what's your favourite short classic? or classic in general? I'm currently reading a thicker one rn which will pop up in a future video... hint: it's a Bronte sister. I will be responding to comments later today when I wake up (it's 12:20am here)!!
For anyone interested in reading the Narnia books, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe isn't the first book in terms of the story chronology, but the second. Best to start with The Magician's Nephew. To read them in the chronology followed by the action in the novels, this is the best order: 1. Magician's Nephew 2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 3. The Horse and His Boy 4. Prince Caspian 5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 6. The Silver Chair 7. The Last Battle.
I read Ralph Ellison's *Invisible Man* just once, over 20 years ago, & I honestly feel that I have not yet experienced another literary masterwork of such high quality. I'm very intrigued to learn how well it holds up for young folks nowadays, too!
the writing style is what usually turns me off to classics. A lot of the ones I read never tended to be the easiest books to read, so after a while I stopped trying to get into them. But there were a few I genuinely liked, namely 'Of Mice and Men' and also 'Heart of Darkness'. Of Mice and Men is just written so beautifully and directly. There's not much flowery descriptions going on and the story is being carried with a lot of dialogue and act descriptions. It's very direct, moves fast and it's quite short. Easy read. Heart of Darkness was a whole different beast. There's so much imagery in here and the book turns more and more into a fever dream as it progresses (Apocalypse Now is based on this book, so I kinda knew what I was getting into), but the way Joseph Conrad depicts the vastness of the unknown and still manages to dwarf this vastness with the savage brutality of the slave-trading white man in 18th century West Africa was so amazing. Though I try not to praise this book too much for its trailblazing early critique of european colonialism (this book is from 1899), because people who are much more educated on race relations and racial studies have criticized this book, i can't deny that I was hooked by it and the book didn't let me go until I finished it. I also liked Frankenstein. Tried reading 'To Kill A Mockingbird' and just couldnt get past how this book tries to critique racism, only to effectively create the white savior trope. It's a book for white people that gives them an excuse to feel good about themselves, without actively addressing the issues this book says it touches on, but actually doesn't at all. It's a deeply racist book. I dont know why its being taught in schools. And despite me being easily discouraged by hard-to-read books, I actually loved reading Shakespeare in school. Macbeth is genuinely so insane and emo and amazing. Hamlet is great. Julius Caesar is awesome to watch as a play.
i would love to read Of Mice and Men. my dad loves that book. it's been on my TBR (to be read) for a long time. Heart of Darkness is an eventual must for me too! Frankenstein is my favourite book of all time :D To Kill a Mockingbird is alright, i had to read it for school so that skewed my reading experience because i wrote so many essays about it. i was young and didn't fully understand it, i could benefit on a re-read. Shakespeare is awesome - i can't wait for the new Macbeth movie too. my favourite of his works
I always recommend Bambi (by Felix Salten) for classics beginners. It’s a children’s novel but it is pretty dark in places, and has a really nice atmosphere different to the Disney version lol. I love H G Wells too, I did War of the Worlds in college and it was so fun.
Animal Farm was the first book that came to mind when I thought "short classic". Here's a couple more... The Pearl by John Steinbeck. Only 96 pages and excellent. Howl by Allen Ginsburg. Beat poetry classic! "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness starving hysterical naked dragging themselves......" A short story in a song you can listen to.. The Gift by The Velvet Underground. One channel has John Cale telling the story and the other channel has the band. Check it out!
hi Ed!! hope you're well & that the fires have calmed down. I still am to read a Steinbeck. my dad likes him, so i will read him one day! Howl by Allen is great, i read a complete works by him during university!! but also like i said poetry is not my stong point haha lots of stories told through music :)
Also, a great childrens horror is Coraline by Neil Gaiman! Read it in one day and adore it haha. Also, if you're looking for a great childrens fantasy I can recommend The Neverending Story by Michael Ende! (It's a little long, but easy to read!)
What a coincidence! I'm currently reading a Shirley Jackson book: The Haunting of Hill House. I highly recommend it. 👌 We Have Always Lived in the Castle was also the first book I read by her and it's a favorite.
Hi Kira 👋 - I just read The Stranger by Camus for the first time since my school days. It's still cool. I have that Tony Fletcher 📖 about The Smiths on the shelf. That's a long .. long .. book , but a good read. Have a Great Weekend 👍
I just reread The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin. It is fantastic and dense but very readable at 175 pages. It is a philosophical sci-fi story about a man whose dreams alter reality.Great vid as always!
I really enjoyed We Have Always Lived in the Castle, however, the copy I read had a Foreword that spoiled it for me. I am still angry about that. I learned bot to read forewords from now on. Fahrenheit 451 and Frankenstein are my favorite classics.
Animal Farm is my third favourite book, right behind James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of A Justified Sinner and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's untouchable The Lost World. It is in a sense a shorter, better written, and more effective construct of 1984. Just re-read it for the first time in over half a decade. Wonderful! The Island Of Dr. Moreau, in company with A Modern Utopia and Men Like Gods, is Wells' best work apart from The War Of The Worlds, and my favourite by him. It, with the other two, rank as number eight on my list.
Thanks so much for this very informative and interesting video with some excellent recommendations for further reading. I played the first part of this video with some Ukrainian students of English today and we had a good conversation about books to read for them in English. I very much appreciate the effort you put into this video and chose it from a number of different videos about classics because you focused particularly on easier to read works which is better for my students.
omg thank you so much!! this makes me so happy to read, one of my favourite comments i've ever received :) i am so happy to have helped out with some recommendations for your students, i hope they enjoy
i will pick up animal farm, and maybe the next book to follow is Island of Doctor Moreau, im not sure . next time you could make a guide to sci-fi classics for beginners ^^
nice one Dario, that's some really great reading! i think i've told you before but i'd recommended Hitchhiker's ride to the galaxy. H.G. Wells is good Sci-fi, i wanna read more of his stuff. i read a lot of dystopian sci-fi.. i will definitely do a top 10 in the future.
The novellas of D.H.Lawrence would be my recommendation. No one writes like him, deeply human and spiritual, both bonded together in nature through poetic prose.
My favourite book of all time is Frankenstein. Other classics I love are The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Beach & A Clockwork Orange
Movie recommendation- Mandy. One of the best horror movies of the decade. Its a bloody Metal masterpiece. Nicholas Cage brings out some of the finest acting in his career. And the colour palette of the movie is just gorgeous.
Hi Kira! Love your channel. Thanks for this list. I've been meaning to check out 'The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea'. If you love classics and horror then you should check out Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. My copy is 110 pages. If I can throw in a few others then may I suggest 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck, and 'The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells. Also, you haven't reacted to Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio yet, have you? Please tell me I haven't missed that!
thank you! and you're welcome :) yes a lot of those are on my radar - haven't heard of Carmilla before though! Nup I haven't reacted to Heaven n Hell yet. that'll happen eventually on kirawasareactor
Neil Gaiman: Fortunately, the Milk - the kids around me really love it, and me too, in my forties. It's very short book, with cute drawings, excellent humor and... aliens. Funny aliens from outer space, helping Daddy, to buy some milk.
awww Sharoop, good luck with your exams! when i was at university i would study 8-10 hours a day 7 days a week for a month during my exams so i understand
what's your favourite short classic? or classic in general? I'm currently reading a thicker one rn which will pop up in a future video... hint: it's a Bronte sister. I will be responding to comments later today when I wake up (it's 12:20am here)!!
For anyone interested in reading the Narnia books, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe isn't the first book in terms of the story chronology, but the second. Best to start with The Magician's Nephew.
To read them in the chronology followed by the action in the novels, this is the best order:
1. Magician's Nephew
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle.
hmmmmmmmmmmm.. the metamorphosis by kafka would be in this if i owned a copy
I read Ralph Ellison's *Invisible Man* just once, over 20 years ago, & I honestly feel that I have not yet experienced another literary masterwork of such high quality.
I'm very intrigued to learn how well it holds up for young folks nowadays, too!
the writing style is what usually turns me off to classics. A lot of the ones I read never tended to be the easiest books to read, so after a while I stopped trying to get into them.
But there were a few I genuinely liked, namely 'Of Mice and Men' and also 'Heart of Darkness'. Of Mice and Men is just written so beautifully and directly. There's not much flowery descriptions going on and the story is being carried with a lot of dialogue and act descriptions. It's very direct, moves fast and it's quite short. Easy read.
Heart of Darkness was a whole different beast. There's so much imagery in here and the book turns more and more into a fever dream as it progresses (Apocalypse Now is based on this book, so I kinda knew what I was getting into), but the way Joseph Conrad depicts the vastness of the unknown and still manages to dwarf this vastness with the savage brutality of the slave-trading white man in 18th century West Africa was so amazing. Though I try not to praise this book too much for its trailblazing early critique of european colonialism (this book is from 1899), because people who are much more educated on race relations and racial studies have criticized this book, i can't deny that I was hooked by it and the book didn't let me go until I finished it.
I also liked Frankenstein. Tried reading 'To Kill A Mockingbird' and just couldnt get past how this book tries to critique racism, only to effectively create the white savior trope. It's a book for white people that gives them an excuse to feel good about themselves, without actively addressing the issues this book says it touches on, but actually doesn't at all. It's a deeply racist book. I dont know why its being taught in schools.
And despite me being easily discouraged by hard-to-read books, I actually loved reading Shakespeare in school. Macbeth is genuinely so insane and emo and amazing. Hamlet is great. Julius Caesar is awesome to watch as a play.
i would love to read Of Mice and Men. my dad loves that book. it's been on my TBR (to be read) for a long time. Heart of Darkness is an eventual must for me too!
Frankenstein is my favourite book of all time :D To Kill a Mockingbird is alright, i had to read it for school so that skewed my reading experience because i wrote so many essays about it. i was young and didn't fully understand it, i could benefit on a re-read.
Shakespeare is awesome - i can't wait for the new Macbeth movie too. my favourite of his works
I always recommend Bambi (by Felix Salten) for classics beginners. It’s a children’s novel but it is pretty dark in places, and has a really nice atmosphere different to the Disney version lol. I love H G Wells too, I did War of the Worlds in college and it was so fun.
i haven't read that! i did like Charlotte's Web as a kid actually too, this comment just reminded me. so much amazing children's lit out there
Animal Farm was the first book that came to mind when I thought "short classic".
Here's a couple more...
The Pearl by John Steinbeck. Only 96 pages and excellent.
Howl by Allen Ginsburg. Beat poetry classic! "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness starving hysterical naked dragging themselves......"
A short story in a song you can listen to.. The Gift by The Velvet Underground. One channel has John Cale telling the story and the other channel has the band.
Check it out!
hi Ed!! hope you're well & that the fires have calmed down.
I still am to read a Steinbeck. my dad likes him, so i will read him one day!
Howl by Allen is great, i read a complete works by him during university!! but also like i said poetry is not my stong point haha
lots of stories told through music :)
Good selection! A real nice short book I liked was the old man and the sea by Ernest Hemingway.
i've just marked it as a to read for me!
Also, a great childrens horror is Coraline by Neil Gaiman! Read it in one day and adore it haha. Also, if you're looking for a great childrens fantasy I can recommend The Neverending Story by Michael Ende! (It's a little long, but easy to read!)
I looove Neil Gaiman !!!
What a coincidence! I'm currently reading a Shirley Jackson book: The Haunting of Hill House. I highly recommend it. 👌 We Have Always Lived in the Castle was also the first book I read by her and it's a favorite.
ah that's the other one by her I want to get around to :) so exciting
Hi Kira 👋 - I just read The Stranger by Camus for the first time since my school days. It's still cool. I have that Tony Fletcher 📖 about The Smiths on the shelf. That's a long .. long .. book , but a good read. Have a Great Weekend 👍
Hi David!! The Stranger is definitely a book I want to get around to. yea the smiths book has been put off by me for a while because it's so thick
I’m a big fan of poetry, and the book of longing sounds amazing 😻
yes you should definitely check it out!
Awesome video! I added to my list Animal farm, the lion, and book of longing 🤩
I just reread The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula Le Guin. It is fantastic and dense but very readable at 175 pages. It is a philosophical sci-fi story about a man whose dreams alter reality.Great vid as always!
awesome thank you for mentioning it to me!
I really enjoyed We Have Always Lived in the Castle, however, the copy I read had a Foreword that spoiled it for me. I am still angry about that. I learned bot to read forewords from now on. Fahrenheit 451 and Frankenstein are my favorite classics.
Same!
I am trying so hard to be a good girl and pay attention, but my mind keeps going to “Ahhhh-vay Mariiiiia” from the beautiful music 😊
Animal Farm is my third favourite book, right behind James Hogg's The Private Memoirs and Confessions of A Justified Sinner and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's untouchable The Lost World. It is in a sense a shorter, better written, and more effective construct of 1984. Just re-read it for the first time in over half a decade. Wonderful!
The Island Of Dr. Moreau, in company with A Modern Utopia and Men Like Gods, is Wells' best work apart from The War Of The Worlds, and my favourite by him. It, with the other two, rank as number eight on my list.
Thanks so much for this very informative and interesting video with some excellent recommendations for further reading. I played the first part of this video with some Ukrainian students of English today and we had a good conversation about books to read for them in English. I very much appreciate the effort you put into this video and chose it from a number of different videos about classics because you focused particularly on easier to read works which is better for my students.
omg thank you so much!! this makes me so happy to read, one of my favourite comments i've ever received :) i am so happy to have helped out with some recommendations for your students, i hope they enjoy
3:53 animal harm... in a fictional book... .....
i will pick up animal farm, and maybe the next book to follow is Island of Doctor Moreau, im not sure .
next time you could make a guide to sci-fi classics for beginners ^^
@@euronymous235 dont be bad, i love you too
nice one Dario, that's some really great reading! i think i've told you before but i'd recommended Hitchhiker's ride to the galaxy. H.G. Wells is good Sci-fi, i wanna read more of his stuff. i read a lot of dystopian sci-fi.. i will definitely do a top 10 in the future.
@@kirawasadiver im an asshole i forgot that suggestion
The novellas of D.H.Lawrence would be my recommendation.
No one writes like him, deeply human and spiritual, both bonded together in nature through poetic prose.
i will have to check him out!!
Spotted in a book on a hospital bookshelf: 'Whosoever reads, mimes or plays an instrument will be shone on from above.' Anon.
You know I love the Gatsby; both movies and the book.🤗
yep i did know that!! hahaha
I've somehow never read 'Animal Farm' before, need to get on it!
yes PLEASE!!
They need to write a book about the beer thief.
Hi, very great video
What is your top 10 or 5 favorite classic books of all time?
My favourite book of all time is Frankenstein. Other classics I love are The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Beach & A Clockwork Orange
Movie recommendation-
Mandy.
One of the best horror movies of the decade.
Its a bloody Metal masterpiece.
Nicholas Cage brings out some of the finest acting in his career.
And the colour palette of the movie is just gorgeous.
Mr Cage is one of my favourite actors!
@@kirawasadiver I am a vampiuh,I am a Vampiuh!!!!
Kira, Ya got any 25 pagers?🤔😊
hm.... not yet.. i will keep an eye out for you
Hi Kira! Love your channel. Thanks for this list. I've been meaning to check out 'The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea'. If you love classics and horror then you should check out Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. My copy is 110 pages. If I can throw in a few others then may I suggest 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 'Of Mice and Men' by John Steinbeck, and 'The Time Machine' by H.G. Wells. Also, you haven't reacted to Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio yet, have you? Please tell me I haven't missed that!
thank you! and you're welcome :) yes a lot of those are on my radar - haven't heard of Carmilla before though! Nup I haven't reacted to Heaven n Hell yet. that'll happen eventually on kirawasareactor
It's been a day and a half and I still haven't finished reading the prologue 😅😅
wait what book is this??
@@kirawasadiver 'Animal Farm: is a satirical allegorical novella by George Orwell' ^^
Neil Gaiman: Fortunately, the Milk - the kids around me really love it, and me too, in my forties. It's very short book, with cute drawings, excellent humor and... aliens. Funny aliens from outer space, helping Daddy, to buy some milk.
i'll have to read it one day because Gaiman is one of my favourites!
Kira I've got my exams coming up on Monday. So won't be watching your videos for about a month 😔
awww Sharoop, good luck with your exams! when i was at university i would study 8-10 hours a day 7 days a week for a month during my exams so i understand
@@kirawasadiver thanks Kira!