Short Classics
Interested in reading the classics but don’t have time for "War and Peace"? Great Books come in all shapes and sizes. The following mini-masterpieces pack a powerful impact in under 200 pages.
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Metamorphosis and Other Stories
“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.” So begins the creepiest classic ever. (60 pages)
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Passing
An upper middle-class woman reconnects with a lighter-skinned friend who has left the black community to pass as white. (122 pages)
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The Member of the Wedding
Frankie, whose daddy calls her a great big long-legged 12-year-old blunderbuss, has decided to grow up and leave home with her sister; but in matrimony, three's a crowd. (153 pages)
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Billy Budd, Sailor, and Other Stories
Pressed into service on a warship, a dashing sailor runs afoul of the letter of the law, and is cast on the merciless rocks of blind justice. (98 pages) Also try Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener.
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Sula
Sula and Nel, friends who share a terrible secret, are drawn apart by time, circumstance and the scruples of a society with little regard for either of them. (176 pages)
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Animal Farm
Rebellious livestock abolish the dominion of their two-legged masters, only to find that “All Animals Are Equal, but Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others.” (113 pages)
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One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
An extra bowl of gruel, the warmth of hard physical work, a bit of shelter against the freezing wind: it was a good day in the Siberian prison camp. (158 pages)
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Of Mice and Men
Lennie doesn’t know his own strength, and George little suspects the strength of their friendship, or the sacrifice it will demand of him. (124 pages) Also try The Red Pony and The Pearl.
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The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories
We’re all going to die, but who among us is ready to go? Ivan Ilych most certainly is not. Find out what he learns on this once-in-a-lifetime journey. (60 pages) Also try Hadji Murat and Master and Man.
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Pudd'nhead Wilson
Northern lawyer Pudd’nhead can puzzle out the mystery of the Extraordinary Twins and the Secret Changelings, but just can’t make any sense of slavery. (143 pages)
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