Thematic Sunday: Short Classics To Get Off Your List

So school time is looming for some of you (for those of you still in school anyway ;strikes smug adult pose;) and chances are, there are some reading lists floating around that you haven't gotten to yet. That's assuming of course schools even do reading lists anymore. Or maybe you have some classics on your TBR list that you want to get done. Either way, here are some short classics to impress people with, that you can read in a jiffy. For the record, my criteria for short classic is a book under 250 pages.

Short Classics to Get Off Your List:

1) Animal Farm by George Orwell

Page count (according to Goodreads): 102

Hopefully, you read this one in school. If not, I'm sure it'll pop up somewhere in your education future. Read it now and give yourself a head start. As a bonus, it's pretty easy to understand.

2) Of Mice and Men by John Steinback

Page count: 107

Another one that you probably have already read for school. If not, it's a another one that's pretty easy to understand on your own and one that I can guarantee you will be getting at some point in your education. At least, if you go to a US school.

3) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Page count: 192

There's a reason this is a stand by for teachers. It's fast and simple to get. Plus now, you have the Leo film to watch along with it if you get desperate.

4) The Old Man in the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Page count: 128

You will read this one in school. Best get it over with now.

5) Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote

Page count: 178

Actually the story is a lot shorter then 178 because this version is Breakfast at Tiffany's plus two other short stories Capote did. This is a great intro to Capote and it's fun to compare and contrast along the way with the Audrey Hepburn film.

6) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Page count: 96 (for this version)

Yes, Jekyll and Hyde really is that short. Honestly, most of Stevenson's books are pretty quick reads.

7) The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Page count: 139 (for this version)

Don't know how much London is still being taught. But if you only read one London book, it should probably be this one (or White Fang)

8) Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Page count: 152

Good starter book to read for those interested in Buddhism.

9) Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Page count: 128

I actually still need to read Edith Wharton. Never encountered her in all my years of schooling. But I went to school in the bible belt, and my teachers were very firmly into the dead straight white men who only wrote "serious" literature (aka no genre fiction). Which is probably why I can't stand the lit snob crowd, now that I think about it....

10) African Trilogy 1: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Page count: 209

You're forgiven if you've never heard of Achebe. I myself never heard of him until this past year or so. He is actually apparently considered a important writer in African fiction. Which again, explains why I never got to him in school.




Some others, because there are way more then ten: The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
The Island of Dr. Moreau (and others) by H. G. Wells