Here are my favourite classics of all time (so far!). Usually, classics are considered being boring reads and not everyone chooses to read it. But trust me, the list of books I have mentioned here are not the least bit boring.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen:
Goodreads Synopsis:
Since its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work “her own darling child” and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, “as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print.” The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen’s radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.
My Opinion:
“Pride and Prejudice” one of the most acclaimed classics in the world. I first read this famous book when I was 16. From that time onwards till now I love reading “Pride and Prejudice” again and again. It’s a love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy; moreover, the story has discussed a few relevant social evils that had existed in Victorian England.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte:
Goodreads Synopsis:
Fiery love, shocking twists of fate, and tragic mysteries put a lonely governess in jeopardy in JANE EYRE
Orphaned as a child, Jane has felt an outcast her whole young life. Her courage is tested once again when she arrives at Thornfield Hall, where she has been hired by the brooding, proud Edward Rochester to care for his ward Adèle. Jane finds herself drawn to his troubled yet kind spirit. She falls in love. Hard.
But there is a terrifying secret inside the gloomy, forbidding Thornfield Hall. Is Rochester hiding from Jane? Will Jane be left heartbroken and exiled once again?
My Opinion:
Being a great fan of classic love stories, Jane Eyre will always be on the list. Again a sweet love story of Jane Eyre and Fairfax Rochester, with Charlotte Bronte’s descriptive writing makes this novel a lovable read. The beauty of 19th century England has pictured through words. Every reader could enjoy and experience all the minute details of nature in the book.
Persuasion by Jane Austen:
Goodreads Synopsis:
Twenty-seven-year-old Anne Elliot is Austen’s most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne’s family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?
Jane Austen once compared her writing to painting on a little bit of ivory, 2 inches square. Readers of Persuasion will discover that neither her skill for delicate, ironic observations on social custom, love and marriage nor her ability to apply a sharp focus lens to English manners and morals has deserted her in her final finished work.
My Opinion:
Another Jane Austen book, hope you understand by now how much I adore her books!. “Persuasion” was published in the year 1817, six months after her death. It’s again a love story of Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth, which starts with the pain of loss and gradually fades into bliss. Every Jane Austen books have a happy ending, so has this.
Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:
Goodreads Synopsis:
‘It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’
Sherlock Holmes, scourge of criminals everywhere, whether they are lurking in London’s foggy backstreets or plotting behind the walls of an idyllic country mansion, and his faithful colleague Dr Watson solve twelve breathtaking and perplexing mysteries.
My Opinion:
OH BOY! Sherlock Holmes is my all-time favourite book. I have never loved characters as much as I adore Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. Even though I have come across many detective characters, no one I found brilliant and efficient as them. My first ever Sherlock Holmes story was “The Hound of Baskerville”, hence my favourite too. Sherlock Holmes is not a single story, but it has a set of four novels and five short story collections. I would highly recommend Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s “Sherlock” TV series which has been aired on BBC One.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie:
Goodreads Synopsis:
First, there were ten—a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal—and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.
My Opinion:
If it is a list of classics, then Agatha Christie’s book should be included. She was renowned as the “Queen of Mystery” and has written a few many books on the thriller genre. “And Then There Were None” is my favourite among them. It is a novel based on a serial killer who plots to murder ten people on an Island.
The count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas:
Goodreads Synopsis:
In 1815 Edmond Dantès, a young and successful merchant sailor who has just recently been granted the succession of his erstwhile captain Leclère returns to Marseille to marry his Catalan fiancée Mercédès. Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration.
My Opinion:
I have read this book at an early age even at that time I could easily imagine each scene in the book. Because of the brilliant writing by Alexandre Dumas. The book was originally written in French. It has a very intriguing plot which keeps the reader on their toes. And also gives you a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
The War of the Worlds by H.G Wells:
Goodreads Synopsis:
With H.G. Wells’ other novels, The War of the Worlds was one of the first and greatest works of science fiction ever to be written. Even long before man had learned to fly, H.G. Wells wrote this story of the Martian attack on England. These unearthly creatures arrive in huge cylinders, from which they escape as soon as the metal is cool. The first falls near Woking and is regarded as a curiosity rather than a danger until the Martians climb out of it and kill many of the gaping crowd with a Heat-Ray. These unearthly creatures have heads four feet in diameter and colossal round bodies, and by manipulating two terrifying machines – the Handling Machine and the Fighting Machine – they are as versatile as humans and at the same time insuperable. They cause boundless destruction. The inhabitants of the Earth are powerless against them, and it looks as if the end of the World has come. But there is one factor which the Martians, in spite of their superior intelligence, have not reckoned on. It is this which brings about a miraculous conclusion to this famous work of the imagination.
My Opinion:
“The War of the Worlds” is a sci-fi novel by the maestro of sci-fi, H. G. Wells. The main plot is the Martian attack on earth more specifically in England. One of those books which will increase your heartbeat and scare the hell out of you while reading. A fascinating part of this book is the descriptions of Martian vehicles and their physiology with spoiling no intricate details.
The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank:
Goodreads Synopsis:
Anne Frank’s extraordinary diary, written in the Amsterdam attic where she and her family hid from the Nazis for two years, has become a world classic and a timeless testament to the human spirit. Now, in a new edition enriched by many passages originally withheld by her father, we meet Anne more real, more human, and more vital than ever. Here she is first and foremost a teenage girl—stubbornly honest, touchingly vulnerable, in love with life. She imparts her deeply secret world of soul-searching and hungering for affection, rebellious clashes with her mother, romance and newly discovered sexuality, and wry, candid observations of her companions. Facing hunger, fear of discovery and death, and the petty frustrations of such confined quarters, Anne writes with adult wisdom and views beyond her years. Her story is that of every teenager, lived out in conditions few teenagers have ever known.
My Opinion:
The only classic non-fiction I adore so much. As the title, it is the diary of Anne Frank, who considered being the most discussed Jewish victim of the Holocaust. I urge every teenager to read this book, which will help them get a better perspective on life. I have reviewed the book on this blog. You can check that out.
1984 by George Orwell:
Goodreads Synopsis:
Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell’s nightmarish vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff’s attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell’s prescience of modern life–the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language–and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written.
My Opinion:
“1984”, a dark dystopian classic novel, which has been banned in different countries for the anti-communist element of the plot. And also because of the gory scenes in the book. I couldn’t say I love this book, the only reason I added “1984” to this list is its relevance in present time world. I highly recommend this book to everyone except children below the age of 12.
