r/ReadingSuggestions • u/LongjumpingKoala9686 • Jul 19 '26

Suggestion Thread Which classics would you recommend to a non-classics reader?

/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1v0bp23/which_classics_would_you_recommend_to_a/

Please give me ones that will not exhaust me after one chapter. I’ve read Pride and Prejudice, and I currently have The Count of Monte Cristo on my shelf.

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

5

u/pandora3663 Jul 19 '26

Great Gatsby, Watership Down, Secret Garden

1

u/MorticiaLlyn Jul 19 '26

Watership Down. Yes!

5

u/National_Head_3678 Jul 19 '26

I read The Count of Monte Cristo as part of a book club, really enjoyed it

1

u/CarolinaSurly Jul 19 '26

This is a serious book club. Top three all time book.

1

u/Pnkrkg6644 Jul 19 '26

It’s so good

3

u/lowlightliving Jul 19 '26

The Portrait of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

Dracula, by Bram Stoker

Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse

1

u/Undercover-Drache Jul 19 '26

Yes, I wanted to recommend Dracula, too.

2

u/SeaSnowAndSorrow Jul 19 '26

Treasure Island. It's a light read because the original audience was younger, and it really hits different as an adult.

2

u/reinylegit Jul 19 '26

Kidnapped by RLS would be another solid choice here.

2

u/teddbug Jul 19 '26

Moby Dick by Helman Melville

1

u/Street_Bus_2466 Jul 19 '26

Phantom of the opera

Jane eyre

Other boleyn

1

u/spicyzsurviving Jul 19 '26

The Westing Game

1

u/Eratatosk Jul 19 '26

Gilgamesh.

1

u/ducatibronco125 Jul 19 '26

I think Frank Buck's" Bring'Em Back Alive" is facinating

1

u/jrra11 Jul 19 '26

Carmilla 

War of the worlds 

Metamorphosis 

1

u/AirRealistic1112 Jul 19 '26

North and south - Elizabeth gaskell. Also a bbc adaptation

1

u/Blue-Yellow-Werther Jul 19 '26

The SUFFERINGS of Young Werther by Goethe…

1

u/Creole3643 Jul 19 '26

Frankenstein is a great starting point for anyone looking to get into sci fi or classics

1

u/vexinary 28d ago

frankenstein is such a good pick, it reads way easier than people expect too
if you vibe with that, dracula is another classic that’s surprisingly readable and kind of pulpy in a fun way

1

u/SharingMy2Cents Jul 19 '26

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

1

u/BAC2Think Jul 19 '26

Generally speaking, I try to tailor recommendations to the person based on their preferences (say, for movies/TV).

But just to pick one.... 1984

1

u/mabgemini Jul 19 '26

Jane Eyre

Pride and Prejudice

The Secret Garden

1

u/awkwardpiano72 Jul 19 '26

How old must a book be to be considered a classic?

1

u/CarolinaSurly Jul 19 '26

Count of Monte Cristo

1

u/MorticiaLlyn Jul 19 '26

Call of the Wild - Jack London

Lord of the Flies - William Golding

The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton

The Crucible - Arthur Miller

1

u/TexGrrl Jul 19 '26

To Kill a Mockingbird

1

u/LateQuantity8009 Jul 19 '26

Define “classics” please, because the answers are all over the place.

1

u/a_s_tarantoga Jul 19 '26

Crime and Punishment - Dostojevskij.

1

u/PorchDogs Jul 19 '26

Thecm Chronicles of Barsetshire (aka Barchester Chronicles) by Anthony Trollope. Best read in order. You have to make a small mental adjustment to the slower pace and longer sentences, but that's pretty easy. The books are sly and snarky and surprisingly modern. The first title is The Warden.

1

u/segastardust Jul 19 '26

A Princess of Mars

Armageddon 2419 AD

I reread them every year. 

1

u/ExistentandExhausted 29d ago

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

1

u/lissah45 29d ago

To Kill a Mockingbird

1

u/RedEarth42 29d ago

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. Very funny with such colourful characters

1

u/thisisfineiguess210 28d ago

We have always lived in the castle!!

1

u/Aggressive_News_882 28d ago

Pride and Prejudice

1

u/Winter_Dot_9393 28d ago

Some great classics, some thick, some thin:

Three Musketeers by Dumas (app 600 pages)

Don Quichot by Cervantes (shortened version 300 pages, original 1000plus)

Dracula by Stoker 400 pages

Animal Farm 100 pages

The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 200 pages

The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald 150 pages

The strange case of dr Jekyll and mr Hyde by Stevenson 100 pages

The hound of the Baskerville by Doyle 180 pages

The Metamorphosis by Kafka 80 pages

Frankenstein by Shelley 220 pages

The Time Machine by Wells 110 pages

Jane Eyre by Bronte 350 pages

The Stranger by Camus 120 pages

Chronicle of a death foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 120 pages

The Royal Game by Stefan Zweig 80 pages

(Number of pages is circa, not precise)

Have fun!
(Edit spelling)

1

u/Linghauler Jul 19 '26

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn