No matter what anyone says, classics will forever be my fav genre to read. They’re always the most meaningful and beautiful, and are never failing to sweep me to other places more than anything I read. Thank you for romanticizing them for me and give me motivation to read them Emma!
Yes it's good to read the classics but so many of them are problematic given the time period they were written in. A lot have racism and xenophobia. Just have to keep that in mind when reading them.
@@aimeea8404 I think contemporary literature is way more problematic. And let's be honest, there is a reason classics have survived time, and IT'S NOT because of the influence of racism, colonialism,... . It's because they carry so much literary value.
War and peace is great. 1. Get Maude translation. 2. Printout list of all characters to refer to. Names are confusing since many characters have nickname, first name and family name. Also keeping Dolokov and Denisov apart drove me crazy (nothing alike, just because start with D).
@@zahraajassim5166 Oooh nice list - hope u finish them all! My (very) ambitious Classics TBR for this year includes: 1. War and Peace 2. Rebecca 3. The Three Musketeers 4. The Faerie Queene 5. The Turn of the Screw 6. The Hunchback of Notre Dame 7. Lolita (😬- in the mood to add a little extra controversy to the mix...) 8. Crime and Punishment
I love you most ardently: Anne of Green Gables, First Love, Letters to a Young Poet, Paradise Lost Tattoo it on my face: The Prophet, Astrophel and Stella, The Book of Images, Julius Caesar What excellent boiled potatoes: Sonnets from the Portuguese, Dante’s Inferno, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Alienist, Beowulf, Anna Karenina, The Faerie Queene, The Haunting of Hill House, Christmas Carol Thank you for the trauma: War and Peace, Bengal Nights, King Lear, The Overcoat, Snow Country Cool story bro: Oliver twist, The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairytales, Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, Maurice, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Nicholas Nickleby, Beyond Good and Evil, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Childhood Boyhood Youth, Micromegas, Thou lump of foul deformity: Resurrection, The Pickwick Papers, Utopia
i’m sooo late but thank you so much, i’m not a native english speaker so sometimes it’s hard for me to understand titles when they’re said without being written (cause i can’t predict them like normal words :’)) so you’re kinda like very literally saving my life.
Hi Emma! As an Italian, I can confirm Dante's Inferno is really lyrical and most of all cryptic. It's written in a language Italians don't understand anymore. We're not able to read it by ourselves, that's why we only study it in school or university. I think the translation plays a huge role in how you perceived the book, for sure it has been simplified. Still glad you enjoyed it! It's always a pleasure to watch your videos :)
I wouldn't say we - as Italians - can't understand anymore, but I would rather say we don't speak it anymore. Dante's language is just an ancient version of modern Italian that, surprisingly, has a lot in common with our current language. Of course isn't always easy to grab the meaning, but it's not really because of the language but more because of his use of it and of the complexity of some of the images and metaphors he creates. Great book!
i speaker italian as a second language and i felt bad because i understood just some parts, hearing that you guys don't get it too makes me feel better
@@charo5320 we absolutely don't get it without a good commentary, don't feel bad about it: you should feel proud because you tried. There are so many italian books to read that are way easier that Dante!
Getting into more classics is definitely one of my top goals for this year. The recommendations on this channel fit my interest perfectly and it's just wonderful
omg im so happy you placed anne of green gables on your highest category! that story was a huge part of my childhood and is a story that will stick with me forever :) lovely vid
I’m currently reading The Insulted and Humiliated by Fyodor Dostoevsky, really enjoying it so far! I’m working my way up to Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov (so excited to read this one). Also read his short story An Honest Thief and really liked it as well
That's SO COOL! I've been reading crime and punishment ( I believe I'm upto part 5, I think) and what a gripping psychological thriller it is! Also, if you're really looking to further read dostoevsky I would highly suggest the brothers Karamazov, the idiot and his short stories 'white nights' and bobok.
Ever since I saw "Anne with an e" I had to put my hands on the books and I'm currently reading the forth one (Anne of Windy Poplars). I just love them so much they feel like a hug in form of a book, which btw I also feel reading Agatha Christie's books. It's pure coziness in my opinion, despite the murders you know
Personally I consider a classic to be anything written at least 50 years ago; I found it relieves a lot of pressure. Classics that are really popular or revered I consider to be cannon.
I think it's fairly common to consider modern/contemporary classics as anything written in the 20th century and beyond (like, Fitzgerald/Hemmingway/Kafka are often labeled as contemporary writers, in my exp at least).I know that it feels sorta odd, calling books that were written like 120 years ago 'classics', but relative to the long, long history of the novel/fictional narrative as concept in general, I guess it does make sense.
I'm glad to see that your opinion of Roger Ackroyd has improved. If you ever get the chance to reread it, you may come to appreciate even more the skill with which it was written. Information was withheld, but the reader was never lied to. Very enjoyable video, as always.
In Italy we study Dante for three years + at university and it’s honestly very interesting to see someone read it just out of pure interest and curiosity, when I spent so much school years deeply analyzing every line and being questioned about it 😂
Really like the format of your ranking, Emma, i think i'll use it for ranking my readings. My five stars classics of 2021 were Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, and The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux.
I read "The Muder of Roger Ackroyd" in my graduation and I fell in love with Agatha Christie books...this is my one of the best books I have read. Hey Emmie, this video is so cool...keep it up❤️👍
I’m currently reading War and Peace in Russian and it’s absolutely marvelous. Толстой’s original prose is super sharp and often hilarious. I have a long way to go but I’m enjoying every chapter so far. I’m also not a huge fan of Dickens. I think his writing is a bit too whimsical for my tastes.
I second this. I really liked reading Charles Dickens a Christmas Carol ( a very renowned story which partially shaped our idea of Christmas and has been retold countless of times) but his writing and prose as well as the sentences come across as being longer than the Mississippi River and I don't know they're just so circumlocutory about simple things really. I've been reading war and peace too ( I think I'm upto page 200) but I have left it on the sidelines really, in favour of crime and punishment and pride and prejudice. But I plan to get back to it later. War and peace is a very rewarding read, but it certainly has a very vast cast of characters and the book itself requires a lot of patient reading. I mean it is quite lengthy so that might put people off a bit.
Been reading classics ever since I discovered your channel and I’ve been enjoying my experience so far! Currently reading Phantom of the Opera and I’m looooving it 🖤🖤🖤 I also find that we have similar tastes with classics because I also read 100 Years of Solitude and Letters to a Young Poet and they both ended up in my top books of 2021 hehe might need to read War and Peace soon just because of how much you talk about it 😅🤗
turgenev's writing is exquisite. if you enjoyed first love i'd recommend reading diary of a superfluous man. your history with tolstoy is the same as mine tbh. the more i learned about the man the more i disliked him.
yes! thank you for the rec, might also try to tackle Fathers and Sons this year and ah glad someone feels the same way, it's been a bit difficult to properly articulate why for me!
@@emmiereads i hope you get to fathers and sons, i'd love to hear your thoughts. for me i think it was learning that maybe tolstoy wasn't a very good guy???? he treated his wife so poorly and she dedicated her whole life to him. it was so sad.
@@hyemiyah even though he was doing bad things to his wife, at the end of a day, he learned from the mistakes, changed and it made him one of the most outstanding philosophers. we all make mistakes. it was his journey. no wonder why pierre was his favourite character in war and peace.
u inspired me to read more classics! this year ive already read Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis and now im reading Voyage au centre de la Terre ( in portuguese tho hahaha )! and im loving it! hopefully ill soon get to the classic books u liked the most!! hope u r well! kisses :*
I read a handful of Ancient Greek plays, inc Medea. I read Twelfth Night. I agree with you on reading plays though. I always try and find a version to watch after I've read it. I read a lot of poetry but not sure how much of it was "classics". There was a fair chunk of books from around and about World War One. I did finished In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. After which I think I can read anything ever. I loved it. But it is a commitment. I also read The Phantom of the Opera, which is entirely down to watching this channel. I enjoyed it, which I wasn't necessarily expecting. So thank you for that.
Such a coincidence, I also liked Ann of Green gables very much and Emily,, First Love, and Rilke, nearly all of his writings, if I can understand them( the poetry). He has beautiful short stories like Brother & Sister etc.
Anne of green gables has the most special place in my heart, definitely recommend Emily of new moon if you haven't read it already, same kind of vibes, not as good but still great.
I had fond memories of reading The Pickwick Papers as a teenager, but when I re-read it for the first time at age 40 I found it a complete slog, and ended up putting it aside before I'd gotten halfway into it. That is very rare for me; if I like something I almost always like it forever, even if it might be for different reasons(like Catcher in the Rye). I read Three Men in a Boat for the first time as a teenager, but that one I've re-read multiple times over the years and always love it just as much as the first time. Very similar type of "bumbling upper-class twits travel around England" story, but somehow I enjoy this one much more than The Pickwick Papers.
this is awesome! one of my 2022 reading goals is to get at least 10 classics done. I don't know if Mark Twain's Huck Finn is considered a classic or not HELP! 😔 LOL! love this video idea emma super fun! xoxo 🥰📚
I picked up a copy of the Heaney Beowulf translation recently and I'm really looking forward to it. Also I read Paradise Lost for the first time in 2021 and now I'm scouring every bookstore I can find for a copy of William Empson's "Milton's God."
Loved this video! I have been looking for classics to read and now I have some! Btw totally off-topic, but plssssssssssss make more of the trying to solve Agatha Christie's mysteries! I loved it!
I loved Maurice, as I do all the other Forsters that I've read. I'd recommend the movie (with a young Hugh Grant!) and of course A Room with a View. Both ARWAV is one of my all-time favourite books- top 5 at least so would really recommend it, though if you didn't like Forster's writing itself I guess maybe not so much. I found his writing stunning in both.
I’m so happy that one of my native languages is German, so I can read Rainer Rilkes Poems In original language haha love him too ❤️ I would recommend you Thomas Mann, genius writer, One of my favourites. Rilke, Mann and Wilde my beloved
This was great! I’d love to see you do a video of the all time best audio books that you’ve read/listened to. I’ve seen you mention some that are particularly good on audio, from time to time. I’d be interested in seeing your favorites. 💚
this year marks my round three of me re-reading Anne of Green Gables! It's just so precious to me, and I guess you could also say that it's my one and only comfort book, and I'm so so glad you loved it. 💞
I'm catching up for the Dickens vs Tolstoy debate and so far I attempted Oliver Twist and read The Pickwick Papers and I was mildly horrified that I didn't love it because I love Charles Dickens. I'm rereading Anna Karinina in February and starting War and Peace so I'm looking forward to that. I also agree with you about Tolstoy. I read some of his later novellas and reading about him and how he treats his female characters just makes me not like him as a person but his early stuff has been great so far.
I love Agatha Christie, I read as many of her books as I can get my hands on. Roger Ackroyd is one of her best IMO. Also, Death on the Nile and The Clocks had my jaw-dropping
For Leo Tolstoy, theres a great podcast from 'Legacy with Whiskey' and she goes into the lives of famous writers! Really good you get their whole history, but I would highly recommend listening to her Leo Tolstoy episode because he himself has a drastic change, he's one person and then all of a sudden just completely changes and tries to give himself all these "rules" and becomes extreme in his views, I think this is after W&P - you may know this already but I think its a good thing to perceive about him and perhaps link which works are tied to which 'personality' of his :)
Ugh, thank you for choosing the best banger from my fave girlboss Lady Anne. I got to do that scene in theatre school and it was the best experience. My Richard was the kindest guy and it was so hard to get him to be creepy. We rehearsed for like 6 hours a day for a week. Good times.
emma you need to read "O espelho" by Machado de Assis, it's a short story by him and it's how you said it, scary and well written at times, also "Dom Casmurro" is probably his most famous book, an absolute classic
I tried first love by Turgeynev because of your video and I loved it! It was so short but oh my god the prose. It was angsty and dramatic but not in an annoying way like how Catcher in the Rye is. It was so out of my comfort zone because I normally read scifi, fantasy or history books but First Love was just gorgeous.
Snow country didn’t work for unfortunately and I was so shocked because of its ratings on Goodreads. Also, I’m reading Leave the World Behind upon your recommendation Emma, and oooooh, it’s already (on page 7) setting itself up to be eerie and twisted - everything I LOOVE 😍😍
good afternoon💛 I am very glad to see how you inspire as many people as possible to read the classic works of Russian classics, even I, living in Russia, was motivated to make this a goal for 2022⚡📚
My favourite piece of classic literature will likely always be Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables" (specifically the Norman Deny translation) It's a stonkin big boi of a book but I just love it so damn much
I really loved If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin, A Passage to India by E. M. Forster and Other Worlds by Teffi last year 💛 The classics on top of my 2022 TBR are Maurice, To the Lighthouse, The Importance of being Earnest and Invisible Cities
this year i want to make an effort read a few longer classics. i'm already reading east of eden and honestly flying through it. i also want to pick up don quixote, the iliad, and either anna karenina or war and peace
The classics I read in 2021 were: Haunting of Hill House (loved it) and We Have Always Lived In The Castle (also loved it, definitely in my top 5 favorite books of the year overall), The Time Machine and War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (The Time Machine was okay, War of the Worlds was pretty boring, I respect them both for being some of the first sci fi books though) The Mysterious Affair At Styles by Agatha Christie (pretty good, not my favorite Agatha Christie though), and finally The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (HATED it unfortunately, worst book I read overall in 2021 haha) I also tried starting Wuthering Heights but never finished, since school was getting really demanding at that point and I needed something easier to read. Hopefully planning on trying it again as well as some other more difficult classics this summer.
I find i enjoy modern classics and have also read we have always lived in the castle in the copy i read it had a information section and everyone in it was saying how idealic the ending was and all i thought was mericat ruined constances chances in life
Relieved to see another person who found The Turn of the Screw disappointing. I read classic horror short stories and that one is my nemesis lol. I enjoy the ghost encounters but the writing makes me want to throw the book across the room. "Sir Edmund Orme" is a much better option if you are ever interested in trying another ghost story by Henry James. But wouldn't recommend him overall for short horror stories of that kind - better to stick to writers like Edgar Allan Poe, M.R. James, F. Marion Crawford, Algernon Blackwood, Edith Wharton, and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.
Seeing Dante's Inferno in the "boiled potatoes" category breaks my heart. The thing about the Divine Comedy is that, like Shakespeare or Neruda, it must be read in the original language or it loses its magic. Plus Dante introduces more than two thousand different characters that come from the bible, the Koran, Italian history (especially Florence), mythologists and other contemporary writers; Here in Italy, we studied it for two years, during high school, and still I found it impossible reading by myself.
I'm an English speaker and I love The Divine Comedy. I read the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation and thought it was beautiful! I always feel a little bit crushed inside when people tell me they don't like it.
I absolutely agree with what you say about Tolstoy! I’m currently reading Anna Karenina and I’m really struggling because I just can’t accept so much moralising from a man who was ultimately an abusive husband. Some of the stuff he says in his books is also quite sexist and I understand that it was typical for the time period he lived in but… well, I simply can’t stand such attitude towards me and other women, no matter how well the book is written (and I’m reading in Russian). Besides, Tolstoy often repeats the same idea over and over again and it gets quite annoying after a while. And, as I said, knowing who he was irl, I just can’t trust him and I don’t believe that he himself was as good and nice and pure as he encouraged his readers to be. So yeah, I think that there are much better Russian authors like my love Chekhov, or Turgenev, or Anna Akhmatova (although she was a poet).
I tried first love and it was great. I think it’s a good story to introduce people to Russian literature as well since it’s easily comprehensible. Thanks for introducing me to some books!
I read the original version of Gogol’s Overcoat for a Russian literature class and I definitely agree, the end was just so hard hitting, and I thought the whole story was very well written too!
I am very disappointed that people only read the inferno. The book gets progressively better, and Purgatory is my personal favorite. They are all part of a larger epic, so I’ve never understood why people read only the first one. Also, you spoke about how Inferno wasn't as beautiful as you thought. This is generally seen as Dante's intentional writing style. The following two parts are much more attractive; this is not coincidental. I could never put the comedy in anything other than the highest tier.
My parents have a print of one quote from The Prophet that they got for their wedding and is now used as decoration in our toilets and it's so beautiful I know it by heart
20000 Leagues is fine silly spy story when read today, but was sci-fi when it was written. (You know in Around the world 80 Days Verne had to collect train maps and whatnot. So him getting close enough for submarines through similar nerdy research is fun.)
Ayee releasing a tier ranking video the same day as THE Emma must be a good sign! Rilke is at the top of my classics list because of you. Amazing video, as always :)
Nothing wrong with laughing at The Inferno! The Divine Comedy is many things, and one of the things it is - especially in The Inferno - is a satire. Many of the people he names in Hell would have been familiar people to his audience, including a couple of Popes. Imagine the audacity of writing the Pope into Hell in the 13th century...shock and laughter bound to follow
You should definetly read more of Turgenev. I got so excited when you mentioned him. He is one of my favourite, comfotable writers and from what Ive read so far, Fathers and Sons is definetly the best for me.
Hi Emma! I largely agree with your review of Inferno, I studied the Divine Comedy in university and it was confusing despite all the literary criticisms I read. I would urge you to read Dante's Purgatorio and Paradiso as well! Inferno wasn't meant to be read in isolation. You'll certainly be able to appreciate the themes and discern its influences better.
Time and the Wind (by Érico Veríssimo), A Canticle for Leibowitz (by Walter M. Miller Jr.) and The Tartar Steppe (by Dino Buzzati) were my favourite classics in 2021, I guess. I reread Pride and Prejudice, too, which is one of my favourite books of all time, but those three were all new to me.
By the way, they all fit in "thank you for the trauma", but Time and the Wind would also go in "I love you most ardently" and "tattoo it on my face". That's saying a lot, I'm super picky.
I have to agree with you on Maurice. I found it in a little library about 6 years ago and while I really wanting to like it, I found that somewhere in the second half of the book a bit tedious because one of the characters seemed to decline and it just felt stagnant.
I read ceasar i was shocked ..it was really emotinal and ..very manly book also about friendship and bravery ..and writing although it was translation was amazing
I rewatched the Sister Act movies on New Year's, and in Sister Act 2 Whoopi Goldberg's character recommends Letters to a Young Poet to Lauryn Hill's character and quotes from it. It made me realize that Rilke influenced me as a kid just from being referenced in that movie. But this is the first time I'd watched it since finding your channel, so I was like "EMMIE!!" 😂
this is the third video I watch of this style and my favorite, the categories are hilarious xD I want to start a booktube channel just to make one of these xD Kinda sad Klarna doesn't work in my country :( sounds super cool
Hi, Brazilian reader here. If you enjoy Machado de Assis and are looking for one of his best works, read Dom Casmurro...it is groundbreaking how he manages to even challenge your sense of personal judgment and reality. And, even more, than 100 years after its publication, Dom Casmurro is still a source material for a great amount of PhD thesis every year :)
I really threw myself into the classics this year. The first one I read was Little Women, which was cute and easy. Then I went straight to Crime and Punishment, which was... A leap to put it lightly. I feel like starting high, it just made it easier to read everything else. I recently finished the Count of Monte Cristo, and just started Don Quixote, and I think I can read anything at this point. One really dumb thing though, is I cannot seem to understand Jane Austen all that well. I'll get there.
Okay now, I am huge Fan of Edward Morgan Forster and Maurice. I just absolutely love his writing style and all the stories he tells, and for being a gay male myself, this book hit the spot. I especially loved the very last sentence and just also the cute stuff in the beginning and everything like what gay dudes used to do, just to survive and not being spotted, idk it´s one of my favourite books...
No matter what anyone says, classics will forever be my fav genre to read. They’re always the most meaningful and beautiful, and are never failing to sweep me to other places more than anything I read. Thank you for romanticizing them for me and give me motivation to read them Emma!
awe yes:') so much love!
Yes it's good to read the classics but so many of them are problematic given the time period they were written in. A lot have racism and xenophobia. Just have to keep that in mind when reading them.
*Moby Dick enters the chat*
@@Topdoggie7 Could not finish Moby dick as a child no matter how much I tried. Grew up and realized it was not me, it was Moby dick.
@@aimeea8404 I think contemporary literature is way more problematic. And let's be honest, there is a reason classics have survived time, and IT'S NOT because of the influence of racism, colonialism,... . It's because they carry so much literary value.
*Tolstoy writing resurrection* “I hope people like.”
A girl in the future “hate it.”
“I may be a zoomer but…I don’t zoom very fast” never have I related to something so deeply 🥲
Right! The difference between boomers and zoomers is zoomers know they can google their tech questions
@@tubeblower7391 and that 70% has crippling anxiety
This is so cool! Please do more tier lists, like characters, other genres, or just random things like the kind of tea you prefer. :)
I support that🤍
will do! :)
asmr tier list would be the bomb
I'm determined to finish at least 5 classic books this year....starting with War & Peace✨
Me too!!
1- The Secret Garden.
2- Emma.
3- Jane Eyre.
4- wuthering Heights.
5- The Return of the Native.
6- The Phantom of the Opera.
War and peace is great. 1. Get Maude translation. 2. Printout list of all characters to refer to. Names are confusing since many characters have nickname, first name and family name. Also keeping Dolokov and Denisov apart drove me crazy (nothing alike, just because start with D).
War and peace is literally one of the best books ever, so leave it for the end 🤧
You brave soul. Goodluck!
@@zahraajassim5166 Oooh nice list - hope u finish them all!
My (very) ambitious Classics TBR for this year includes:
1. War and Peace
2. Rebecca
3. The Three Musketeers
4. The Faerie Queene
5. The Turn of the Screw
6. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
7. Lolita (😬- in the mood to add a little extra controversy to the mix...)
8. Crime and Punishment
I love you most ardently: Anne of Green Gables, First Love, Letters to a Young Poet, Paradise Lost
Tattoo it on my face: The Prophet, Astrophel and Stella, The Book of Images, Julius Caesar
What excellent boiled potatoes: Sonnets from the Portuguese, Dante’s Inferno, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The Alienist, Beowulf, Anna Karenina, The Faerie Queene, The Haunting of Hill House, Christmas Carol
Thank you for the trauma: War and Peace, Bengal Nights, King Lear, The Overcoat, Snow Country
Cool story bro: Oliver twist, The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairytales, Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey, Maurice, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Nicholas Nickleby, Beyond Good and Evil, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Childhood Boyhood Youth, Micromegas,
Thou lump of foul deformity: Resurrection, The Pickwick Papers, Utopia
Thank u
Thank you !!
:)
Thank you so much 😊
i’m sooo late but thank you so much, i’m not a native english speaker so sometimes it’s hard for me to understand titles when they’re said without being written (cause i can’t predict them like normal words :’)) so you’re kinda like very literally saving my life.
Hi Emma! As an Italian, I can confirm Dante's Inferno is really lyrical and most of all cryptic. It's written in a language Italians don't understand anymore. We're not able to read it by ourselves, that's why we only study it in school or university. I think the translation plays a huge role in how you perceived the book, for sure it has been simplified. Still glad you enjoyed it! It's always a pleasure to watch your videos :)
I wouldn't say we - as Italians - can't understand anymore, but I would rather say we don't speak it anymore. Dante's language is just an ancient version of modern Italian that, surprisingly, has a lot in common with our current language. Of course isn't always easy to grab the meaning, but it's not really because of the language but more because of his use of it and of the complexity of some of the images and metaphors he creates. Great book!
i speaker italian as a second language and i felt bad because i understood just some parts, hearing that you guys don't get it too makes me feel better
@@charo5320 we absolutely don't get it without a good commentary, don't feel bad about it: you should feel proud because you tried. There are so many italian books to read that are way easier that Dante!
Getting into more classics is definitely one of my top goals for this year. The recommendations on this channel fit my interest perfectly and it's just wonderful
so glad!
I totally agree with you
emmie you literally made me fall in love with classics.
i just love it how emma encourages people to read more classic lit with her videos!!❤️
I love how this tier system isn’t just going from what you loved to hated
Yeah it’s fantastic
omg im so happy you placed anne of green gables on your highest category! that story was a huge part of my childhood and is a story that will stick with me forever :) lovely vid
I’m currently reading The Insulted and Humiliated by Fyodor Dostoevsky, really enjoying it so far! I’m working my way up to Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov (so excited to read this one). Also read his short story An Honest Thief and really liked it as well
That's SO COOL! I've been reading crime and punishment ( I believe I'm upto part 5, I think) and what a gripping psychological thriller it is! Also, if you're really looking to further read dostoevsky I would highly suggest the brothers Karamazov, the idiot and his short stories 'white nights' and bobok.
Ever since I saw "Anne with an e" I had to put my hands on the books and I'm currently reading the forth one (Anne of Windy Poplars). I just love them so much they feel like a hug in form of a book, which btw I also feel reading Agatha Christie's books. It's pure coziness in my opinion, despite the murders you know
i would LOVE a video about modern classics, because I am really confused what books are considered a modern classics
Personally I consider a classic to be anything written at least 50 years ago; I found it relieves a lot of pressure. Classics that are really popular or revered I consider to be cannon.
I think it's fairly common to consider modern/contemporary classics as anything written in the 20th century and beyond (like, Fitzgerald/Hemmingway/Kafka are often labeled as contemporary writers, in my exp at least).I know that it feels sorta odd, calling books that were written like 120 years ago 'classics', but relative to the long, long history of the novel/fictional narrative as concept in general, I guess it does make sense.
The Hunger Games and the Harry Potter series for sure
I'm glad to see that your opinion of Roger Ackroyd has improved. If you ever get the chance to reread it, you may come to appreciate even more the skill with which it was written. Information was withheld, but the reader was never lied to. Very enjoyable video, as always.
There's something so soothing about classics, no matter their subject matter. Thanks for tgis ranking! 😊
Even 1984?
@@samdobie6748 hahahah yes, even 1984 😆
In Italy we study Dante for three years + at university and it’s honestly very interesting to see someone read it just out of pure interest and curiosity, when I spent so much school years deeply analyzing every line and being questioned about it 😂
Really like the format of your ranking, Emma, i think i'll use it for ranking my readings. My five stars classics of 2021 were Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, and The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux.
woo phantom made it!!
Well I must say, these are some pretty deep cuts, as far as classics are concerned. Some of these I ain’t never even heard of!
I love reading classics. It really helped to improve my English.
I read "The Muder of Roger Ackroyd" in my graduation and I fell in love with Agatha Christie books...this is my one of the best books I have read.
Hey Emmie, this video is so cool...keep it up❤️👍
i love watching these tier list ranking videos and hope you do another one soon ✨💕
I’m currently reading War and Peace in Russian and it’s absolutely marvelous. Толстой’s original prose is super sharp and often hilarious. I have a long way to go but I’m enjoying every chapter so far.
I’m also not a huge fan of Dickens. I think his writing is a bit too whimsical for my tastes.
I second this. I really liked reading Charles Dickens a Christmas Carol ( a very renowned story which partially shaped our idea of Christmas and has been retold countless of times) but his writing and prose as well as the sentences come across as being longer than the Mississippi River and I don't know they're just so circumlocutory about simple things really.
I've been reading war and peace too ( I think I'm upto page 200) but I have left it on the sidelines really, in favour of crime and punishment and pride and prejudice. But I plan to get back to it later. War and peace is a very rewarding read, but it certainly has a very vast cast of characters and the book itself requires a lot of patient reading. I mean it is quite lengthy so that might put people off a bit.
Been reading classics ever since I discovered your channel and I’ve been enjoying my experience so far! Currently reading Phantom of the Opera and I’m looooving it 🖤🖤🖤 I also find that we have similar tastes with classics because I also read 100 Years of Solitude and Letters to a Young Poet and they both ended up in my top books of 2021 hehe might need to read War and Peace soon just because of how much you talk about it 😅🤗
excited for this one!!!! i've been reading more and more classics now because of your and carolyn marie's channels and i am loving every second of it!
turgenev's writing is exquisite. if you enjoyed first love i'd recommend reading diary of a superfluous man.
your history with tolstoy is the same as mine tbh. the more i learned about the man the more i disliked him.
yes! thank you for the rec, might also try to tackle Fathers and Sons this year and ah glad someone feels the same way, it's been a bit difficult to properly articulate why for me!
@@emmiereads i hope you get to fathers and sons, i'd love to hear your thoughts. for me i think it was learning that maybe tolstoy wasn't a very good guy???? he treated his wife so poorly and she dedicated her whole life to him. it was so sad.
@@hyemiyah even though he was doing bad things to his wife, at the end of a day, he learned from the mistakes, changed and it made him one of the most outstanding philosophers. we all make mistakes. it was his journey. no wonder why pierre was his favourite character in war and peace.
u inspired me to read more classics! this year ive already read Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis and now im reading Voyage au centre de la Terre ( in portuguese tho hahaha )! and im loving it!
hopefully ill soon get to the classic books u liked the most!! hope u r well! kisses :*
I read a handful of Ancient Greek plays, inc Medea. I read Twelfth Night. I agree with you on reading plays though. I always try and find a version to watch after I've read it. I read a lot of poetry but not sure how much of it was "classics". There was a fair chunk of books from around and about World War One. I did finished In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. After which I think I can read anything ever. I loved it. But it is a commitment. I also read The Phantom of the Opera, which is entirely down to watching this channel. I enjoyed it, which I wasn't necessarily expecting. So thank you for that.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Peter Pan were my favorite classics from 2021. Thanks for the list, it gave me lots of ideas for this year!
Such a coincidence, I also liked Ann of Green gables very much and Emily,, First Love, and Rilke, nearly all of his writings, if I can understand them( the poetry). He has beautiful short stories like Brother & Sister etc.
Anne of green gables has the most special place in my heart, definitely recommend Emily of new moon if you haven't read it already, same kind of vibes, not as good but still great.
No one talks about how good Anne of Green Gables is. I love that book more than myslef.
Maurice hits harder when you’re gay, because you can relate to it and then cry tears of joy when you reach that ✨blessed ending✨
I had fond memories of reading The Pickwick Papers as a teenager, but when I re-read it for the first time at age 40 I found it a complete slog, and ended up putting it aside before I'd gotten halfway into it. That is very rare for me; if I like something I almost always like it forever, even if it might be for different reasons(like Catcher in the Rye).
I read Three Men in a Boat for the first time as a teenager, but that one I've re-read multiple times over the years and always love it just as much as the first time. Very similar type of "bumbling upper-class twits travel around England" story, but somehow I enjoy this one much more than The Pickwick Papers.
I’ve recently read “first love” and was very surprised by that bdsm twist
I LOVE THAT SOME OF EMMAS CRITERIAS ARE QUOTES FROM PRIDE AND PREJUDICE!
My favorite Pride and Prejudice moment is when Elizabeth says, "Cool story bro."
@@aaryanbhardwaj40 they said *some* 😭
this is awesome! one of my 2022 reading goals is to get at least 10 classics done. I don't know if Mark Twain's Huck Finn is considered a classic or not HELP! 😔 LOL! love this video idea emma super fun! xoxo 🥰📚
Huckleberry Finn is totally a classic! And that sounds like an amazing goal! Mine is to read a few Dickens books this year. Good luck to you!
@@elizabeth-098 thank you Faith! 🥰 YES! One of the greats, Dickens yay! that's is amazing our reading diet will be so rich this year! 😊
HF: def a classic!!
@@jmsl910 thanks so much for confirming, sometimes I truly never know if some books fall into a particular category LOL! 😅
Yes it's a classic. I had to read it in middle school.
My favourite classic is Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. I think it's so underrated. I enjoy rereading it every year. ♡
I picked up a copy of the Heaney Beowulf translation recently and I'm really looking forward to it. Also I read Paradise Lost for the first time in 2021 and now I'm scouring every bookstore I can find for a copy of William Empson's "Milton's God."
Loved this video! I have been looking for classics to read and now I have some!
Btw totally off-topic, but plssssssssssss make more of the trying to solve Agatha Christie's mysteries! I loved it!
I loved Maurice, as I do all the other Forsters that I've read. I'd recommend the movie (with a young Hugh Grant!) and of course A Room with a View. Both ARWAV is one of my all-time favourite books- top 5 at least so would really recommend it, though if you didn't like Forster's writing itself I guess maybe not so much. I found his writing stunning in both.
I grew up with LM Montgomery. Tied for first with Anne of Green Gables, is The Blue Castle. TBC is a very SWEET read!
Just poured some coffee, so ready for a long video! I absolutely love tier lists!
I’m so happy that one of my native languages is German, so I can read Rainer Rilkes Poems In original language haha love him too ❤️ I would recommend you Thomas Mann, genius writer, One of my favourites. Rilke, Mann and Wilde my beloved
This was great! I’d love to see you do a video of the all time best audio books that you’ve read/listened to. I’ve seen you mention some that are particularly good on audio, from time to time. I’d be interested in seeing your favorites. 💚
What I love the most about your work is absolutely your devotion and passion for the classics. I always appreciate that. I love you!!!
this year marks my round three of me re-reading Anne of Green Gables! It's just so precious to me, and I guess you could also say that it's my one and only comfort book, and I'm so so glad you loved it. 💞
I'm catching up for the Dickens vs Tolstoy debate and so far I attempted Oliver Twist and read The Pickwick Papers and I was mildly horrified that I didn't love it because I love Charles Dickens. I'm rereading Anna Karinina in February and starting War and Peace so I'm looking forward to that. I also agree with you about Tolstoy. I read some of his later novellas and reading about him and how he treats his female characters just makes me not like him as a person but his early stuff has been great so far.
I love Agatha Christie, I read as many of her books as I can get my hands on. Roger Ackroyd is one of her best IMO. Also, Death on the Nile and The Clocks had my jaw-dropping
Finally some Prince Edward Island representation 😂 I feel seen my neighbours distant (long dead) relative knew Lucy Maud Montgomery well.
that’s so cool!!!!
You are incredible. Love this so much!!! You keep adding books to my list and joy to my life! ❤️✨
For Leo Tolstoy, theres a great podcast from 'Legacy with Whiskey' and she goes into the lives of famous writers! Really good you get their whole history, but I would highly recommend listening to her Leo Tolstoy episode because he himself has a drastic change, he's one person and then all of a sudden just completely changes and tries to give himself all these "rules" and becomes extreme in his views, I think this is after W&P - you may know this already but I think its a good thing to perceive about him and perhaps link which works are tied to which 'personality' of his :)
Ugh, thank you for choosing the best banger from my fave girlboss Lady Anne. I got to do that scene in theatre school and it was the best experience. My Richard was the kindest guy and it was so hard to get him to be creepy. We rehearsed for like 6 hours a day for a week. Good times.
emma you need to read "O espelho" by Machado de Assis, it's a short story by him and it's how you said it, scary and well written at times, also "Dom Casmurro" is probably his most famous book, an absolute classic
I don’t think is translated yet.
@@Sherlika_Gregori it should be since it's one of his most famous short stories, but I've never searched for it since I'm brazilian
My favorite classic that I read in 2021 was Fahrenheit 451. I especially liked the double wording.
I tried first love by Turgeynev because of your video and I loved it! It was so short but oh my god the prose. It was angsty and dramatic but not in an annoying way like how Catcher in the Rye is. It was so out of my comfort zone because I normally read scifi, fantasy or history books but First Love was just gorgeous.
Snow country didn’t work for unfortunately and I was so shocked because of its ratings on Goodreads.
Also, I’m reading Leave the World Behind upon your recommendation Emma, and oooooh, it’s already (on page 7) setting itself up to be eerie and twisted - everything I LOOVE 😍😍
Omg your outfit 😍😍😍 And I love your tier ranking categories!! Definitely gonna be using this to pick up future classics 💕
good afternoon💛 I am very glad to see how you inspire as many people as possible to read the classic works of Russian classics, even I, living in Russia, was motivated to make this a goal for 2022⚡📚
Now I know what "ardently" means. One of my new favorite words, I think. Thank you for that
Really enjoyed your insights and you being honest and critical but also gentle
My favourite piece of classic literature will likely always be Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables" (specifically the Norman Deny translation)
It's a stonkin big boi of a book but I just love it so damn much
I really loved If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin, A Passage to India by E. M. Forster and Other Worlds by Teffi last year 💛 The classics on top of my 2022 TBR are Maurice, To the Lighthouse, The Importance of being Earnest and Invisible Cities
this year i want to make an effort read a few longer classics. i'm already reading east of eden and honestly flying through it. i also want to pick up don quixote, the iliad, and either anna karenina or war and peace
The classics I read in 2021 were: Haunting of Hill House (loved it) and We Have Always Lived In The Castle (also loved it, definitely in my top 5 favorite books of the year overall), The Time Machine and War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (The Time Machine was okay, War of the Worlds was pretty boring, I respect them both for being some of the first sci fi books though) The Mysterious Affair At Styles by Agatha Christie (pretty good, not my favorite Agatha Christie though), and finally The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (HATED it unfortunately, worst book I read overall in 2021 haha) I also tried starting Wuthering Heights but never finished, since school was getting really demanding at that point and I needed something easier to read. Hopefully planning on trying it again as well as some other more difficult classics this summer.
I find i enjoy modern classics and have also read we have always lived in the castle in the copy i read it had a information section and everyone in it was saying how idealic the ending was and all i thought was mericat ruined constances chances in life
Relieved to see another person who found The Turn of the Screw disappointing. I read classic horror short stories and that one is my nemesis lol. I enjoy the ghost encounters but the writing makes me want to throw the book across the room. "Sir Edmund Orme" is a much better option if you are ever interested in trying another ghost story by Henry James. But wouldn't recommend him overall for short horror stories of that kind - better to stick to writers like Edgar Allan Poe, M.R. James, F. Marion Crawford, Algernon Blackwood, Edith Wharton, and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.
"Very subtle, very quiet, but as devastating as the fallen snow" whoa very poetic of you miss Emmie
Not sure if you've done this but you should do a tier ranking for book tropes. I love watching those
Seeing Dante's Inferno in the "boiled potatoes" category breaks my heart. The thing about the Divine Comedy is that, like Shakespeare or Neruda, it must be read in the original language or it loses its magic. Plus Dante introduces more than two thousand different characters that come from the bible, the Koran, Italian history (especially Florence), mythologists and other contemporary writers; Here in Italy, we studied it for two years, during high school, and still I found it impossible reading by myself.
As an Italian lit student I have to admit it breaks my heart as well. lol I would definitely tattoo it on my face, some lines are just gorgeous.
I'm an English speaker and I love The Divine Comedy. I read the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation and thought it was beautiful! I always feel a little bit crushed inside when people tell me they don't like it.
I absolutely agree with what you say about Tolstoy! I’m currently reading Anna Karenina and I’m really struggling because I just can’t accept so much moralising from a man who was ultimately an abusive husband. Some of the stuff he says in his books is also quite sexist and I understand that it was typical for the time period he lived in but… well, I simply can’t stand such attitude towards me and other women, no matter how well the book is written (and I’m reading in Russian). Besides, Tolstoy often repeats the same idea over and over again and it gets quite annoying after a while. And, as I said, knowing who he was irl, I just can’t trust him and I don’t believe that he himself was as good and nice and pure as he encouraged his readers to be. So yeah, I think that there are much better Russian authors like my love Chekhov, or Turgenev, or Anna Akhmatova (although she was a poet).
I tried first love and it was great. I think it’s a good story to introduce people to Russian literature as well since it’s easily comprehensible.
Thanks for introducing me to some books!
I read the original version of Gogol’s Overcoat for a Russian literature class and I definitely agree, the end was just so hard hitting, and I thought the whole story was very well written too!
I am very disappointed that people only read the inferno. The book gets progressively better, and Purgatory is my personal favorite. They are all part of a larger epic, so I’ve never understood why people read only the first one. Also, you spoke about how Inferno wasn't as beautiful as you thought. This is generally seen as Dante's intentional writing style. The following two parts are much more attractive; this is not coincidental. I could never put the comedy in anything other than the highest tier.
This was such a brilliant concept?!! I loved every little bit of this video most ardently.
My parents have a print of one quote from The Prophet that they got for their wedding and is now used as decoration in our toilets and it's so beautiful I know it by heart
20000 Leagues is fine silly spy story when read today, but was sci-fi when it was written. (You know in Around the world 80 Days Verne had to collect train maps and whatnot. So him getting close enough for submarines through similar nerdy research is fun.)
I love this layout for watching how you rank them!! :)
Ayee releasing a tier ranking video the same day as THE Emma must be a good sign! Rilke is at the top of my classics list because of you. Amazing video, as always :)
Nothing wrong with laughing at The Inferno! The Divine Comedy is many things, and one of the things it is - especially in The Inferno - is a satire. Many of the people he names in Hell would have been familiar people to his audience, including a couple of Popes. Imagine the audacity of writing the Pope into Hell in the 13th century...shock and laughter bound to follow
You should definetly read more of Turgenev. I got so excited when you mentioned him. He is one of my favourite, comfotable writers and from what Ive read so far, Fathers and Sons is definetly the best for me.
Astrophel and Stella is just beautiful. When I first read it somewhere I thought it was written in the 18e
So glad to see machado de assis in your list, he's our jewel
Hi Emma! I largely agree with your review of Inferno, I studied the Divine Comedy in university and it was confusing despite all the literary criticisms I read. I would urge you to read Dante's Purgatorio and Paradiso as well! Inferno wasn't meant to be read in isolation. You'll certainly be able to appreciate the themes and discern its influences better.
I tried reading Inferno on my commute as a 20-year old with no literary or religious education, and I'd never felt more out of my depth with a book! 😄
Time and the Wind (by Érico Veríssimo), A Canticle for Leibowitz (by Walter M. Miller Jr.) and The Tartar Steppe (by Dino Buzzati) were my favourite classics in 2021, I guess. I reread Pride and Prejudice, too, which is one of my favourite books of all time, but those three were all new to me.
By the way, they all fit in "thank you for the trauma", but Time and the Wind would also go in "I love you most ardently" and "tattoo it on my face". That's saying a lot, I'm super picky.
I have to agree with you on Maurice. I found it in a little library about 6 years ago and while I really wanting to like it, I found that somewhere in the second half of the book a bit tedious because one of the characters seemed to decline and it just felt stagnant.
I read ceasar i was shocked ..it was really emotinal and ..very manly book also about friendship and bravery ..and writing although it was translation was amazing
i was just thinking you had the same smile as anne and then you went to talk about anne of green gables omg
It is so amazing that you read Machado, i am brazilian and i highly recomend reading his novels!
I rewatched the Sister Act movies on New Year's, and in Sister Act 2 Whoopi Goldberg's character recommends Letters to a Young Poet to Lauryn Hill's character and quotes from it. It made me realize that Rilke influenced me as a kid just from being referenced in that movie. But this is the first time I'd watched it since finding your channel, so I was like "EMMIE!!" 😂
this is the third video I watch of this style and my favorite, the categories are hilarious xD I want to start a booktube channel just to make one of these xD
Kinda sad Klarna doesn't work in my country :( sounds super cool
classics are truly the pinnacle of my life 🤍😋
My fav classics for 2021.. Wuthering Heights and A Little Princess
I don't like reading plays either, but they can be fun to read out loud in class (assuming all students who don't want to read don't have to).
Hi, Brazilian reader here.
If you enjoy Machado de Assis and are looking for one of his best works, read Dom Casmurro...it is groundbreaking how he manages to even challenge your sense of personal judgment and reality. And, even more, than 100 years after its publication, Dom Casmurro is still a source material for a great amount of PhD thesis every year :)
I really threw myself into the classics this year. The first one I read was Little Women, which was cute and easy. Then I went straight to Crime and Punishment, which was... A leap to put it lightly. I feel like starting high, it just made it easier to read everything else. I recently finished the Count of Monte Cristo, and just started Don Quixote, and I think I can read anything at this point. One really dumb thing though, is I cannot seem to understand Jane Austen all that well. I'll get there.
Have you read "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" already? That's his best work IMHO.
absolutely adored maurice bc it was so wild to see myself as a gay man in classic lit that wasn't subliminal or subtle!! wild!!
that top is everything omg
Which Rilke translation or edition speaks to you the most ?
Love your ranking categories !!! Thank you for doing this
Omg i am so excited for this one! I have recently discovered your channel but I am already in love 😂♥️
Okay now, I am huge Fan of Edward Morgan Forster and Maurice. I just absolutely love his writing style and all the stories he tells, and for being a gay male myself, this book hit the spot. I especially loved the very last sentence and just also the cute stuff in the beginning and everything like what gay dudes used to do, just to survive and not being spotted, idk it´s one of my favourite books...