Seattle Picks: Short Classics

We’re often asked for suggestions of shorter classics. Sometimes the reader has an assignment where the teacher or professor says “read a classic” and leaves it wide open. Sometimes the reader wants to explore classics, but feels a little intimidated. And sometimes the reader just wants a book that doesn’t weigh a lot. Our Short Classics booklist is one of our most popular, and for good reason. Here are a few titles featured in the list:

The Awakening by Kate Chopin
This heartfelt story of Edna Pontellier’s doomed search of personal fulfillment was considered so shocking in 1899, it almost ruined its author. (192 pages)  

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad   
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Marlow knows: his journey up the Congo River in search of the exceptional Mister Kurtz inspired the film Apocalypse Now. (110 pages)

Silas Marner by George Eliot
His reputation ruined and his treasure stolen, an embittered weaver turns his back on a cruel world, only to find hope where least expected. (176 pages)

Daisy Miller by Henry James
On holiday in Rome, Daisy just wants to have a little fun, but straight-laced Victorian society throws her to the lions. (83 pages) Also try James’s creepy The Turn of the Screw.

Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire
Robbery, shipwreck, torture, earthquake, syphilis, rape, slavery, cannibalism, murder: in this lively satire, “all’s for the best in this best of all possible worlds!” (144 pages)

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
Was Mattie just a youthful infatuation, or the love of his life? The answer lies buried beneath the snows of the past. (200 pages) Try also Wharton’s Summer.

You can find the full Seattle Picks: Short Classics list in our catalog. Titles included in this list were hand-picked by our librarians. You can see more staff-created booklists in the catalog, too.