“Think about reading as TRAVELING THE WORLD. In your travels, the classics are those must-see historical sites that you hear about and see in dozens of reproductions—the Great Wall, the Colosseum, the Taj Mahal, the pyramids. Like these historical sites, the classics have withstood the test of time, are part of an incredible heritage, and can CHANGE YOUR WORLDVIEW entirely.”  (Ginni Chen, Literary Lady for Barnes and Noble)

Just want a day-trip?  Try one of these short works from the Classics Section (by the magazines).

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (55 pages): No one should miss Kafka’s tale of a man who wakes up one morning to discover that he has been transformed into a gigantic bug.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (96 pages): James’s novella is different from his other, longer works, which tend to offer commentary on the societal norms of his day. The Turn of the Screw, on the other hand, is a ghost story, but whether or not the ghosts in it are real is a point of contention amongst critics.

The Stranger by Albert Camus (123 pages): Camus’s classic novel about a man who, somewhat aloofly, kills someone and must face the consequences is often cited as a major exemplar of existentialist thought (though Camus preferred not to be lumped into the existentialist category).

The Awakening by Kate Chopin (128 pages): This novel focuses on a woman who is trying to reconcile her views on femininity and motherhood with those of the very conservative South. It does not have a happy ending.

Animal Farm by George Orwell (140 pages): Orwell’s novella is an allegory for the Russian Revolution, and the hypocrisy of the newly-instilled leaders. Of course, it is overtly political, and uses talking pigs, sheep, and horses to illustrate Orwell’s viewpoints.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (166 pages): This novel about an ambitious scientist who conducts an unorthodox experiment and creates a “monster” is an early example of gothic horror writing during the Romantic period.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (207 pages):  Africa’s cataclysmic encounter with European colonization in the 1800s, told in the voice of a wealthy, fearless Igbo warrior. Things Fall Apart explores one man’s futile resistance to the devaluing of Igbo traditions by British political and religious forces, and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.