English Literature Classics

George Orwell's dystopian masterpiece about a totalitarian society where Big Brother watches everything, truth is manufactured, and independent thought is a crime. A chilling exploration of power, surveillance, and the manipulation of language and history.

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The quintessential American novel. Set in the Jazz Age, it tells the story of the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his obsessive pursuit of Daisy Buchanan, exploring themes of wealth, class, idealism, and the American Dream.

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about racial injustice in the Depression-era South, told through the eyes of young Scout Finch. Her father, attorney Atticus Finch, defends a Black man falsely accused of a crime in a powerful story about courage, compassion, and moral growth.

Beloved

by Toni Morrison

Set after the American Civil War, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the haunting story of Sethe, an escaped slave tormented by the ghost of her dead daughter. A devastating exploration of the trauma of slavery and the fierce power of a mother's love.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The epic tale of the Buendia family across seven generations in the mythical town of Macondo. A landmark of magical realism, it weaves together the fantastical and the mundane to explore love, war, solitude, and the cyclical nature of history.

Pride and Prejudice

by Jane Austen

The spirited Elizabeth Bennet navigates the rigid social hierarchy of Regency-era England, clashing and ultimately falling in love with the proud Mr. Darcy. Austen's sparkling wit and sharp social commentary have made this one of the most beloved novels in the English language.

Catch-22

by Joseph Heller

Set on a small Mediterranean island during World War II, bombardier Yossarian is desperate to survive the insanity of war. The infamous Catch-22 dictates that concern for one's own safety in the face of danger is the process of a rational mind — but anyone rational would fly combat missions, making them insane.

The Catcher in the Rye

by J.D. Salinger

Holden Caulfield, a disaffected teenager expelled from yet another prep school, wanders New York City over a few days, railing against the "phoniness" of the adult world. A defining novel of adolescent alienation that has captivated and divided readers for decades.

Invisible Man

by Ralph Ellison

An unnamed Black narrator recounts his journey from the South to Harlem, grappling with racial identity and social invisibility in mid-twentieth century America. A landmark of American literature that explores the complexities of race, individuality, and what it means to be truly seen.

East of Eden

by John Steinbeck

Spanning from the Civil War to World War I, this multigenerational epic follows the intertwined fates of the Trask and Hamilton families in California's Salinas Valley. A retelling of the Cain and Abel story, it grapples with good and evil, free will, and the human capacity for redemption.

Lord of the Flies

by William Golding

After a plane crash strands a group of British schoolboys on a deserted island, their attempt at self-governance devolves into savagery and violence. A disturbing allegory about civilization, power, and the darkness lurking within human nature.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston

Janie Crawford tells her friend the story of her three marriages and her quest for love, independence, and self-discovery in early twentieth century Florida. Written in rich Southern dialect, Hurston's masterpiece is a celebration of Black womanhood and the courage to live on one's own terms.

Things Fall Apart

by Chinua Achebe

In pre-colonial Nigeria, the proud warrior Okonkwo builds his reputation in his Igbo village, only to see his world shattered by the arrival of European missionaries and colonial rule. A foundational work of African literature that tells the story of colonialism from the colonized perspective.

Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley

Victor Frankenstein, an ambitious young scientist, creates a sentient creature from reanimated dead tissue — then abandons it in horror. The creature, intelligent and tormented, seeks revenge on its creator. Often called the first science fiction novel, it probes the ethics of creation, responsibility, and what it means to be human.

Jane Eyre

by Charlotte Bronte

Orphaned and mistreated, the fiercely independent Jane Eyre becomes governess at Thornfield Hall, where she falls for the brooding Mr. Rochester. But the house holds a dark secret. A groundbreaking novel of passion, morality, and a woman's right to equality and self-respect.

Crime and Punishment

by Fyodor Dostoevsky

advanced

Raskolnikov, a destitute former student in St. Petersburg, commits a brutal murder and then grapples with crushing guilt and paranoia. A profound psychological exploration of morality, redemption, and the consequences of believing oneself above the law.

The Handmaid's Tale

by Margaret Atwood

In the totalitarian Republic of Gilead, women have been stripped of all rights. Offred, a Handmaid forced into reproductive servitude, recounts her life in this chilling dystopia. Atwood's prescient novel is a searing examination of power, gender, and the fragility of freedom.

Brave New World

by Aldous Huxley

In Huxley's chilling vision of the future, humans are genetically engineered and socially conditioned to serve a seemingly benevolent totalitarian state. Bernard Marx begins to question his conditioning and the price of a world where everyone is happy — but no one is truly free.

Fahrenheit 451

by Ray Bradbury

In a dystopian future where firemen burn books instead of putting out fires, Guy Montag begins to question everything he's been taught. When he starts secretly reading the very books he's supposed to destroy, his entire world unravels.

Slaughterhouse-Five

by Kurt Vonnegut