C L A S S I C S
15 stories
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) (Completed) by ThomasHardy
Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891) (Completed)
ThomasHardy
  • Reads 84,782
  • Votes 2,457
  • Parts 59
Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891 and in book form in 1892. Though now considered a major nineteenth-century English novel and possibly Hardy's fictional masterpiece, Tess of the d'Urbervilles received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England.
Frankenstein (1818) by MaryShelley
Frankenstein (1818)
MaryShelley
  • Reads 282,633
  • Votes 6,905
  • Parts 28
"Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" is about an eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment.
Emma (1815) by JaneAusten
Emma (1815)
JaneAusten
  • Reads 1,391,557
  • Votes 14,734
  • Parts 55
Emma Woodhouse, aged 20 at the start of the novel, is a young, beautiful, witty, and privileged woman in Regency England. She lives on the fictional estate of Hartfield in Surrey in the village of Highbury with her elderly widowed father, a hypochondriac who is excessively concerned for the health and safety of his loved ones. Emma's friend and only critic is the gentlemanly George Knightley, her neighbour from the adjacent estate of Donwell, and the brother of her elder sister Isabella's husband, John. As the novel opens, Emma has just attended the wedding of Miss Taylor, her best friend and former governess. Having introduced Miss Taylor to her future husband, Mr. Weston, Emma takes credit for their marriage, and decides that she rather likes matchmaking.
Little Women (1880) by LouisaMayAlcott
Little Women (1880)
LouisaMayAlcott
  • Reads 677,986
  • Votes 15,881
  • Parts 47
"Little Women" follows the lives of four sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March – and is loosely based on the author's childhood experiences with her three sisters.
Macbeth by WilliamShakespeare
Macbeth
WilliamShakespeare
  • Reads 207,873
  • Votes 4,163
  • Parts 29
"Macbeth" tells the story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth who receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia, and he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler as he is forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of arrogance, madness, and death. Cover by @newsies-
Anna Karenina by LeoTolstoy
Anna Karenina
LeoTolstoy
  • Reads 1,422,670
  • Votes 29,517
  • 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.
Great Expectations (1861) by CharlesDickens
Great Expectations (1861)
CharlesDickens
  • Reads 1,399,343
  • Votes 12,015
  • Parts 60
On Christmas Eve, around 1812, Pip, an orphan who is about six years old, encounters an escaped convict in the village churchyard while visiting the graves of his mother, father, and siblings. The convict scares Pip into stealing food and a file to grind away his shackles, from the home he shares with his abusive older sister and her kind, passive husband Joe Gargery, a blacksmith. The next day, soldiers recapture the convict while he is engaged in a fight with another convict; the two are returned to the prison ships from which they escaped...
The Count of Monte Cristo (1845) (Completed) by AlexandreDumas
The Count of Monte Cristo (1845) (Completed)
AlexandreDumas
  • Reads 283,690
  • 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
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) by LewisCarroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
LewisCarroll
  • Reads 1,238,732
  • 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.
Wuthering Heights (1847) by EmilyBronte
Wuthering Heights (1847)
EmilyBronte
  • Reads 1,978,914
  • Votes 21,507
  • Parts 34
Wuthering Heights is a wild, passionate story of the intense and almost demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted by Catherine's father. After Mr Earnshaw's death, Heathcliff is bullied and humiliated by Catherine's brother Hindley and wrongly believing that his love for Catherine is not reciprocated, leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return years later as a wealthy and polished man. He proceeds to exact a terrible revenge for his former miseries. The action of the story is chaotic and unremittingly violent, but the accomplished handling of a complex structure, the evocative descriptions of the lonely moorland setting and the poetic grandeur of vision combine to make this unique novel a masterpiece of English literature.