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One of the greatest things about the classics is that since many copyrights have passed into the public domain, full texts of many classics are now available on-line for free! If the listing below does not contain a direct link to an on-line version, try out one of these sites:

• Banned Books On-Line
• Project Guttenberg

Another thing about the classics is that many have been made into movies. Some of the books listed below have links for purchase of VHS or DVD releases of the movie versions. Or, if you're interested in browsing Amazon.com's classic movies page, click here.

The Divine Comedy: The Inferno
U.S. Edition: New American Library Paperback

This is part of the classic trilogy, composed of "Inferno", "Purgatorio", and "Paradiso", which follows a man through all these places, including talks with people there, in his quest for paradise. Easy to read translation.

An excellent site, featuring the full texts of these works with annotations and other information, can be found at http://www.divinecomedy.org/.

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Death in the Fifth Position
Mystery
Out of Print

I read this before I had this site and don't have a review to offer, so you might want to read the one at http://mysteryguide.com/bkBoxPosition.html.

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Wuthering Heights
U.S. Edition: Bantam Classics Paperback

Readers' Top Ten Selection by Marieke, who writes: "The only book I read three times. Greatest (tormented) lovestory of all times."

Imagine a world so small that only 2 families live in it, along with a small cast of servants, and drop a small orphan of unknown heritage into the middle of one family. Follow the characters through almost two generations with little influence from outside, seen through the eyes of a housekeeper. Sound rather dull? Not in the hands of this author, who wrings terror and great passion out of the characters she has created. It has been said that this is the greatest love story ever written. You must read it and decide for yourself!

See also The Emily Bronte Page, which contains biographical information and links on Emily Bronte, including links to the full text of Wuthering Heights on-line.

There are at least three different movies made from this book:

1. 1939, starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, on VHS.

2. 1998, starring Robert Cavanagh, Orla Brady, on VHS.

3. 1992, starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, on VHS.

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In Cold Blood
True Crime
U.S. Edition: Vintage Books Paperback

One of the first true crime novels. For a short biography of the author, and a list of selected works, see:

• Capote Bio and Bibliography

See the movie on VHS.

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Don Quixote

It has always astounded me how little people really change over time. This book, which I have read a couple of times, is one of the most hilarious and apt characterizations I have ever read.

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Click on link for review, which is listed in main fiction pages.

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The Canterbury Tales

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The Moonstone

Classic mystery set in Victorian England.

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Two Years Before the Mast,

Harvard student has to discontinue studies because of problems with his eyes and he signs up for a two year voyage on a ship. This book is a tale of adventure and a chronicle of the uncertainty of life at the whim of the captain of a ship on an extended voyage over 100 years ago. Great descriptions of the California coast, including San Francisco Bay, before the area became heavily populated.

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• Bleak House
  This story of the legal system in Dickens' time will seem familiar to any modern day litigants. The course of a lawsuit goes on for generations, involves many, and bankrupts everyone but the lawyers. Also:

• A Christmas Carol

  See the movie on DVD or VHS.
  (This is the version starring George C. Scott made in 1984).

• Great Expectations

  See the movie on DVD or VHS.
  (This is the version starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow made in 1998.)

• A Tale of Two Cities.

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Brothers Karamazov,

See the movie on VHS.

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The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,

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An American Tragedy
Sister Carrie

Check out these links:

• The International Theodore Dreiser Society
  This site has an extensive list of related links, including to electronic texts.
• Short biography and list of selected works

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Links:

• On-line texts of five works

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Rebecca

A novel of suspense, published in 1938. A young woman travels to Monte Carlo while working as a lady's companion and meets a rich man, Max de Winter, said to be devastated by the loss of his wife, Rebecca. She falls in love with him and he marries her and takes her back to his estate, Manderley. As the new Mrs. de Winter attempts to sort out her own position there despite the continued haunting presence of Rebecca kept alive by her sinister servant, Mrs. Danvers, she begins to unravel the secrets of Manderley and what really happened to Rebecca.

This excellent book was recommended by a visitor to this site. Thanks for the tip, which I pass on here with enthusiasm!

See also the DuMaurier Site

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The Great Gatsby,

Also on video: The Great Gatsby, starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.

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Lord of the Flies,

English schoolboys become stranded on a desert island after a plane crash. Instincts for survival combat instincts for fun--and savagery.

Links:

• Biography
  Also, bibliography and list of selected works

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The Maltese Falcon,

Classic noir detective story, best known of the author's Sam Spade novels,

Also on video: The Maltese Falcon, starring Humphrey Bogart.

Links:

• If you visit San Francisco, you can visit John's Grill, one of the settings in the book.

• Dashiell Hammett Awards Page
  List of award winners.
• Biographical information
  and transcript of interview with his daughter.

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Catch 22, See also Fiction for more books by this author.

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Brave New World

Classic utopian novel with parallels in today's society. Written in 1932, yet still a chilling read.

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The Bostonians
Washington Square

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A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man
Dubliners

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The Metamorphosis
I will never forget this tale, read when I was in school, of a man who wakes up in the morning and finds that he has turned into a giant bug! Also,

The Trial
A man is unjustly accused of a crime and he gets nowhere in his attempts to resolve the problem

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Moliere: Sometimes called "Shakespeare of France." I remember reading some plays of Moliere in high school in a "unit" entitled "Comedy of the Absurd," or something like that! This is one of those we read: The School for Wives. I don't believe I've ever read the following, but the review I read, which follows, makes it look like something I would like: Tartuffe: A Comedy in Five Acts.

Guest Review by Nick Capodice from Boston, USA Tartuffe: A Comedy in Five Acts, by Moliere. Classy burlesque This play will keep you up all night. WARNING! This cornucopia of lechery, blasphemy and hypocracy has been found to be an addiction for the adult mind! Before you know it, you will have a Moliere monkey on your back, begging you to obtain more of this spectacular playwright's work. The play is a sordid tale of a "religious man" who comes into a bourgeois household and wreaks absolute bedlam. Tartuffe is the name of this man of the cloth (though he would prefer to have no cloth on whatsoever) who sparks this hilarious story. However, don't let the idea of farcical pinchings and burlesque tendencies fool you, for underneath all of that is a shining and thought-provoking literary work that is still revered today. It was the first play to ask questions about the undertones of staunch religion. The principle of having a monk as a villian has not been so well told since Rasputin. To add to the delightfully sinister plot, the play is written in the elegant verse of Moliere. Do not be put-upon by rhyming couplets! In this translation, the words begin to roll off the tongue and the brain in an almost watercolor manner, painting imagery on the canvas of your mind in a soothing and relaxing manner. And as for actors, I could not imagine a play with more vivid characters and witty dialogue. It is not stale or dusty as so many translations are, but has kept the freshness and zing over the centuries. If you want to keep yourself awake at night, or want to send the dinner guests packing, whip out Tartuffe and watch the eyes bulge. And perhaps some tips can be taken from old Tartuffe, for Moliere reminds us all that the unattainable is often percieved as the most desirable. Oh, and don't leave it around the kids.

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Animal Farm
1984

Click here to check out this very good site devoted to the book Animal Farm.

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Catcher in the Rye

Don't tell me you haven't read it!

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No Exit and Three Other Plays
I remember the play "No Exit" from school. Three people are trapped in a room together, unaware that they are all dead and sentenced to eternal torment. Each takes turns being aligned with one of the others while the third is left out. Reminds me of some situations with roommates!

Links:

• Jean Paul Sartre
  Biography, Commentary, Chronology, Works, Quotes, Resources.
• Biographical Information
  and list of selected works.

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Frankenstein,

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Guest Review by James Hufnagel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, A great lesson encapsulated in a great work. People today are inclined to forget about the pleasures and contentedness one can gain through the enjoyment of the less spectacular occurences of everyday life. Read One Day in the Life... and you won't anymore. Solzhenitsyn shows that even under the most terrible conditions can a human being find pleasurable things, things to be grateful for. We here in America believe that a contented soul is encapsulated in wealth, Ivan Denisovich understands that it is really found in the richness of our own lives, no matter how horrible our circumstances may be. This book is a must read for anyone that wants understand how spectacular their life really is... after all if Ivan Denisovich achieved fulfillment in the Gulag, shouldn't we be able to find so much more in the richness of freedom?

This is the first book by this author, which tells the story of one day in the life of a man at a labor camp in Siberia. Also:

Cancer Ward
The Gulag Archipelago:1918-1956

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Dracula,

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Uncle Tom's Cabin

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"All happy families are like one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

From Anna Karenina.

Also:

War & Peace

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Candide

This fast-paced and funny story shows how its main character is stripped of his belief that the lot of humans is dependent upon a cosmic plan in which "all is for the best," which he had been taught as a boy.

The full text of this book is available on-line at Banned Books.

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