12 EASY! classic literature books for ACTUAL beginners (where to start)

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I mean if you want to get into reading more classics my first advice would be to remember that you are a beginner and let’s not bite off more than we can chew. I’m rereading to the lighthouse right now and just adoring it, but I remember the first time I dutifully made my way through it in my late teens and was like, what the hell is even going on, I don’t understand who anyone is or what anyone is doing. So, I’ve picked out 10 books that I think are great for actual beginners BUT equally good for you know, highly intelligent expert master readers too. Also, most of these are good if english is your second language and you want to improve your english reading skills. So let’s go!

I talk about:
- the best classic books for beginners
- why you need to train your brain
- how to become a better reader
- the best books of the 19th century
- easy books to read
- oscar wilde
- jane austen
- ernest hemingway
- why you should read more classics

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fair use of copyrighted material:
Virginia Woolf - To the Lighthouse

Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

A Movable Feast - Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway

War & Peace - Leo Tolstoy

In Search of Lost Time - Marcel Proust

The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

disclaimer: i do not own some of the material in this video. please note that some images, videos, and copyrights belong to their original owners. no copyright infringement intended.

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[TheDavidMustard]

Next up: classic movies for beginners 😊

[matildebagnis]

I’m a bookseller and your recommendations are excellents😍

I would really like a selection of your favourite Asian books and Swedish as well!

And about a completely different subject: a video about relationships. You and David seem so unite and happy, it’s so inspiring, it would be really nice to have your thoughts about love and building a relationship like yours☺️

[evam]

Jane Eyre. I read it when I was 15 years old. I had no concept of classics. I had bought the book just because I liked the cover. But fell in love with it. It didn't feel like it was written that long ago

[Medusa]

One of my current favourites is '100 years of solitude'. Again, not short, since it talks about 5 or so generations BUT it is such a sentimental and touching story. The magical realism makes the story a breeze to read in my opinion

[Claudia-Jotun]

Dostoyevskis short stories are really good for beginners as well. White Nights is amazing.

[iterumm]

some more recommendations !!
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson - gothic, moody, magical
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - atmospheric, introspective, historical
Perfume by Patrick Süskind - dark, sadistic, yet simple prose in English translation

[lisabruning]

I just enjoy your book related content so much – not that I don't enjoy content related to other topics you cover! Everything you do is so well done, thoughtful and creative. I felt very cozy when watching this and can't wait to not only read 'Okay Days' but also for more content like this. Thank you Jenny and David :)

[jagodakryg]

Yay, this book series sounds wonderful! Your Swedish favourites as the next one would be so great 💛🩵

[boomerang]

Jenny!! Im reading Giovanni’s room right now and LOVE the whole scene of their meeting. Also Jacques and David’s conversation about what is going on is one of the most moving scenes I have ever read!

[Northeriann]

Thank you Jenny!
My first classic books were “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte, and “Gone with the wind” by Margaret Mitchell.
Recommend!

[greenlandgem]

Awesome video! I also recommend F Scott Fitzgerald for those wanting to start reading literature - Great Gatsby is relatively short, clearly written, and has several movie adaptations for those who find that helpful, as you mentioned. One of my absolute favourite authors is Edith Wharton, whose prose and plots are very readable. She also has some short stories and compilations - I recently read "Old New York" and enjoyed it - though Custom of the Country and Glimpses of the Moon are still my faves. And for youth/children's literature, Arthur Ransome and his Swallows and Amazons series is just so magical and immersive and adventurous in the sweetest most wholesome 1920s way - I reread them when I'm sick or having a rough time and they just soothe my soul. :)

[sophiekh]

Oh, may I add: Hermann Hesse Narcissus and Goldmund! I started with Steppenwolf, which is rather difficult, but Narcissus and Goldmund is a rather easy read for a Hermann Hesse book. I loved the story and the contrast between the characters. I loved a moveable feast. When I spend some time in Paris I adored the book! I'm really excited for Eve Babitz, it sounds like a book I could love

[Katiedora]

Austen was where I started reading classics (outside of school assignments), and she remains a go-to for me. I started with Sense & Sensibility which was a little harder for me, but Persuasion was the last of hers I picked up and it is my favorite! A couple other classics I enjoyed when I got into them were Treasure Island (because I loved the Muppet version) and Dracula (which is an epistolary novel that's fun to work through).

[moonsun]

The first classic book I read was Hamlet if I remember correctly, I must have been 15 years old, and it was a delightful read, highly recommended. Another one of the books was One Hundred Years of Solitude, I started reading it at 14 and it was definitely too much for me, I reread it at 15 and I was able to finish it. It's a good book, but I don't think I read it at the right age, I liked it and enjoyed it, and I plan to read it again in a few years. Thanks for the recommendation 💗

[adibaker.adibaker]

Rebecca is hands down one of my favourites. I think the 1st classic I read was Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities” when I was a teen. Looking forward to reading some of your suggestions and your book of course!

[katiescuggsgalloway]

My first classic was The Catcher in the Rye, for pleasure before it was an assignment in school years later. I adored it and remember feeling so immersed in Holden’s tone of voice, even in my thoughts when I set the book down. In class years later, almost everyone complained he was whiny and irresponsible and I loudly defended him. The preservation of innocence, the senselessness of adult responsibility in the face of grief, an unnamable longing to reach back and skip to the end at once.

[k-i-k-i-k]

Thank you for sharing! ❤ My all time favorite is 'Character' by Ferdinand Bordewijk (published 1938). It is described as a story of a father son relationship, but caught my adolescent mind by the story line on how you can fight against your own romantic and passionate inclinations in order to do what is right according to your own mind.

[aclarabarreiros]

The Picture of Dorian Gray is AMAZING 🤩

[exlibrisjessica]

YES TO THE PERSUASION SHOUTOUT!! Persuasion, Rebecca and Dorian Grey were three of my first and favourite classics😌

[brittneyperry]

My first ever classic was Silas Marner. I read it at about 12 and absolutely loved it. It started me on so many classics, but Dorian Gray is still one of my all time favourites.