Foreign classics: the best works

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Don't know what to read? There is a win-win option - foreign classics: books that have been tested by time and more than one generation of readers. Most of the novels from the selection below are included in the "top 100" world bestsellers. So choose the book you like according to the description and enjoy.

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Brontë's novel is well known to many: it has been reprinted and filmed more than once. This book is a classic of foreign literature at its best.

Readers see the world through the eyes of Jane Eyre - a modest English girl who lost her parents early and was forced to live in her aunt's house and endure beatings and injustice. Admission to the Lowood School for Girls only at first glance seems to be the best option: living conditions are even worse than in the house of the "benefactor", but here Jane first makes friends, and subsequently a job, thanks to which she meets the love of her life. However, on the way to the desired happiness, Jane will have to shed many tears, learn to say goodbye and forgive.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

A story of love, passion and hate - this is how briefly you can describe the famous book by Emily Bronte, which still excites the hearts of readers. What is so attractive about her? Foreign classics are able to famously twist the plot and keep the reader in suspense until the very end of the story.

One day a new guest arrives at Wuthering Heights. Instead of a hospitable host and a comfortable home, something else awaits Mr. Lockwood: a rude landlord, his gloomy relatives and a general feeling of gloom and neglect of the estate. Befriending an old maid, Lockwood learns the story of Wuthering Heights, a story of devastating love, passion and hate spanning decades.

Notre Dame Cathedral by Victor Hugo

Do you like the way French (foreign) classics are written? Then be sure to read one of Victor Hugo's best novels.

The author tells a tragic and beautiful love story of several young people for one girl. The heroes experience not a timid, tender feeling, but love, leading to sin and overshadowing common sense. But who will the beautiful Esmeralda choose? The one who is ugly in appearance, but beautiful in soul and ready to protect his beloved, no matter what? Or will he give preference to a sweet-talking handsome man who sees only a toy in a girl?

"Sister Kerry" by Theodore Dreiser

Why are foreign classics still interesting? Probably because the stories that live on the pageswritten books are no less relevant than when the works were published.

Eighteen-year-old Kerry Meeber moves from a small town to Chicago in hopes of a better life. But the girl's hopes are not justified: neither relatives nor the city are happy about her arrival. Only a casual acquaintance of Drouet shows interest in her, and he introduces pretty Kerry to the manager of the bar, George Hurstwood. A seemingly successful relationship with George leads her to New York, where she finally finds her calling on the theater stage.

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

This novel is deservedly included in the selection of "foreign classics, the best." The plot may not be new, but it is interesting to read, and many situations feel lifelike.

Molly Gibson has been in love with Roger Hamley since childhood. But she is only the daughter of a simple doctor, and he is the heir to a noble and we althy family, so there can be no talk of any feelings. Moreover, it turns out that Roger is not indifferent to the girl's half-sister - the temperamental Cynthia, and she seems to reciprocate. However, it soon becomes clear that Cynthia has her own secrets, and she only needs Roger to gain freedom from the past. However, despite the love triangle, everyone eventually finds their happiness.

The Adventures of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

If you like foreign classics, and you prefer books with a happy ending, then pay attention to this story.

Life is at the center of the plotOliver Twist is a boy who ended up in an orphanage after the death of his mother. Due to a minor fault, the child is given as an apprentice to the undertaker, but, unable to bear the mistreatment, Oliver runs away from the office and heads to London. The misadventures of the boy do not end there: he manages to get into a gang of pickpockets. And only a meeting with Mr. Brownlow promises to put an end to the black streak in the life of an unfortunate thief.

Red and Black, Stendhal

The book is considered the pearl of Stendhal's work, the master of the psychological novel. Real events served as the basis for writing the work.

Julien Sorel is ambitious, prudent, ready to go head to head in order to achieve his goals. When a vacancy for a tutor in the mayor's house became vacant, the young man did not think for a long time and easily got a vacancy. Just as easily, Julien won the heart of Madame de Renal, the wife of his employer. But because of the rumors that have spread around the city, the young man has to leave. However, fate is favorable to him, and Sorel gets the position of secretary of the Marquis de La Mole in Paris. Clever and ambitious, he attracts the attention of the daughter of the Marquis and, although he does not have reciprocal feelings for the girl, he strikes up a relationship with her and makes plans for the future. However, everything is spoiled by an unexpected letter from a former mistress: the young man loses his position and bright prospects and, inspired by a thirst for revenge, decides to kill Madame de Renal.

"Tender is the Night", Fitzgerald

Works of foreign classics, and not onlyforeign, often cause ambiguous impressions after reading. “Tender is the Night” was no exception: a bright plot, an interesting development of the plot and a finale that leaves a bitter aftertaste. What is it: a love story or moral degradation, a happy ending or a meaningful ellipsis? Everyone decides for himself after reading.

Young psychiatrist Dick Diver falls in love with a patient and marries her. The couple lives in their own house on the banks of the Riviera, leading a rather secluded life, occasionally arranging gatherings with friends. Everything changes when Rosemary arrives on the coast. The eighteen-year-old actress is very different from Nicole, and Dick falls in love with her. However, the romance did not last long - the beauty leaves and appears in the life of a psychiatrist only four years later, still just as beautiful and brilliant. The novel flares up again and fades away just as quickly, and after him, Dick's career begins to fade. However, the hero meets his beloved again after a while. What awaits Dick now, and will he finally be able to decide on his desires and find happiness?

"Dangerous Liaisons" by Choderlos de Laclos

If you are interested in foreign novels (classics), then pay attention to this book. This is a novel in letters, but despite the genre, the book is easy to read, the language and style are beyond praise. A special intrigue lies in the fact that the author assures the authenticity of all correspondence, only slightly corrected by the editor.

The plot is simple and predictable in places, but events develop rapidly, passions run high, and let the reader not know what the characters look like, thisdoes not interfere with the perception of the picture as a whole.

Madame de Volanges takes her daughter Cecile from the convent and plans to marry the girl to the Comte de Jarkour. Marquise de Merteuil learns about the upcoming wedding and, wanting to take revenge on her former lover, persuades her friend Viscount de Valmont to seduce an innocent girl.

The Catcher in the Rye by Jerome Salinger

Considered a cult novel by Jerome Salinger, readers still evoke conflicting emotions: some consider it a masterpiece and cannot imagine the best books of foreign classics without this work, others sincerely try to understand what the author wrote so special and why everyone likes it so much.

The main character is sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield, who is being treated at the clinic. He has a difficult relationship with peers, does not get along with girls, and the only person he can trust is Phoebe's younger sister. Everything else seems too overplaying or repulsive to him. Holden tries to find his place in life, but there comes a moment when the only desire of a teenager becomes to escape from everything.

The book is quite interesting psychologically, if you don't wait for adventure or the hero's attempt to change the world or at least himself.