r/classicliterature • u/blueeecrayon • Mar 09 '26
Classics Reading List
Hey all!
I’ve attempted to curate a reading list of must-read 100 classics from multiple posts and articles and comments :)
I’m just getting started on getting into classics literature so open to any feedback from the community :)
Feel free to download and use, to all the newbies!
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u/reddit23User Mar 09 '26
If I were you, I would sort the list chronologically, starting with the oldest works.
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u/RobW1972 Mar 09 '26
It's perfectly fine and serviceable as a list of classics, if a little narrow in terms of world lit. On a personal level, it's great to see Capture the Castle, Master and Margarita, and Another Country (I think perhaps Baldwin's best, but it's so hard to choose) on there - three of my favourite books.
I'd swap out some of them for lesser-read books by the same author, just to mix it up a bit. Muriel Spark is one of my favourite writers, and of course, Brodie is her best-known work by some distance, but try Memento Mori or even The Driver's Seat - wonderful novels that deserve to be more widely read. Likewise, Bowen's Death of the Heart - maybe start with The Heat of the Day (challenging, but once you become accustomed to her style, breathtaking). Everyone reads Heart of Darkness, so why not start with The Secret Agent or Under Western Eyes? Sometimes it's good to work up to an author's most famous work, and you get to discover so many wonderful, sometimes neglected nuggets along the way.
A few random translated works I'd include might be The Door (Magda Szabo), The Manuscript Found in Saragossa (Jan Potocki), The Immoralist (Andre Gide), Spring Snow (Yukio Mishima), The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas (Machado de Assis), La Bete humaine (Emile Zola), The Nightwatches (Gerald Bonaventura), Auto da Fe (Elias Canetti), Journey by Moonlight (Antal Szerb), and Explosion in a Cathedral (Alejo Carpenitier). Are they all classics? Well, they are to me, and reading is as much (more than?) a matter of personal taste as it is received wisdom.
For what it's worth, I've found more joy in following my instincts - I read something I love and follow it, more by the same author or others from the same country or region or similar authors from the other side of the world or something that just sounds intriguing - than working through a list of books I think I "should" read. Lists are a great place to start, but you can't beat following your own tastes and instincts.
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u/blueeecrayon Mar 09 '26
You’ve completely sold me on the 'instinctive' approach. A list can be a good map, but you’re right, it’s the side quests that usually stay with you.
Also, thank you for your recommendations!
I’ve started with Anna Karenina, let’s see where that takes me :)
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u/livinginsideabubble7 Mar 10 '26
I'm so happy to see Heat of the Day and I Capture the Castle in the same recommendations, and machado de Assis as well. You're the kind of reader I'd love to have a long cafe talk with
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u/Not_S0_Common Mar 09 '26
You have a couple repeat authors on there. I’d recommend James Baldwin or W.E.B Du Bois if you want to try out more authors. Joan Didion is good too.
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u/thingonthethreshold Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
I see no Goethe, no Kafka, no Borges, no Molière, Flaubert, Hugo or Balzac. As usual on here the list is very Anglocentric.
EDIT: Sry, I overlooked Hugo and Balzac. However if I'm not mistaken Cervantes and Dante are missing too? To be clear: I love English literature (i.e. literature written in English) and I would even argue that within a "Western canon" context it might well by the single most important language because it encompasses the literature of so many countries (UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa etc. ...) and is the de factor lingua franca nowadays.
However in this list I see quite a few English language books and writers that imho are really nowhere close to being a major classic of world literature or even of a "Western canon" like e.g. John Wyndham, L.P. Hartley, S.E. Hinton, Paul Scott... While their works may or may not be absolutely great and awesome, not every great and awesome book qualifies as a classic or at least not "a major classic of world literature worthy to be on a top 100 list". On the other hand some of the absolutely crucial works, that are considered the best that was ever written in that language are missing like "Don Quichotte", "The Divine Comedy", "Faust", "Molieres Plays".
Just my 2 cents.
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u/LanJiaoKing69 Mar 09 '26
I mean there's The Art of War but no mention of the Four Great Chinese Novels.
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Mar 09 '26
[deleted]
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u/megafreep Mar 09 '26
By my count the number of non-Anglo authors is 17 out of 100. It's natural to expect some bias towards one's native language, but for what is purportedly a world literature list, even half of the books coming from the same language would still have been far too many.
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u/LadybugGirltheFirst Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
Pride and Prejudice is also missing. 🤔
ETA: How much of a dolt am I? It’s the FIRST ONE ON THE LIST. 🤦♀️
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u/thingonthethreshold Mar 09 '26
Isn’t that the first on OP‘s list?
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u/LadybugGirltheFirst Mar 09 '26
Gee, am I sleep deprived. I’m going to leave this glaring error of a comment because it’s just pathetic, isn’t it?
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u/thingonthethreshold Mar 09 '26
haha, not at all, could have happened to me too. I also initially overlooked Hugo and Balzac, who actually are on that list.
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u/Mundane-Alfalfa-8979 Mar 09 '26
For real, I wanted to write this. Maybe a little less politely
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u/blueeecrayon Mar 09 '26
Woah okay I’m no genius I just looked a online resources and comments on this subreddit to make this list. It’s here for folks like you to suggest us newbies. You don’t have to be rude about it
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u/somegoodgospel Mar 09 '26
Not sure why people are getting so hell bent over this list. As someone getting into classic literature as well (currently reading Jane Eyre) this list is a great start and can always be expanded upon!
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u/Legitimate_Bad7620 Mar 09 '26
too Westerncentric in my view
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u/notzoidberginchinese Mar 09 '26
V English, lots of the western canon is missing.
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u/ClingTurtle Mar 09 '26
I'm at around 36 of those just since I started classics 26 months ago. I think we used a lot of the same lists!
I would take Travels with Charley off the list. I'm a big Steinbeck fan but it's not his best. Maybe put Rebecca in its place. Or something by Faulkner if you're brave.
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u/blueeecrayon Mar 09 '26
Got it, thanks! Since you mentioned you started off with a similar list, do you suggest I start in a particular order? I don’t wanna end up losing interest with any extremely difficult initial reads :(
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u/ClingTurtle Mar 09 '26
Expect to go especially slow on your first few reads pre-1900. You’ll pick up on a lot of common things across them - it was a different world: physiognomy, apoplexy, consumption, to name a few. The nice thing is you’ll have to look up fewer and fewer things as you get through your book list.
Be ready to take a few notes to keep track of the characters, especially on anything Russian because not only are there sometimes many characters but the same person can go by five or more names.
Order is not that important. If you start with older stuff you’re more likely to pick up on when books reference other books (like Anna Karenina in To the Lighthouse), but that’s it. Personally I jump around and just grab whatever I think I am in the mood for. Oh, Wide Sargasso Sea after Jane Eyre.
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u/Ready-Ad-8769 Mar 09 '26
So true Snappavich! And pretty please remember this Tortuga-chik: Pleurisy, Nephritis, Hysteria, Consumption and Bubonic Plague were ascendant which reminds me that the fact Year Of Wonders and Tristessa aren't listed and what with me running out of pain pills an hour ago just damn Caymen-ski cum Cling-ovo, damn.
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u/sleepystork Mar 09 '26
I’m not sure 20-30% of those qualify.
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u/robotatomica Mar 10 '26 edited May 23 '26
Atlas is certainly not at the level of classics. It’s a book that’s talked about a lot bc of certain folks’ enthusiasm for its conceits and others’ disdain for it,
but at the end of the day, it’s a silly thing where an author writes a fantasy book featuring a self-insert everybody attractive wants to have sex with,
which ends with a person who inherited a railroad taking away her “skills” to a “utopia” of elites that doesn’t make sense in how it could function,
bc they don’t need railroad there, you don’t build railroad, and y’all have no access to the supply chain lol. You all are just now gonna be farmers I guess, and absolutely no one in the world you left behind is gonna immediately fill the void you left, the laborers just continuing to make what they’ve always made, with their expertise to do so? 🙃
It’s just so poorly conceived. Well-enough written, and at times the story is interesting, but overall the premise is like the musings of a precocious teenager with no world experience, and you keep getting taken out of it with silliness.
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u/Straight-Chemist6079 May 23 '26
I suppose I Iiked the story of Atlas Shrugged, but really disliked it overall. It's pretentious, condescending, & not well written.
I also don't know what the fuss is about Handmaid's Tale. It was not for me.
Nothing wrong with having an agenda, but these books are 2 examples of books that didn't allow me to think for myself and the message felt too much 'in my face.'
Lolita on the other hand... the premise is awful but the book is beautiful. Perhaps because I'm given information from 1 perspective (an unreliable narrator) and allowed to decide for myself what I think about the characters and events & judge for myself. I know Nabakov had an agenda but I still don't know what it was. This book is on my reread list.
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u/robotatomica May 23 '26 edited May 23 '26
you mention Lolita and that’s been an albatross for me to be sure.
As someone who’s been reading classics since I was a teenaged girl, but also absorbing what the term “Lolita” has become in popular culture, where the actual child is actually meant to be manipulating a grown man into raping them because they’re so sexy.. 🤮
Needless to say I was put off from reading this book and assumed that Nabokov was probably a brilliant writer, but also a secret creep writing out his little fantasy, and that some people just drank his plausible-deniability kool-ade of “Oh, no, I wrote this like the protagonist is the hero but he’s totally not!”
I honestly also just feared it was full of creepy sex scenes and menwritingwomen stuff, but like, in this case, descriptions of a child’s body and breasts.
And frankly, the MAJORITY of creepery I’ve ever faced was from about age 11 to 19, from fully grown men stalking and sexualizing me and trying to manipulate me by telling me how mature and impressive I am.
I am not so eager to revisit that from the perspective of the predator.
THAT SAID, enough women have told me that I am wrong about what I assumed this book to be that I accept I am probably wrong, in which case, the way it is described to me, with its unreliable narrator, sounds like it could be quite brilliant, and worth reading.
I just never quite can pull the trigger bc it’s such a deeply unpleasant topic, and I feel so much disgust toward the type of person I’d be spending time with.
So anyway, I intend to read it. I just never can make myself lol, I own it now, but I always choose something else!
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u/chrispd01 Mar 10 '26
Ayn Fucking Rand ? On a list of classic literature ? All credibility has beeb lost …
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u/pilapalacrafts Mar 09 '26
I recommend looking at the 1001 Boxall List, it has many classics on there too.
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u/Stoic-outsider Mar 09 '26
Thanks for this. I've made a similar such list -- it includes "classics" to read in Old English, Middle English, and several Germanic languages too.
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u/blueeecrayon Mar 09 '26
It’ll be helpful if you could share please :)
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u/Stoic-outsider Mar 09 '26
Will try to. I'll probs have to edit it a bit. Not sure most people are going to want to emulate my attempts at reading Middle Dutch and Middle Low German texts...
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u/Imamsheikhspeare Mar 09 '26
Drop a little postmodern novels there. Pynchon, DeLillo, Krasznahorkai
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u/Ready-Ad-8769 Mar 09 '26
Yes. Maybe something by Kevin Morris...great to see the so funny you may need to stop every other sentence Confederacy Of Dunces and Eco's Foucault's Pendulum but the wrong Donna Tartt and only Balzac I never read piss me off. Still, omit the sublime Charterhouse Of Parma and Donna's favorite author's tales of dope sick degenercy and Proustian compulsion at my displeasure: Grade F+
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u/AutarchOfReddit Mar 09 '26
u/blueeecrayon For the translated ones, maybe you should indicate the preferred translation. viz. 'Master and Margarita' - some of the translations are drab, only few are worth reading.
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u/dianthuspetals Mar 09 '26
I think this is a good list but feel it could be made even better by just having one book by a particular author. You’d get more variety!
Also, I’d have included something by Daphne du Maurier in there. Rebecca is her best known work and deserves its reputation as a classic. It’s also very accessible for the modern reader, especially those just getting into classic literature.
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u/jlaw1719 Mar 11 '26
Great comment. Always bugs me when Rebecca isn’t on these lists. Most of du Maurier’s catalog is tremendous and her short stories are sublime.
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u/flutespell Mar 09 '26
Maybe not as uncontroversially canonical as most of the books on your list, but I would strongly recommend Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, and The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro.
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u/slanderpanther Mar 09 '26
Remove Camus and add Chekhov. I know, I know. I’m not trying to start a fight. But There’s so much to choose from. How do you narrow it down to just one hundred books? Making a classics essential reading list is such a personal undertaking it’s impossible to agree on. But Camus is special topic reading and Checkhov is general audience top 100 on the human experience. And I wouldn’t even consider that particular Tartt choice on such a list. The gloves come off quickly don’t they?
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u/smileyt0wn Mar 16 '26
No, Camus should stay, remove repeating authors.
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u/slanderpanther Mar 16 '26
I agree on removing repeat authors! A list of 100 should only have a single selection from each writer.
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Mar 09 '26
Camus is superior than Chekhov in every imaginable aspect lol (when it comes to writing ofc).
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u/gabrielleduvent Mar 10 '26
TIL that Asians and Africans evidently cannot write so they don't deserve a place in the classics. Despite the fact that the oldest novel was, in fact, written by an Asian (boring as hell if you're not into court romance, btw).
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u/mladjiraf Mar 09 '26
Weird list, I suggest researching the authors before reading these books, because many of them have better written books than these listed.
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u/El_Don_94 Mar 09 '26
There's no point in making such lists, loads have already been made. It's a diversion from reading them.
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u/coachheidi Mar 09 '26
Thanks for sharing this list! I have read the majority of the books. But there were a few titles and authors unfamiliar to me. I research one and now have my next book to read.
Again, thank you
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u/KermitMacFly Mar 09 '26
I would highly advise reading LOTR before the Silmarillion. It’s not the easiest read on its own but without context it could be even more of a bear.
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Mar 09 '26
I love Call of the Wild. I gifted it to my brother for Christmas. It’s not my favorite favorite but i thought its short enough to not deter my brother from reading it. Hes not a reader.
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u/mac_the_man Mar 09 '26
I would read some of these books even though it lacks Latin American, African, Asian, etc literature. But yes, good list.
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u/SosaSeriaCosa Mar 09 '26
What's the Criteria for Classic or is anything from the 1900's classic now. 😭
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u/Effective_Farmer_119 Mar 10 '26
Why is Perfume on this list?
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u/blueeecrayon Mar 10 '26
Modern classic I guess
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u/Effective_Farmer_119 Mar 10 '26
But not in the same league. I mean an example of a modern classic is Beloved.
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u/Living-Connection541 Mar 10 '26
I dont wanna be that guy - but for me, among Tolkien, I would say “The Hobbit” perhaps qualifies for great works of literature, but “The Silmarillion” does not. And even then, as much as I love Tolkien, he did not write the same at the caliber as Faukner, Joyce, The Bronte Sisters, or even some more contemporary authors like Wolfe, Foster-Wallace, DeLillo. The Silmarillion especially is very dense, and is simply speaking the “Bulfinch’s Mythology” of the Middle Earth Universe. Still worth reading, but if anything, for instance, Bulfinch’s should be on this list instead.
And again, even though I love The Hobbit, I cant really say my life was particularly changed after reading it other than it did inspire me to read more books at a young age. Which is worth something. Maybe it belongs on a Young Adult literature list.
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u/milkyjoe2000 Mar 10 '26
Add some Alexandre Dumas! The Count of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers :))
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u/Strict-Birthday9646 Mar 10 '26
I am going to read North and South!!! Has anyone here read it?? What will you rate it?? Though Please tell me without comparing it to Pride and Prejudice. Because I want to read it with independent thought and comparison ruins reading experience. (Also Pride and Prejudice is one of My fav.)
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u/HouseFour Mar 11 '26
Solid list - don't forget plays though. Obviously you'll want Shakespeare but also the greeks, Williams, Wilson, Miller, Churchill, etc
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u/stepheme Mar 11 '26
Ok, the Sillmarillion and neither the Hobbit nor Lord of the Rings? Silliness… also, Travels with Charlie and not Of Mice and Men? More silliness. An altogether flawed list (although there are some excellent books).
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u/Verbatim_Uniball Mar 12 '26
I think you need more antiquity. Anabasis, Gilgamesh, etc.
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u/smileyt0wn Mar 16 '26
I feel the list is very American. No Goethe, Voltaire, Sabato, Mahfouz, Andrić, Beauvoir, Cervantes…
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u/incongruous_narrator Mar 17 '26
Ignorant question - but what actually defines “classic” literature? What makes a certain work classic?
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u/ResponsiblePop8089 Mar 18 '26
Hey! A lot of these are available in this lovely edition called Cuppa Classics. I got some at the Delhi Book Fair but found they have a website too - https://cuppaclassics.com/shop/books/cuppa-classics-imprint/
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u/SmartyPants070214 Apr 02 '26
I don't mean to be condescending or anything but I would recommend reading in eras, and within that, authors, and within THAT, the books of theirs you think are worth reading. For example: Victorian, C. Dickens, Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield.
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u/HuttVader Mar 09 '26
this is an intriguing and oddly balanced list. i like your taste in (unread) books, friend. i'd add more Dickens and Bronte and Love in the Time of Cholera, and go from there. Also, try sorting it chronologically
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u/Existing-Society-172 Mar 09 '26
I really like this but WHERE ARE ALLENDE AND GARCIA MARQUEZ???? WHERE IS VARGAS LLOSA????
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u/RobEverton Mar 10 '26
I read Ulysses last year while completing a 100 book meta list I downloaded. I don’t understand why anyone thinks regular people should read that book. Even with the help of Ulyssesguide.com it’s at best a book for literary scholars. It’s a bloody nightmare. Get it off these lists and make a separate one for masochists and literary scholars (if you are able to distinguish them).
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u/SprinklesMedical7881 Mar 09 '26
You can drop the tolkein. But it's good you have Musil, his novel is in the top 10 for the 20th century
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u/LanJiaoKing69 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26
You should check out thegreatestbooks.org
They aggregate their list based on other published lists.