Before we begin the recommendations, I know what you’re thinking — and I earnestly agree. Classics are antiquated. Classic literature has long been understood to reflect a panoptic image of society. The catalog is still highly regarded in literary circles despite it no longer speaking for the standard breadth of experience. Instead, it represents the perspectives of its time – much like how contemporary literature must represent the progressive values of the modern world to have any hope of withstanding the test of time and being considered “classic” itself. This is all by way of saying, please don’t discount present-day, inclusive literature and/or works by marginalized authors. Thank you.
Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis:
Would Franz Kafka still love you if you were a bug? No. He’d throw apples at you as you skittered under the couch. Nobody loves a bug. Entomological terror aside, Kafka’s themes can be, at times, relatable (unlike the grandpa story to come). If nothing else, you will get to add “kafkaesque” to your lexicon. Time not spent exhaustively listening to Beyonce’s new album? Kafkaesque. GHS parking lot? Kafkaesque. It’s the adjective that keeps on giving.
Richard Henry Dana Jr.’s Two Years Before the Mast:
I succumb to honesty: I read nautical literature to scratch the “gossip” itch. Of course, talking about my classmate’s indiscretions is morally reprehensive, but if the fictitious quartermaster has a problem with the equally fictitious boatswain, I want to know all the details. I can rejoice in their abject pettiness without suffering the guilty conscience of (genuine) betrayal. If curiosity about sailing square rigged ships (or miscellaneous gossip) ever got the best of you, I can attest that this novel is a treatise on the subjects.
Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea:
It’s Moby Dick (Hemingway’s Version). Swap Captain Ahab for Grandpa and the white whale for a giant marlin, and you have The Old Man and the Sea. Unlike Moby Dick, Grandpa wins. Have you ever wondered what goes through an older man’s head in the middle of the ocean surrounded by sharks? Probably not…but it’s in there, as well as several life lessons that are arguably irrelevant if you’re not a senior citizen. Also, more boats. Never enough boats.
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness:
Clunky prose with an all-too-familiar, well-worn theme? Even more boats? A scathing critique of imperialism? Heart of Darkness delivers on all of these (and more). If it’s any confirmation, modern authors have picked the pocket of this story absolutely bare. You’re sure to recognize it in your favorite thrillers. Float up a river, make a crazy friend…wonder about your own humanity. Narrowly escaping the jungle with your friend who is narrowly escaping insanity? How Kafkaesque.
