now considered to be the greatest work of modernist literature.
Gone With the Wind Margaret Mitchell
The novel depicts the period of the American Civil War and the Reconstruction, and has a lot of social and historical references. This novel won the Pulitzer Prize in the year 1937, and was also made into a movie.
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bront
It was published in the year 1847. The novel depicts the tale of Jane Eyre, an orphan girl, and how she finds true love after going through various trials and difficult situations in life.
In addition to these, there are some more books that are a part of the rich literature and have stolen the hearts of many readers. The following is a list of classic books that everyone should read.
| Lady Chatterley's Lover D. H. Lawrence | Rebecca Daphne du Maurier |
| Animal Farm George Orwell | The Moonstone Wilkie Collins |
| The Catcher in the Rye J. D. Salinger | Catch-22 Joseph Heller |
| Oedipus the King Sophocles | A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway |
| Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift | Utopia Thomas More |
| David Copperfield Charles Dickens | No Exit Jean-Paul Sartre |
| One Hundred Years of Solitude Gabriel Garca Mrquez | Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
| The Way of the World William Congreve | War and Peace Leo Tolstoy |
| Frankenstein Mary Shelley | Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes |
| Little Women Louisa May Alcott | Wuthering Heights Emily Bront |
| Vanity Fair William Makepeace Thackeray | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle |
| Lolita Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov | The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer | The Dangerous Liaisons Pierre Choderlos De Laclos |
| Beloved Toni Morrison | The Color Purple Alice Walker |
| Moby-Dick; or, The Whale Herman Melville | Oliver Twist Charles Dickens |
| Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain |
| The Trial Franz Kafka | Far from the Madding Crowd Thomas Hardy |
| The Lord of the Rings J. R. R. Tolkien | The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald |
| The Prince Niccol Machiavelli | The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck |
| A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man James Joyce | The Mill on the Floss George Eliot |
| Silas Marner George Eliot | The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde |
| Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll | Les Misrables Victor Hugo |
| Black Beauty Anna Sewell | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain |
| Great Expectations Charles Dickens | Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady Samuel Richardson |
| A Doll's House Henrik Ibsen | Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare |
| Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson | Mrs Dalloway Virginia Woolf |
| Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne | The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka |
| The Wind in the Willows Kenneth Grahame | A Journey to the Centre of the Earth Jules Verne |
| Dracula Bram Stoker | Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson |
Each of these classics is distinct from the others and many readers have mentioned that every time they read a book again, they came across something that they had not noticed earlier. Pick up some of these books to enjoy reading timeless classics.
