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What are the easiest classics that you would recommend for a beginner?
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Hannah's Peanuts
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Dec 14, 2020 08:39AM
I've just finished Pride and Prejudice and it was amazing, but I'm finding it difficult for me to find another classic that is easy to read and enjoyable. What are the easiest classics that you would recommend?
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Almost any classic play (Greek and Roman and Shakespeare) you can find, because you can reread it a couple of times between short span. American literature: The Old Man and the Sea, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Adventures of Huckeberry Finn,
Chilean literature: The Old Man Who Read Love stories
French Literature: 20 000 Leaguea Under the Sea plus any of Sagan's short novels
Italian literature: The Decameron (100 stories, but quite funny and easy to understand; you can read it all month)
Russian Literature: The Cossacks, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, The Overcoat, The Gambler
South African Literature: Disgrace (it's deep, but understandable; just don't read more than 2 chapters per day)
British Literature: Animal Farm, The Spanish Gardener, Lord of the Flies
I would recommend: Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, The age of innocene, tales of Edgar Allan Poe, The phantom of the opera, Carmilla and The canterville ghost. All of them are great and easy to read!
It really depends on what kind of stories you prefer (Rom, Com, Horror…) and what you consider a classic. Just going off Pride and Prejudice I would recommend Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope or A Room with a View by E.M. Forster. The good thing about Can You Forgive Her? is if you really like it, it is the first in a series. One of my favorites.
Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights if you like romance and gothic.Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier, ditto (considered a classic on some lists)
Some shorties: Tortilla Flats, The Pearl, by John Steinbeck
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Handmaid's Tale
The Color Purple
Beloved
A Room of One's Own
Sense and Sensibility
A Tale of Two Cities
I find all these manga versions of classics are the easiest way to digest them. I'm not a huge fan of classics.
The Importance of Being Earnest - it's short - only 70 ish pages long, so not a big commitment - and absolutely hilarious. It's a great way to try Oscar Wilde.Picking short stories is a good way to get an idea of a writer's style and there are some very moving shorts out there, e.g. When the Wind Blows.
Other than that, it depends on the type of story and writing that you like. Try and pick things that are closely aligned to your tastes and it'll be easier to get inspired by them. For e.g. I love cats - the animal, the musical and the book the musical was based on: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
I Capture the Castle if you fancy charming and cozy.Crime and Punishment if you're interested in philosophy and ennui. We if you like dystopian. Émile Zola if you fancy something with a modern writing style. Lysistrata if you're into bawdy or want to be able to say you've read something really old.
The Adventures of Tom SawyerThe Scarlet Pimpernel
The Phantom of the Opera
Cheaper by the Dozen
King Solomon's Mines
I would say the Scarlet Pimpernel or I Am Legend! both are classics and written with more modern language so they're easier to understand, and they're relatively short.
The Great Gatsby!! I ended up being pleasantly surprised and it’s now one of my favorites. Also, it’s nice and short. Around 120 pages.Jane Eyre. My all time favorite.
I do not recommend Wuthering Heights for a beginner, I could not even get into it. Very overwhelming.
When I was a child I began my classic/grownup reading with TREASURE ISLAND, KIDNAPPED, & SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON. My parents followed up with buying TOM SAWYER & HUCKLEBERRY FINN for me. Must have worked, I have read piles of books since and still read classics.
The Haunting of Hill House. It's super creepy and captivating. Another one is To Kill a Mockingbird.
The Catcher In the rye, pride and prejudice
anything by Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, The great Gatsby, Anne of Green Gables, To Kill a Mockingbird
Agree with a lot of the above, but also The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum it's a short book, and an interesting read, starting with a crime committed and going backwards and explaining how they got to this point
Pride and Prejudice, that was the one I started with. The you can move on to Little Women.
Great Gatsby is a good one that's also very short. Lord of the Flies is another good one that's easy to get through(as far as page length).Treasure Island is another good one. Peter Pan is a great one and one of my favorites. Ditto for Alice in Wonderland.
Picture of dorian greyIt felt kind of modern, and was so intriguing with such a timeless concept. Plus, I found the writing kind of easy.
The Catcher in the Rye, Flowers for Algernon and Of Mice and Men
Extreme beginner: The Velveteen Rabbit.Followed by: Rip Van Winkle
Then: The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Possibly followed by: Of Mice and Men
And: Frankenstein
And: The Stranger
And you can pick up any classic after that and jump right in. There are so many to choose from :-)
Have you ever read Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo, it’s absolutely amazing, I am currently reading the second novel in the duology!
Ohhhh I had no idea this was just classics, but yeah I agree with pride and prejudice
Jane EyreThe Secret Garden
Macbeth ~ though i'd find an edition with an old english to new english glossary
Satanic Verses by Rushdie. Oh wait, no, that's really complicated.
I'd say go for Little Women, like everyone else is saying over here.Call of the Wild and Rebecca are absolutely amazing.
Also, try out any Mark Twain or Charles Dickens books. They're very easy too read.
Black Beauty, The Secret Garden, And Then There Were None, Anna Karenina are really great too.
All Jane Austen books are highly recommended.
And, imo, don't try out the Brontë sisters just yet, bc their writing style is a little complicated for a beginner.
Happy reading!!
I adore Rebecca, but I don't think I'd consider it a "beginner" classic.Also children's classics, like The Secret Garden and E. Nesbit.
(Six of Crows is overrated IMO.)
east of eden & of mice and men by john steinbeck are both amazing (especially east of eden) and super readable!!children’s classics are also a great way to start:
– little women by louisa may alcott (if you loved pride & prejudice you’ll probably like this one as well)
– alice’s adventures in wonderland by lewis carroll
– peter pan by j.m. barrie
– the jungle book by rudyard kipling
another tip is to maybe start with modern classics before diving into older ones!!
Audrey did you just say Six of Crows is overrated, well I guess we all have opinions, but boy I found it to be the best YA novel of all time, but I had put it in here by accident thinking it was just another chat about books to read. For some reason I can't seem to find myself enjoying classics especially of the older kind. Some just ramble on and on about the scenery while paying no attention to character dialog (Charles Dickens is that you) and others are just domestic drama. But that's just my thing I guess....
maybe it's just English classics that i particularly don't enjoy who knows maybe other types of literary classics are interesting to me, but I have yet to find one
I mean Charles Dickens was paid by the word who wouldn't ramble hahaha. But no honestly when talking about classics there are many. You can talk about classics of many different countries and cultures. What I mean is most people limit the term "classics" to just English and American authors, however I would like to look at it in a broader perspective. But for the person who wants to read these books, I'm guessing for them the actual genre, because as you can see all the books mentioned are renowned English and American classics.
well honestly, I don't think I would be the most suited for this topic as I am not very interested in reading classics haha. But I did recommend earlier Pride and Prejudice just because it is one of the more simpler stories to follow. You sound like you have lots of great recommendations though!
snackariyah wrote: "Audrey did you just say Six of Crows is overrated, well I guess we all have opinions, but boy I found it to be the best YA novel of all time, but I had put it in here by accident thinking it was ju..."Off topic, but SoC was just average for me. Nothing special, especially compared to the many better books I've read. I'm glad people like it, but I hope they find even better ones eventually.
I've noticed that very few books assigned in English class are enjoyable at the time. Don't let that turn you off of classics or reading in general.
Hi Audrey, firstly English class has nothing to do with my distaste for classics, I don't know why you would assume my reasoning (its been a while since I've been in a class) and I was only joking when I said I was turned off from reading. What I meant was that for me, personally, reading had given me enjoyment but I prefer to not read books of fiction instead I focus on non fiction that benefits my life and my beliefs. It is just merely an opinion. I do not have any reason to read the classics. I am an avid reader and always will be, but what I read now is different from what I used to read. And as to your remark on Six of Crows, I completely understand everyone has their own preferences. Reading is a beautiful gift, however for me there aren't too many books (for entertainment purposes) that I can enjoy, because originality has decayed over the years.
This is off topic but I also found SoC overrated. I mean it was enjoyable but then many other books are too. Just couldn't understand the mad hype lol ;-;
To David: Hahaha, I guess most of them have added flavour text for writing style purposes, so the rambling is kind of inevitable
Oh I was just saying you were well suited for the topic for classics for a beginner, because you seem to have a vast knowledge of various texts in the classics genre.
on topic: the Great Gatsby is an amazing book that just happens to be a classic. It's an easy read, fast paced and just a fun book overall!
I would start Finnegan's Wake at a young age and read a page a day for the rest of my life. One finished begin again. Then maybe before death I would understand the book.
although I'm not such a fan of most older classics, contemporary classics some I did enjoy, the Kite Runner, the Giver series Quartet, To Kill a Mockingbird is good too!
to David: why this " : /" face. Did I say something wrong or something to offend you? I never meant to disrespect you in any way, if I have, I am sorry :)
David wrote: "So, why don't recommend some of these classics from other countries. Maybe Tolstoy? Or Zola? Or Goethe? Cervantes? Homer? Dante? These are all writers of world classics and widely acknowledged but ..."Chekhov's short stories are very easy to read.
Polls for Our Souls
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The Secret Garden (other topics)
Little Women (other topics)
And Then There Were None (other topics)
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Julio Verne (other topics)
Louisa May Alcott (other topics)
Émile Zola (other topics)
