Surely many people believe that classical works, by their definition, are long, boring, have been written for many years, and therefore are not always understandable to the modern reader. This is a common mistake. After all, in fact, classics are everything that is not subject to time. The themes revealed in such works are relevant for any century. And if a 19th century author wrote such a book now, it would again become a bestseller. We bring to your attention the best classic ones. They captivated millions of readers. And even those who claim that they are dissatisfied with the author’s creation, believe me, did not remain indifferent.
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The novel consists of two different but intertwined parts. The first one is set in modern Moscow, the second one is in ancient Jerusalem. Each part is filled with events and characters - historical, fictional, as well as scary and amazing creatures.
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What forces move people? They are the result of the actions of individuals - kings, generals - or such feelings as patriotism, or there is a third force that determines the direction of history. The main characters are painfully searching for the answer to this question.
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The novel is based on the experience that Dostoevsky received in hard labor. Student Raskolnikov, who has vegetated in poverty for several months, is convinced that a humane goal will justify the most terrible act, even the murder of a greedy and useless old money-lender.
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A novel that was ahead of its time and came out long before the emergence of such a cultural phenomenon as postmodernism. The main characters of the work - 4 sons born from different mothers - symbolize those irrepressible elements that can lead to the death of Russia.
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Should she stay with her husband, who was always indifferent to her inner world and never loved her, or should she give herself with all her heart to the one who made her feel happy? Throughout the entire novel, the heroine, the young aristocrat Anna, is tormented by this choice.
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The poor young prince returns home to Russia by train. On the way, he meets the son of one of the rich merchants, who is obsessed with a passion for one girl, a kept woman. In a metropolitan society obsessed with money, power and manipulation, the prince finds himself an outsider.
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Despite the name, the work itself has nothing to do with the mysticism that is mainly inherent in the work of this writer. In the tradition of “harsh” realism, the life of landowners in the Russian province is described, where a former official comes to carry out his scam.
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A young St. Petersburg rake, fed up with love and social entertainment, leaves for the village, where he strikes up a friendship with a poet who is in love with one of the daughters of a local nobleman. The second daughter falls in love with the rake, but he does not respond to her feelings.
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A famous Moscow surgeon decides to conduct a very risky experiment on a stray dog in his large apartment, where he receives patients. As a result, the animal began to turn into a human. But at the same time he acquired all human vices.
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People come to the provincial town who, it would seem, cannot be connected by anything. But they know each other, since they belong to the same revolutionary organization. Their goal is to create a political riot. Everything goes according to plan, but one revolutionary decides to quit the game.
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A cult work of the 19th century. At the center of the story is a student who does not accept traditional public morality and opposes everything old and non-progressive. For him, only scientific knowledge is valuable, which can explain everything. Except love.
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He was a doctor by profession, a writer by vocation, whose talent was fully revealed when creating short humorous stories. They quickly became classics around the world. In them, in an accessible language - the language of humor - human vices are revealed.
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This work is on a par with Gogol's poem. In it, the main character is also a young adventurer who is ready to promise everyone something that, in principle, cannot be done. And all for the sake of a treasure that several other people know about. And no one is going to share it.
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After a three-year separation, young Alexander returns to the house of his beloved Sophia to propose to her. However, she refuses him and says that she now loves someone else. The rejected lover begins to blame the society in which Sophia grew up.
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What should a real nobleman do if the life of a young noble girl depends on him? Sacrifice yourself, but not lose your honor. This is what guides the young officer when the fortress in which he serves is attacked by the impostor king.
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Terrible poverty and hopelessness are strangling the old resident of Cuba. One day, as usual, he goes to sea, not hoping for a big catch. But this time he catches a large prey on his hook, with which the fisherman fights for several days, not giving it the opportunity to escape.
17.
Ragin selflessly serves as a doctor. However, his zeal is fading; he sees no point in changing the life around him, because it is impossible to cure the madness that reigns around him. The doctor begins to visit the ward daily where the mentally ill are kept.
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What is more destructive - to do nothing and just indulge in dreams about how to live, or to get off the couch and start implementing your plans? The young and lazy landowner Ilya Ilyich initially occupied the first position, but after he fell in love, he woke up from his sleepy state.
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You can write magnificent works not only about the life of a big city, but also about the life of a small Ukrainian farm. During the day, the usual routines operate here, but at night, power passes to supernatural forces that can both help and at the same time destroy.
20.
A talented surgeon settles illegally in Paris, but is not prevented from practicing medicine. Before moving, he lived in Germany, from which he fled, but at the same time allowed his beloved to die. In a new place, he quickly begins another romance.
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A Russian tutor goes on a trip with the family in which he serves. At the same time, he is secretly in love with the girl Polina. And so that she understands all his nobility, he begins to play roulette in the hope of getting big money. And he succeeds, but the girl does not accept the winnings.
22.
The world of family comfort, nobility and true patriotism is breaking under the onslaught of social catastrophe in Russia. The escaped Russian officers settled in Ukraine and hoped that they would not fall under the rule of the Bolsheviks. But one day the city’s defenses weaken and the enemy goes on the offensive.
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A series of small works written in different artistic styles. Here you can find a romantic duelist, sentimental stories about eternal love, and a harsh picture of reality in which money rules, and because of it a person can lose the most important thing.
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What Pushkin failed to do in his time, Dostoevsky did. The work is entirely a correspondence between a poor official and a young girl who also has a small income. But at the same time, the heroes are not poor in soul.
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A story about the invincibility and perseverance of a man who does not want to be someone's faithful soldier. For the sake of freedom, Hadji Murat goes over to the side of the imperial troops, but does this in order to save not himself, but his family, which is captured by the enemy.
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In these seven works, the author takes us through the streets of St. Petersburg, which was built with the help of strength and ingenuity on swampy terrain. Beneath its harmonious façade lies deception and violence. The inhabitants are confused by the city itself, giving them false dreams.
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This collection of short stories is the first major work to gain recognition for the author. It is based on personal observations while hunting on his mother's estate, where Turgenev learned about the mistreatment of peasants and the injustice of the Russian system.
28.
The main character is the son of a landowner, whose property was confiscated by a corrupt and treacherous general. After the death of his father, the hero becomes a criminal. To achieve the ultimate goal - revenge - he resorts to more cunning means: he seduces the daughter of his enemy.
29.
This classic war novel is written from the perspective of a young German soldier. The hero is only 18 years old, and under the pressure of his family, friends and society, he enlists in military service and goes to the front. There he witnesses such horrors that he dares not tell anyone about.
30.
Mischievous and energetic, Tom enjoys childhood pranks and games with his friends. One day, at the city cemetery, he witnesses a murder committed by a local tramp. The hero makes a vow that he will never talk about it, and so begins his journey into adulthood.
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The story of a pathetic St. Petersburg official whose expensive overcoat was stolen. No one wants to help him return the item, which eventually makes the hero seriously ill. Even during the author’s lifetime, critics adequately appreciated the work from which all Russian realism was born.
32.
The novel is on a par with another work of the author - “The Call of the Wild”. Much of White Fang is also written from the point of view of the dog whose name appears in the title. This allows the author to show how animals see their world and how they see humans.
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The novel tells the story of 19-year-old Arkady, the illegitimate son of a landowner and a maid, as he struggles to improve his situation and “become a Rothschild,” despite the fact that Russia remains tied to its old value system.
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The novel is about how a hero, who is very broken and disillusioned due to a failed marriage, returns to his estate and finds his love again - only to lose her. This reflects the main theme: man is not destined to experience happiness except something ephemeral.
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A dark and engrossing tale that follows the struggle of an indecisive, alienated hero in a world of relative values. The innovative work introduced the moral, religious, political and social themes that would dominate the author's later masterpieces.
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The narrator arrives in Sevastopol, which is under siege, and makes a detailed inspection of the city. As a result, the reader has the opportunity to study all the features of military life. We find ourselves at a dressing station, where horror reigns, and at the most dangerous bastion.
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The work is partly based on the life experience of the author, who took part in the war in the Caucasus. A nobleman, disillusioned with his privileged life, enlists in the army to escape the superficiality of everyday life. A hero in search of a full life. 38.$
The author's first social novel, which is partly an artistic introduction for those who belonged to the previous era, but lived at a time when political and social movements began. This era has already been forgotten, but it is worth remembering.
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One of the greatest and most successful dramatic works. A Russian aristocrat and her family return to their estate to oversee the public auction of their house and huge garden for debt. The old masters are losing in the struggle to new trends in life.
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The hero was sentenced to death on charges of murdering his wife, but was subsequently exiled to Siberian penal servitude for 10 years. Life in prison is difficult for him - he is an intellectual and experiences the anger of other prisoners. Gradually he overcomes his disgust and experiences a spiritual awakening.
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On the eve of his wedding, a young aristocrat learns that his bride was having an affair with the Tsar. This was a blow to his pride, so he renounces everything worldly and becomes a monk. This is how many years of humility and doubt pass. Until he decides to become a hermit.
42.
The editor falls into the hands of a manuscript that tells about a young and depraved man who worked as a forensic investigator. He becomes one of the “corners” in a love triangle in which a married couple is involved. The story ends with the murder of his wife.
43.
A work banned until 1988, in which, through the fate of one military doctor, the story of a people who perished in the turmoil of the revolution is told. From the general madness, the hero, together with his family, flees into the interior of the country, where he meets someone whom he does not want to let go.
44.
The main character, like all his friends, is a war veteran. He is a poet at heart, but he works for a friend who runs a small tombstone manufacturing business. This money is not enough, and he earns additional income by giving private lessons and playing the organ at a local mental hospital.
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In someone else's war, Frederic falls in love with a nurse and tries to seduce her, after which their relationship begins. But one day the hero is wounded by a fragment of a mortar shell, and he is sent to a Milan hospital. There, far from the war, he heals - both physically and mentally.
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During breakfast, the barber discovers a human nose in his bread. With horror, he recognizes him as the nose of a regular visitor who holds the rank of collegiate assessor. In turn, the injured official discovers the loss and submits an absurd advertisement to the newspaper.
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The main character, a boy, seeking independence and freedom, escapes from his alcoholic father by faking his own death. And so begins his journey through the south of the country. He meets a runaway slave and they float down the Mississippi River together.
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The plot of the poem is based on the events that actually took place in St. Petersburg in 1824. The political, historical and existential questions that the author articulates with dazzling force and brevity continue to be the subject of controversy among critics.
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To save his beloved, who was forcibly taken away by an evil sorcerer, the warrior Ruslan will have to go on an epic and dangerous journey, encountering many fantastic and terrible creatures. This is a dramatic and witty retelling of Russian folklore.
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The most famous play describes a family of aristocrats who have difficulty finding any meaning in their lives. Three sisters and their brother live in a remote province, but they struggle to return to the sophisticated Moscow where they grew up. The play captures the decline of the “masters of life.”
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The hero is obsessed with an all-consuming love for one princess, who is unlikely to know about his existence. One day, a society lady receives an expensive bracelet for her birthday. The husband finds a secret admirer and asks him to stop compromising a decent woman.
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In this classic literary representation of gambling, the author explores the nature of obsession. Secret and otherworldly clues alternate with the story of the passionate Herman, who wants to make his fortune at the card table. The secret of success is known to one old woman.
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Muscovite Gurov is married and has a daughter and two sons. At the same time, he is not happy in his family life and often cheats on his wife. While vacationing in Yalta, he sees a young lady walking along the embankment with her small dog, and is constantly looking for opportunities to get to know her.
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This collection is in some ways the culmination of the work he did throughout his life. The stories were written on the eve of a terrible world war in the context of collapsing Russian culture. The action of each work concentrates on a love theme.
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The story is told from the point of view of an anonymous narrator who recalls his youth, in particular his time in a small town west of the Rhine. Critics consider the hero to be a classic “superfluous person” - indecisive and undecided of his place in life.
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The four laconic plays, later known as "Little Tragedies", were written at a time of heightened creative strength, and their influence cannot be overestimated. Being the author's adaptation of plays by Western European authors, "Tragedies" offers readers current problems.
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This story takes place in Europe, in a hedonistic society during the Roaring Twenties. A rich girl with schizophrenia falls in love with her psychiatrist. As a result, a whole saga unfolds about troubled marriages, love affairs, duels and incest.
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Some scholars identify three poems in the work of this author, which embody one original idea. One of them is, of course, “Mtsyri”. The main character is a 17-year-old monk who was forcibly taken away from his village as a child, and one day he escapes.
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A completely young mongrel runs away from his permanent owner and finds a new one. He turns out to be an artist who performs in a circus with acts in which animals participate. Therefore, a separate number is immediately invented for the smart little dog.
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In this story, among its many themes, such as Europeanized Russian society, adultery and provincial life, the theme of a woman, or rather, planning a murder by a woman, comes to the fore. The title of the work contains a reference to Shakespeare's play.
61. Leo Tolstoy - Fake coupon
Schoolboy Mitya desperately needs money - he needs to repay his debt. Depressed by this situation, he follows the evil advice of his friend, who showed him how to change the denomination of a banknote. This act sets off a chain of events that affects the lives of dozens of other people.
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Proust's most important work, known for its length and theme of involuntary memories. The novel began to take shape back in 1909. The author continued to work on it until his last illness, which forced him to stop working.
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The lengthy poem tells the story of seven peasants who set out to ask various groups of the village population if they were happy. But wherever they went, they were always given an unsatisfactory answer. Of the planned 7-8 parts, the author wrote only half.
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The story is about the sad life of a young girl who lived in extreme poverty and suddenly became an orphan, but she is adopted by a rich family. When she meets her new stepsister, Katya, she instantly falls in love with her and the two soon become inseparable.
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The main character is a classic Hemingway hero: a violent guy, an underground liquor dealer who smuggles weapons and transports people from Cuba to the Florida Keys. He risks his life, dodges the Coast Guard's bullets and manages to outsmart them.
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While traveling on a train, one of the passengers overhears a conversation going on in the compartment. When one woman argues that marriage should be based on true love, he asks her: what is love? In his opinion, love quickly turns into hatred, and tells its own story.
67. Leo Tolstoy - Notes of a Marker
The narrator is a simple marker, a person who keeps score and places the balls on the billiard table. If the game turns out well and the players are not stingy, then he gets a good reward. But one day a very gambling young man appears at the club.
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The main character is looking for peace in Polesie, which should invigorate him. But in the end he ends up with unbearable boredom. But one day, having lost his way, he comes across a hut where an old woman and her beautiful granddaughter are waiting for him. After such a magical meeting, the hero becomes a frequent visitor here.
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The focus is on a tall and powerfully built janitor. He falls in love with a young washerwoman and wants to marry her. But the lady decides differently: the girl goes to the always drunk shoemaker. The hero finds his solace in caring for a small dog.
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One evening, three sisters shared their dreams with each other: what they would do if they became the wives of the king. But only the third sister’s pleas were heard - Tsar Saltan took her in marriage and ordered her to give birth to an heir by a certain date. But envious sisters begin to play dirty tricks.
Anna Karenina. Leo Tolstoy
The greatest love story of all time. A story that has not left the stage, has been filmed countless times - and has still not lost the boundless charm of passion - destructive, destructive, blind passion - but all the more bewitching with its greatness.
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The Master and Margarita. Mikhail Bulgakov
This is the most mysterious of the novels in the entire history of Russian literature of the 20th century. This is a novel that is almost officially called “The Gospel of Satan.” This is “The Master and Margarita”. A book that can be read and reread dozens, hundreds of times, but most importantly, it is still impossible to understand. So, which pages of “The Master and Margarita” were dictated by the Forces of Light?
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Wuthering Heights. Emily Brontë
A mystery novel included in the top ten best novels of all time! The story of a stormy, truly demonic passion that has been exciting the imagination of readers for more than one and a half hundred years. Katie gave her heart to her cousin, but ambition and a thirst for wealth push her into the arms of a rich man. Forbidden attraction turns into a curse for secret lovers, and one day.
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Evgeny Onegin. Alexander Pushkin
“Have you read “Onegin”? What can you say about “Onegin”? These are the questions that are constantly repeated among writers and Russian readers,” noted the writer, enterprising publisher and, by the way, the hero of Pushkin’s epigrams, Thaddeus Bulgarin, after the publication of the second chapter of the novel. It has not been customary to evaluate ONEGIN for a long time. In the words of the same Bulgarin, it is “written in Pushkin’s poems. That's enough."
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Notre Dame Cathedral. Victor Hugo
A story that has survived centuries, become canon and given its heroes the glory of household names. A story of love and tragedy. The love of those to whom love was not given and not allowed - by religious dignity, physical weakness or someone else's evil will. The gypsy Esmeralda and the deaf hunchback bell-ringer Quasimodo, the priest Frollo and the captain of the royal riflemen Phoebus de Chateaupert, the beautiful Fleur-de-Lys and the poet Gringoire.
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Gone with the wind. Margaret Mitchell
The great saga of the American Civil War and the fate of the headstrong Scarlett O'Hara was first published more than 70 years ago and does not become outdated to this day. This is Margaret Mitchell's only novel for which she received a Pulitzer Prize. A story about a woman whom neither an unconditional feminist nor a staunch supporter of house-building is ashamed to emulate.
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Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare
This is the highest tragedy about love that human genius can create. A tragedy that has been filmed and is being filmed. A tragedy that does not leave the theater stage to this day - and to this day it sounds as if it was written yesterday. Years and centuries go by. But one thing remains and will forever remain unchanged: “There is no sadder story in the world than the story of Romeo and Juliet...”
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The Great Gatsby. Francis Fitzgerald
“The Great Gatsby” is the pinnacle not only in Fitzgerald’s work, but also one of the highest achievements in world prose of the 20th century. Although the novel takes place in the “roaring” twenties of the last century, when fortunes were made literally from nothing and yesterday’s criminals became millionaires overnight, this book lives outside of time, because, telling the story of the broken destinies of the generation of the “Jazz Age”.
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Three Musketeers. Alexandre Dumas
The most famous historical and adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas tells about the adventures of the Gascon d'Artagnan and his musketeer friends at the court of King Louis XIII.
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Count of Monte Cristo. Alexandre Dumas
The book presents one of the most exciting adventure novels by the classic of 19th century French literature, Alexandre Dumas.
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Arc de Triomphe. Erich Remarque
One of the most beautiful and tragic love novels in the history of European literature. The story of Dr. Ravic, a refugee from Nazi Germany, and the beautiful Joan Madu, who is entangled in the “unbearable lightness of being,” takes place in pre-war Paris. And the alarming time in which these two happened to meet and fall in love with each other becomes one of the main characters of the Arc de Triomphe.
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The man who laughs. Victor Hugo
Gwynplaine, a lord by birth, was sold as a child to comprachicos bandits, who made a fair jester out of the child, carving a mask of “eternal laughter” on his face (at the courts of the European nobility of that time there was a fashion for cripples and freaks who amused the owners). Despite all the trials, Gwynplaine retained the best human qualities and his love.
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Martin Eden. Jack London
A simple sailor, in whom it is easy to recognize the author himself, goes through a long, full of hardships path to literary immortality... By chance, finding himself in secular society, Martin Eden is doubly happy and surprised... both by the creative gift that awakened in him, and by the divine image of the young Ruth Morse, so not similar to all the people he knew before... From now on, two goals are relentlessly facing him.
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Sister Kerry. Theodore Dreiser
The publication of Theodore Dreiser's first novel was fraught with such difficulties that it led its creator to severe depression. But the further fate of the novel “Sister Carrie” turned out to be happy: it was translated into many foreign languages and republished in millions of copies. New and new generations of readers enjoy immersing themselves in the vicissitudes of the fate of Caroline Mieber.
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American tragedy. Theodore Dreiser
The novel “An American Tragedy” is the pinnacle of the work of the outstanding American writer Theodore Dreiser. He said: “No one creates tragedies - life creates them. Writers only portray them.” Dreiser managed to portray the tragedy of Clive Griffiths so talentedly that his story does not leave the modern reader indifferent.
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Les Misérables. Victor Hugo
Jean Valjean, Cosette, Gavroche - the names of the heroes of the novel have long become household names, the number of its readers in the century and a half since the publication of the book has not become smaller, the novel has not lost popularity. A kaleidoscope of faces from all layers of French society in the first half of the 19th century, bright, memorable characters, sentimentality and realism, a tense, exciting plot.
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The adventures of the good soldier Schweik. Jaroslav Hasek
A great, original and outrageous novel. A book that can be perceived both as a “soldier’s tale” and as a classic work directly related to the traditions of the Renaissance. This is a sparkling text that makes you laugh until you cry, and a powerful call to “put down your arms,” and one of the most objective historical evidence in satirical literature.
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Iliad. Homer
The attractiveness of Homer’s poems is not only that their author introduces us to a world separated from modernity by tens of centuries and yet unusually real thanks to the genius of the poet, who preserved in his poems the beat of contemporary life. Homer's immortality lies in the fact that his brilliant creations contain inexhaustible reserves of universal human values - reason, goodness and beauty.
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St. John's wort. James Cooper
Cooper managed to find and describe in his books the originality and unexpected brightness of the newly discovered continent, which managed to captivate the whole of modern Europe. Each new novel by the writer was eagerly awaited. The exciting adventures of the fearless and noble hunter and tracker Natty Bumppo captivated both young and adult readers..
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Doctor Zhivago. Boris Pasternak
The novel “Doctor Zhivago” is one of the outstanding works of Russian literature, which for many years remained closed to a wide range of readers in our country, who knew about it only through scandalous and unscrupulous party criticism.
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Don Quixote. Miguel Cervantes
What do the names of Amadis of Gaul, Palmer of England, Don Belianis of Greece, Tirant the White tell us today? But it was precisely as a parody of novels about these knights that “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha” by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was created. And this parody has survived the genre being parodied for centuries. “Don Quixote” was recognized as the best novel in the entire history of world literature.
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Ivanhoe. Walter Scott
“Ivanhoe” is a key work in the series of novels by W. Scott, which take us to medieval England. The young knight Ivanhoe, who secretly returned from the Crusade to his homeland and was deprived of his inheritance by the will of his father, will have to defend his honor and the love of the beautiful lady Rowena... King Richard the Lionheart and the legendary robber Robin Hood will come to his aid.
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Headless Horseman. Reed Main
The plot of the novel is so skillfully constructed that it keeps you in suspense until the very last page. It is no coincidence that the exciting story of the noble mustanger Maurice Gerald and his lover, the beautiful Louise Poindexter, investigating the sinister mystery of the headless horseman, whose figure terrifies the inhabitants of the savannah upon his appearance, was extremely loved by readers in Europe and Russia.
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Dear friend. Guy de Maupassant
The novel “Dear Friend” became one of the symbols of the era. This is Maupassant's most powerful novel. Through the story of Georges Duroy, who is making his way to the top, the true morals of high French society are revealed; the spirit of corruption that reigns in all its spheres contributes to the fact that an ordinary and immoral person, such as Maupassant’s hero, easily achieves success and wealth.
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Dead souls. Nikolai Gogol
The publication of the first volume of N. Gogol’s “Dead Souls” in 1842 caused heated controversy among contemporaries, splitting society into fans and opponents of the poem. “...Talking about “Dead Souls”, you can talk a lot about Russia...” - this judgment of P. Vyazemsky explained the main reason for the controversy. The author’s question is still relevant: “Rus, where are you rushing, give me the answer?”
A well-known Russian magazine conducted research and compiled a list of books that are closest in spirit to Russians.
The full list includes more than 100 items, but we offer 15 books from this category that every person should read.
The editors of the magazine claim that the heroes of each work are bearers of Russian culture and its identity.
List of books that every Russian should read
We offer 15 books that every person should read. These that excite the minds of more than one generation.
1. Bulgakov M. “The Master and Margarita.” The novel combines two countries, two cultures and two eras. It intertwines fantasy ideas with historical reality and romance. It reveals in detail the struggle between good and evil.
The interaction and influence of the devil and divine power on man is shown. Together with science fiction, Bulgakov masterfully combined the reality of Moscow life of that era. Moreover, historical scenes are described on the basis of literary sources.
2. Pushkin A. “Eugene Onegin.” The work reveals to Russian people for the first time important problems of that reality. It is also relevant for our time. While reading the work, you will see your own friends, a street or a city, as if in a mirror.
Belinsky called “Eugene Onegin” the best encyclopedia of the Russian way of life. It covers deep themes and clearly conveys them through pen and paper. It shows what romance should be, what Russian love and real feelings can be.
3. Dostoevsky F. “Crime and Punishment". The novel presents issues of virtue and human morality. It reveals a person’s attitude to these qualities and examines the main character’s right to kill his own neighbor.
Even with this one. Using the example of Raskolnikov, the author shows that no goals or ideas can become a reason for ending a person’s life.
4. Tolstoy L. “War and Peace.” This is a masterpiece of Russian literature, where an entire encyclopedia is collected. Against the backdrop of changing eras and stunning events, the novel reveals the concept of a real person. In it, the people are depicted not as separate social strata, but as a single mass, united by grief in a single aspiration and common values.
Each volume traces popular thought, which lives not only in a military episode, but also in peaceful life.
5. De Saint-Exupery A. “The Little Prince.” The author tells how important it is to preserve children's purity and naivety. It shows human value and teaches respect for individual perceptions of the world around us.
6. Lermontov M. “Hero of our time”". The sonorous title of the work is quite suitable for modern reality. Just like 200 years ago, questions of the purpose of the individual and faith in divine powers are being raised in our society.
It will not leave anyone indifferent because it describes problems that are in tune with every soul - the meaning of passion, love, the purpose of the destiny of each person. For two centuries this work has been considered a classic of Russian literature.
7. Gabriel Garcia Marquez “One Hundred Years of Solitude.” You should read this book only when you feel ready for it. The book tells about people who are haunted by loneliness throughout their lives.
Moreover, this can be found out from the description of the events that are happening. The strong and wealthy family on the pages of the story is flourishing, but at the same time, each individual is a lonely person. The book describes different methods of struggle. Some are furiously engaged in their favorite work, others become hermits, and still others choose war instead of a peaceful life.
In the modern world, many people feel lonely, despite the opportunities for social communication and a large number of people around them. How to find understanding and recognition from others and, as a result, get rid of the oppressive feeling? The answer is revealed on the pages of the book.
9.Gogol N. “Dead Souls.” The book reveals to the reader the Russian character with its originality. Against the backdrop of beautiful Russian nature and picturesque villages, the author describes the greed and desire for profit of the landowners, their tyranny and the lack of rights of the peasants. At the same time, the work shows hope for a bright future, because in the second volume Chichikov had to cleanse himself morally.
Gogol picturesquely and clearly reflected reality and showed a true picture of life in the Russian hinterland in the second half of the 19th century.
10. Tolstoy L. “Anna Karenina.” A bright novel about unhappy love. A married woman has strong feelings for a young officer and as a result decides to commit suicide. This became for her the only way out of the situation when she became an outcast in society, when she was condemned by people who once wanted communication and protection.
The novel tells about the unrequited love of her husband, who only after Anna's death realized how dear she was to him. It raises questions of morality, responsibility and loyalty. At first glance, a banal story is described, but just start reading and a lot of emotions and feelings will open up to you.
11. Wilde O. “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” The work has become one of the greatest that have been written in the last 150 years. Initially, they tried to ban the novel; the author was condemned for “indecent scenes.”
Indeed, in his work, an innocent and beautiful young man becomes a monster. Dorian is influenced by Lord Henry, who preaches hedonistic ideas and spreads cynical aphorisms.
12. Griboedov A. “Woe from Wit.” A comedy work written in verse. Thanks to him, the writer became a famous classic of Russian literature. In it, Griboyedov ridicules the aristocrats of Moscow society who lived in the first half of the 19th century. Since the author used an aphoristic style, the sentences were divided into quotations.
13. Turgenev I. “Fathers and Sons.” The theme of the novel is relevant and understandable to every generation. On the one hand, there is a conflict between parents and children, and on the other, liberals and democrats. These are two socio-political forces that were active in Russia in the 1860s.
In parallel with intergenerational relationships, tensions between young people of the same age are shown. They try to defend their own point of view, behavior, their own habits and actions.
14.Remarque E.M. "Three Comrades" Find out what true friendship is, which even love cannot destroy. This is a story about the lives of ordinary people who survived the war and supported each other in peacetime. Falling in love with one person does not destroy, but only expands the circle of friendship. The book shows the bitterness of war and the romance of peaceful life, the ability to make friends and love.
15.Mitchell M. “Gone with the Wind.” A novel that raised questions of love and marriage, betrayal and loyalty to one’s own country, about the beauty and cruelty of life. This is one of the books that will live forever. Having read it once, you invariably return to it in order to experience the joy of meetings and the bitterness of losses together with the characters.
These books will help you understand the world around you, find out what relationships between people are like.
They are written in simple language so they are easy to read. They raise eternal topics that are relevant at any time. The authors do not overload them with abstruse speeches and philosophical digressions, so they are interesting to read at any time and at any age.
Books for self-development
If you decide to develop your own creative, mental, speaking skills or train your willpower, the following 15 books are a must-read.
1. Cialdini R. “Psychology of influence.” The book clearly presents the basic principles through which you can influence others. There are no abstruse theories or speeches in the book. There are only real tips that tell you step by step how you can get what you want from other people.
Particular attention is paid to the principle of contrasts and when to give in order to receive much more. It describes how people's opinions influence their own decisions. The book is especially useful for people whose profession involves daily communication. If you:
marketer - the book will help increase sales;
manager - to manage;
teacher - teach.
2. Gal N. “The Living and the Dead Word.” The writer translated “The Little Prince” into correct Russian. In her own work, the writer reveals the secret of the Russian language and shows how it should be: without verbal, clerical terms and a clutter of nouns.
She explains how correctly and clearly why one should act only in accordance with them. It instills a competent attitude towards the native language, without which one’s own development is impossible.
3. Covey S. “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” He shares tips and a ready-made system that helps you set priorities in your own life. At the same time, Stephen is far from imposing stereotypes. He invites everyone to decide based on their needs. The book will be an excellent help to anyone who wants to achieve the set thresholds.
4. Collins D. “From good to great.” The topic is the correct construction of a business using a system based on existing examples of existing companies. The book helps you evaluate the development of someone else's business in order to make decisions for yourself.
5. Mikalko M. “Rice assault.” The book helps to assess the situation outside the box. There is so much talk about this that the very phrase “thinking outside the box” has become commonplace. The author helps you get rid of templates using a special technique.
Read the riddles, complete the training tasks and puzzles, and you will be able to see two surfaces of one medal and even its edge. The book helps individuals decide and think outside the box.
6. Kemp D. “First say no.” The book is useful for people who make money by being able to negotiate. It reveals secrets about why you can’t always live by the “win and win” principle, but should be able to refuse. The book teaches you how to negotiate for the best benefit in any situation.
7.Reting H. “Write professionally”— will show writing techniques and everything related to this craft. The book will help those who are dissatisfied with their own results, even after colossal work done.
8. Brothers Heath Ch. and D. in the book “The Thinking Trap” tell why people set goals and do not follow through with them according to their own thinking. They tell you about common pitfalls and help you find a way out. After reading the book, you will learn to accept any choice and not regret it.
9. Rand A. “Atlas Shrugged.” Some people recommend looking through it with a notebook to jot down ideas you like. Others note that after familiarization, the worldview has changed: a person rethinks what is happening and looks at the big picture. The trilogy tells the story of the importance of every decision made.
Curry M. in the book “Genius Mode” combined notes from memoirs, letters and diaries of famous personalities: Beethoven, Tolstoy, Kafka.
Learn to build your own schedule that will allow you to do important things.
11. Breidermeier K. in the book “Black Rhetoric” reveals the secrets of proper dialogue at any level. Guided by it, you can “crush” your opponent, regardless of his social level and status. This could be one of the board of directors or the courier who brought the pizza.
12. Jay M. “Important Years.” How not to miss the moment and rise to achieve the maximum in life? When should you make plans and start implementing? Jay Mag's book will tell you this.
13. Kloen O. “Steal like an artist.” Famous writers and artists created new things based on what they saw from others. They looked, read and passed the works through themselves. As a result, they produced copies in which it was impossible to recognize the source. Learn to take ideas and create your own solution from them.
14. Shar B. “Dreaming is not harmful.” How to make your dream come true? how to use your own talents and strengths to implement ideas? This is written in detail in the book.
15. McGonigal K. “How to develop and strengthen willpower.” The title of the book reveals its message. It helps to activate hidden reserves and fully concentrate on work. It contains secrets that will help strengthen willpower through exercise. Learn to rest and sleep properly to achieve results.
23 January 2014, 15:07Every educated person has probably read many great books in his life. It’s not for nothing that there is a proverb: “To become smart, you only need to read 10 books, but to find them, you need to read thousands,” because worthwhile works can greatly influence a person’s consciousness and shape his vision of life.
Fiction is a storehouse of knowledge that has been collected over centuries and reflected in foreign and Russian classics. Many of the works are not only very interesting and educational, but are also ideal for development in a variety of areas, helping to understand yourself and other people.
The best classical writers managed to create more than a hundred golden books that absolutely every person should read in life. Below is a list of one hundred books included in the top best works of all time.
As evidenced by the world rating, the list reflects not only interesting books that are worth reading, but also those that carry significant life lessons and will certainly help a person solve many problems or find a path to accepting oneself and the world.
So, the list of the 100 best literary works that must be read contains the following works:
1. Mikhail Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita”
2. Alexander Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”
3. Fyodor Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment”
4. Leo Tolstoy “War and Peace”
5. Antoine de Saint-Exupery “The Little Prince”
6. Mikhail Lermontov “Hero of Our Time”
7. Ilya Ilf, Evgeny Petrov “Twelve Chairs”
8. George Orwell "1984"
9. Gabriel Garcia Marquez “One Hundred Years of Solitude”
10. JK Rowling "Harry Potter"
11. Nikolai Gogol “Dead Souls”
12. Leo Tolstoy “Anna Karenina”
13. Fyodor Dostoevsky “Idiot”
14. Oscar Wilde “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
15. Alexander Griboedov “Woe from Wit”
16. Ivan Turgenev “Fathers and Sons”
17. J. R. R. Tolkien “The Lord of the Rings”
18. Jerome Salinger "The Catcher in the Rye"
19. Erich Maria Remarque “Three Comrades”
20. Boris Pasternak “Doctor Zhivago”
21. Mikhail Bulgakov “Heart of a Dog”
22. Lewis Carroll "Alice in Wonderland"
23. Fyodor Dostoevsky “The Brothers Karamazov”
24. Arthur Conan Doyle “Sherlock Holmes” (60 works)
25. Alexandre Dumas “The Three Musketeers”
26. Alexander Pushkin “The Captain's Daughter”
27. Evgeny Zamyatin “We”
28. Nikolai Gogol “The Inspector General”
29. William Shakespeare "Romeo and Juliet"
30. Ernest Hemingway “The Old Man and the Sea”
31. Ivan Bunin “Dark Alleys”
32. Johann Wolfgang Goethe “Faust”
33. Ray Bradbury "Fahrenheit 451"
34. Bible
35. Franz Kafka “The Trial”
36. Ilya Ilf, Evgeny Petrov “Golden Calf”
37. Aldous Huxley “Brave New World”
38. Mikhail Sholokhov “Quiet Don”
39. Victor Pelevin “Generation “P””
40. William Shakespeare "Hamlet"
41. Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice"
42. Veniamin Kaverin “Two Captains”
43. Ken Kesey "Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
44. Nikolay Nosov “Trilogy about Dunno”
45. Ivan Goncharov “Oblomov”
46. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky “Monday begins on Saturday”
47. Mark Twain “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”
48. Alexander Solzhenitsyn “The Gulag Archipelago”
49. Francis Scott Fitzgerald "The Great Gatsby"
50. Ray Bradbury "Dandelion Wine"
51. Alexander Volkov “The Wizard of the Emerald City”
52. Tove Jansson “All about the Moomins”
53. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin “The History of a City”
54. Vladimir Nabokov “Lolita”
55. Erich Maria Remarque “All Quiet on the Western Front”
56. Ernest Hemingway “For Whom the Bell Tolls”
57. Erich Maria Remarque “Arc de Triomphe”
58. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky “It’s hard to be a god”
59. Richard Bach “Jonathan Livingston Seagull”
60. Alexandre Dumas “The Count of Monte Cristo”
61. Jack London "Martin Eden"
62. Venedikt Erofeev “Moscow - Cockerels”
63. Alexander Pushkin “Belkin’s Tales”
64. Jean-Paul Sartre “Nausea”
65. Daniel Keyes "Flowers for Algernon"
66. Mikhail Bulgakov “The White Guard”
67. Fyodor Dostoevsky “Demons”
68. Dante Alighieri “The Divine Comedy”
69. Chuck Palahniuk “Fight Club”
70. Anton Chekhov “The Cherry Orchard”
71. Franz Kafka “Castle”
72. Umberto Eco “The Name of the Rose”
73. William Golding "Lord of the Flies"
74. Albert Camus “The Stranger”
75. Victor Hugo “Notre Dame Cathedral”
76. Albert Camus “The Plague”
77. Kurt Vonnegut "Slaughterhouse-Five, or the Children's Crusade"
78. Boris Vasiliev “And the dawns here are quiet”
79. Nikolai Gogol “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”
80. Anatoly Pristavkin “The golden cloud spent the night”
81. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky “Roadside Picnic”
82. Leonid Filatov “About Fedot the Sagittarius, a daring fellow”
83. George Orwell "Animal Farm"
84. Margaret Mitchell "Gone with the Wind"
85. Alexander Green “Scarlet Sails”
86. O. Henry “The Gift of the Magi”
87. Miguel de Cervantes “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha”
88. Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey"
89. Daniel Defoe "Robinson Crusoe"
90. Jerome K. Jerome "Three in a Boat and a Dog"
91. Anton Chekhov “Ward No. 6”
92. Alan Milne “Winnie the Pooh and all-all-all”
93. Alexander Blok “Twelve”
94. Varlam Shalamov “Kolyma Tales”
95. Andrey Platonov “Pit”
96. Joseph Brodsky “Letters to a Roman Friend”
97. Sergei Yesenin “Black Man”
98. Osip Mandelstam “The Noise of Time”
99. Jonathan Swift "Gulliver's Travels"
100. Daniil Kharms “Cases”
The novel, on which Mikhail Afanasyevich worked for more than ten years, is read and reread all over the world. The author was able to skillfully reveal not just several storylines: love, historical and fantasy, but also raise such eternal questions as the meaning and price of human life, Evil and Good, death and immortality and many others. Starting reading from the very first words, each of us, at any age, plunges headlong into the world of the Master, Margarita, Pontius Pilate, Woland and other heroes of the novel, discovering more and more of its facets.
George Orwell "1984"
Could there be anything more terrible and terrible than total lack of freedom? This is the question that permeates every line of George Orwell's most famous dystopian novel. This work, the name of which has already become a household name, is a brilliant satire that mercilessly denounces every form of totalitarianism. Every day, a person, surrounded by political propaganda, lies and violence, loses his personality and individuality, plunging into a life full of fear and restrictions.
William Shakespeare "Romeo and Juliet"
The immortal work of the great playwright and poet is one of the must-reads both during school years and in adulthood. The story of love and enmity between two ancient families, the Montagues and the Capulets, leaves an indelible mark on everyone’s soul. The main characters teach us kindness, selflessness and purity, inherent only in young romantics. The tragic story has become a classic, and the names of the heroes have become household names. “Romeo and Juliet” is a work that can revive faith in beauty, in love - a feeling that knows no misfortune, and even death.
Homer "Iliad"
The real name of the creator of the legendary poem of the 8th-7th centuries. BC, which is the source of ideas, plots, characters in all spheres of art, is hidden in the fog of myths. The story of the Trojan War and the return of Odysseus, king of Ithaca, to his homeland, which he told in the smallest detail, has long raised doubts among researchers due to its authenticity. However, after excavations in Troy, a culture corresponding to that described in the Iliad was discovered. Thus, covered with centuries-old secrets and legends, the ancient Greek poem becomes the literary and, in many ways, historical school that every person must go through in his life.
Erich Maria Remarque "Arc de Triomphe"
This work is one of the most beautiful and saddest European novels of the 20th century. Its action takes place in Paris, where the main character, the German surgeon Ravik, who survived the horrors of the First World War and got used to fear and hatred, falls in love with an Italian actress who does not think about love and lives only by minute-by-minute victories. The emerging passion between two lost people, doomed to tragedy in advance, gives each of them a piece of warmth that they will never be able to feel again.
Fyodor Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment"
Having created a fundamentally new novel in world literature, called polyphonic, the author revealed in the work many of the most important themes for every person: crime and punishment, love and sacrifice, freedom and pride. An analysis of the psychological process of realizing and accepting guilt for a crime - this is what Dostoevsky wanted to say. This novel should be read several times - the deep psychologism of the characters contributes to a better understanding of not only the meaning of the novel, but also one’s own life.
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The novel by the Colombian writer is the personification of magical realism, in the plot of which reality and fictional reality, everyday life and fairy-tale elements coexist. One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the greatest books of the 20th century, a bizarre story of the jungle city of Macondo and the Buendia family, from creation to decline. The novel will take you to a very real parallel world, where miracles are commonplace, which you shouldn’t even pay attention to, men are strong and brave, and women are proud and incredibly beautiful.
"The Catcher in the Rye" Jerome David Salinger
The only novel by the American writer became a turning point in the history of world literature, and the name of the main character, Holden Caulfield, became a code for many generations of young rebels. The book tells the personal perception of life by the 16-year-old hero himself: his rejection of modern American reality, established social canons and the morality of modern society. This young man is the prototype of each of us at that age when we believed that we could change the world and go against all existing laws.
Alexander Pushkin "Eugene Onegin"
The novel in verse “Eugene Onegin” is one of the most significant works of Russian literature. From the encyclopedia of Russian life (as Belinsky rightly called the novel), one could learn almost everything about the era: style of clothing, behavior of people from high society, interests and moral principles. In the reflections of the characters, their emotions, hidden under the shell of upbringing and imposed values, we recognize ourselves. This novel is required reading during school years and at a more conscious age.
Leo Tolstoy "Anna Karenina"
“All happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” begins one of the most famous and brilliant novels in the treasury of Russian literature. This is a book about eternal values: about family, love and faith, about human dignity, and the issues raised in it were and remain relevant. The story about the conscious choice that every person must make, about the irreconcilable conflict between duty and feeling - a novel for the ages, for all times and for all generations.
