reviewing EVERY classic I’ve read, ONE SENTENCE each.

Have you ever nodded and smiled when someone mentions a classic book at a party?! Let's talk literature, snobbery and what I really thought of all of the 'masterpieces' I have read so far.
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00:00 intro
04:38 the books
12:38 closing thoughts on 'canon'
Books mentioned:
Pamela
Heart of Darkness
Pride and Prejudice
Margery Kemp
Great Gatsby
1984
Catcher in the Rye
Mrs. Dalloway
Animal Farm
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Howard’s End
Beloved
Jane Eyre
Paradise Lost
The Lonely Londoners
Emma
A Room of One’s Own
Treasure Island
Swallows & Amazons
Maus
The Hobbit
The Bible
Remains of the Day
Persuasion
Turn of the Shrew
Stone Butch Blues
Catch 22
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
The Drowned World
A Christmas Carol
Leaves of Grass
Villette
The Communist Manifesto
Bleak House
Hard Times
Love Letters between Virginia Woolf & Vita
The Master and Margarita
The Bloody Chamber
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Rape of the Lock
The Souls of Black Folk
The Soul of Man Under Socialism
Alice in Wonderland
The Wizard of Oz
The Handmaid's Tale
She
The Good Terrorist
Sir Gawain and the green knight
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[@jack_edwards]

this. is. EVERYTHING.

[@leenanorms]

From the 👑 of one line reviews, this is praise indeed!

[@mathiangx9047]

Ello king 👑

[@jjk4754]

Omgg ily

[@thug_mon]

Hey Jack!

[@henrymathews3671]

Okay, now it's your turn Jack.

[@samanthabartlett4562]

Cracking up that you're more concerned about upsetting the Tolkien stans than bashing the bible 🤣

[@emmairwin581]

Exactly as it should be🤣😭

[@carolinepugsley-lea3750]

I'm a HUGE Tolkien stan and I don't even like the Hobbit tbh

[@EmmaBlyth7]

thought exactly the same 😂😂

[@sanityisrelative]

@@carolinepugsley-lea3750 I devoured it when I read it at 11. I tried reading it aloud to my 5 year old a few months ago and we were both bored (and it does not flow off the tongue for me). Switched to Wizard of Oz and and that's going much better so far.

[@someonerandom8552]

Well I mean, the Lord of the Rings is pretty much the Holy Bible of geekdom. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@katierose6424]

Had to pause two minutes in to give proper praise to "if you're reading for fun, the emphasis must be on fun" @ all the people who are critical of what others read in their spare time! I work a full time office job with an hour commute each way, I will not be criticised for reading a romcom on my precious 30 minute lunch break!!!

[@ContemporaryMeepsie]

Hell yes! A little louder for those in the back. 😄

[@someonerandom8552]

Preach it!! Although, whenever I mention that I am currently reading a classic, the other person seems to ready themselves for a lecture on the importance of the canon. Like they expect me to just bash them because they are reading something kind of trashy. Only to be surprised when I ask if it’s any good and if I should be reading it next lol

[@kaitlyng7850]

yesss! My friend told me that I shouldn't waste my time reading fantasy and I should read more non fiction, and that reading fiction for fun is BS bc you don't get anything out of it... hell nah! He's also not very supportive of my current massive Lord of the Rings addiction lmaoo

[@katierose6424]

@@someonerandom8552 rip to your friend but actually fiction can teach you so much about the human condition and people and life and yourself! Lotr is a classic I WHOLEHEARTEDLY support! Have you heard about the new show?!

[@elianab1794]

nobody is critisising you…it seems like this ‘criticism’ in your head

[@Littlebeth5657]

I propose a drunk bookclub for reading books in middle English

[@leenanorms]

I am IN

[@Nico5890]

Hellllll yeah. I have been drunk-reading Don Quixote and it is ✨MAGNIFICO✨

[@idaosbornfrandsen7162]

Where do we sign up?

[@ashleymagee407]

The wife of bath would totally approve

[@elisabethn3913]

I may be misremembering completely, but I think C.S. Lewis actually did something like that for his students👀

[@laurenc9614]

I'm currently getting my Ph.D. in English lit. and I feel like ppl have this misconception that we just sit around reading massive "classic" novels 24/7 when I haven't read a "classic" novel in over a year. It's mostly academic articles, other academic articles, and oh more academic articles.

[@hannahdonovan6742]

Same man. I’ve been reading all of ACOTAR for the past month. Which I can’t even begin to unpack, but, like, Doris Lessing it is not.

[@m0nnii]

I mean I literally dropped out of eng literature bachelors because I wanted more time to actually read the books I thought I was gonna be reading at uni so there's that.

[@idiotburner5616]

academic articles, academic articles, academic articles, oh my

[@melissaw9748]

Preach! I am half way through and haven't picked up a novel in almost a year

[@jq4353]

Yeah I wouldn’t like God either if I look like her

[@EricKarlAnderson]

I've never been at a party and said "Darling, that is *so* Middlemarch" but now I will. 💁🏻‍♂️ Loved this video! ❤️📚

[@xeshacinds]

'male, pale, and stale' HAHAHAHA this is the best description of the canon ever

[@lizehhh]

Regarding the fact that the books that have now become classics aren't necessarily the books that were being read: if you look at the books that were being published in the Netherlands in the 19th century, there were actually quite a lot of books being written by women and female writers were actually well represented within the best selling lists. But as soon as academics would get involved and started analysing and critiquing and ranking, the male writers would find their way into the canon and the female writers would fade into oblivion. And it's been going that way ever since...

[@naecocificap4588]

This is also how we get stuck with a canon that is basically white cis men writing about the most trivial problems imaginable. The works are entirely unrelatable for anyone who has ever experienced hardships beyond 'This woman does not want to have sex with me.'

[@kir-is-here]

i hate that i’m not surprised by this ://

[@whitneyhendrix8075]

Right it’s not just women writers that are forgotten, the women consumers were also looked down on

[@Claudia-sm9te]

Heb je enkele titels/schrijvers??

[@Tolstoy111]

What are you talking about? The major Victorian novelists were almost all women. You think writers like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky were trivial? @@naecocificap4588

[@miaarndt9501]

Personally enjoyed Dracula more than Frankenstein (might be an unpopular opinion), and I would recommend adding The Bell Jar to your classics TBR

[@BookNomming]

I love Dracula 🧛‍♂️

[@theautisticacademic5927]

Dracula is my favourite book!

[@narflet]

Lucy Westenra’s boyfriend squad!

[@LaTuaCantante96]

The Bell Jar war SO GOOD MY HEART

[@124tutt2]

Frankenstein you have to take seriously, though it can be fun to make fun of the little details it mostly is just very good fuel to rant about awful pretentious people. Dracula is so fun to- not make fun of, but act like you are gossiping about the events of the book. Mia deserved to have a better cast to work with, she could have solved the whole thing by herself after one conversation with Van Helsing she is a queen I love her.

[@thebugbear]

Look, look. Did I, in retrospect, identify with The Catcher in the Rye because I was also completely abandoned by the adults around me and thought it was my responsibility to never need any help? Maybe. But I don't appreciate how clearly everyone sees that now.

[@caitlinquinn79]

I loved The Catcher in the Rye so much because I related to the character in a very similar way, then I learnt more about the author and I'm still unpacking if I can still appreciate the book

[@emilymcglauflin4207]

I just want to say that it's so refreshing to see someone talk about The Catcher in the Rye and acknowledge that it's a book about a struggling teen with no one in his corner who will actually help him in the ways he needs help. So tired of people just saying he's a privileged rich boy with no real problems.

[@littlereddragon]

I read it for my book club, knowing that apparently it was a red flag book. Friends, we all loved poor Holden and felt sorry for him. Anyone who takes his views seriously does not see that he's just a lost boy.

[@gretchenlynn89]

I'm glad that there are people that genuinely loved this book.... because I hated it lol. Nina's explanation of why she liked it is the most compelling reason I've ever seen. Maybe if I had read it as a teen, but I read it at 21 and didn't identify with s single character.

[@JoeDWhiteTalks]

Well, the protagonist in that novel had depression and paranoid schizophrenia. He literally thought most people were phony. He had a lot of problems.

[@hannahweston6185]

I effing LOVE Anne of Green Gables so much it is such a gorgeous book (also haven’t reread in about a decade so couldn’t say how it holds up but I would hazard that it would be amazingly!!)

[@laralicari914]

I started rereading the series recently and the first three are amazing and the the series goes 📉

[@cutiepiemania45]

Oh I love that series. It feels like the loveliest memory when I think about that series. Used to read it often since I had a copy of the 1st book. Read all the way through the college years. Might be time for a revisit.

[@caitlinquinn79]

There's some very interesting discussion in the Historical Dress and History bounding community about colonialism/settler colonialism in America and nostalgia for Anne of Green Gables and I found it very interesting!

[@cutiepiemania45]

@@caitlinquinn79 Interesting I was much younger/ didn't have as much understanding of what colonialism is when I read AoGG, but I don't specifically remember that being the time period. But it's also meant to be set in Canada so maybe I'm just uninformed. Colonialism/Settler setting discussion actually reminds me more of Little House on the pararie which I also read around that time. Didn't understand it was settlers on the plains, but was shocked by the violent language used to describe indigenous people in one of the books.

[@Linoosethemooss]

Me too

[@TheHelican]

I completely agree with the entire premise of this whole video BUT, I gotta say, John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men' is one of the most moving reads I've ever experienced, and I gotta say.... when I'm Empress of Literature, it's gonna be a must read. Also, side note: Margery Kempe was not the first woman to author a book in known record! There's a japanese novel called The Tale of Genji which was written by a noblewoman called Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th Century. So you can relinquish your Thatcher-y vibes on that one (if you feel so inclined)!

[@manyagaver1946]

I think Margery Kempe is the first autobiography writer not the first female writer to author a book. Not 100% sure. There is also Christine de Pizan who is the first known professional female writer in the western world but I’m not 100% sure on her dates and when she first published.

[@oliviaengle2243]

I put off reading Steinbeck for forever because I thought ugh white dude classic not gonna like it. And holy smokes. East of Eden was just 👌🏼

[@caitlinquinn79]

As a disabled person, I have consistently avoided Of Mice and Men because it sounds like the constant barrage of ableism aimed at one of the main characters by the author and other characters? Am I being prematurely dismissive/worried?

[@patchouliodonovan9529]

​@@caitlinquinn79 I haven't read of mice and men, but I wanted to say that unless you are concerned about being triggered (in which case ignore this), we probably need more diverse eyes on these classics so we can look at them more objectively. As people rightly point out 'Classics' are dominated by white, able-bodied, rich (or at least well off) men and the public opinion of those classics is dominated by an audience that largely falls into similar demographics. Then you get more of the same types of people reading those books because Maurine and Timothy said they were absolute must-reads, darling and agreeing that they were very good just to impress Maurine and Timothy. Even if you only read the first chapter and then kill it with fire, if you're able to do so whilst pointing out problematic themes and ideas you found (or even just an honest 'this was hot garbage') you're helping the rest of us avoid a shit book and challenging our perceptions.

[@valkyrie_cain86]

@@caitlinquinn79 I have read Of Mice and Men and I'd say its the right call for you to avoid it. The ablism can be a lot.

[@kokoerdmann4416]

I would really recommend reading classics of other countries! I read "the incredible lightness of being" which is very male, but also very good and a czech classic.

[@lemonbugs4820]

aaaaa yes this book! very male, that's true, but as a Central European I adored it anyway. I loved the thoughts about Genesis at the end of the book, and recommend it to everyone!

[@gabynestel1654]

Ah yes, definitely love reading all kinds of classics, would recommend checking out those from Latin America, a lot of great stuff by Garcia Marquez, Vargas Llosa, Alejo Carpenter and so many more

[@814912]

Ooh, I need to read that! I'm pretty sure my parents told me that they chose my middle name because of one of the characters in it - so it must be good!

[@sylviekrenkova9482]

I am Czech and I've read that book and I hated it. But would recommend anything by Bohumil Hrabal wholeheartedly! His love of language and writing is amazing and his books are really poetic while dealing with difficult topics. For example, I Served the King of England is beautiful :)

[@kerosenequeen1076]

@@sylviekrenkova9482 One of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read!

[@gretchenlynn89]

My pitch for Counte of Monte Cristo: imagine in Les Mis instead of Jean Valjean's character seeking redemption and forgiveness, he saught revenge. That is CoMC and it's such an adventurous and fun book!

[@user-oq6ol5fi2w]

this comment is what is going to get me to read CoMC

[@jillwhitney-birk5876]

I adored TCOMC too!! It’s so fun to read… and the unabridged penguin is the only way to go. It’s long but wonderful!

[@eveofjustice3286]

agreed! Hands-down an amazing book. I first thought it was going to end up as a paperweight or a doorstopper (like my copy of Ulysses *that was 2 weeks of my life I'll never get back*) but it became one of my favourite books of all time!

[@elodiejade615]

Has she mentioned before why she refuses to read it?😂 I love it so was so surprised hearing her say that

[@hannahbrennan2131]

I know it's a really long book, but it's so good, it's worth it.

[@indeeruh]

My favorite classic - FRANKENSTEIN. It's so so incredible, one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read. If you're interested in meditating on what it means to be a human, I HIGHLY recommend it.

[@phamtrinhyenchi590]

I love the "we're all missing out" part. So true. There've always been so many talents that were never discovered, nurtured, or even allowed

[@albaKonst]

Would STRONGLY recommend To Kill a Mockingbird. I grew up loving period dramas on tv, but struggle with how verbose a lot of classics are. But To Kill a Mockingbird is legit a cracking read. My partner, who doesn't read much at all, just read it, and also loved it. To quote him, "It's actually like, really really good!!"

[@martinarasch5994]

I second this!

[@sleepingroses761]

I was required to read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school, and I personally didn't enjoy it all that much. To each their own, though! 🙂

[@panikiczcock2891]

I found it really boring personally.

[@ayellowpapercrown6750]

Yes! It’s the book that cured my fear of classics!

[@jojolewis8533]

Totally agree. This was the only classic I read at school that I did actually enjoy and have read again outside of school.

[@kylihames4499]

the count of monte cristo is amazing 😭😭😭 best book of the year for me!

[@ionlydressthatway]

I’m going to put in a word for my all time favourite classic - The Colour Purple. I’ve never seen the film, but let me tell you the book is an EMOTIONAL one.

[@tardoautunno]

I feel like The Colour Purple is THE classic. It's a book about everything, it's about love, religion, queer people, abuse, racism and who knows what more

[@alicewithapen]

I read it last year and loved it!! I'd only ever heard about the abuse element in it so when I finally ready it I was so mad because there's so much more to it :| wish I'd read it sooner!

[@ferngecko1943]

Yes! The Colour Purple is my favourite classic.

[@valkyrie_cain86]

I read it in high school english and before then I had no idea books like that could be a classic

[@niahowells101]

Also, it's a nice relief from Male and Pale. Slightly traumatised me though, but also made me appreciate the actual colour purple more.

[@jodie6096]

“I would recommend reading this after either having studied Middle English or had 4 vodkas” is SUCH an accurate description I genuinely laughed out loud 😂

[@puffmaggie]

José Saramago and Fernando Pessoa have some of the absolute best classic Portuguese literature - it's a crime that the english-centric world ignores so much amazing literature because it is in another language. loving this comment section suggesting different international classics!!

[@stephaniefrost9720]

Blindness by Jose Saramago >>>>>

[@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506]

@@selfcompassionate He is one of the biggest authors

[@jfarmerswatermelon6061]

Loved Blindness i also read Cain recently and enjoyed it

[@hannahfagan9904]

I would recommend ‘their eyes were watching God’ by Zorah Neale Hurston for those who want to make their lists of classics a little less pale male and stale!

[@jillwhitney-birk5876]

Agree! Gorgeous writing.

[@kitkattictac7723]

Best classic I’ve ever read

[@homestar1996]

I ADORE that book. Would recommend to anyone.

[@chloegoesbang]

To kill a Mockingbird is very readable, I remember picking it up for my English A-Level and assuming it would be a snooze-fest, then read the whole thing in one sitting. I loved Anna Karenina when I read it about 10 years ago but it's overdue a re-read and I'm nervous it won't still have the same impact. Also was very surprised by Rebecca - loved it. I think classics for me have an element of being books you can read over and over and get something different from them each time, books that have something to say and get people talking

[@lizehhh]

Love the discussion on why we need or don't need to read classics. I'm sure a lot of people will really appreciate being released from the pressure of reading classics and that's a good thing. However, I'd like to invite people that are unsure of reading classics to consider two things. Firstly: reading classics can be fun. Not all books that are old are boring! Don't be scared of books just because of their age. Secondly: a lot of classics might not be the biggest page turners, but they could add to your reading pleasure in the future. There are several books I've read that I did not enjoy in the moment, but by having read them I was able to draw parallels, make connections and spot intertextuality in contemporary reads, making for a richer and funner reading experience of those books. I will admit that this might only be for the more geeky among us, but I know a lot of geeky people who are afraid of classics, so I thought I'd put it out there.

[@abseurde]

I absolutely *loved* this video and, as a PhD student at Cambridge in EngLit, disagreed with almost every single evaluation. That’s brilliant, though - different interpretations of the same works is what makes this field so endlessly fascinating!

[@marynelson2875]

little women, the bell jar, to kill a mockingbird, and the Handmaids tale are some of my faves! Its a shame science fiction and fantasy books are usually not considered classics and certainly not assigned in school because they’re somehow “less educational”

[@meizumi]

in my school we were assigned the lord of the rings and harry potter and it's how i found my love for reading honestly

[@Kraska93]

Ever heard of Isaac Asimov?

[@ella_winstons_cigs13]

None of those are sci-fi or fantasy... your comment doesn't make sense-

[@YodasPapa]

@@ella_winstons_cigs13 They used the first sentence to make one point. They used the second sentence to make another point.

[@CJV9]

When I was in school the only “classics” we read were dystopian idk why

[@klarasegers6747]

One book that I want to recommend is North and South by Elisabeth Gaskell. It is absolutely worth reading. It has interesting social themes and a strong female character. The miniseries from 2004 is also really good so if you'd rather watch an adaptation, that is a really good one.

[@mealmoth8369]

Agree! It's one of the books I go back to reread every couple of years, must have read it six times now (and watched the mini series of course). What I like about North and South is the great compassion Gaskell has for her characters, and her nuanced look at the class war. If you like North and South Middlemarch is worth a try (don't be put off by the name "George Eliot", that's a female writer under a pseudonym!). I remember finishing that and feeling so politically motivated that I seriously considered joining a party. I didn't, but I feel that those novels from the beginning of the big socialist movement can be a lot clearer about what's important in life for us rich first world dwellers while being relatable in that - we know those places today, and it's only been 150 years.

[@lilacsrain6004]

this was the first book I read this year and I absolutely fell in love with it, I've read like 6 books since but north and south remains my favourite!!

[@MissAshleyVest]

I agree I read it right after Middlemarch and I think it's much more interesting read.

[@GiadiXLoveDance]

I wish I could agree with you, I just finished but only because I hate leaving books half read. I couldn't stand basically all the characters, I liked the plot but not how was executed. I laughed a lot when the first review I read on goodreads about this book was "Pride and prejudice for socialists"

[@lovetolovefairytales]

I love Gaskell! I'm almost done with Wives and Daughters. Poor Osborne.

[@tabithasophia3874]

I love, love, love James Baldwin. Giovanni's room, Go Tell it on the Mountain, and Another Country are three of my favourite books!

[@emilylouise9705]

At uni I was assigned Chaucer's Canterbury Tales as required reading on my English lit course. I was shit scared that I would not understand it and therefore look stupid, and simultaneously that I would be extremely bored and hate every moment of it. Well, luckily the complete opposite ended up happening! The language was a barrier at first, but once I'd spent some time getting my teeth into Middle English, I found the Canterbury Tales so interesting - and in many cases, extremely funny and daft. The idea of someone in the 14th Century laughing at a bum joke just as much as someone in the modern age might laugh at a bum joke - the thought just brought me so much joy 😂😂 It sounds silly, but the fact that the humour still kind of worked seemed to collapse the distance for me between people in the past and people living now. But yeah, Chaucer and his bum jokes ended up being a gateway drug which lead to me doing my MA in Medieval English Literature!

[@jasminedoyle1724]

I just loved Rebecca so much! I’m so glad everyone else recommended it too!

[@catherinefilcher236]

I grow up reading classics, most of my favourite books are classics but they are often problematic/boring and no one should be made to feel inadequate for not reading they. My favourites are the Pictures of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde is one of the greatest writers to ever live - that is a hill I will die on. Giovanni's Room by James Bladwin - very Gay and very sad, it's under 200 pages long and It was the first novels I read that had queer people. As a young lesbian, this was the first time I realised that other people fell in love in the same way that I did. The first time I understood that same sex couples are a thing, that love is no limited to relationships between men and women. This book made me feel less strange and I love it.

[@Charlie_Fuchs]

Have you read Go tell it on the mountain by Baldwin? That's the only one I read by him but I loved it. From the moment I heard about it, I knew it would be a masterpeace for me. So intrigued to know how Giovanni's room is related (not compare) to it! Baldwin's writing is so delicate and intricate. Happy that it made you feel less strange!

[@christinemaure4216]

Often problematic ?

[@bububrainfart3767]

@@christinemaure4216 just read an interview of a german professor of literature who said (translated by me, not a professional) racism in literature is something like a central undertone of european classics.

[@ellienelson4135]

Persuasion is my favourite book, and also the reason for my unrealistic hopeless romanticism.

[@hannahg5479]

I recommend Fanny Burney to anyone who loves Jane Austen. She was one of Austen's favorite's authors and influenced a lot of her writing (As example, the phrase "Pride and Prejudice" comes from Burney's 'Cecilia"). Her books are slower, longer, and more tedious than Austen's, but they are absurdly funny. She mostly wrote satire; commentating on how ridiculous it was for young, unmarried women to navigate society's rules for them.

[@anna-ne9zk]

had to pause it at 0:10 already because damn. every time i come to this channel i just feel so comforted. like. immediately felt happy watching this. gonna have a good time watching the rest. thank you leena for the great vids as always

[@leenanorms]

Xxx

[@boatsagainst]

Catch 22 - the funniest book I have ever read. Literally had to squat down, hold on to a fence next to me and laugh in a way that made people walking by me probably think I was sobbing (and not one of them stopped to ask if I was fine 😅) while listening to the audio book.

[@allishahenrie]

agreed!

[@PlantBasedBride]

Loved this video! I’m on a journey to read more classics this year but I find myself having so many conflicting biases and expectations of them from my education and society at large. I’m hoping to find more favourites like Rebecca, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Little Women, and my main man, Shakespeare!

[@AbbeyandMusic]

Adore this. The discussion of what is capital L "Literature" is incredibly loaded. Way more interesting to discuss how the canon came about then it is to read quite a lot of the books deemed CLASSICS (especially those embalmed in memory by "virtue" of having been written by men lol). Also unrelated but: any chance you'd drop the details of that gorgeous jumper for my Depop search? 🙈

[@CloTricots]

So I'm the weirdo for having read the Count of Monte Cristo as a teenager and actually loved it with all my heart?!?!? Yeah that sounds about right. 🤣 Glad to see I'm not the only one who preferred Emma to Pride and Prejudice. This is my the first video I watch on your channel and I'm loving the general no bullshit attitude. 👌🏻

[@Emy-fh1zn]

The count of Monte cristo is genuinely a great book, people are just scared by how big the book is

[@Artemis1901]

I'm that weirdo, too. Funnily enough, I loved reading classics a lot more as a teenager than I do now. Maybe it's that boundless capacity for being passionate about ANYthing that you only have when you're that young.

[@CloTricots]

@@Artemis1901 time is endless when you are a teenager. At 37 with 2 kids, who has time for a 1000 page book!

[@hannahbrennan2131]

I was that weird teenager too. Now, I'm that weird adult.

[@yeet8627]

same but for me it was oliver twist. read it when i was 13 and loved it with every inch of my existence lol. i think it’s something about the grimness that intrigued me

[@ifonlyicould]

Thomas Hardy is my favourite classic writer - his books are so addictive and easy to read but also extremely poetic

[@rory1723]

The bible- ‘definitely does not live up to the hype’ couldn’t agree more 😭😩

[@jbwifi6651]

😒

[@melaniemurphyofficial]

ADORED this!

[@leenanorms]

Thank you lovely 😘

[@teodorapetkovic]

The classic literature I had to read (in the Balkans) for school was mostly Russian novels and short stories, and sporadically some French and German writers here and there. The only English stories we did were like three Shakespeare plays, and I think not a single American author? Reading curriculum here was heavily sanitized to fit into whatever was the current political status quo at the time. We even banned our own writers if they had a history of going to prison over protesting the government or daring to point out its flaws. So yeah, my personal opinion about "worldwide classics" is that they are most certainly an elite club of now mostly dead privileged people that is put on this pedestal to intimidate everyone else that's trying to get in their circle! Some of them are great books, sure, but no need for demanding they are higher art than any other book

[@kaitlynwiggins880]

As a person who was obsessed with classics as a kid, and probably internalized way too many harmful ideas as a result (due to that and religious education lol), I really appreciate this video and message. Thank you Leena!

[@mynameis9683]

This is the most English take on classics I've ever seen - both in terms of the incredibly narrow range and the overall comments.

[@StoneSaysHello]

Frankenstein is one of the only classics I read of my own volition, and it's so good. Not what I expect, but I loved it.

[@GetToKnowNature]

Loved this. Fahrenheit 451 is pretty awesome, as is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

[@originstory-earth]

This video. THANK YOU! Loved listening to you !!

[@olivelee1]

I'm just over here adding loads of new books to my to-read list.... thanks Leena! Also it's refreshing to feel released from the pressure to read any specific quota of classics! Didn't even realize I felt that until this vid.

[@halfmoons9439]

That conclusion was GORGEOUS i nearly cried. imagining all the lost stories is sad but at least in knowing that, we can uplift books we love today, in the hopes of them being read years from now

[@annashu5940]

As a Russian I'm now really interested in looking at "The Master and Margarita" in English, because I fear it has been done dirty by translation! I personally foung it great, and I realize that tastes differ, but when I look back at it... what's not to like ^_^"

[@Marciocha319]

I read it in my native Polish and absolutely loved it too! Such a good book

[@Ekaekto]

I think you need to know a bit about Russian history to get the humour in the book

[@alidabaxter5849]

I am English, read the book in English and was so entranced that I bought 2 copies in case someone stole my copy.

[@clarasayk525]

There are (at least) two different translations, one I liked a lot and another one I found so horrible I barely recognized the book from one translation to the other

[@dariacislo8072]

I've never met anyone not liking Master and Margarita before in my life, I was in shock

[@girlscout1278]

woah leena green looks so good on you! 🌱 and love your makeup!

[@leilaclendon5442]

You're in for a good read. The Grapes of Wrath is one of the best books I've ever read. I read it last year and it blew me away so beautiful but so sad. It's such a valuable insight into the lives of the people most crushed by the great depression

[@ifonlyicould]

yesss, Grapes of Wrath changed my whole world view when I was 16!!

[@theinkdarksea]

East of Eden set me free.

[@mandyhackman9740]

Also! The "summarize a classic work in one sentence" game is one of my absolute favorite party games. Which probably tells you a lot about my friends. But if that's also your friends definitely try it!

[@CorinneDemyanovich]

MALE, PALE, AND STALE!! 😂

[@Chilkies]

Since I see others offering suggestions for classics from other countries, I'll leave a suggestion for one of the Portuguese classics - Baltasar and Blimunda by José Saramago - A surrealistic love story intertwined with historical events of 18th century Portugal. Also, thanks for the great video Leena, fun and informative as always!

[@bestnarryever]

PASSING IS ABSURD! Definitely one of my faves, alongside Anna Karenina ✨💛

[@misskit123]

Steinbeck is my favourite classic author! I would recommend Cannery Row as a starting point. It's only short. Not much plot but it's a delicious slice of small town life and I absolutely love it. If we're defining classics as books written before you were born (for me that's the very end of 1985) then I've read 81. That's a heck of a lot more than I thought it would be! I have read almost all books published by several authors (du Maurier, Steinbeck) so that does help. Also, a lot of the science fiction I've read is older than I am. I don't really think of sci-fi as being classic but DUH!

[@ellie698]

I love Steinbeck's writing

[@lucilasandoval3084]

One important thing to mention is that there are other literary canons in other languages. So may I recommend that if you wanna read “classics” that feel really different go to the “Boom literature” of Latin America in the 60’s. I would particularly recommend anyone to read 100 years of solitude, but also maybe some Vargas Llosa (specially his oldest stuff), Cortázar, The Aleph, and maybe Manuel Puig.

[@europeanspectator9779]

Bravooo!!! Was waiting for someone to mention :)

[@hiimchuckiewannaplay]

I am literally crying laughing. I've always thought you were funny, but this has been some Peak Leena Comedy TM

[@hiimchuckiewannaplay]

I think I'll finally read Emma, and Rebecca because of this video

[@shonamckenzie1400]

Lena, I'm an English lit student and our taste in classical books is so different! I put The Picture of Dorian Gray in my list of top 5 WORST books of all time. I think it's because of Oscar Wilde's treatment of the female love interest-- because the trope of a woman dying because a man rejects her is soooo old and it comes up so often. I think lots of these old books have amazing, original ideas and beautiful writing, but I can almost never get past the treatment and portrayal of women in these old books written by men

[@americanbookdragon]

I hated that book as well, and wondered why it was even famous…

[@hanzib31]

Glad that others hated this book. I felt like I was missing something massive.

[@lynncornelissen]

The historical context and fact that Wilde was very much a gay man might give you some idea of what the intent of the book was.

[@nicoleperry375]

For Oscar Wilde in particular I would recommend some of his plays because I think his female characters shine through better in those. Someone already replied about the intentions of the Picture of Dorian Gray but it was very much intended to focus on a gay relationship versus a straight one and the original version was much more clear in this depiction but he was forced to change it by his editor. Also, if you had a problem with his writing (I don't know if that's why you didn't like it, but just in case), his plays also get a lot of his style and humor without so many extraneous words so I would give those a try

[@rbvp45]

Word.

[@Sidmarine]

YES! Emma appreciation!! Love that sm!

[@sarahnelson8836]

Also I just realized that by your definition Alanna the First adventure by Tamora Pierce (1983) is a classic and I fully believe this to be accurate… (also the Alanna series is secretly one or two books but her publisher made her split it because kids don’t read novels, which is dumb)

[@gloriaash7511]

Yessss!!!

[@narflet]

Yes! Definitely a classic!

[@plamenatodorova5202]

The count of Monte Cristo may look intimidating but BELIEVE ME when I tell you ITS SO WORTH IT, my favourite book of all time probably, would strongly recommend haha, lovely video by the way ❤️

[@beatm6948]

I read a graphic novel Verizon a while back, but i remember NOTHING

[@TheGalacticGrizzly]

I've recently read Maurice by E. M. Forster and I LOVED it. Highly recommended queer literature. If you'd like to read another book by him, read Maurice.

[@kimrich5209]

Agreed with you about Maurice - and it’s quite a short book. Loved reading the context behind it and about Edward Carpenter among others.

[@greeciequibby8477]

Yes!!! It feels so weirdly modern, it’s like reading a historical fiction from the 90s. It was the first classic I ever finished, at 13, and I still loved it.

[@natm3134]

I LOVED THIS VIDEO!!!! Thanks Leena!

[@KaraToNihongo]

John Steinbeck is my favorite classic author~ he hits different as the kids say

[@kathrynquinnstreeter4238]

When you said about the Hobbit "Great plot. Shame about the writing" I laughed for around 10 minutes.

[@patchouliodonovan9529]

I am a huge fan of Tolkien and read both the Hobbit and LOTR before I was 8 years old and I must admit that there were passages in the LOTR trilogy that I skipped through because it was pages and pages of painstakingly descriptive battle scenes lol. I am almost scared to reread either because of how important they were to me as a child. I am scared of not loving it now I'm adult enough to judge them lol!

[@ericaschoenberg7782]

@@patchouliodonovan9529 tip from someone who until 2 months ago had never read or seen the movies bc they seemed too long, there’s an audiobook series of them all narrated by andy serkis! definitely very long (~22hrs per lotr audiobook) but absolutely top tier entertainment/reading

[@beatm6948]

@@ericaschoenberg7782 it's HOW long?!

[@ericaschoenberg7782]

@@beatm6948 Two Towers was the shortest (no foreword or appendix), at 21 hours. definitely had to renew these library borrows! 😂

[@tina9866]

I have discovered Tolkien as an adult and I love and adore his books and will read all the other books that his son has published for him. One tip from me that may be a bit weird. The first time reading the books I had a pocket book edition and it was sometimes hard to get through some of the chapters. Now I got a set of hardcovers illustrated by Alan Lee and it changed the whole reading experience. Suddenly his books turned into page turners for me and I was able to read more pages in the same amount of time. The format and letter type matter so much. So this is one weird tip I have 🤷‍♀️ Also reading tolkien is all about immersing yourself into this wonderful fantastic world he has created so if you read it with that approach I think you'll be fine 😊

[@ClementineFox]

I actually loved war and peace. I listened to it while washing up aha. I started because I found someone had put the first chapter for free on youtube and got completely pulled into it.

[@kayfountain6261]

I love War and Peace too but it took me several false starts first. The key - and often works with translated works that are a struggle - is to try a different translation.

[@partygirlbg]

Please read The Count of Monte Christo, litterally the most readable classic i've ever read and I've also read quite a few. It seems long, but definitely worth it.

[@SadieReadsAgain]

Just come across your channel, and this video is perfection. Co-signing on so many of these reviews!

[@julianeelter8159]

as a linguist who has been working with Middle English I agree vodka helps - even if you've studied it. Middle English is just a box of weird and sometimes feels like there are no rules :D but yes, good times are to be had with Sir Gawain and the green Knight

[@emschlef]

Stone Butch Blues is a great book but hard to get through. As a nonbinary butch lesbian it gave me representation and history I never knew I needed.

[@itsdivyag]

This is the only way I’ll watch classic reviews. Some gem quotes: “Could have been an email” “You’re probably on an Ofsted watch list” “Would rather read my own medical records” “Male pale and stale”

[@MotiviqueStudio]

This was great. I'll have to get to some of these sooner rather than later.

[@Emy-fh1zn]

But the count of Monte Cristo is so good ☹️I know it’s a big book but the pacing is honestly good, it reads easily and is a page turner

[@jellyfishing4852]

I hope this doesn't come across as accusatory but it was a bit confusing and disappointing to not hear it mentioned that Stone Butch Blues is about the life of a lesbian, as a lesbian viewer. I was also wondering if you perhaps meant "gender nonconforming people" rather than "non-binary people"?

[@TikiTikiRumba]

Talking about Stone Butch Blues w/out mentioning lesbians (or, you know, butches) and making it into a "trans and nonbinary" book shows just how shallow an understanding she has of the work

[@Nico5890]

@@TikiTikiRumba oh, fcking relax. it's possible that Leena misremembered the subject, but it's also possible that she's interpreting it with a modern lens. many of yesterday's butch lesbians may have identified as nb/trans, had the cultural context been different. such as Radclyffe Hall. let's not be jerks.

[@TikiTikiRumba]

@@Nico5890 ppl who aren't lesbians shouldn't be trying to "re-interpret" an integral lesbian work at all. they should sit down and listen to what lesbians have to say about the work, esp GNC and/or trans lesbians.

[@Nico5890]

I'm back a year later to this thread to apologize and say that you were 100% right! Much more information has changed my understanding of this, and I understand now why this is such a significant point. Modern-day lesbian erasure is no joke. I'm leaving my previous foolish comments here to show that we can all change our minds Sorry for my arrogance, you made a great point

[@KyraThomsen]

I'm currently halfway through Bleak House and your one sentence is PERFECTION.

[@aftoncrain2042]

I read the count of monte cristo, mostly encouraged by the fact that I acquired a gorgeous Barnes and Noble copy. It took a month but it was honestly a very interesting story

[@liliaweber7257]

Especially appreciate the point about all the stories we might have been able to read that were never recorded in writing or the pages didn't survive. 😭

[@lilacsrain6004]

describing 1984 as muesli was honestly genius I don't think any literary criticism will ever top that

[@MargaretPinard]

The interior monologue sketches--I could giggle (and RELATE) over those for an hour! LOL

[@danielleeadie7124]

This is epic. My wonderful mum and dad got me a first edition of Emma for Christmas and it’s my most treasured book of all. Austen’s best. And your summary of Oranges are Not the Only Fruit was perfection

[@fientasie]

THEY TOOK EAT THE RICH TOO LITERALLY

[@vallbne]

I've had the really nice black and white Waterstones version of The Picture of Dorian Gray on my shelf for 3 years and I think it's time to pick it up

[@an-katrienderoover2174]

Really really enjoyed this video! My favourite classics so far have been: Wuthering Heights, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, The Count of Monte Cristo, Dracula and Little Women.

[@albertobozzetto8939]

Very interesting musings on classics Leena, well done, you always worth the time...love you❤

[@tynebaker]

Beyond highschool, I was never required to read "Literature". The old, rusty, dusties I read are just taking the genres I like to read now and going backwards for treasures. Example: I like dystopian/utopian so things like Handmade's tail, Brave New World, and Clockwork Orange are right up my street. I appreciate Leena's nuanced take on the "supposed to do" pressure here.

[@kbutcher5946]

My should-be classics in 1 sentance: Holding the man by Timothy conigrave. The Australian HIV crisis from a first person account of a gorgeously, devastating, imperfect love story. Absent in the Spring - Mary Westmacott. Agatha Cristies hand at- what can happen when left alone with your own mind, the truth reveals itself behind layers of illusion and denial.

[@Charlie_Fuchs]

@Rosa Same. I then proceed to buy the book, bought the drama made out of the book, and was so disappointed that it is still sitting on a shelf untouched after 3 years.

[@gelisawalker9646]

Leena, you're the best! I love, love, love your videos!

[@anamariarasheva219]

Thank you for making my day bearable. ❤😀

[@sarahlinnell]

We had to read Catcher in the Rye when I was 15 or 16, and I was probably the only person in my class who (audibly) didn't like it. My teacher made me promise I'd read it again when I was 18 or so, and let me just say, it is a promise I have never felt bad breaking. But, and maybe you have heard, a school board in Tennessee just banned Maus and it fully breaks my heart because as you have just put it best, ART. I read it when I was 12 and it left such an impact on me. One of my absolute favorites.

[@heyhorinshi]

I hate it so much the first time but the second one… not saying you have to just saying I think is weird that they make us read that young just a little bit more and it would make more sense and be much better

[@ellie698]

For me, CitR is one of the most overrated books ever. Can't stand it!

[@wilkobye9533]

I am fully OBSESSED with Moby Dick and since you mentioned it as an example of a book that wasn't popular at the time that it was published and thus we can't learn about the times from it I now am OBLIGATED to go off about Moby Dick. What you can't learn from Moby Dick is what kind of writing was valued in the 1850s. What you CAN learn from Moby Dick (and some of Melville's other works. I like to go through an author's entire bibliographie) though is what whaling was like which is incredibly incredibly fascinating! And GAY!!! And Not White. So what you get when you read Moby Dick is a love story, no a love LETTER even. Both a gay one and one to the sea. It's commentary on religion and race. Which the race commentary is very interesting because it reflects the views of a white man who believed himself to be anti racist but thought that no steps towards the abolition of slavery should be taken because it would sort itself out. And those opinions still sound frighteningly similar to the believes of people who think themselves anti-racist today. It's the anxieties of the consequences of trying to kill and control an ungodly nature and having to become ungodly yourself to do it. Which while maybe not ringing true to the people at the time or it might have been a more popular book, very much rings true now. I also really liked Ahab's rolling sea by Richard j king which is a book about climate change and the sea through history by commenting on Moby Dick. Moby Dick is a book about EVERYTHING. So whatever you take away from it reveals a lot about yourself. I picked a few themes that I think reflect some lives at the time to be argumentative but it's about so much more somehow.

[@personalsbysara]

I've never seen any of your videos but your thumbnail made me chuckle and spill my drink so you get a like and I'm definitely watching this video.

[@leenanorms]

Hahah aw well I hope you stick around!

[@personalsbysara]

@@leenanorms will do :)

[@yubbadubbadubba]

We had to read a lot of classics in school and at university. I’ve also been in book clubs that had preferences for reading classics.But these days, with a full time job which is very heavily reading based, when I read for fun, it’s books in genres I enjoy and almost exclusively 20th and 21st century. Also have been getting more into audiobooks recently as being read to is such a relaxing experience for me. A great trick is to set the timer on your phone and choose the option to ‘stop playing’ when the timer ends if you’re listening before going to sleep.

[@grty35]

If you loved Howard’s End that much, just WAIT til you read A room with a view. But I think Forster’s Maurice is one of the finest books ever written, I’d actually recommend watching the movie first and then going to the book

[@caitlinquinn79]

Maurice by E M Forster, slaps. No idea why I read that one, then A Room with a View, loved them both and never read more??

[@sarahhansen8004]

I know this video is 6 months old when I’m commenting, but I have to say as far as classics go, The Count if Monte Cristo is a fairly easy read! Not inaccessible and I really liked it! And a lot of classics do scare me still 😂 give it a try if you haven’t already

[@patriciacarrillo2267]

Love this video. Such good discussion & hilarious 🥰

[@ojiverdeconfleco]

I think, and I might be wrong here, that you would enjoy works from my Argentinian compatriots: Borges and Cortázar. Though both exploit Argentinian idiosyncrasies, which are hard to translate into anglo culture, they are Great.