31 Classics to Read Instead of Scrolling in 2026

Lots of people want to get into reading classic literature but don't necessarily know where to start. So, here is list of the best classic books that personally recommend for people who want to read more classics. I'll give brief overview of each of their themes and little flavor of the plot just so you'll know whether they are for you. And do hope that by the end of this video, you'll be persuaded to get copy of at least one of them. My name is Joe Folly and this is Unsolicited Advice. Okay, first up we have short stories. So these are all under 100 pages and are fantastic for getting started. Number one is White Knights by Dostoyki. This book had bit of resurgence in 2024 and think for very good reason. It's only about 50 pages long and it manages to be both straightforward love story and critique of the entire ethos and genre of love stories. It follows nameless protagonist over the course of four days in St. Petersburg during the white nights of summer where the sun never quite properly sets. He slowly develops friendship and eventually falls for young woman named Nastena who is unfortunately in love with another man. In terms of theme, there is obviously romance and think that's part of what draws people in, but there's also an examination of the relationship between literature and reality. The narrator is sort of dreamlike figure and he views the entire world through the lens of the novels that he has read and as result sort of casts the people around him as roles as if reality itself is one great big story. White Knights was written before dstoyvki went to prison and in prison his entire outlook on life underwent pretty radical transformation and personally white knights is my favorite of his pre-imprisonment works. You can really see the tension between the writers who inspired Dosstoyvki as young man, many of whom were out andout romantics or magical realists and the psychological bent that would inform his later work in the 1860s and beyond. It's also probably by far the easiest Dossiovski book to read. So again, excellent for getting started. Next up, we have The Wall by Jean Paul Sartra. This story can quite literally be read in one sitting. It's about group of resistance fighters being held captive in basement by some nefarious authoritarian regime. And each of the characters exemplify slightly different approaches to their impending death. Some are pretty terrified. Some focus mainly on how they will die and whether it will be painful, and others seem strangely at peace with it all. At the last minute, the protagonist of the story is offered way out and must decide whether he is willing to be executed to maintain his beliefs and values. The thing that stuck out to me about this story and why I'm recommending it is just how amazingly human all the characters behave. Even as they're put in this extraordinary situation and are told that they are about to die, they still manage to bicker and strike up temporary friendships and think about those they love and who they hope will love them in return. It reminded me of that CS Lewis quote about how humans are special because even facing our own death, we will discuss ideas and read poetry and comb our hair. It also has great twist ending which again won't spoil here. But if you do find yourself trapped in basement, you'll wish that you had some well-trained problem-solving skills, which is why recommend you check out today's sponsor, Brilliant. We all know that studying STEM subjects like maths or science or programming can be incredibly tricky. These topics can get quite unintuitive rather quickly and that often presents real difficulties. 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Brilliant also giving my viewers 20% off an annual premium subscription. So, please do check that out. But anyway, back to the video. Number three is Aussy Mandias by Percy Shel. This is our first poem of the list and it is less than page long, but it's still considered one of the greatest English poems ever written. In fact, you know what? I'll just read it now and then we have read at least one classic work in the course of this video. met traveler from an antique land who said, "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, shattered visage lies, whose frown and wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command tell that its sculptor well those passions red which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, the hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear. My name is Ozimandias, king of kings. Look on my works, ye mighty and despair. Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away. In John Stewart's book on 19th century nihilism, this is one of the poems he looks at. And we've just gone through it. It is undeniably reflective of nihilistic themes of decay over time and would highly recommend looking into some of the secondary literature and analysis around this poem if you want to learn more about it. Next up we have the metamorphosis by France Kfka. One morning as Gregor Samza awoke from uneasy dreams he discovered he had been transformed in his bed into monstrous vermin. This is the iconic first line of Kathka's short story translated into English which is about man who has as the line suggests undergone sudden metamorphosis into some kind of disgusting spindly creature usually depicted as beetle. Though this is not explicitly stated in the text, the story largely follows how Gregor himself and his family react to this rather unusual event. It can easily be read in an afternoon and is also one of the less bewildering of Kfka's stories. Whereas something like the trial and especially the castle involve instantaneous scene changes and constant dizzying bizarre events, the metamorphosis only really has one bizarre event and the rest of the story is relatively naturalistic or at least naturalistic by Kfka's standards. And this makes it great for getting into Kfka without becoming overwhelmed by his particular style. If would give one pointer for going into the metamorphosis, and this is something that really helped me get the most out of the story, it would be to try to view the book from every character's individual perspective and not just Gregor's. It's very easy to cast ourselves in the role of this ever oppressed beetled protagonist. But choosing to temporarily identify with the vindictive father, for example, gives us bit more opportunity to use the text to examine our own cruelty rather than simply use it to feed our own persecution complex, though that's always fun, too. And finally for this section, we have The Telltale Hearts by Edgar Alan Poe. You already know who Edgar Alan Poe is. He was even parodyied in the Simpsons, which is how you really know you've hit the big leagues. The Telltale Heart is only few pages long, so can't say too much about it without just spoiling the entire thing. So, I'll just say that it is very short and readable murder mystery and the perfect representation of what really guilty conscience feels like and leave it at that. Okay, these next few works are all either nollas or novella length works. So between 100 and 200 pages. So still very much at the shorter end of classic books, but all of these are absolutely fantastic. And first up is The Fall by Albear Kamu. Now know that The Stranger almost takes all the glory when it comes to Kamu's fiction, but if I'm totally honest, think his novels get better over time, and The Stranger is pretty early work. But like the stranger, the fall follows rather odd individual called Jean Baptiste Clamoth as he recounts his storied life to stranger in bar. He was once popular, wellrespected, and seemingly selfless lawyer until sudden failure to save someone's life completely derailed both his individual self-image and the way he perceives and approaches the world. From that point on, he found himself disenchanted with social life and the the mountains of human hypocrisy that he discovered there. Most of all, he was disgusted with the hypocrisy that he found within his own heart, as his prior selfless deeds are revealed to be far more self-s serving than they initially seemed. Unlike the protagonist of the stranger, Muro, who is quite unlike anyone I've ever met, Jean Baptiste has this sense about him that in another life, we could all have turned out bit like him. He's an extension of some very human qualities. And whereas Muro is great for contrasting with humanity as whole, Jean Baptiste is someone that many of us could plausibly become if we're not careful. He is truly benal and everyday kind of malevant and quite like that. Our next novella is hero of our time by Miky Lurmantov. Lurmantov is criminally underrated and often quite shocking Russian poet who was so scandalous that the zar thought it was pretty good riddance when he died. If I'm honest, some of his poetry is quite difficult to read because I'm bit squeamish and lot of it's yeah shocking and bit violent. But his most famous novel, Hero of Our Time, is absolutely excellent. The hero in question is Pachurin, highly competent and charismatic soldier serving in the caucuses, whose main issue is that he seems basically unable to care about anyone other than himself. He somewhat values power and control for its own sake, but beyond that, he's sort of an unconscious egoist or even an outright nihilist, depending on which passage you're reading. The book is formed of snippets from his life given out of order, which means it has the feel of collection of tales about some twisted folk hero, which is obviously very appropriate to the title. It's some matter of debate what relationship to the character of Purin Lurmantov himself had. Was he faintly admiring? Was he outright condemnatory? Or was he somewhere in the middle? The mixture of Lamonttov dying quite young and the everlooming presence of the Zar's senses means that it's difficult to be exactly sure what Lurtov's intentions were here. Though the sources that we do have suggest that he had complex attitude towards the character. Personally, read the novel as an exploration both of the undeniable allure of power and the dangers of pursuing it at the expense of any interpersonal companionship. But that's just one angle on things. It also has some lovely descriptions of mountains if that's your thing, and it certainly is mine. So, that's another thing enjoyed about this one. Next up, we have War of the Worlds by HG Wells. This is the original Alien Invasion book, and it's honestly very, very good. The premise is that hyper advanced Martian civilization has invaded Earth and is conquering large swades of England. Our protagonist is pretty unconventional in that he is almost totally ineffectual and largely just watches the chaos unfold and does his best to try to escape it. It's pretty bleak novel and there is very little heroic fighting back against the invaders. But it's also, at least in my opinion, much more psychologically honest than lot of modern depictions of hyper civilizational threat. There's no heroic underdoging your way out of such hopeless situation, and the attitude of our protagonist reflects that. It is bit longer than the other novellas here, but would still loosely place it in this category. It just has bit more of novella feel about it. can't really justify it any more than that. Next up, we have Oll by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare is really quite difficult to read at first, but think Oll is one of his more accessible plays. It is very compelling experience, even without understanding all of the little references in early modern English that get lost on contemporary ears, including my ears, as much as wish they didn't. The play follows the titular Oll, Moorish general in the Venetian army who was just married Desona, young Venetian noble woman. However, the character we see more than anyone is the villainous Iago, Oll's former friend, who unbeknownst to him is plotting his downfall and plans to twist Oll's mind against him and inspire jealousy within Oll and Desdona's relationship. The plot is genuinely thrilling. It has some of Shakespeare's best lines in it. It is shorter than Hamlet, and Iago is possibly the greatest villain in all fiction. It's still one of the best pieces of literature on the subject of jealousy ever written in my opinion. am sort of biased here because Oll is my favorite Shakespeare play. But even taking that into account, most people agree it is one of the better ones. And it will help you find out if Shakespeare is your thing. As as said, it is very enjoyable even not understanding all of the little early modern English terms. But if you can do try and get study copy of the play because often times either underneath the script or just on the other page across from the script, it will explain some of the unfamiliar terms and that can make reading it little bit easier and little bit more smooth suppose. Also do try and see it performed if you can cuz it was made to be presented on stage and that still think is the most enjoyable way to experience Oll. Now, we have The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wild. This is another of those books where the core premise has seeped into public consciousness an awful lot, but the story itself is both more sophisticated than our general understanding of it, and it is definitely well worth reading in its own right, even if you're pretty sure that you already know what it's about. Dorian Gray is, to quote Zoolander, really, really, really, really ridiculously good-looking. So much so that almost anyone he meets either falls for him or develops some kind of repressed homoerotic fascination with him. And this gives him power which he abuses to no end. The book manages to do lot of things. In one sense, it's kind of morality tale, but it doesn't beat you over the head with its message. It explores romantic obsession as well as non-romantic obsession and kind of obsession that floats in an ambiguous area between romantic and non-romantic obsession. It has an awful lot to say about beauty, as you might expect, as well as the consequences of egoism, and it does all of this without just demonizing the character of Dorian and being done with it. So, yes, highly recommend it, even if you already think you know it. Next, we have Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. John Steinbeck is brilliant, but he does write quite difficult books. East of Eden is really quite challenging and while absolutely love The Grapes of Roth, it just isn't the easiest book to jump right into. But of my cement is in many ways just as worth reading as these larger tomes, but is on the whole lot more accessible. It's set during the Great Depression and follows two itinerant workers, George and Lenny. Lenny has mental disability, but is physically incredibly powerful, making him very kind, but sometimes unintentionally dangerous, gentle giant. Steinbeck has real gift for getting you really, really attached to his characters and then using that attachment to ring out your emotions in an absolutely brutal fashion. And that definitely comes across in of Mice and Men. It's around 100 pages long. It is incredibly readable and it never fails to make me basically just sobb. Okay, our next category is funny classics. think there is this general idea that classic books are meant to be serious and somber, but lot of them are quite fun. And do think that it's worth checking those out if like me you enjoy more comedic book sometimes. And first up we have The Master and Margarita by Myle Bulgarov. feel like the premise alone is enough to sell you on this book. In the manner of the devil goes down to Georgia, the devil goes down to Moscow and starts to cause havoc in the theatrical scene. The novel is split into two parts and the parts are pretty different. The first is much more farical and includes healthy dollop of social commentary on Stalin era Russia and all the ways that the populace fell short of their supposed ideals. The second half is little bit more earnest, though still has funny moments, and it follows quest for forbidden love between failed novelist and married woman, in which Satan also has very major role to play. Bulgarov is sometimes compared to Kfka, and think that that's pretty fair assessment. This is quite an absurdist work, and it has the same mixture of sincerity and comedy about it, but it is also lot more grounded than many of Kfka's stories. It involves supernatural elements, but the supernatural elements come from familiar folklore. It's also just quite funny and Bulgarov is great at building suspense, so it is real page turner. It is classic book that has made me laugh out loud and feel like feel like that's as high praise as can give it. Next up is Rosen CR and Gilden Stern are dead by Tom Stopard. Tom Stoppard sadly passed away few days before I'm writing this. He is one of my personal heroes and my favorite modern playwright. And Rosen Crans and Gilden Stern are dead is one of his funniest and most philosophically astute plays. As the name would suggest, it follows the two characters from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Rosen Crance and Gilden Stern, who have vague awareness that they are destined to die later on in the play, but get up to lot of mischief in the meantime. It's difficult to talk about this play because so much of its brilliance is in how Stard uses language and word play for humorous and philosophical purposes. If you can see it performed well, then please do. And if you can't, then the script itself is great read, especially if you enjoy very linguistic humor. And as play, it's also relatively brief read and, you know, doesn't mince its words very much. Stopard is fantastic for his economical and incredibly witty style of writing. So yes, if you can go see it in person, then please do. And if you can't, then would highly recommend reading it. And finally for this section, we have The Private Memoirs and Confessions of Justified Sinner by James Hog. was in two minds about including this book on the list because, full disclosure, I'm only about third of the way through it. But it is also one of the best dark comedies I've read in ages. And also think that although it is classic, it often flies under the radar in lists like these. So, just wanted to mention it. The broad premise is that it follows murderer who believes that he can commit any crime he wants because of his rather confused religious upbringing that left him thinking that he was one of God's elect. And as result, no matter what he did, he would definitely go to heaven. That's that's why it's called the confessions of justified sinner. It's about justification. The comedy in this book is mainly due to the characters. lot of them are really larger than life and at points the book veers into slapstick at least as far as I've read. But am really enjoying it and have spoken to friend who's read the whole thing and she said that the rest of it is just as funny and just as dark. It's bit like 19th century edgy humor, but if you are partial to Macau comedies, really think you'll enjoy it. Okay, our next category is ancient classics. Books from, you know, around 2,000 years ago are famously quite hard to get into because of the amount of cultural distance. But here is what would recommend getting started. First up, we have Edypus Rex by Sophocles. This is the most famous iteration of the myth that spawned thousand yum jokes and one Austrian psychiatrist. You will have almost certainly come across the plot in its entirety or almost its entirety, so won't worry about spoilers. Essentially, unbeknownst to himself, Edypus has managed to kill his own father and marry his own mother. Obviously, he didn't realize they were his mom and dad at the time since he was adopted. But either way, he eventually finds this out because plague begins to ravage the city he rules over, thieves. And this was sent as punishment from the gods for grand impiiety. And Edypus wants to get to the bottom of it. He discovers his own secret, which is the grand impiiety that's causing the plague, and gouges his own eyes out in shame in scene that's reported by messenger, but he's is just sort of terribly visceral in in sort of suggestive sense. That's sort of contradiction in terms, but when you read it, you will understand what mean. There are number of excellent reasons to read this book if you're trying to get into ancient literature. First, it's play, which means that it is shorter than most novels. Second, you'll probably know the broad contours of the story, so you'll already have broad structure to guide you. Third, it's almost the model example of Greek tragedy, and so you'll be introduced to pretty much every aspect of the genre. And finally, it gives you sense of how the Greeks perceived shame or guilt, which is really different to how we conceptualize it, and that is fascinating. It's also just very well written and well-paced. Good old Sophocles. Next up, we have the Anerid book four by Virgil. Okay, the Anerid itself, even in really good translation, is just pretty heavy going. But just want to recommend single book out of the 12 books of the Anid, and that is book four. This is the tragedy of Daido and Anias. Anias is the great hero of Troy that will go on to found the precursor to what will be Rome. And Daido is the queen of Carthage. You might recognize Rome and Carthage as historically speaking not overly fond of one another. They had an on and-off rivalry that culminated in Rome burning the North African city to the ground. And this is sort of the mythological story given to explain why they were at each other's throats so very much. Without going into details, the relationship doesn't end on good terms. I'm realizing as write this out that most of the love stories in classic books just end in disaster. Maybe we just don't make lovely, gooey, happy endings into classics with the exception of Jane Austin, who we will come on to later. Either way, this will allow you to find out if ancient epic poetry is really your thing. If you find it totally off-putting, then you'll probably find lot of other ancient epics quite off-putting as well. But if this leaves you wanting more, then the whole rest of the Anid is waiting for you, and it is excellent, although it's been while since I've read it in its entirety. Next up, we have The Amore by Ovid. This is ancient Roman dating advice from my personal favorite classical poet. The book opens with joke about how Ovid wanted to write something serious and epic and about war and heroes, but he got too distracted and end up writing about love instead. As you might expect from poet, this is long poem in three parts. But again, try not to think about it in terms of serious poetry. Try to think of it in terms of one long piece of comedic writing or even maybe like comedy song. Though should say its light and entertaining tone doesn't mean that it is devoid of insight of its poem is still pretty perceptive set of observations about love and lovers including all of the foolish and silly things we do in the name of love. Almost all of Ovid's poetry, or at least his poetry that I've read, shows really nice mix of acknowledging how silly people are in the throws of passion, but also not condemning them for this. Instead, just sort of poking fun at them like good friend would. And like that some of the advice he gives is pretty questionable, but it's never boring. And finally, we have the Satiron by Petronius. And I've added not safe for work disclaimer here. When we think of the great city of Rome, who are the names that come to mind? Julius Caesar, Augustus, Marcelius, Virgil? We don't tend to think of ancient sex comedies about young men getting into embarrassing situations while being horrendously drunk. actually can't say too much about the satiricon without getting this video demonetized, as it is truly vulgar comedy. But wanted to include it and mention its name for two reasons. The first is that Rome had real tradition of biting satire. And this is one of the most extreme examples of that. And the second is that it's good at banishing any illusions you might have that Rome was all marble statues and grand speeches and glorious campaigns. They had those as well, but they also had the ancient equivalent of the Hangover movies. And there's something that's just so wonderfully lifeaffffirming about that. In that way, this pairs quite nicely with Ovid's Amore, though it is lot more explicit. It's sort of know, as say, not safe for work, but it is well worth read cautiously, obviously, if you're if you're an adult and everything. Our next section is big readable names. So, you will have almost certainly have heard of these books, but want to convince you that they are far more readable, accessible, and tackable than you've been led to believe. First up is Crime and Punishment by Dosstoyvki. And don't think this needs too much of an introduction. You may already know this, but for context, Crime and Punishment is about young man named Rasconikov who murders pawn broker. And it's about how he psychologically reacts to that. What really want to get across here is that Crime and Punishment is just as good as people say, if not better. Since it has such reputation as canonical text, people often downplay that it's actually just very gripping to read, even if you're not trying to, you know, comb it for philosophical insight. Dossyki is generally more known for his character work than his plots. But Crime and Punishment story is both pretty fast-paced and very naturally holds your attention. So, in some ways, it's the best of both worlds. It has all of the philosophical depth worthy of the title of classic, but because DSTVKI wants to get across Ras Konico's spiraling mental state, its plot sometimes feels like it's moving as quickly as like modern thriller. So, if you haven't read many classics before, please don't be put off from this being your first big weighty classic book. It will probably be far easier and far more naturally compelling than you think. Next up, we have The Red and the Black by Stondal. feel like recently I've been banging on about Stondal all the time, so I'll make this relatively brief. The Red and the Black follows Julian Sorell, an ambitious but lowborn social climber as he has two passionate love affairs. If you're fan of Jane Austin, this is little bit like if someone added healthy dollop of cynicism to classic Jane Austin novel. Stondal is fantastic at analyzing love in way that doesn't deny all its uglier aspects, but also doesn't shy away from the good or exciting parts either. And that's what like about this novel. It's also great classic, even if you haven't read many classic books before, because the chapters are quite short, and it's also split into two parts, and the parts are quite isolated from one another until the end. I've said before that you could probably read the first half of The Red and the Black as its own book, and basically stand by that assessment. So, if the whole book seems little bit too much, then just read the first half and you'll come away very satisfied. This was also one of my top books of 2025, and would highly recommend it if you are fan of books based around complex social dynamics as well as love. There's class element, there's romance element, and Stondal is just penetrating, psychologically astute author. So, you're just bound to learn something about yourself and about the people around you, even if it's not necessarily pleasant thing. But that's valuable in its own way. Next up, we have The Death of Ivan Ilich by Leo Toltoy. I've always had deep set fear of wasting my life, of drawing my final breath full of mucus and regrets. Evidently, Toltoy had that same fear because the death of Ivan Ilitch is all about guy who does just that. Ivan Ilich is man who makes all of his decisions and lives his life according to custom and social pressure. It's not that he's coward or anything like that. He just never really bothers to think outside of the constraints that are handed down to him from his elders and his social betters. He marries the woman that he's supposed to marry, has kids just as is expected of him, and has moderately successful career doing something dull but remunerating. On the whole, by any objective standard, he lives pretty decent life. But all of this changes as death approaches. Ivan Ilich falls ill and all of sudden the sheer magnitude of his mistakes dawn on him. don't think it's too much of spoiler to say that he dies considering it's in the title. And it's very easy to listen to my description and say, yeah, like get it. Don't waste your life. don't need to read over 100 pages about that." But think that that would be mistake. Toltoy is absolutely excellent at getting across how each of Ivan Ilich's individual decisions make perfect sense at the time. No one could object to them and indeed no one does. They were sensible and they were sad. But together they add up to wasted existence. This book has given me more than few sleepless nights and think that's probably what Toltoy was going for. So if you want to have some sleepless nights as well then please do pick it up. Right, next up we have Madame Bovery by Gustav Flobear. This is possibly the most famous book about adultery ever written with maybe the single exception of Anna Corenina. And think people often do focus on that scandalous aspect of it. But at least as important as the adultery itself is why Emma Bovery embarks on her ill- fated trrists. The first part of the novel, among other things, outlines her education and background and the strange and outsized expectations that she has leared to place on marriage and relationships formed by romance novels. It is pretty tragic story, but unlike some of the other romances on our list, Madame Bovery just has an outright self-destructive protagonist, and love that. think it's really ballsy and it makes it very compelling to read. Flobear is fantastic psychological writer and the whole plot has this slow creeping sense of dread as you are made aware of the depths of Emma's mistakes even as she remains willfully ignorant of them. It's not fast-paced novel, but it is really compelling and think it can genuinely give us an insight into the phenomenon of infidelity. Okay, here we have The Sorrows of Young Vera by Johan Gerta. This novel actually caused bit of stir when it was first released as it spawned the Verta effect where readers of the novella would attempt to follow the protagonist into the grave. At its core, it is tragic and unsettling love story about young man named Vera and the object of his affections, Charlotte. And as the title suggests, it doesn't go well. In many ways, this book is the definitive story of tragic romantic passion. both in the sense that it follows romantic obsession in the everyday sense, but also because it was huge influence on later writers within the tradition of romanticism. can't really say much more about it without spoiling it completely, but if you want full analysis, friend of the channel, Keegan Kilson, has recently put out video on the novella over on his channel, Essential Salts, and highly encourage you to watch that. But of course, do read the book for yourself as well. Next up, we have The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald. know that many of my American viewers will have been forced to read this at school at one point or another, but it's not that widely read in the UK. So, for those of you who haven't given it go, would highly recommend it. The book largely focuses on cast of five core characters. There's Nick Carowway, the narrator, Jay Gatsby, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Jordan Baker as they navigate the less glitzy aspects of the so-called roaring 20s. I'm currently writing full analysis of The Great Gatsby that hope will be out before Christmas. honestly do think it's one of the best explorations of hope, desire, and failure that I've ever read. If you have read it at school, then really do encourage you to read it again with adult eyes. And if you haven't, then please do pick it up. It is quite modest in length. My copy is around 160 pages, and the style of writing is very approachable. If you've not read classic in while or ever, then it will probably stretch you just little, but it'll be pleasant stretch rather than being six twists into session on the torture rack. Next, we have the strange case of Dr. Jackekal and Mr. Hyde. For book that is so influential, actually quite rarely come across people who have read Jackal and Hyde, this is, in my opinion, massive shame because it's actually one of the most pleasantto- read classic books out there. Reading it in the modern day is bit different because it was originally framed as mystery with twist. We're meant to be thinking as we read the novel, who is this mysterious Mr. Hyde? But because now almost everyone does know the twist in advance, you probably won't be reading it in the same way that someone in the 19th century would. But it is still very much worth reading. Although, spoiler alert, Dr. Jackekal and Mr. Hyde are the same person. The novel takes this in very different direction to our modern understanding of the term Jackekal and Hyde. We tend to use it to refer to things like split personality or someone who acts very differently from one situation to the other such that they seem to have split personality. But the novel is much more ambiguous and Hyde is presented as more of an alternate identity that Jackal consciously inhabits in order to get up to no good without facing any kind of consequences rather than an entirely separate person who he is sharing his body with. actually think this is much more interesting premise as it genuinely raises interesting philosophical questions about what morality looks like without any kind of accountability. Jackal and hide is actually pretty good way to ask yourself how you would act in this situation where you have magic potion that basically just divests you from any kind of consequences for your actions when you are in this other state. Okay, next we have Frankenstein by Mary Shel. And like many on this list, you'll probably already know lot about this book because its adaptations are so very famous. know it's bit cliche, but really do promise that the book is almost certainly better than these adaptations. For one thing, the monster is far from being sort of mindless zombie-like character. In fact, the monster is incredibly intelligent, deeply poetic, and quite compellingly troubled. and he has to deal with the fallout of being abandoned by his creator, Victor Frankenstein, who's very, very intelligent young genius who resurrects this amalgam of different dead bodies that he's taken from executed criminals in kind of sequence that's far more macabb than anything that's often shown on screen. Shelley is probably bit more difficult to read than some of the others on this list just in terms of writing style, but Frankenstein explores so many themes that are just deliciously precient. Today, it can be very easily read as reflection of the relationship between mankind and technology. Since Shelley was writing at time of monumental scientific and technological advancement, very much comparable to our own dizzyingly technological age, especially with the prospect of potentially artificial consciousness looming as possibility in the next few decades, story about someone abandoning their own vulnerable conscious creation is probably worth reading. It seems to me that that's that's going to be pretty important philosophical question going forwards. Next, we have 1984 by George Orwell. Like lot of the books on this list, 1984 has sort of been sound bitified over the years to the point where it is definitely worth revisiting the core text itself to remind us of what Orwell actually said because it's often lot more nuanced and lot more fascinating than what ends up at the end of this game of telephone whereby you know what's actually in the book gets translated through adaptation and then through someone half remembering that adaptation until you kind of end up with this very simplified image of the text itself. For instance, while the totalitarian state and the concept of big brother are really famous and you'll probably already be quite familiar with them, Orwell also has whole nuanced critique of how authoritarian regimes abuse psychological research and psychological tools to suppress people's individuality and leverage whole apparatus of medical authority or pseudo medical authority for their own power. This is an incredibly interesting point and it's something that you'd probably miss without reading the novel for yourself. Orwell is known for being clear and concise, but his books tend to contain very weighty themes and think this makes him ideal as first classic to read. I've picked 1984 for this list partly because really like it and partly because it's quite wellknown. But this goes for pretty much all of Orwell's fiction. Although it's been while since read it and suppose it's not strictly fiction, even though it's fictionesque in tone just because of how descriptive it is and how Orwell writes it. remember really enjoying an homage to Catalonia and would highly recommend that if you like 1984 and you like Orwell, it's very different subject matter, but it is fantastic and would definitely recommend reading it. It's based on his experiences during the Spanish Civil War, which really did shape him as person. So, if you do want to get kind of inside Orwell's head, getting to know Anomage to Catalonia really is essential, and as bonus, it's an absolute pleasure to read. And finally, we have Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin. I've mentioned Austin couple of times in the video so far, and this list would definitely be incomplete without including one of her books. You've probably already heard of Pride and Prejudice and may have watched one of the film adaptations, which are genuinely pretty good, but there really is no beating the book itself. Austin is really entertaining writer. And once you get out of the headsp space of thinking of it as classic romance novel and start thinking about it as the 19th century equivalent of really well-ritten romcom with touches of drama, it's much easier to enjoy just how witty Austin's writing is. don't know whether this will help you, but my internal voice for the narrator is sort of an overly posh elderly British woman allad Judy Dench. And found that that got the humor across pretty well for my, you know, internal listening, if that makes sense. Your mileage may vary, but do try it out. If you're fan of romances more generally, then you'll probably really like Pride and Prejudice, but it's also just great if you want something witty and relaxing to read. It's not that cognitively taxing, but it's still absolutely fantastic. Right, our next section is about long reads that are still very much approachable and very much worth reading despite their brick-like appearance. feel like lot of people are intimidated by the length of these books, but honestly, they are not nearly as difficult as they seem when they're just kind of sitting on your desk like this enormous genius paperwe. And first up is Anna Corenina by Leo Toltoy. know this is long book and as result it can seem pretty intimidating, but Anna Corenina is lot more entertaining and lot more readable than you might first expect. The same goes for War and Peace as it happens. These are both books where lots of things occur and they are best read slowly in small chunks, but they are genuinely very entertaining. The other thing that will make Anakarina easier will be to have list of the main characters names to hand so that you can check them if you're confused by one of the many many different forms of Russian name that come up as well as nicknames and dimminatives and all sorts. I'm personally recommending Anacarenina rather than War and Peace here because there are lot fewer characters to keep track of and that makes it bit easier to follow. It's also, in my opinion, the more cohesive of the two. War and Peace is an epic epic and has tens of stories contained within it, whereas Anacarenina, at least for the most part, keeps itself to itself and largely has fewer, would argue slightly more developed stories. It's my favorite of the two, but it still has an awful lot to say about friendship, love, embarrassment, nature, loyalty, morality, lust, and social forces. It just says it in tighter package. Next up, we have The Brothers Karamazov by Theodore Dosstovski. The Brothers Karamazov has real reputation for being unapproachable, but would respectfully disagree with this assessment. just think it needs to be approached with slightly different attitude to lot of books. It's not structured as neat journey from point to point and it likes to take its time to meander along the way, exploring all the different cracks and avenues of the various characters, ideas, and philosophies. probably wouldn't recommend this as the very first classic you read. And tend to say that it's pretty good one to read after something like the more plot focused Crime and Punishments, but it's my favorite book for reason. My main advice when approaching the brothers Karamazov is to focus on the characters themselves. The main event the whole book is structured around doesn't happen until past page 400, which can be really frustrating if you're trying to race through it and find out what's going to happen next. But if instead you approach it as just wanting to learn more about these characters and wanting to spend more time with them, then the book suddenly becomes incredibly enjoyable. and the fact that the plot isn't as fast-paced as in lot of other books stops becoming con and starts really being pro. And last up, we have Doniote by Miguel Deservantes. found out the other day that this is apparently like the second most read novel of all time, which completely shocked me because haven't come across lot of people, at least in England, who've read this book cover to cover. It's actually been very long time since read it myself. But think it is an excellent long classic for beginner for one key reason. It is quite funny and it satarizes lot of tropes in fiction that do still exist today, albeit in altered forms. Cantes wrote Doniote in part to satarize chivalri romances which were form of fiction that had been popular in Spain at least in the recent past for Cvantes. Kiote goes mad essentially and attempts to become questing knight with predictably funny results. We are not as steeped in the world of chivalick romance today, but we still have lots of tropes that are similar to the ones from that genre, like noble hero embarking on an epic quest in service of noble lady. So, lot of the satirical elements hit quite nicely. friend of mine also recently reminded me that the novel also has some really interesting self-reerential humor in the second half that comes across as strangely modern. As said, it's been while since read this one, so my memory of it is pretty hazy in parts, but do really remember loving it. And at the time that did read it, hadn't read many classics. So, feel very confident recommending it as readable, if quite long, classic book. And that's it. Those are 31 classic books that I'm very confident that you will read and enjoy, even if classics aren't normally your thing. And if they are, then you'll definitely enjoy them. also did one of these videos for philosophy books while back, so if you want to check that one out, it is right here. Thank you so much for watching and have wonderful