Classic Books For Beginners / 10 Easy To Read Recommendations

[@cafeaulivre]

Tell me: do you read classics? Why (not)? Do they intimidate you? Let me know, ask your questions, and we'll set you up on your classical journey!

[@ryanand154]

They don’t read the classics because classicism is for adults, and only children read books. - Nietzsche

[@user-sf3fe4bh2q]

I read ONLY classics. I can't stand modern literature!

[@ryanand154]

@@user-sf3fe4bh2q The experimental is conventional!

[@cafeaulivre]

@@user-sf3fe4bh2q Classics were modern literature in their day and age.

[@user-sf3fe4bh2q]

@@cafeaulivre Yes, but I, evidently, am underdeveloped for Bukovsky, Selin and others to say nothing about more modern writers.

[@starlasell5698]

There are so many great recommendations here, Bart. The Hobbit was the first book we read to our son years ago that set him on his path of the love of books! English teacher and writes poetry today. 😊

[@skeller61]

Hi. I think you have a good list, but it is weighted toward the feminine. I agree there should be those, but I have a couple to add for beginners that to read a couple of beginner classics that are more ‘masculine’: Call of the Wild (Jack London) - A book with a dog as the protagonist, but is filled with drama and adventure, suffering and triumph. It shows the humans in the way they would be seen by a dog which has experienced many types. The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway) - It’s been a while since I read this (I’ll be rereading it), but I remember it as a fairly short, easy to read story that keeps you engaged in a short book with a simple plot. Hemingway’s brilliance is his ability to expose character through action, using seemingly simple sentences as his brushstrokes to make his characters come alive I would also recommend children’s literature. I’m currently thoroughly enjoying The Wind in the Willows, which is simply charming. I had never read it and traveling down the river with mole and water rat transports you to simpler times. The extreme manners the animals use and their characters can be seen as a commentary on society, as well as a simple tale. Anyway, thanks for your recommendations.

[@cafeaulivre]

Both the Old Man & The Sea and Wind in the Willows featured in my previous short classics video if I’m not mistaken 😉

[@ryanand154]

Frankenstein was a love poem to Percy.

[@user-yu7wc5hz7m]

Cool site - Subscribed😀thanks for posting!

[@cafeaulivre]

Thank you 🙏

[@axmariex]

okay you got me! i’ll add every single one of these books to my tbr i had absolutely no idea Perfume was a book!! I watched the movie a while ago and was stunned!

[@cafeaulivre]

That's the highest praise! 😊 And yes, the film is excellent as well!

[@leafsonata]

I love classics! Frankenstein is my favorite book of all time! I'm always looking for fast paced classic novels but I also enjoy rich building and slow burners from authors like Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Some of the modern and contemporary classics Ive enjoyed are The Stepford Wives, I Am Legend, The Inheritance, and A Summer Place, and Mildred Pierce. I have enjoyed so many but always looking for more!

[@cafeaulivre]

Well, then you’re in the right place. 😊 There are many more videos on my channel about classics, so feel free to have a look around. I loved I am Legend myself…such a powerful book!

[@aiscahill]

Such a great list, Bart. I adored quite a few of these, as somebody who always says that they're not really a classics reader. I also found both Dracula and Of Mice and Men to be really accessible, too. I'm hoping to read Anne of Green Gables this year. Sounds right up my street and I've been putting it off for far too long 😊

[@cafeaulivre]

Well, I just got my first Claire Keegan, so I’ll make you a deal: you go classics, I’ll go Irish 😉

[@aiscahill]

@@cafeaulivre Sounds like a win win for both of us 😀

[@GeorgiaVard]

Great video! I am in my 40’s and recently I read Dracula and The picture of Dorian Gray in greek…. During my teenage years I always avoided to read them and now I know how great books are and I recommend them wholeheartedly… I’ll read Frankenstein within the next months…☺️ One of my favorite books is “The little women”… I need to reread it (after 30 years) 🙄 Greetings from Luxembourg ☺️💐

[@cafeaulivre]

Salut! Dracula and Dorian Gray are both excellent books! Love them!

[@ryanand154]

Dracula is a fast paced pot boiler!

[@bookswithtofucado]

I always say Frankenstein is a great book to begin reading classics but i think the "old english" in it can be a bit intimidating! It's still one of my fave books ever.

[@cafeaulivre]

Well, it depends...I agree that the original 1818 text can be a bit more difficult because of the old language, but there are more modern adaptations available that read very easily. But it is an excellent book, I totally agree! Imagina writingthat as the result of a bet amongst friends.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

Oh please! Try: The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle Published in 1974 the year that the world population hit 4 billion will have significance as you read the book. Nowadays people are talking about the collapse of civilization. The relevance of that to the story will become obvious also. Will we survive another 300 years of technology? If so how will we adjust to it?

[@cafeaulivre]

That's a space opera, isn't it? I don't often read scifi, but I might give it a go sometime

[@psikeyhackr6914]

@@cafeaulivre Actually I am one of those people with an olde fashioned view of Space Opera. That it is shallow and melodramatic. Strictly for kids. The Mote is hard science fiction. Star Wars is Not science fiction. Space Fantasy would be an acceptable name for it. A more immediately relevant SF story is: Daemon & Freedom by Daniel Suarez Too intelligent to be Cyberpunk. LOL

[@LewisLittle66]

I'd love to add one to your list - The Phantom of the Opera. It's a gripping, exciting story and easy to read. I read it cover to cover in about 3 hours, because once I picked it up I literally could not stop until I finished it.

[@cafeaulivre]

You could add many more to the list actually, so I might do another one of these videos in the future...and I'll have to remember The Phantom of the Opera then, because you're right: it's a great read!

[@ryanand154]

Les Miserables. The translation by Kendall Creemore makes it seem like there’s a subtext.

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Pretty new to this book tube business and finding my way around. Love Hemingway. Reading Russian classics this year. Started with Lomontov and Turgenev. Currently reading Dune to break it up. Going to try to get in Moby Dick and Count of Monte Cristo. Best wishes to you. I hope you get some great reads this year.

[@cafeaulivre]

Welcome and I will say: of all those books, Dune might be the biggest challenge. The world-building is vast in that one!

[@user-sf3fe4bh2q]

Try to read " The Demon" by Lermontov- a beautiful poem and good translation!

[@ryanand154]

@@user-sf3fe4bh2q Lerontov’s Lazy River is some great jazz.

[@user-sf3fe4bh2q]

There is a brilliant classical English novel, which no one read: "The Gadfly" by E. L. Voinich. Try to read it and tell about your impression.

[@cafeaulivre]

Noted!

[@2134yanto]

Totally agree with you re reading The Hobbit as a gateway to Lord of the Rings. It sets the background up and introduces you to Tolkien’s world.

[@cafeaulivre]

Stylistically, such different books as well.

[@VTimmoni]

Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, and of course The Hobbit are some of my favorite books. Read the Hobbit if you havent.

[@cafeaulivre]

I might own too many copies of the Hobbit 🤣

[@VTimmoni]

@cafeaulivre More than 6 is excessive but a person needs at least four copies.

[@cafeaulivre]

@@VTimmoni I need more copies then! :D

[@VTimmoni]

@cafeaulivre One really nice copy for the book shelf and to read on special occasions, one to loan to people, one for upstairs, and the one you got as a kid that should be preserved in its batered state forever.

[@cafeaulivre]

@@VTimmoni I have a pocket-sized, leatherbond copy with golden edges. It almost looks like a bible.

[@rachelatherton7402]

I love Jostein Gaarder's books. Great recommendation.

[@cafeaulivre]

Did you read the Solitaire Mystery?

[@rachelatherton7402]

Yes I have. I really enjoyed it and I agree with you that it's a better place to start with his books. I have read most of his translated work. I enjoy reading his Christmas Mystery book every year on the run up to Christmas.

[@cafeaulivre]

@@rachelatherton7402 That's actually a great point you make: I never thought of his Christmas mystery for any winter/Christmas-themed books before!

[@aaronedgell9426]

Most of my experience is with horror classics. I love M. R. JAMES, E. F. BENSON, ALGERNON BLACKWWOOD and POE, My favorite is probably LOVECRAFT. What is your opinion on these guys.

[@cafeaulivre]

I'm a big Lovecraft fan myself. In fact, did a video on his works(kind of) last Halloween!

[@ryanand154]

Algernon Blackwood’s sentences often supplant Conrad.

[@salkinfamilychiropractic3142]

I find some of the classics that are translated can be easy or difficult depending on who translates it.

[@cafeaulivre]

Oh, I agree. Different translations can make a huge difference!

[@eveliendejaegere7262]

❤

[@cafeaulivre]

🫶

[@arekkrolak6320]

classics are Illiad or Odyssey, what you talk about is popular books :)

[@cafeaulivre]

Do enjoy your version of classics

[@061_arsh]

They are ancient classics