The Classics
28 stories
THE TIME MACHINE (Completed) by hgwells
THE TIME MACHINE (Completed)
hgwells
  • Reads 103,446
  • Votes 1,423
  • Parts 13
The Time Machine is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 and written as a frame narrative. Wells is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposely and selectively forwards or backward in time. The term "time machine", coined by Wells, is now almost universally used to refer to such a vehicle. The Time Machine has been adapted into three feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It has also indirectly inspired many more works of fiction in many media productions.
Anna Karenina by LeoTolstoy
Anna Karenina
LeoTolstoy
  • Reads 1,422,642
  • Votes 29,516
  • Parts 239
"Anna Karenina" is the tragedy of married aristocrat and socialite Anna Karenina and her affair with the affluent Count Vronsky. The story starts when she arrives in the midst of a family broken up by her brother's unbridled womanizing—something that prefigures her own later situation, though with less tolerance for her by others.
A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by CharlesDickens
A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
CharlesDickens
  • Reads 360,802
  • Votes 4,756
  • Parts 46
The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events. The most notable are Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a former French aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Carton is a dissipated English barrister who endeavors to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife. Cover art done by @orangedusk
The Secret Garden (Completed) by FrancesEHBurnett
The Secret Garden (Completed)
FrancesEHBurnett
  • Reads 39,186
  • Votes 1,768
  • Parts 27
The Secret Garden is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published as a book in 1911 after a version was published as an American magazine serial beginning in 1910. Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels and is considered a classic of English children's literature. Several stage and film adaptations have been made.
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV (Completed) by FydorDostoevsky
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV (Completed)
FydorDostoevsky
  • Reads 19,590
  • Votes 741
  • Parts 96
The Brothers Karamazov, also translated as The Karamazov Brothers, is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger from January 1879 to November 1880. The Brothers Karamazov is a passionate philosophical novel set in 19th-century Russia, that enters deeply into the ethical debates of God, free will, and morality. It is a spiritual drama of moral struggles concerning faith, doubt, judgment, and reason, set against a modernizing Russia, with a plot which revolves around the subject of patricide. Dostoevsky composed much of the novel in Staraya Russa, which inspired the main setting. Since its publication, it has been acclaimed as one of the supreme achievements in world literature.
The Count of Monte Cristo (1845) (Completed) by AlexandreDumas
The Count of Monte Cristo (1845) (Completed)
AlexandreDumas
  • Reads 283,681
  • Votes 7,398
  • Parts 115
"The Count of Monte Cristo" focuses on a man who is wrongfully imprisoned, escapes from jail, acquires a fortune and sets about getting revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment. However, his plans have devastating consequences for the innocent as well as the guilty. Cover by xflowerpetalsx
LES MISERABLES - VOL 1- FANTINE (Completed) by VictorHugo
LES MISERABLES - VOL 1- FANTINE (Completed)
VictorHugo
  • Reads 20,212
  • Votes 904
  • Parts 71
Fantine is a fictional character in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Misérables. She is a young orphaned grisette in Paris who becomes pregnant by a rich student. After he abandons her, she is forced to look after their child, Cosette, on her own. Originally a pretty and naïve girl, Fantine is eventually forced by circumstances to become a prostitute, selling her hair and front teeth, losing her beauty and health. The money she earns is sent to support her daughter. Fantine became an archetype of self-abnegation and devoted motherhood. Possibly due to her status as an orphan, Hugo never labels her with a surname. She has been portrayed by many actresses in stage and screen versions of the story and has been depicted in works of art. Cover by: @Theygotgone
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) by LewisCarroll
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871)
LewisCarroll
  • Reads 71,920
  • Votes 1,987
  • Parts 12
"Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There" is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The themes and settings of Through the Looking-Glass make it a kind of mirror image of Wonderland: the first book begins outdoors, in the warm month of May (4 May), uses frequent changes in size as a plot device, and draws on the imagery of playing cards; the second opens indoors on a snowy, wintry night exactly six months later, on 4 November (the day before Guy Fawkes Night), uses frequent changes in time and spatial directions as a plot device, and draws on the imagery of chess.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) by LewisCarroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
LewisCarroll
  • Reads 1,238,726
  • Votes 13,038
  • Parts 12
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children.
THE ODYSSEY (Completed) by Homer
THE ODYSSEY (Completed)
Homer
  • Reads 23,072
  • Votes 268
  • Parts 25
The Odyssey (Greek: Ὀδύσσεια Odýsseia] in Classical Attic) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The Odyssey is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second-oldest extant work of Western literature; the Iliad is the oldest. Scholars believe the Odyssey was composed near the end of the 8th century BC, somewhere in Ionia, the Greek coastal region of Anatolia. The poem mainly focuses on the Greek hero Odysseus (known as Ulysses in Roman myths), king of Ithaca, and his journey home after the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed Odysseus has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres (Greek: Μνηστῆρες) or Proci, who compete for Penelope's hand in marriage.