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Suggested readings for Read the Classics

Want to go beyond the titles from the Read the Classics book discussion series? Below are suggested readings recommended by the professors and librarians involved in the development of this series.

Greece and Rome
Middle Ages
1600s and 1700s Novels
1800s Novels
Russian Literature
Philosophy

Antiquity: Non-Greek or Roman
Non-Western: 900s to 1700s
Reading the Classics and other lists

Greece and Rome

Woodstock Library
1st Sunday of October, December, February and April, 2–4 p.m.

Titles for this discussion series

More information about these titles and programs

Oct. 5 · The Iliad by Homer
Dec. 7 · The Odyssey by Homer
Feb. 1 · The Aeneid by Virgil
Apr. 5 · The Metamorphoses by Ovid

Petronius: The Satyricon

(66 A.D.)

"One of the first examples of the novel form, The Satyricon gives a vivid, sardonic and extremely realistic picture of the luxuries, vices, and social manners of the imperial age of ancient Rome." Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia.
Apuleius, Lucius: The Golden Ass

(150–180 A.D.?)

The Golden Ass is the only Latin novel that comes down to us in its entirety. Lucius is a Roman aristocrat who is fascinated by magic and is transformed into an ass. Suffering many trials and humiliations he also tells many very funny and bawdy stories, including some that were later told by Boccaccio and Chaucer. It includes many side stories such as the first telling of the tale of Cupid and Psyche. Both as the source of tradition and as one of the earliest examples of the picaresque novel The Golden Ass is one of the truly seminal works of European literature. And when Lucius is finally transformed back into human form by the goddess Isis you get a unique and full view of the reality of pre-Christian Roman religion that gives the book a surprising depth.
Lucian of Samosata: Trips to the Moon

(125–180 A.D.)

Lucian of Samosata was a Syrian-Greek satirical writer responsible for the first fictional accounts of extraterrestrial life. Also called “A True History” he says in his preface "I give my readers warning, therefore, not to believe me." Ulysses' ship is lifted up by a giant waterspout and deposited on the Moon. “There they find themselves embroiled in a full-scale interplanetary war between the king of the Moon and the king of the Sun over colonization rights to Jupiter, involving armies which boast such exotica as stalk-and-mushroom men, acorn-dogs, and cloud-centaurs.” (From www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/L/Lucian.html) In the early 17th century this work was translated from Greek into Latin by Johannes Kepler, the great early astronomer.

Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days

(around 700 B.C.)

"Hesiod describes himself as a Boeotian shepherd who heard the Muses call upon him to sing about the gods. He is considered a younger contemporary of Homer. In Theogony Hesiod charts the history of the divine world, narrating the origin of the universe and the rise of the gods, from first beginnings to the triumph of Zeus, and reporting on the progeny of Zeus and of goddesses in union with mortal men. In Works and Days Hesiod shifts his attention to the world of men, delivering moral precepts and practical advice regarding agriculture, navigation, and many other matters."
Apollonius, Rhodius: The Argonautika: the Story of Jason and the Quest for the Golden Fleece

(3rd century B.C.)

In the 8th century B.C., Homer mentions Jason and the Argonauts, assuming that his audience all knew the story. Meet the fathers of the men you read about in The Iliad, as well as Jason and Hercules. Jason sails the mythic first sea-going ship, the "Argo," in search of the Golden Fleece and encounters possibly even more amazing things than Odysseus does in The Odyssey. Jason also meets and marries one of the strongest female characters of later Greek plays, Medea. Apollonius wrote the story down in epic form, that reads like a novel, many centuries after the oral story had established itself. Apollonius was the librarian at the Library in Alexandria.
Apollodorus: The Library of Greek Mythology

(1st or 2nd century AD)

Possibly the first encyclopedic summary of Greek mythology, attributed to the ancient Greek author Apollodorus. It is our best single source for many myths, including Hercules' (Herakles) famous 12 labors.

Aeschylus: Oresteia translated by Robert Fagles

Oresteia other translations

(Aeschylus, 525–456 B.C. Oresteia, 458 B.C.)
Sophocles: Oedipus Rex, Antigone, The Complete Plays of Sophocles

(Sophocles, 496–406 B.C)
Euripides: Medea, The Trojan Women, Electra, The Bacchae, The Complete Plays. (includes Orestes and Hippolytus)

(Euripides, 484–425 B.C.)
Euripides: Iphigenia at Aulis

(409-406 B.C.)

Also spelled Iphigeneia. In this play Agamemnon is told by the oracle to put his daughter, Iphigenia, to death as a sacrifice so that the winds would take his Greek army to Troy. This terribly poignant story ranges from the depths of human fragility to the heights of honor. There is an excellent film version of Iphigeneia by Michael Cacoyannis, in modern Greek with English subtitles. Irene Papas as Clytemnestra and Tatiana Papamoschou as Iphigenia will rip your soul apart!
Aristophanes: Lysistrata, The Clouds, The Birds The Complete Plays

(Aristophanes, 448–388 B.C.)

Herodotus: The Histories

(440 B.C.)

"Cicero called Herodotus the father of history. Compelled by his desire to 'prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time,' Herotodus recounts the incidents preceding and following the Persian Wars. He gives us much more than military history, though, providing the fullest portrait of the classical world of the 5th and 6th centuries." We recommend particularly The Landmark Herodotus: the Histories for its maps, photographs of sites, annotations and index.
Thucydides: History of the Peloponnesian War

(431–411 B.C.)

“This detailed contemporary account of the conflicts between the two empires over shipping, trade, and colonial expansion came to a head in 431 B.C. in Northern Greece, and the entire Greek world was plunged into 27 years of war. Thucydides applied a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance in compiling this exhaustively factual record of the disastrous conflict that eventually ended the Athenian empire.” We recommend particularly The Landmark Thucydides: a Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War for its maps, photographs of sites, annotations and index.
Livy: The History of Rome

(17 A.D.?)

Also called the Rise of Rome. “Livy's only extant work is part of his history of Rome from the foundation of the city to 9 BC. In splendid style Livy, a man of wide sympathies and proud of Rome's past, presented an uncritical but clear and living narrative of the rise of Rome to greatness.” We particularly recommend this edition: The Early History of Rome
Tacitus, Cornelius: The Annals of Imperial Rome

(109 A.D.?)

“One of the most important historical records from classical antiquity, The Annals of Imperial Rome chronicles the history of the Roman Empire from the reign of Tiberius beginning in 14 A.D. to the reign of Nero ending in 66 A.D. Written by Cornelius Tacitus, Roman Senator during the second century A.D., it is a detailed first-hand account of the early Roman Empire.”
Plutarch: Plutarch's Lives

(Plutarch, 46–120 A.D.)

Plutarch compared the lives of a series of Greek and Roman leaders with the purpose of contrasting moral character. It is a mixture of legendary and real history which also tells many stories and shows elements of ancient Greek and Roman political life, culture and religious beliefs. There are many editions with various titles. We particularly recommend Fall of the Roman Republic

Sappho: If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho

(630 B.C.?–570 B.C.?)

"In this miraculous new translation, acclaimed poet and classicist Anne Carson presents all of Sappho's fragments, in Greek and in English, as if on the ragged scraps of papyrus that preserve them, inviting a thrill of discovery and conjecture that can be described only as electric or, to use Sappho's words, as 'thin fire racing under skin.' "
Virgil: The Eclogues

(Virgil, 70–19 B.C.)

"These songs made a world; it is a world all the more beautiful for being vulnerab1e to the intrusions of power and of natural calamity and loss. The Eclogues of Virgil gave definitive form to the pastoral mode, and these magically beautiful poems, so influential in so much subsequent literature, perhaps best exemplify what pastoral can do."
Virgil: Georgics

(Virgil, 70–19 B.C.)

"The Georgics celebrates crops, trees, and animals and, above all, the human beings who care for them. It takes the form of teaching about this care: the tilling of fields, the tending of vines, the raising of cattle and bees. There's joy in the detail of Virgil's descriptions of work well done, and ecstatic joy in his praise of the very life of things, and passionate commiseration too, because of the vulnerability of men and all other creatures to what they have to contend with: storms, and plagues, and wars, and all mischance." And all this is with a touch of mythology.
Horace: Complete Odes and Epodes

(Horace 65-8 B.C.)

”Horace is one of the most important and brilliant poets of the Augustan Age of Latin literature whose influence on European literature is unparalleled. Steeped in allusion to contemporary affairs, Horace's verse is best read in terms of his changing relationship to the publicsphere. While the Odes are subtle and allusive, the Epodes are robust and coarse in their celebrations of sex and tirades against political leaders. This edition also includes the Secular Hymn and Suetonius's Life of Horace."
Ovid: The Art of Love

(1 B.C.–1 A.D.)

"Ovid, the author of the groundbreaking epic poem Metamorphoses, came under severe criticism for The Art of Love, which playfully instructed women in the art of seduction and men in the skills essential for mastering the art of romantic conquest."
Ovid: The Erotic Poems

(1 B.C.–1 A.D.)

Includes The Amores, The Art of Love, Cures for Love & Facial Treatment for Ladies.

Aesop: Aesop's Fables

(Aesop, 620–560 B.C.)

“Aesop was probably a prisoner of war, sold into slavery in the early sixth century BC, who represented his masters in court and negotiations and relied on animal stories to put across his key points. Such fables vividly reveal the strange superstitions of ordinary ancient Greeks, how they treated their pets, how they spoilt their sons and even what they kept in their larders.”
Lucretius: On the Nature of Things

(First century B.C.)

As an Epicurean, Lucretius argues with philosophic clarity and poetic power "against fear of the gods by demonstrating through observations and logical argument that the operations of the world can be accounted for entirely in terms of natural phenomena, the regular but purposeless motions and interactions of tiny atoms in empty space, instead of in terms of the will of the gods." (wikipedia) Translated by Professor Walter Englert, the leader of the Read the Classics: Greece and Rome discussions.
Aurelius, Marcus: Meditations

(Emperor of Rome, 121–180 A.D.)

“The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus embodied in his person that deeply cherished, ideal figure of antiquity, the philosopher-king. His Meditations are not only one of the most important expressions of the Stoic philosophy of his time but also an enduringly inspiring guide to living a good and just life. Written in moments snatched from military campaigns and the rigors of politics, these ethical and spiritual reflections reveal a mind of exceptional clarity and originality, and a spirit attuned to both the particulars of human destiny and the vast patterns that underlie it.”

Middle Ages

Central Library
2nd Sunday, January–April, 2–4 p.m.

Titles for this discussion series

More information about these titles and programs

Jan. 11 · Beowulf Translated by Seamus Heaney · further reading for this title
Feb. 8 · The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth note: we will be using the translation done by the facilitator · further reading for this title
Mar. 8 · Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Translated by Marie Borroff · further reading for this title
Apr. 12 · The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer · further reading for this title

More classic literature of the Middle Ages

Boethius: The Consolation of Philosophy

(524?)

"It was written under a death sentence. Boethius, an Imperial official under Theodoric, Ostrogoth ruler of Rome, found himself, in a time of political paranoia, denounced, arrested, and then executed two years later without a trial. Composed while its author was imprisoned, cut off from family and friends, it remains one of Western literature's most eloquent meditations on the transitory nature of earthly belongings, and the superiority of things of the mind."
Venerable Bede: Ecclesiastical History of the English People

(731)

"Bede's account of Anglo-Saxon England begins with Julius Caesar's invasion in the first century B.C. and goes on to tell of the kings and bishops, monks and nuns who helped to develop government and convert the people to Christianity during these crucial formative years."; The Song of Roland

(ca. 1040–1115)

"The greatest surviving medieval French epic, The Song of Roland chronicles the deeds and doings of the valiant Roland, nephew to Charlemagne, who fights to his death against the Saracens. Against the bloody backdrop of the struggle between Christianity and Islam, The Song of Roland remains a vivid portrayal of medieval life and ideals, of knightly adventure and feudal politics."; El Cid

(1140?)

Also called Poem of the Cid or Poem of my Cid. "Few works have shaped a national literature as thoroughly as the Poem of the Cid has shaped the Spanish literary tradition. Tracing the life of the eleventh-century military commander Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, called the Cid (from the Arabic Sayyidi, "My Lord"), this medieval epic describes a series of events surrounding his exile. Today almost every theme that characterizes Spanish literature - honor, justice, loyalty, treachery, and jealousy - derives from the Poem of the Cid." This is one of the many historical and fictional chivalrous characters mentioned in Don Quixote.
Crossley-Holland, Kevin: The Anglo-Saxon World: an Anthology

(1984. Works from 450–1066.)

"Crossley-Holland--the widely acclaimed translator of Old English texts--introduces the Anglo-Saxons through their chronicles, laws, letters, charters, and poetry, with many of the greatest surviving poems printed in their entirety."
Walter of Chatillon: The Alexandreis

(Second half of the 1100's)

"Walter of Chatillon's Latin epic of the life of Alexander the Great was a 12th and 13th century bestseller; scribes produced over two hundred manuscripts. The poem follows Alexander from his first successes in Asia Minor, through his conquest of Persia and India and his progressive moral degeneration, to his death by poisoning at the hands of a disaffected lieutenant."
Chrétien, de Troyes: The Complete Romances of Chrétien de Troyes

(1170–1190)

Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet who wrote the earliest literary version of the Grail in the Arthurian cycle of stories. He also invented the character of Lancelot in the story Knight of the Cart.
Gerald of Wales: The Journey Through Wales and The Description of Wales

(Gerald of Wales ca. 1146–1223)

"Gerald of Wales was one of the most dynamic and colorful churchmen of the 12th century. His Journey Through Wales describes a mission to Wales undertaken in 1188 by Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, with Gerald as his companion. The Description of Wales provides a picture of the day-to-day existence of ordinary Welshmen of the time. Both offer a wealth of fascinating first-hand historical detail."; The Nibelungenlied
The Nibelungenlied: Prose Translation.

(ca. 1190–1200)

"The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. It tells the story of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, his murder, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge."
Marie de France: The Lais of Marie de France

(ca. 1200)

"Marie de Franc is the earliest known French woman poet, and her lais are among the finest examples of the genre. Lais are short stories in verse based on Breton tales, depicting a moment of crisis in a love relationship."
Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun: The Romance of the Rose

(Guillaume de Lorris 1230 & Jean de Meun 1275)

"An allegorical account of the progress of a courtly love affair which became the most popular and influential of all medieval romances. In the hands of Jean de Meun, who continued de Lorris's work, it assumed vast proportions and embraced almost every aspect of medieval life from predestination and optics, to the Franciscan controversy and the right way to deal with premature hair-loss."; The Saga of the Volsungs

(late 1200's )

Also known as the Völsunga Saga or retold as The Story of Sigurd the Volsung it is the Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Volsung clan (including the story of Sigurd and Brynhild and destruction of the Burgundians). It is largely based on earlier epic poetry and is loosely based on real events in Central Europe during the 5th century and the 6th century. The saga's characters and overall plot recurs in The Nibelungenlied.
Polo, Marco: The Travels of Marco Polo

(1299?)

"Marco Polo's famous voyages began in 1271 with a visit to China, after which he served the Kubilai Khan on numerous diplomatic missions. On his return to the West he was made a prisoner of war and met Rustichello of Pisa, with whom he collaborated on this book. The accounts of his travels provide a fascinating glimpse of the different societies he encountered: of their religions, customs, ceremonies and way of life; of the spices and silks of the East; of precious gems, exotic vegetation and wild beasts. He tells the story of the holy shoemaker, the wicked caliph and the three kings, among a great many others, evoking a remote and fascinating world with colour and immediacy."
Dante Alighieri: Divine Comedy

(1321)

"Dante Alighieri's poetic masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, is a moving human drama, an unforgettable visionary journey through the infinite torment of Hell, up the arduous slopes of Purgatory, and on to the glorious realm of Paradise -- the sphere of universal harmony and eternal salvation."; The Mabinogion

(ca. 1350–1410)

"The 11 stories of The Mabinogion reach far back into the earlier oral traditions of Celtic storytelling. Closely linked to the Arthurian legends -- King Arthur himself is a character -- they summon up a world of mystery and magic that is still evoked by the Welsh and Irish landscapes they so vividly describe. Mingling fantasy with tales of chivalry, these stories not only prefigure the later medieval romances but also stand on their own as magnificent evocations of a golden age of Celtic civilization."
Boccaccio, Giovanni: Decameron

(ca. 1353)

"The Decameron is an entertaining series of one hundred stories written in the wake of the Black Death. The stories are told in a country villa outside the city of Florence by ten young noble men and women who are seeking to escape the ravages of the plague. Boccaccio's skill as a dramatist is masterfully displayed in these vivid portraits of people from all stations in life, with plots that revel in a bewildering variety of human reactions." Some of his stories were first told by Lucius Apuleius in The Golden Ass in 180.
Gower, John: Confessio Amantis

(late 1300's)

Confessio Amantis ("The Lover's Confession") uses the confession to frame a collection of shorter narrative poems. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Confessio have several stories in common.
Chaucer, Geoffrey: Troilus and Criseyde

(Chaucer, ca.1343–1400?)

"The tragedy of Troilus and Criseyde is one of the greatest narrative poems in English literature. Set during the siege of Troy, it tells how the young knight Troilus, son of King Priam, falls in love with Criseyde, a beautiful widow. Brought together by Criseydes uncle, Pandarus, the lovers are then forced apart by the events of war, which test their oaths of fidelity and trust to the limits. Described as Chaucer's most ambitious single achievement Troilus and Criseyde is the first work in English to depict human passion with such sympathy and understanding."
Langland, William: Piers Plowman

(Langland, 1330?–1400?)

"Piers Plowman is one of the most significant works of medieval literature. Astonishing in its cultural and theological scope, William Langland's iconoclastic masterpiece is at once a historical relic and a deeply spiritual vision, probing not only the social and religious aristocracy but also the day-to-day realities of a largely voiceless proletariat class."; The Alliterative Morte Arthure

(Early 1300's)

This is a different and earlier work than Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. "One of the finest narrative poems of the Middle Ages, it is an important chapter in the evolution of the Arthurian legend. It is marked as an epic poem by its celebration of battle and conquest and its unsentimental depiction of combat and death."
Malory, Sir Thomas: Le Morte d'Arthur

(1485)

Le Morte d'Arthur (the death of Arthur) is the first grand telling of the entire Arthurian cycle of stories up to that point in English. Malory took much of the material from the French Vulgate Cycle and put it into a single coherent set of stories. He invented some stories himself, like Gareth. His telling of King Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Gawain, and the Holy Grail have become part of the cultural tradition of the English-speaking world. It was also one of the first printed books, published in 1485 by William Caxton. The text is in late Middle English but there is a glossary and it is generally quite readable. Malory's use of language is highly enjoyable.
Malory, Thomas: King Arthur and His Knights: Selected Tales

(1485)

"A thoroughly readable, accurate rendering of Malory's famous stories of King Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot, Gawain, and the Holy Grail. It includes the familiar exploits that have become part of the cultural tradition of the English-speaking world."; Poems of the Pearl Manuscript: Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, Gawain and the Green Knight

(circa 1360–1380)
Kempe, Margery: The Book of Margery Kempe

(Kempe, ca. 1373–ca. 1440)

"The Book of Margery Kempe was discovered in a library in 1934 where it had lain hidden for four hundred years. It is the first known autobiography in the English language, and it was written by a woman. Far from being the typical holy woman of the time, Margery Kempe was married and mother of fourteen children. She was a woman of substance, even running a large brewery for a time. After turning to religion, she traveled thousands of miles around the known world on pilgrimages to distant lands. But her account of her spiritual awakening, far from being blissful is instead full of conflict and recrimination."
Martorell, Joanot: Tirant lo Blanc

(1490)

”First published in the Catalan language in Valencia in 1490, Tirant lo Blanc ("The White Tyrant") is a sweeping epic of chivalry and high adventure. With great precision and verve, Martorell narrates land and sea battles, duels, hunts, banquets, political maneuverings, and romantic conquests.” It is one of the works of chivalry mentioned in Don Quixote.
Rodriguez de Montalvo, Garci.: Amadis of Gaul

(early 1300's, compiled by Rodriguez de Montalvo 1508 )

"The romance incorporates many details from the Breton Lais of the Arthurian legend. Amadis of Gaul exemplifies the chivalric ideals of valor, purity and fidelity. The barber and priest in Cervantes's Don Quixote called it 'the best of all the books of its kind,' a verdict with which later generations concurred." Benet's Readers Encyclopedia
Ariosto, Lodovico: Orlando Furioso

(1532)

"I sing of knights and ladies, of love and arms, of courtly chivalry, of courageous deeds.' So begins Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (1532), the culmination of the chivalric legends of Charlemagne and the Saracen invasion of France. It is a brilliantly witty parody of the medieval romances, and a fitting monument to the court society of the Italian Renaissance which gave them birth." This a translation of the Spanish version of the Roland tradition. Orlando is often mentioned in Don Quixote.
Rabelais, Francois: Gargantua and Pantagruel

(1532 - 1564)

"Rabelais's robust scatalogical comedy parodying everyone from classic authors to his own contemporaries. The dazzling and exuberant stories expose human follies with mischievous and often obscene humor. "Gargantua" depicts a young giant who becomes a cultured Christian knight. "Pantagruel" portrays Gargantua's bookish son who becomes a Renaissance Socrates, divinely guided by wisdom and by his idiotic, self-loving companion, Panurge."
Marguerite, Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre: The Heptameron

(1558)

"In the early 1500s five men and five women find themselves trapped by floods and compelled to take refuge in an abbey high in the Pyrenees. When told they must wait days for the bridge to be repaired, they are inspired to pass the time in a cultured manner by each telling a story every day." It was inspired by the Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio, with many of the stories dealing with love, lust, infidelity and other matters romantic and sexual."
Spenser, Edmund: Faerie Queene

(1590)

"The Faerie Queene was one of the most influential poems in the English language. Dedicating his work to Elizabeth I, Spenser brilliantly united Arthurian romance and Italian renaissance epic to celebrate the glory of the Virgin Queen. Each book of the poem recounts the quest of a knight to achieve a virtue. Although composed as a moral and political allegory, The Faerie Queene's magical atmosphere captivated the imaginations of later poets from Milton to the Victorians."
Marlowe, Christopher: Doctor Faustus

(Marlowe, 1564–1593)

"One of the glories of Elizabethan drama: Marlowe's powerful retelling of the story of the learned German doctor who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power."

1600s & 1700s Novels

Hillsdale Library
3rd Saturday, November, January, March, May, 2–4 p.m.

Titles for this discussion series

More information about these titles and programs

Nov. 15 · Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Jan. 17 · Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
Mar. 21 · Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
May 16 · Candide, and other stories by Voltaire

More classic literature of the 1600s–1700s

Some of the books of chivalry that drove Don Quixote crazy:
El Cid, Tirant lo Blanc, Amadis of Gaul, Orlando Furioso, History of the Kings of Britain (Arthur), The Romances of Chrétien de Troyes (Lancelot).
Use the back button to return to this list.
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, 1547-1616.: Exemplary Novels

(1613)

Cervantes' wonderful short novellas that are very much like the separate novels that are told as part of Don Quixote.
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616: King Lear

(1606?)

Shakespeare, who died within a few days of Cervantes' death, is the great bard and source of literary tradition in English, the way Cervantes is in Spanish. All of his plays and poetry are worth exploring. We mention King Lear here because Shakespeare indirectly got the character of King Lear from another book in the Read the Classics: Middle Ages series, The History of the Kings of Britain. Also, if you have seen King Lear in the theatre but have not read it, you are in for a treat! You may find it easier to follow which character is speaking when reading it. The clarity of the language really comes through!
Milton, John: Paradise Lost

(1667)

"As a young student, John Milton fantasized about bringing the poetic elocution of Homer and Virgil to the English language. Milton realized this dream with his graceful, sonorous "Paradise Lost," now considered the most influential epic poem in English literature. A retelling of the biblical story of mankind's fall from grace, Milton's epic opens shortly after the dramatic expulsion of Satan and his army of angels from Heaven. What follows is a cosmic battle between good and evil that ranges across vast, splendid tracts of time and space, from the wild abyss of Chaos and the fiery lake of Hell to the Gate of Heaven and God' s newly created paradise, the Garden of Eden."
Molière: Tartuffe

(1669 )

One of Molière's most masterful and popular plays. "Condemned and banned for five years in Moliere's day, Tartuffe is a satire on religious hypocrisy. Tartuffe worms his way into Orgon's household, blinding the master of the house with his religious "devotion," and almost succeeds in his attempts to seduce his wife and disinherit his children before the final unmasking."
Bunyan, John: The Pilgrim's Progress

(1678, 1684)

"Bunyan wrote the first part of his allegory while in prison for his faith, and this experience adds extra urgency and depth to his story of Christian pursuing his pilgrimage through Vanity Fair, the Slough of Despond and Delectable Mountains towards the Celestial City. The influence of The Pilgrim's Progress, both indirectly on the English consciousness and directly on the literature that followed, has been immeasurable. Rich, inventive, profoundly challenging, it is a work of imaginative intensity that has rarely been matched."
Fielding, Henry: Tom Jones

(1749)

A vivid panorama of eighteenth-century life, spiced with danger and intrigue, bawdy exuberance and good-natured authorial interjections, Tom Jones is one of the greatest and most ambitious comic novels in English literature. It is one of the first "true" novels.
Sterne, Laurence: Tristram Shandy

(1759–1767)

"With its ingenious structure and its exuberant pretense of being an autobiography, Tristram Shandy fascinates like a verbal game of chess."
Defoe, Daniel: Moll Flanders

(1772)

"Moll Flanders details the life of the irresistible Moll and her struggles through poverty and sin in search of property and power. Born in Newgate Prison to a picaresque mother, Moll propels herself through marriages, periods of success and destitution, and a trip to the New World and back, only to return to the place of her birth as a popular prostitute and brilliant thief."
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: The Sorrows of Young Werther

(1774–1787)

"This tragic masterpiece explores the mind of an artist in alternately joyful and despairing letters recounting an unhappy romance. Goethe addresses issues of love, death, and redemption in an influential portrayal of a character who struggles to reconcile his artistic sensibilities with the demands of the objective world."
Gibbon, Edward: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

(1776–1788)

"Gripping, powerfully intelligent, and wonderfully entertaining, Gibbon's classic account of Rome ranks as one of the literary masterpieces of its age. Famously skeptical about Christianity, unexpectedly sympathetic to the barbarian invaders and the Byzantine Empire, constantly aware of how political leaders often achieve the exact opposite of what they intend, Gibbon captured both the broad pattern of events and the significant revealing detail."
Franklin, Benjamin: The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

(1771–1790?)

"Printer and publisher, author and educator, scientist and inventor, statesman and philanthropist, Benjamin Franklin was the very embodiment of the American self-made man. In 1771, at the age of 65, he sat down to write his autobiography, "having emerged from the poverty and obscurity in which I was born and bred, to a state of affluence and some degree of reputation in the world, and having gone so far through life with a considerable share of felicity." The result is a classic of American literature."
Boswell, James: The Life of Samuel Johnson

(1791)

"Poet, lexicographer, critic and moralist, Dr. Johnson had in his friend Boswell the ideal biographer. Notoriously and self-confessedly intemperate, Boswell shared with Johnson a huge appetite for life and threw equal energy into recording its every aspect in minute but telling detail. This irrepressible Scotsman was 'always studying human nature and making experiments', and the marvelously vivacious journals he wrote daily furnished him with first-rate material when he came to write his biography. The result is a masterpiece that brims over with wit, anecdote and originality."

1800s Novels

Hollywood Library
4th Sunday, November, January, March, May, 2–4 p.m.

Titles for this discussion series

More information about these titles and programs

Nov. 23 · Frankenstein by Mary Shelley,
Jan. 25 · Moby Dick by Herman Melville,
Mar. 22 · Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert,
May 24 · Great Expectations by Charles Dickens,

Further reading about 1800's literature

More classic 1800s novels

Alcott, Louisa May, 1832–1888: Little Women

(1869)

"In picturesque 19th-century New England, tomboyish Jo, beautiful Meg, fragile Beth, and romantic Amy come of age. Times are hard for the March sisters - their father is away at war and the family is short of money - but these girls don't dwell on such matters and always look on the bright side. Whether it's performing a play or getting on with day-to-day chores, the sisters can find the fun in any situation - but what fate holds in store for the girls, only time will tell."
Austen, Jane, 1775–1817: Pride and Prejudice

(1813)

"'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.' So begins "Pride and Prejudice,” Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners, one of the most popular novels of all times, that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. Initially titled "First Impressions", Pride and Prejudice is the most famous of Austen's works."
Austen, Jane, 1775–1817: Jane Austen: the Complete Novels
"Jane Austen is one of the most widely read and best-loved writers in British literature. Her novels are humorous and sardonically descriptive of the social mores of the times and she delights in poking fun at society, all the social classes, men and women." This volume contains "Sense and Sensibility," "Pride and Prejudice," "Mansfield Park," "Emma," "Northanger Abbey," "Persuasion" and "Lady Susan."
Balzac, Honoré de, 1799–1850: Lost Illusions
(1837–1843)
"The story of Lucien Chardon, a young poet from Angoulême who tries desperately to make a name for himself in Paris, is a brilliantly realistic and boldly satirical portrait of provincial manners and aristocratic life. Handsome and ambitious but naïve, Lucien is patronized by the beau monde as represented by Madame de Bargeton and her cousin, the formidable Marquise d'Espard, only to be duped by them. Denied the social rank he thought would be his, Lucien discards his poetic aspirations and turns to hack journalism; his descent into Parisian low life ultimately leads to his own death. "
Bronte, Charlotte, 1816–1855: Jane Eyre

(1847)

"This literary masterpiece is a quintessential love story where a bright, lonely, and steadfast young woman finds mystery, sorrow, and true love. Widely regarded as a revolutionary novel at the time of its publication, Bronte's masterpiece introduced the world to a radical new type of heroine, one whose defiant virtue and moral courage departed sharply from the more acquiescent and malleable female characters of the day. Passionate, dramatic, and surprisingly modern, Jane Eyre endures as one of the world's most beloved novels."
Bronte, Emily, 1818–1848: Wuthering Heights

(1847)

"Published a year before her death at the age of thirty, Emily Bronte's only novel is set in the wild, bleak Yorkshire Moors. Depicting the passionate love story of stubborn Cathy and wild-as-the-wind Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights creates a world of its own, conceived with an instinct for poetry and for the dark depths of human psychology."
Dickens, Charles, 1812–1870: David Copperfield

(1849–1850)

“David Copperfield is the novel that draws most closely on Charles Dickens's own life. Its hero, orphaned as a boy, grows up to discover love and happiness, heartbreak and sorrow amid a cast of eccentrics, innocents, and villains. Praising Dickens's power of invention, Somerset Maugham wrote: 'There were never such people as the Micawbers, Peggotty and Barkis, Traddles, Betsey Trotwood and Mr. Dick, Uriah Heep and his mother. They are fantastic inventions of Dickens's exultant imagination...you can never quite forget them.'”
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821–1881: Crime and Punishment

(1866)

“Dostoevsky's drama of sin, guilt, and redemption transforms the sordid story of an old woman's murder into the nineteenth century's most profound and compelling philosophical novel. Raskolnikov, an impoverished student living in the St. Petersburg of the tsars, is determined to overreach his humanity and assert his untrammeled individual will. When he commits an act of murder and theft, he sets into motion a story that, for its excruciating suspense, its atmospheric vividness, and its depth of characterization and vision is almost unequaled in the literatures of the world.”
Eliot, George, 1819–1880: The Mill on the Floss

(1860)

“One of George Eliot's best-loved works, “The Mill on the Floss” is a brilliant portrait of the bonds of provincial life as seen through the eyes of the free-spirited Maggie Tulliver, who is torn between a code of moral responsibility and her hunger for self-fulfillment. Rebellious by nature, she causes friction both among the townspeople of St. Ogg's and in her own family, particularly with her brother, Tom. Maggie's passionate nature makes her a beloved heroine, but it is also her undoing.”
Hardy, Thomas, 1840–1928: Tess of the D'Urbervilles

(1891)

“A tragic tale of cruel fates, touching on rape, illegitimate birth and murder, “Tess of the d'Urbervilles” shocked its early audiences, but has proved to be one of the most enduring and influential works of English literature.” It gives a vivid description of nineteenth century British rural life as well as exhibiting in living detail the class and gender structures of the society.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804–1864: The Scarlet Letter

(1850)

"'Thou and thine, Hester Prynne, belong to me.' With these chilling words a husband claims his wife after a two-year absence. But the child she clutches is not his, and Hester wears a scarlet "A" upon her breast, the sign of adultery visible to all. Under an assumed name, her husband begins his vindictive search for her lover, determined to expose what Hester is equally determined to protect. Set in the Puritan community of seventeenth-century Boston, “The Scarlet Letter” also sheds light on the nineteenth century in which it was written, as Hawthorne explores his ambivalent relations with his Puritan forebears.”
James, Henry, 1843–1916: The Portrait of a Lady

(1881)

“One of the great heroines of American literature, Isabel Archer, journeys to Europe in order to, as Henry James writes in his 1908 preface, 'affront her destiny.' James began “The Portrait of a Lady” without a plot or subject, only the slim but provocative notion of a young woman taking control of her fate. The result is a richly imagined study of an American heiress who turns away her suitors in an effort to first establish, and then protect, her independence. But Isabel's pursuit of spiritual freedom collapses when she meets the captivating Gilbert Osmond.”
Scott, Walter, Sir, 1771–1832: Waverley, or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since

(1814)

“The first 'historical novel' in English, Waverley is set at the time of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Edward Waverley, a young English soldier in the Hanoverian army, is sent to Scotland. He visits a Jacobite laird in the Lowlands of Perthshire, and then makes his way into the Highlands, where he meets a chieftain and his clansmen. Before long Waverley is caught up in the Jacobite cause, offering his allegiance to Prince Charles Edward Stuart, and to the dauntless Flora Mac-Ivor. The hero's journey of self-discovery takes place in a country torn by civil war, as the political outlook of the eighteenth century meets the older social organization of the Highlands in violent confrontation.”
Stendhal, 1783–1842: The Red & the Black

(1830)

“Handsome and ambitious, Julien Sorel is determined to rise above his humble peasant origins and make something of his life by adopting the code of hypocrisy by which his society operates. Julien ultimately commits a crime out of passion, principle or insanity that will bring about his downfall. The Red and the Black is a lively, satirical picture of French Restoration society after Waterloo, riddled with corruption, greed, and ennui. The complex, sympathetic portrayal of Julien, the cold exploiter whose Machiavellian campaign is undercut by his own emotions, makes him Stendhal's most brilliant and human creation, and one of the greatest characters in European literature.”
Stoker, Bram, 1847–1912: Dracula

(1897)

“Count Dracula has inspired countless movies, books, and plays. But few, if any, have been fully faithful to Bram Stoker's original, best-selling novel of mystery and horror, love and death, sin and redemption. Dracula chronicles the vampire's journey from Transylvania to the nighttime streets of London. There, he searches for the blood of strong men and beautiful women while his enemies plot to rid the world of his frightful power. Today's critics see Dracula as a virtual textbook on Victorian repression of the erotic and fear of female sexuality." Stoker greatly elaborated on the idea of a vampire coming to London that was shown in John William Polidori's 1919 short story “The Vampyre: A Tale,” that was one of the round of ghost stories told in Lord Byron's company that included Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It is included as an appendix to the Penguin edition of Frankenstein.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811–1896: Uncle Tom's Cabin

(1852)

“Uncle Tom, Topsy, Sambo, Simon Legree, little Eva: their names are American bywords, and all of them are characters in Harriet Beecher Stowe's remarkable novel of the pre-Civil War South. Uncle Tom's Cabin was revolutionary in 1852 for its passionate indictment of slavery and for its presentation of Tom, a man of humanity, as the first black hero in American fiction. Labeled racist and condescending by some of today's critics, it remains a shocking, controversial, and powerful work - exposing the attitudes of white nineteenth-century society toward "the peculiar institution" and documenting, in heartrending detail, the tragic breakup of black Kentucky families 'sold down the river.'”
Thackeray, William Makepeace, 1811–1863: Vanity Fair: a Novel Without a Hero

(1847–1848)

“Thackery's satiric novels are often regarded as the great upper-class counterpart to Dickens' panoramic depiction of lower-class Victorian society. Vanity Fair is a classic epic, a resplendent social satire exposing the greed and corruption raging in England during the turmoil of the Napoleonic wars, and brought Thackery immediate acclaim when it appeared in Punch in 1847. 'The more I read Thackeray's works,' wrote Charlotte Bronte, 'the more certain I am that he stands alone - alone in his sagacity, alone in his truth, alone in his feeling (his feeling, though he makes no noise about it, is about the most genuine that ever lived on a printed page), alone in his power, alone in his simplicity, alone in his self-control. Thackeray is a Titan. . . . I regard him as the first of modern masters.'"
Tolstoy, Leo, 1828–1910: War and Peace

(1865–1869)

“Often called the greatest novel ever written, “War and Peace” is at once an epic of the Napoleonic Wars, a philosophical study, and a celebration of the Russian spirit. Tolstoy's genius is seen clearly in the multitude of characters in this massive chronicle - all of them fully realized and equally memorable. Out of this complex narrative emerges a profound examination of the individual's place in the historical process, one that makes it clear why Thomas Mann praised Tolstoy for his Homeric powers and placed War and Peace in the same category as the Iliad: 'To read him is to find one's way home to everything within us that is fundamental and sane.'"
Twain, Mark, 1835–1910: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

(1884)

“The story of Huck and his companion Jim, a runaway slave, as they travel down the Mississippi to escape from slavery and 'sivilization' has been delighting readers around the world since Twain first published it in 1885. It is a masterpiece: revolutionary in its narrative method, surpassingly funny, and at the same time deeply perceptive about human nature. This is a classic American novel of the nineteenth century that still commands an audience and retains the capacity to stir controversy with its sharp satire on American racism.”

Russian Literature

Gresham Library
Selected Sundays, 2–4 p.m.

Titles for this discussion series

More information about these titles and programs

Oct. 19 · The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol · further reading for this title
Dec. 14 · The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov · further reading for this title
Feb. 8 · The Little Tragedies by Alexander Pushkin · further reading for this title
Apr. 26 · Russian Poetry of the Silver Age with poetry by Blok, Tsvetayeva, Akhmatova, Mandelstam, etc. Includes a bilingual poetry reading · further reading for the poetry

More classic Russian literature

Bunin, Ivan Alekseevich, 1870–1953: Collected Stories

"Russian poet, short story writer, novelist who wrote of the decay of the Russian nobility and of peasant life. Ivan Bunin was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1933. He is considered one of the most important figures in Russian literature before the Revolution of 1917. Although Bunin wrote poetry throughout his creative life, he gained fame chiefly for his prose works."
Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich, 1860–1904: The Complete Plays

"Chekhov's plays deal with the passing of the vitality of the Russian landed gentry. His characters, helpless before the changes taking place in the 19th-century Russia, take refuge in elaborate, improbable dreams of renewed prosperity." Benet's Readers Encyclopedia
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821–1881: "One of the greatest writers in world literature, Fyodor Dostoyevsky depicted with remarkable insight the depth and complexity of the human soul."
The Adolescent "(originally published in English as A Raw Youth) is markedly different in tone from Dostoevsky's other masterpieces. It is told from the point of view of the nineteen-year-old narrator, whose immaturity, freshness, and naivete are unforgettably reflected in his narrative voice. Dostoevsky masterfully depicts adolescence as a state of uncertainty, ignorance, and incompleteness, but also of richness and exuberance, in which everything is still possible. His tale of a youth finding his way in the disorder of Russian society in the 1870s is a high and serious comedy that borders on both farce and tragedy."
The Brothers Karamazov "was Dostoevsky's last and greatest work. The Karamozov brothers become involved in the brutal murder of their despicable father. Exploring the secret depths of humanity's struggles and sins, Dostoevsky unfolds a grand epic which attempts to venture into mankind's darkest heart, and grasp the true meaning of existence."
Crime and Punishment"Dostoevsky's drama of sin, guilt, and redemption transforms the sordid story of an old woman's murder into the nineteenth century's most profound and compelling philosophical novel. Raskolnikov, an impoverished student living in the St. Petersburg of the tsars, is determined to overreach his humanity and assert his untrammeled individual will. When he commits an act of murder and theft, he sets into motion a story that, for its excruciating suspense, its atmospheric vividness, and its depth of characterization and vision is almost unequaled in the literatures of the world."
The Idiot "In this literary classic Dostoyevsky focuses on a nobleman, whose gentle, child-like nature has earned him the nickname of "the idiot." A superb, panoramic view of mid-19th-century Russian manners, morals and philosophy."
Lermontov, Mikhail, 1814–1841: A Hero of Our Time

"The only novel written by one of Russia's greatest Romantic poets, This beloved classic has everything for the modern reader - dangerous liaisons, elegant psychological complexity, dark passion, emotional tension, romantic duels and deception, fiery action in the Caucasus, beautiful and exotic women with flair . . . and the sexiest Byronic anti-hero in all of Russian literature. Mikhail Lermontov lived and worked in the shadow of Pushkin. His verse forms, his subject matter, and his death in a pointless duel (age 27), suggest his older contemporary at every turn. For the last four years of his life, he was widely acknowledged as Pushkin's heir, Russia's greatest living poet. But Lermontov is very much worth reading for his own sake."
Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich, 1899–1977: Laughter in the Dark "'Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster.' Thus begins Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark; and this, the author tells us, is the whole story--except that he starts from here, with his characteristic dazzling skill and irony, and brilliantly turns a fable into a chilling, original novel of folly and destruction."
Lolita "Awe and exhiliration - along with heartbreak and mordant wit - abound in Lolita, Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. Most of all, it is a meditation on love - love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation."
Platonov, Andrei Platonovich, 1899–1951.: Soul and Other Stories

"The Soviet writer Andrey Platonov saw much of his work suppressed or censored in his lifetime. This volume gathers eight works that show Platonov at his tenderest, warmest, and subtlest. Among them are The Return, about an officer's difficult homecoming at the end of World War II, The River Potudan, a moving account of a troubled marriage; and the title novella, the extraordinary tale of a young man unexpectedly transformed by his return to his Asian birthplace, where he finds his people deprived not only of food and dwelling, but of memory and speech. This prizewinning English translation is the first to be based on the newly available uncensored texts of Platonov's short fiction."
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isaevich, 1918–: The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956: an Experiment in Literary Investigation "Solzhenitsyn's gripping epic masterpiece of his arrest, interrogation, and years in the Soviet prison camps where he would remain for nearly a decade. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was born in Kislovodsk, Russia, in 1918. A twice-decorated captain in the Soviet Army, he was stripped of his rank, arrested, and convicted in 1945 for privately criticizing Stalin. Exiled from the USSR in 1974, Solzhenitsyn eventually settled in the United States before returning to his homeland twenty years later. His literary awards include the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Medal of Honor for Literature."
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich "A masterpiece of modern Russian fiction, this novel is one of the most significant and outspoken literary documents ever to come out of Soviet Russia. A brutal depiction of life in a Stalinist camp and a moving tribute to man's triumph of will over relentless dehumanization, this is Solzhenitsyn's first novel to win international acclaim."
Tolstoy, Leo, 1828–1910: Anna Karenina, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, The Kreutzer Sonata,

Suggested readings for Read the Classics

Greece and Rome

Titles for this discussion series

Novels

Epics & mythology

Plays

Histories

Poetry

Miscellaneous

Middle Ages

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More classic literature of the Middle Ages

Further reading for Beowulf

Further reading for The History of the Kings of Britain and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Further reading for The Canterbury Tales

1600s & 1700s Novels

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More classic literature of the 1600s–1700s

1800s Novels

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More classic 1800s novels

Further reading about 1800's literature

Russian Literature

Titles for this discussion series

More classic Russian literature