Classic Literature
Which works of classic literature should everyone read?
Can you recommend any good books of the "classic" variety?
I'm starting a college writing and literature class in the fall; I want to be prepared, so to speak.
Are there any books that are generally accepted as must-reads?
To answer some of YOUR questions...
I like a variety of subjects, but I am not a big fan of romance, in general. I also don't care for anything especially depressing.
I've heard for other students that this class generally doesn't give assignments in literature. They just want us to have read some
for discussion's sake. I've been homeschooled through high school, and I feel like I haven't read enough classic lit. I want some ideas of what to read that is both good for discussion and interesting to read.
First off, I suggest that you email the professor in advance for the course's reading list. She might have a theme for the class, or he might specialize in a certain area of literature that might dictate what you will read. Besides, your interest in the class might win you brownie points.
However, here's some "classics" generally taught in universities or considered singular works of literature. Keep in mind that the plethora of English programs make it nearly impossible to create a definitive list. Please also note that not all these suggestions are books, since the study of literature encompasses poetry and theater.
By the way, you don't have to read all these cover to cover before you begin your class, but a working knowledge of these titles might be to your benefit.
I'll add some others that might help you out and signify them with a bullet.
Medieval Period: Beowulf
-Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
-Geoffrey Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales- *Specifically the Wife of Bath and her tale.
16th to early 17th Century: Shakespeare (Pick a play)
-John Donne: Poems "The Flea," Holy Sonnets
-John Milton: Paradise Lost
*Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus
19th Century: (American) Nathaniel Hawthorne: Short Stories and The Scarlet Letter
-Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
-Henry James: Daisy Miller, The Turn of the Screw, Portrait of a Lady
-Edgar Allen Poe
19th Century (British):
-Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice
-Charles Dickens: Hard Times
-Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
*Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray
20th Century:
-F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
-Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises, The Old Man and The Sea, *For Whom the Bell Tolls
-William Faulkner: As I lay dying
-John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath
-Virginia Woolf: Mrs. Dalloway
-James Joyce: The Dead
-W.B. Yeats: Poems- Sailing to Byzantium, The Second Coming
-T.S. Eliot: The Waste Land
*Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man
**Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita
*Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart
*Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange
If you want to read some "contemporary" authors, try Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Toni Morrison.
Good luck!
 |
 Classic Womens Short Stories Classic Literature with Classical Music Katherin $11.13 Time Remaining: 9h 47m Buy It Now for only: $11.13 |
 Classics of American Literature Part III $27.99 Time Remaining: 20h 19m Buy It Now for only: $27.99 |
 WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte 1 mp3 CD Audio Book Classic English Literature $3.00 Time Remaining: 1d 22h 6m Buy It Now for only: $3.00 |
 FRANKENSTEIN Abridged Audiobook Classic Literature Classical Music 2 CDs $14.95 Time Remaining: 2d 19h 18m Buy It Now for only: $19.95 |
 Teaching Company Great Courses Classics of Russian Literature CDs $19.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 3d 14h 21m |
 Teaching Company Great Courses Classics of American Literature CDs $31.00 (3 Bids) Time Remaining: 3d 14h 39m |
 19 Audiobooks Literature Classics Romance Non fiction More 129 Hours $19.95 Time Remaining: 3d 15h 16m Buy It Now for only: $22.95 |
 The Riddle of the Sands Classic Literature With Classical Music Classic Fict $8.58 Time Remaining: 4d 14h 43m Buy It Now for only: $8.58 |
 BRAM STOKER CLASSIC LITERATURE COLLECTION ON CD $5.58 Time Remaining: 4d 18h 41m Buy It Now for only: $5.58 |
 McDougal Littell The Language of Literature 16 cassettes WWII Racism Classic $39.99 Time Remaining: 5d 5h 30m Buy It Now for only: $39.99 |
 4 Cassette Audio Books Classical Literature With Classical Music Junior Classics $3.00 Time Remaining: 5d 20h 2m |
 Classic Womens Literature by Edith Wharton Jane Au $6.50 Time Remaining: 5d 20h 49m Buy It Now for only: $6.50 |
 BOOK AUDIOBOOK CD Aldous Huxley Literature Fiction Classic BRAVE NEW WORLD $19.99 Time Remaining: 6d 14h 12m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte ABRIDGED Cassette classic literature ROMANCE $11.99 Time Remaining: 7d 14h 58m Buy It Now for only: $11.99 |
 ERNEST HEMMINGWAY READSCLASSIC LITERATURERARE $30.00 Time Remaining: 7d 18h 34m Buy It Now for only: $30.00 |
 Great Courses 2400 Classics of British Literature $72.50 Time Remaining: 7d 20h 54m Buy It Now for only: $72.50 |
 GEORGE WASHINGTON CLASSIC LITERATURE COLLECTION CD $5.58 Time Remaining: 13d 9h 6m Buy It Now for only: $5.58 |
 Teaching Co Classics of British Literature CD NEW $88.00 Time Remaining: 16d 17h 44m Buy It Now for only: $88.00 |
 The Riddle of the Sands Classic Literature With Classical Music Classic Fictio $6.97 Time Remaining: 16d 23h 56m Buy It Now for only: $6.97 |
 Middlemarch Classic Literature with Classical Music George Eliot Book $16.25 Time Remaining: 17d 5h 39m Buy It Now for only: $16.25 |
 Mixed Lot of 7 Classic + Audiobook Cassettes Literature A Tale OF Two Cities $16.95 Time Remaining: 18d 13h 47m Buy It Now for only: $16.95 |
 Classic Womens Literature 7 Stories NEW Unabridged $5.47 Time Remaining: 19d 4m Buy It Now for only: $5.47 |
 Classic Womens Literature Audio Book Set 10 CDs NEW $18.89 Time Remaining: 20d 5h 47m Buy It Now for only: $18.89 |
 Teaching Co Great Course CDs CLASSICS OF BRITISH LITERATURE Brand New $87.99 Time Remaining: 20d 15h 42m Buy It Now for only: $87.99 |
 Scholastic Scope Literature Featured Classics Lev 1 cas $4.19 Time Remaining: 23d 12h 59m Buy It Now for only: $4.19 |
 Teaching Co Great Course CDs CLASSICS OF AMERICAN LITERATURE New $134.95 Time Remaining: 24d 16h 52m Buy It Now for only: $134.95 |
 EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS CLASSIC LITERATURE COLLECTION CD $5.58 Time Remaining: 25d 7h 10m Buy It Now for only: $5.58 |
 Teaching Co Great Course CDs CLASSICS of RUSSIAN LITERATURE New $69.50 Time Remaining: 25d 18h 59m Buy It Now for only: $69.50 |
 Canterbury Tales Classic Literature w Classical Music Unabridged Audio 3Cds $8.55 Time Remaining: 25d 23h 2m Buy It Now for only: $8.55 |
 Classic Womens Literature AUDIO BOOKS 10 CDs $5.00 Time Remaining: 26d 17h 47m Buy It Now for only: $5.00 |
 Teaching Co Classics of American Literature Audio CD NEW $134.99 Time Remaining: 27d 20h 1m Buy It Now for only: $134.99 |
 Teaching Company Classics Russian Literature NEW Audio CD $69.99 Time Remaining: 27d 20h 30m Buy It Now for only: $69.99 |
 Teaching Company Classic British Literature Parts 1 4 CD book John Sutherland $63.00 Time Remaining: 28d 11h 30m Buy It Now for only: $63.00 |