some short classics to see what you like

Here is something I've been thinking about. Apparently there is recent renewed interest in reading "the classics," as in the novels that everyone feels like they're supposed to have read but never got around to. And as someone who was an English major back in the 80s when you had to take a whole bunch of required survey classes (back when we still had to read Pope and Dryden and William Blake, not to mention Austen, Dickens, Trollope, and Wilkie Collins)(and I'm enough of a nerd that I loved it all), I have read quite a few of the classics. QUITE A FEW. In fact, the big hole in my reading is mid-twentieth century, which was considered passé when I was in undergrad. lol. 

So if you're just starting out (in other words, except Lord of the Rings you haven't read a novel written before 1980 ever in your life), it occurred to me that I could pass along some advice. You could start with Middlemarch (a mere 800 pages) and maybe you'd love it, but you might be better off starting off with something a bit less intimidating. In other words, shorter.  

Here are some short works that still totally qualify as classics. Bonus: almost all of these you can find online for free, just google "Joyce The Dead full text free" or something similar. The number of pages is an estimate based on the version I have sitting on my shelves, but of course it depends on the size of the font, the layout of the page, etc. 

Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis 70-ish pages (freaky story about a man who turns into a giant bug, and no I am not making that up)

James Joyce, "The Dead" 40-ish pages (published as the final work in his short story collection Dubliners)

Herman Melville, Bartleby the Scrivener (yup, Melville is the guy more famous for Moby Dick, although that was barely read during his lifetime and didn't become famous until later)

Henry James, The Turn of the Screw (you've probably heard of that one, yes?)

Nella Larson, Passing 120-ish pages

Shirley Jackson, The Lottery (short story) or The Haunting of Hill House (95-ish pages) or We have Always Lived in the Castle (under 200). I’ve only read the Lottery, the others look too scary for me.

Kate Chopin "The Awakening" or "The Story of an Hour" --short stories 

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" 17 pages, which surprised me when I pulled it off the shelf, I remember it being more like a novella.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" (10 pages, but is like a steamroller) 

Dorothy Johnson The Hanging Tree (150 pages), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance(40-ish pages) (I'm sneaking in a Montana author you've probably never heard of, but both of these were made into classic westerns)(also, A Man Called Horse— she was amazing)

Sandra Cisneros The House on Mango Street (120 pages)(it's only 42 years old but I think it still counts as a classic) 

And a handful of classic short stories: William Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily," F. Scott Fitzgerald "Bernice Bobs her Hair," Eudora Welty "Why I Live at the P.O.," D.H. Lawrence, "The Rocking Horse Winner," John Updike, "A&P," Flannery O'Connor "A Good Man is Hard to Find" or "Everything that Rises must Converge," Edith Wharton "Roman Fever" which is a 15-ish page story that seems pointless until you get to the last line. I could go on and on. If you want more, just say the word.

There are many writers who were actually probably more famous for their short stories than their novels during their lifetimes, and some still are (Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, Louisa May Alcott, Edith Wharton, Alice Walker-- and although Dickens was famous in his lifetime for his novels, he published dozens of short stories, try "The Chimes"). So you can google any of those and find plenty of options.

Since this is really low on works by writers of color, here is a link to 12 Brilliant Stories by Black Writers to read for free online, not all of which are old.

And that search led me to discover that I'm not the only person who has thought of this (of course not), and here is a list that is actually better than mine from LitHub, which reminded me of several books I've been meaning to read but hadn't yet (Giovanni's Room, for example) or re-read, like Cane which I read and loved in college and still have my copy, but can barely remember.

And of course if you like any of these, now you know some authors whose work you enjoy and you can keep going. Happy reading.