The Top Best Classic Books Every Family Needs To Read – You can turn this into a fancy family tradition, but this would be another way of ensuring your family unit and further broadening your intellectual scope individually and collectively.
With a decline in reading culture, there is a need for every family to cultivate the habit of reading as many books as possible. What better way to start than to read some classic works which have been around for several years? In this article, we shall be showing you the various classic works which you can read with your family:
1. The Great Gatsby.
Written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, the novel is set in the 1920s on Long Island, not far from New York City, and is told through Nick Carraway’s first-person perspective. It follows Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire obsessed with seeing his ex-lover Daisy Buchanan again. Nick Carraway, a Yale graduate from the Midwest and a World War I veteran, moves to New York City in the spring of 1922 in search of a job selling bonds. In the small town of West Egg on Long Island, he leases a house next to the mansion of Jay Gatsby, the mysterious multimillionaire who throws extravagant parties but never attends any of them himself.
Nick has dinner with his distant cousin Daisy Buchanan in the hip neighbourhood of East Egg one night. Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan, a former Yale football star and a friend of Nick’s from their time together at the university. A recent move from Chicago has brought the pair to a mansion just across the bay from Gatsby’s home. Nick meets Daisy’s childhood friend, the brash flapper and golf champion Jordan Baker. Jordan tells Nick that Tom has a mistress named Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the enormous garbage dump known as the “valley of ashes.” Nick later that night observes Gatsby standing alone on his lawn, gazing out over the bay at a green light. A few days later, Nick unhappily travels to New York City with an inebriated and irritable Tom. They make a pit stop at the garage owned by mechanic George Wilson and his wife Myrtle.
In New York, Tom has hired a tiny apartment specifically for his trysts with Myrtle, and the three of them go there. Guests come, and the celebration continues until Myrtle brings up Daisy, at which point Tom slaps her and breaks her nose. Nick gets a formal invitation to Gatsby’s home party one morning. Nick, ashamed that he does not know anyone there, starts drinking heavily until he runs into Jordan. During their conversation, a man who introduces himself as Jay Gatsby approaches them and claims that he and Nick were both members of the 3rd Infantry Division during World War I. Gatsby makes an effort to befriend Nick and the latter notices that Gatsby is following him as he exits the party. Nick and Gatsby have lunch at a speakeasy in late July. Gatsby tries to win Nick over with stories of his valour in the war and his time at Oxford.
In the aftermath, Nick and Jordan reunite at the Plaza Hotel. It was about 1917 when Gatsby was serving as an officer in the American Expeditionary Forces, that Jordan recalls he and Daisy first met. Even though they were much in love, Gatsby’s deployment abroad forced Daisy to marry Tom against her will. Gatsby thinks that with his newfound fortune and all-night parties, he can convince Daisy to think again. Gatsby manipulates Nick by helping him reunite with Daisy, and the two have an affair. As September progresses, Tom learns of the affair when Daisy addresses Gatsby with unrestrained closeness in front of him. Gatsby and Tom have an argument about the affair later at a suite at the Plaza Hotel. Daisy must tell Gatsby she never loved Tom, as this is his insistence. Daisy upsets both Gatsby and Tom by declaring her love for both of them. Tom exposes that Gatsby is a con artist who profits from the illegal sale of booze. This news solidified Daisy’s decision to remain in Tom’s company. Given that he is confident Daisy would never leave him, Tom instructs Gatsby with disdain to drive her home. While driving by Wilson’s garage on their way back to East Egg, Gatsby and Daisy hit and killed Myrtle. Later, after the accident, Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy was behind the wheel and that he plans to take responsibility to protect her.
Nick tries to get Gatsby to run away to avoid getting in trouble with the law, but he refuses. Tom’s revelation that Gatsby owns the car that hit Myrtle causes George to conclude that Gatsby must be Myrtle’s boyfriend and causes George further distress. At the end of the novel, George shoots and kills Gatsby in the pool of his estate before taking his own life. Henry Gatz, Gatsby’s father, shows up for the funeral a few days after his son’s murder, despite the very small number of mourners. After Gatsby dies, Nick grows to despise the city and concludes that he, Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby were all Midwesterners who were ill-suited to Eastern culture. When Nick first sees Tom, he is hesitant to shake his hand. Tom confesses to George that he was the one who revealed Gatsby’s connection to the car that ran over Myrtle. Back at Gatsby’s estate, Nick watches the green light at Daisy’s dock one last time before heading back to the Midwest.
2. Pride And Prejudice.
This Jane Austen’s tale on social mores was published in 1813. Elizabeth Bennet, the novel’s energetic protagonist, undergoes a transformation throughout the course of the story as she realizes the dangers of making snap decisions and the distinction between outward and inward goodness. According to the plot, Longbourn, the estate of the Bennet family, is located near the village of Meryton in Hertfordshire, England, in the early 19th century. Mrs Bennet’s top priority is finding suitable husbands for her five daughters. It is “a truth widely accepted” that “a single man in possession of a considerable fortune, must be in want of a wife,” so when Mr Bingley, a wealthy bachelor, moves into the neighbouring Netherfield estate, Mrs Bennet hopes that one of her daughters will find a suitable match. Mr Bingley, his two sisters, and Mr Darcy, his closest friend, are introduced to the family at a ball. Mr Bingley’s positive attitude and upbeat demeanour make him a crowd favourite.
He seems to have his sights set on Jane Bennet, the eldest of the Bennet girls. As a result of his superiority complex and superior attitude, Mr Darcy, who is said to be twice as wealthy as Mr Bingley, is universally disliked. Instead of dancing with Elizabeth, the second oldest Bennet’s daughter, he says she’s “not handsome enough” and walks away. Elizabeth feels hurt by the remark, but she and her companion laugh about it. Despite this initial reaction, Mr Darcy finds himself privately drawn to Elizabeth as they continue to run into each other at social events and he grows to appreciate Elizabeth’s wit and frankness. Longbourn’s heir, Mr. Collins, pays a visit to the Bennets at the suggestion of his patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who is also revealed to be Mr. Darcy’s aunt.
He hopes to find a marriage among the five daughters. He makes the choice to pursue Elizabeth. The Bennets are introduced to George Wickham, a dashing army lieutenant who, in confidence, reveals Mr. Darcy’s heinous past deeds toward Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s bias toward Mr. Darcy leads her to accept his story at face value. In this scene, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are at a ball, where Mrs. Bennet makes it clear that she hopes to see Jane and Bingley get engaged during their dance. Mrs. Collins’ proposal of marriage is rejected by Elizabeth, much to the dismay of her mother and the relief of her father. Instead, Mr. Collins pops the question to Elizabeth’s pal Charlotte Lucas. After hearing Mrs. Bennet’s disapproval of the marriage at the ball, Mr. Darcy decides to accompany Mr. Bingley on his trip to London, where he is eventually persuaded not to return to Netherfield by the help of his sisters. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s animosity for Mr. Darcy increases as she feels he is responsible for Mr. Bingley’s departure, and a sad Jane travels to London to stay with her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner.
Elizabeth pays a springtime visit to her friends Charlotte and Mr. Collins in Kent. Elizabeth and her companions have been invited to Lady Catherine’s estate, Rosings Park. Colonel Fitzwilliam, Mr. Darcy’s cousin, and Mr. Darcy himself are also at Rosings Park. According to Fitzwilliam, Mr. Darcy recently prevented a friend, presumably Bingley, from being involved in an unfavourable relationship. Elizabeth learns that she was supposed to get engaged to Jane, but she was actually engaged to someone else. Mr. Darcy declares his love for Elizabeth and proposes marriage to her despite her poor social standing. She is taken aback by Mr. Darcy’s apparent interest in her and promptly turns him down, telling him angrily that she could never love a man who made her sister so unhappy and accusing him of being unfair to Wickham. Mr. Darcy boasts about his ability to keep Bingley and Jane apart and cynically brushes off the accusation levelled against Wickham.
A letter from Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth explains that Wickham, the son of his late father’s steward, had turned down the “living” his grandfather had provided for him and had instead been given money. Wickham wasted no time in spending the money, and he even tried to use Georgiana Darcy’s hefty dowry as an excuse to go away with her 15-year-old sister. Mr. Darcy explains that he kept Jane and Bingley apart because he thought she was indifferent to Bingley and because her family lacked proper manners. Elizabeth feels guilty about her prejudice toward Mr. Darcy and the way her family has acted. Elizabeth joins the Gardiners on their tour to Derbyshire a few months later. They go to Mr. Darcy’s estate, Pemberley. Unexpectedly, Mr. Darcy returns, and he and Elizabeth and the Gardiners are treated with the utmost kindness. Elizabeth is taken aback by Darcy’s behaviour and quickly gets fond of him, to the point where she begins to regret having said no to his proposal. Lydia, her sister, has apparently absconded with Wickham, as she learns. When she’s finished telling Mr. Darcy, she rushes off. After much deliberation, Wickham finally agrees to marry Lydia. When she pays her family a visit, she reveals to Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy attended her wedding.
Mrs. Gardiner feels obligated to tell Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy arranged their marriage at great personal cost and effort, despite the fact that he swore everyone involved to secrecy. Two gentlemen named Bingley and Darcy have returned to Netherfield. Jane says yes to Mr. Bingley’s marriage proposal. After hearing that Elizabeth is planning to marry Mr. Darcy, Lady Catherine pays her a visit and insists that she make a solemn vow to reject his proposal at all costs. Lady Catherine and Darcy’s late mother had previously arranged for him to wed Anne. Elizabeth flatly rejects Lady Catherine’s request and politely begs that she depart. Encouraged by his aunt’s indignant recounting of Elizabeth’s answer, Darcy makes another proposal, which this time is accepted.
3. Frankenstein.
This a book by the English author Mary Shelley from the year 1818. The story of Frankenstein follows the young scientist Victor Frankenstein as he conducts an unconventional scientific experiment that results in the creation of a sentient creature. Shelley began working on the story when she was 18 years old, and the first version was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20 years old. It wasn’t until the 1821 Parisian publication of the second edition that her byline appeared there.
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