Classic Remarks: Lesser Known Classics

On By Jane @ Greenish BookshelfIn 2020, Book List, Classic Remarks

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Hi y’all!

I am thrilled to be participating in my first week of Classic Remarks hosted by Pages Unbound. I discovered this meme on my good friend Jackie’s blog. Check out her most recent Classic Remarks post.

Every Friday, we are given a prompt to spark a post about the classics in some way. I actually am pulling from last week’s prompt because I loved it: What are some lesser-known works by a classic author you think people should read?

I decided to share a few ideas from 5 of my favorite classic authors. This is a mix of both classics I have read and classics that I have on my TBR. Hope you enjoy!

Jane Austen // Northanger Abbey & Lady Susan
Let me begin by saying I love Jane Austen and definitely recommend her most popular novels like Pride and Prejudice. However, I don’t think Northanger Abbey gets enough credit for the parody it’s making of Gothic Literature. Plus it’s a smaller novel that can be less intimidating for those new to Austen. Lady Susan is one of her shorter, early works and I hope to add it to my next Classics Club list as I think I’ve only read pieces of it in college.

C. S. Lewis // The Great Divorce & Out of the Silent Planet
If you’ve not read any Lewis, start with Narnia. It’s fantastic and classic for a reason. For those who want to broaden their Lewis reading, I highly recommend The Great Divorce as it’s a fascinating look at the potential of the afterlife but is also based in a story. That makes it more relatable for me. Top of my Lewis TBR is the first novel in his space trilogy–Out of the Silent Planet. It sounds fascinating!

L. M. Montgomery // The Blue Castle & Emily of New Moon
One of my blogging highlights thus far was hosting the #AnneReadAlong2017 with Jackie over at Death by Tsundoku. It was such a treat to read the full Anne series together and I loved getting Anne’s story start to finish. These two novels are on my TBR and I hope to experience them soon!

William Shakespeare // Macbeth & The Tempest
Does it get more classic than Shakespeare? While there are so many plays to choose from and many have at least somewhat familiar plots, I think these are the easiest to read without a lot of previous Shakespeare know how. Macbeth is a lot less complex than some of his other tragedies making it easier to understand and follow the plot. And The Tempest is really in a category all it’s own with the magical elements involved. I think it’s a fun read as well.

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E. B. White // The Trumpet of the Swan
Naturally, the books that come to mind first when I think of White are Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little. Both of those are fantastic. I recently read aloud Charlotte’s Web and it was such a delight to experience that classic story again. The Trumpet of the Swan is on my TBR and I’m hoping to read it soon and potentially read it aloud as well.

What lesser known classics would you recommend?

12 thoughts on “Classic Remarks: Lesser Known Classics”

      1. mphtheatregirl

        I am reading Anna Karenina right now.

        As for the classics I own that I have not read are “Hard Times”, “Bleak House”, “Kidnapped”, “Guillver’s Travels”, and the intimidating “War and Travels. I think I actually read “Gulliver’s Travels” in high school, but not all of it- just don’t fully remember

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        1. Anna Karenina is on my TBR for now. Definitely hoping to add it to a future Classics Club list. I have only read parts of Bleak House. But I did finish War and Peace which is a big accomplishment, I think! Haha.

          All the best in your continued classics journey!

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          1. mphtheatregirl

            So far, that book seems to be the hardest one so far. Don’t know if I want to deal with War and Peace.

            After Anna don’t know what book I want to read next. Either a nonfiction musical book or a new series. Always read a non-classic after finishing a classic

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            1. Haha War and Peace is definitely a tough one–Tolstoy does so much in it! Definitely take a break from classics before considering reading that one 😉

              And I agree! I have to intermix classics with other books as well. Often I read them simultaneously.

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  3. Lady Susan has been on my TBR list for awhile, but I never seem to get around to it! But, while I have read Northanger Abbey, it’s just not my favorite. I prefer P&P, Emma, and Persuasion first.

    I like The Great Divorce and have read it a couple times. However, I never could get into Lewis’s Space trilogy even though other people rave about it. I read books one and two, I think, and was just sooo bored!

    I love Emily of New Moon and The Blue Castle! My favorite adult novel by Montgomery is actually A Tangled Web, though I don’t see many bloggers talking about it.

    I like Macbeth and The Tempest, as well. 😀

    And I LOVE The Trumpet of the Swan. I actually prefer it to Stuart Little. Like Charlotte’s Web, it holds up to re-readings after all these years!

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    1. First, I love that you know all these authors and have read more of these books than I have! So cool!

      I love Persuasion so much and P&P and Emma. Okay, I’m just an Austen fan in general 🙂 Hope we both get to Lady Susan one day!

      I’m intrigued by the space trilogy because it sounds so different from everything else Lewis wrote. But we’ll see how I like it!

      I really need to do more L. M. Montgomery reading! I haven’t heard of A Tangled Web but I will have to check it out.

      I am so glad to hear you love The Trumpet of the Swan! I need to convince my kids to read that one next 🙂

      Thanks for your comment!

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      1. I think the Space trilogy is rather different! It’s less plot-focused and more concerned with exploring concepts. So not quite the same as the Pevensies having adventures in Narnia!

        I feel like A Tangled Web is always overlooked by the book blogosphere. I suppose it isn’t as straight-forwardly romantic, but I do like the interlinking plotlines, and that makes it easy to find a plot you are invested in, too.

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