Where to Start with Modern Classics

You guys have been asking for it, so I am delivering! These are my thoughts on where I think people should start to get into modern classics. I define "classics" as being published before 1950 and "modern classics" as ~1950-2005. Arbitrary, but there you are :)

0:13- Intro
2:46 - Where to start with recommendations
19:06 - Other recommendations
21:52 - Guesses about future modern classics

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#classics
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Books Mentioned:

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[alyssas.]

I teach high school and last year we read The Hate U Give together in my sophomore class. I think it’s a great alternative for To Kill a Mockingbird that is own voices and more relevant for today’s teenagers, especially with recent events! Great recommendations, thanks!

[thomasmoore]

What a wonderful list! It is interesting that you started modern classics at the year 1950. Most people I’ve talked with start their definition of modern classics as anything written after World War 1, seeing as how that is the event that not only changed the world as we knew it, but also changed how many people saw the world as well.

My favorites are the great dystopian sci-fi’s such as Animal Farm and 1984 by Orwell, Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler, and Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury.

[petiolereads]

Such a great list!

I'd add: The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, and A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid. I think some Latinx authors would qualify: Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Laura Esquivel, Sandra Cisneros, Julio Cortazar, etc. SFF: Octavia Butler and Ursula K LeGuin. Comics: Maus by Art Spiegelman, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel.

[jillyhawk_]

Thanks so much for listing the titles in the description!!! So many booktubers don’t and then it’s hard to remember/find the titles when I want to look them up.

[ifihadfriends]

I love The Things They Carried, we studied it at school and it’s the only school book I’ve ever seen universally loved. Everyone said it was an incredible book, and it is.

[juliachildress]

Stoner, Gilead, and Excellent Women on one list. Wow! That's my kind of list. I know I'm late to the party; I just discovered this channel, but I would offer Their Eyes Were Watching God, Slaughterhouse 5, and Death Comes to the Archbishop as will-be modern classics. Thanks for a great analysis.

[breeunabashedly]

The Haunting Of Hill House is FANTASTIC! Book & old film

[mickyboymick]

My list of suggested reads as modern classics is as follows :-

Atonement - Ian McEwan
A Thousand Splendid Suns -Khaled Hosseini
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The Road - Cormac McCarthy


Thank you for your video which has given me much inspiration for future reads.

[themusicsnob]

Toni Morrison is so good and so layered. I bet she is lost on a lot of high schoolers (unfortunately, but not surprisingly). If you pick her up again, I definitely recommend her audiobooks as she narrates many of them and is so good. I also definitely need to grab a copy of The Remains of the Day soon!

[Weltfrieden_]

My all time favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird as I see a lot of me in Boo Radley, It is also my favorite movie and I was in the play back in 1998.
I just ordered If Beale Street Could Talk.
Some books I also enjoy are One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time

[mango]

I can’t recall how I found your channel, but I’m so glad I did as it’s improved my sleep! I like watching your videos during the day and re-listening to them as I fall asleep. I find your voice so soothing. Thanks for making awesome videos about classics!

[MyGrannyEra]

So many great recommendations— thank you for taking the time to put this together!

[charletteseaver]

The Bluest Eye is a story that has stayed with me as few things have..I also want to say that I really appreciate your take on Flannery O'Connor's A Good Man is hard to Find..

[anirudh_cr]

I absolutely loved the remains of the day ! It was so pure and pleasant

[christinebihasa]

adding 80% of this to the tbr. thank you <3 and that lipgloss be poppin'

[dreaminginpastels]

Wow your makeup is on point and I am obsessed with your earrings and cardigan 😍 Love these videos!

[rodoh]

Apparently, The Prime of Miss Jean Brody, is now available in full for free to watch on U Tube, thank goodness Julie Andrews who was considered for the title role didn't get cast ahead of Maggie Smith who gives a truly memorable performance in the title role.

[SantReads]

As for guesses for 'future modern fiction'/currently kinda sort of modern fiction in my eyes, I'll also add Octavia Butler, Salman Rushdie, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Bell Hooks. (those are the ones I can think of right now)

[MLLatUtube]

Interesting list - thank you - I need to read The Remains of the Day, I have heard such good things about it

[lilteddiursa]

just read these books recently but i somewhat feel like "kafka on the shore" and especially "norwegian wood" by haruki murakami may be seen as classics at some point