Easing Into the Classics
A gentle guide to enjoying great books
Not all classic books are long and boring. Many are short. Some are downright fun. If you find the idea of classic books intimidating, here’s a list to ease you in and help you enjoy them. Please note that this list is meant to supplement a literature curriculum, not replace it. In no particular order, here they are:
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. These are classics of fantasy literature, adored by people the world over. The Hobbit is a novel suitable for elementary school students. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is darker, and the first book has a very slow start. It’s worth pushing through. The Lord of the Rings is a great first exposure to epic literature.
Treasure Island by R. L. Stevenson. It’s tempting to offer this classic adventure tale to middle school students, but the older language can discourage them. Take my advice and save the unabridged book for high school students. If they still struggle with the older language, opt for a graphic novel or for the Great Illustrated Classics version. If you love this book, give Stevenson’s novel Kidnapped a try or reach for the creepy but brilliant The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
My Man Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse. This beloved British humor writer may not go down as one of the best writers of all time, but he is one of the funniest. If you enjoy this, read Wodehouse’s other books, many of which feature Jeeves and Wooster.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. These classic mysteries are well worth enjoying again and again. If you aren’t sure which short story to start with in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, read “The Red Headed League.”
“The Blue Cross” in The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton. This is the first of Chesterton’s many beloved stories of his sleuth, the priest Father Brown. If you like this story, keep going in this book and consider the other Father Brown books. No one can write paradoxes more brilliantly than Chesterton.
The Murder on the Orient Express and The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie. These books feature Christie’s two best loved sleuths: Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. While Doyle’s detective Sherlock Holmes solved cases by tracing physical evidence, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot believes in examining psychology and relying on his own prodigious intelligence. When Christie got tired of Poirot, she invented Miss Marple, a British old maid, who solved mysteries with her keen understanding of human nature. If you like these, delve into Christie’s many other books.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. If you enjoy this classic romance and critique on human nature, consider Austen’s other novels. Don’t overlook Austen’s oft-forgotten novela Lady Susan. It’s a great introduction to epistolary novels.
“The Gold Bug” by Edgar Allen Poe. Believe it or not, Poe was capable of writing fiction other than horror. You’ll enjoy this short mystery-adventure. My favorite part is that it doesn’t have gruesome murders, insanity, demonic cats or despair like so much of Poe’s other brilliant, but twisted short stories. But if gruesome murders and demon cats are your jam, Poe will not disappoint you with his many other writings.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Dickens considered this his best written novel. His other novels were usually published as newspaper serials, and Dickens was paid by the word, as you may have guessed if you’ve ever tried to slog through a whole page of Dickens dedicated to describing London’s smog. If you want the best of Dickens’ writing, If you love it, look into Dickens’ many other brilliant books, such as Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Oliver Twist, or Little Dorrit. Is Dickens’ wordy writing and silly caricatures too much for you? Consider The Usborne Complete Dickens for illustrated summaries of all his books.
Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney. Don’t settle for any other version. This is the first Christian epic. If you haven’t read this quick read about the epic hero Beowulf’s battle with the monster Grendall, you need to.
Greek myths. There are several great versions out there. Consider Usborne’s Greek Myths for Young Children or D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths. They may be weird and occasionally macabre, but they are fascinating. You will be able to catch literary references to them for the rest of your life.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. If you enjoyed Jane Austen, don’t overlook this classic Gothic novel. If the carefully crafted plot, brilliant atmosphere, and complex characters don’t impress you, consider that this beloved classic written by a teenager.
Around the World In Eighty Days by Jules Verne. This adventure story spans the globe as Mr. Fileas Fogg wagers a literal fortune that he can circumvent the globe in the allotted time in 1872, the time of trains and steam engines.
Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. Whatever you do, DO NOT READ THE FORWARD until you have finished the novel. This political thriller, written as a warning, changed British foreign policy. But you won’t be able to enjoy the mystery if you read the spoilers in the forward. Don’t do that to yourself. Enjoy the tale in its own right.
White Fang by Jack London. If you like this tale of adventure in Alaska, reach for London’s Call of the Wild, which will not leave you with warm, fuzzy feelings, but is also a classic in its own right.
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. This book is old and popular, but not a true classic of great literature. It’s plot twists are too unbelievable, and its characters not well-developed or complex enough for that. But it was wildly popular in its day, and people still enjoy it. If you love adventure and romance and want to get used to more dated language in books, this is an easy one to start with.
Watership Down by Richard Adams. This epic offers political parables and mythology as it follows a group of rabbits trying to find a place of safety after their warren is gassed by humans.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain. If you enjoy Tom Sawyer, don’t miss Twain’s hilarious, tongue in cheek novel of a New Englander miraculously transported back to Medieval England. Twain offers a funny critique of both the feudal mindset and Americans.
Some phenomenal classics were written as plays and should be enjoyed as plays. Here are some to try out:
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. If you enjoy this hilarious and witty play, look for An Ideal Husband and Lady Wyndemere’s Fan, also by Wilde. If you like Wilde’s writing style but want something more creepy, reach for his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, horror writing at its most thought provoking.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare, produced by Bob Jones University on Youtube. There is so much great Shakespeare out there, but it can be hard to find clean versions of each play. Bob Jones University offers as family-friendly versions of the bard as you can find. If you struggle to follow Shakespeare’s complex language, consider getting Usborne’s graphic novel of Hamlet. I have the Usborne Illustrated Tales of Shakespeare. The beautiful illustrated book gives simple retelling of classic stories for elementary school readers. My ten-year-old was inspired to watch BJU’s Hamlet after reading Usborne’s Illustrated Tales. Thanks to Usborne, she was able to follow the plot as well and enjoyed the whole experience.
There are so many more great classics out there! Hopefully, this gives you the opportunity to find some authors and genres that you most enjoy and feel less intimidated by the label “classic.” Thanks to my sweet friend Julie for requesting and inspiring this list!
My children love most of these! I must be doing something right!
I forgot about The Scarlet Pimpernel! My Francophile daughter will enjoy that one.