Books: What to Know
Classic Stories Without the Homework
The plot, the people, the point and the ending — then the Boovie film, where there is one.
The library
1,001 classics
In the library
The Poetical Works of Beattie, Blair, and Falconer
James Beattie · poetry
The story in one page
The Poetical Works of John Milton
A blind poet dictates the history of the universe, the rebellion of Hell, and a very expensive piece of fruit.
John Milton · poetry
In the library
The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1
Henry James · novel
In the library
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, v. 2 (of 2)
Charles Dickens · novel
The story in one page
The Praise of Folly
Human existence requires a steady intake of delusion, bad decisions, and the occasional bribe to avoid total collapse.
Desiderius Erasmus · ideas
The story in one page
The Prince and the Pauper
Two identical boys swap clothes, forcing a Prince into the slums and a pauper onto the English throne.
Mark Twain · novel
In the library
The Prince and the Pauper, Part 1.
Mark Twain · novel
In the library
The Prince and the Pauper, Part 7.
Mark Twain · novel
In the library
The Princess De Montpensier
Madame de La Fayette · novel
In the library
The Queen Of Spades
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin · short story
In the library
The Rape of Lucrece
William Shakespeare · poetry
The story in one page
The Rape of the Lock, and Other Poems
A gentleman snips a curl at a party, sparking a social war of legendary, tiny proportions.
Alexander Pope · poetry
The story in one page
The Raven
A grieving scholar tries to talk logic to a bird that only knows one extremely discouraging word.
Edgar Allan Poe · poetry
In the library
The Raven, and The Philosophy of Composition
Edgar Allan Poe · poetry
The story in one page
The Real Mother Goose
A farmer's wife brandishes a carving knife while pigs go to market and men debate the merits of getting out of bed.
Blanche Fisher Wright · poetry
The story in one page
The Red Badge of Courage: An Episode of the American Civil War
A new soldier joins the army expecting glory. He gets mud, shells, and a sudden desire to run.
Stephen Crane · novel
In the library
The Relation of the Hrólfs Saga Kraka and the Bjarkarímur to Beowulf
Oscar Ludvig Olson · ideas
In the library
The Remains of Hesiod the Ascræan, Including the Shield of Hercules
Hesiod · poetry
In the library
The Republic
Plato · ideas
The story in one page
The Republic of Plato
Socrates builds a city out of logic to find justice, then bans the poets and chains the citizens to shadows.
Plato · dialogue
The story in one page
The Return of the Native
A Parisian diamond merchant returns to a bleak English wasteland, marries the wrong woman, and loses his eyesight to books.
Thomas Hardy · novel
In the library
The Rhesus of Euripides
Euripides · play
The story in one page
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
A sailor kills a bird, ghosts haunt the ship, and a wedding guest loses his night.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge · poetry
In the library
The Roman Poets of the Republic, 3rd edition
W. Y. Sellar · ideas
In the library
The Romaunce of the Sowdone of Babylone and of Ferumbras His Sone Who Conquerede Rome
Emil Hausknecht · poetry
The story in one page
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
You arrive like water and leave like wind. Might as well order a drink first.
Omar Khayyam · poetry
In the library
The sacred tree
Murasaki Shikibu · novel
The story in one page
The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius
The wealthy are hypocrites, the poor are desperate, and everyone is under constant judgment.
Juvenal · poetry
In the library
The Satires, Epistles, and Art of Poetry of Horace
Horace · poetry
In the library
The Satyricon — Complete
Petronius Arbiter · novel
In the library
The Satyricon — Volume 01: Introduction
Petronius Arbiter · novel
In the library
The Satyricon — Volume 02: Dinner of Trimalchio
Petronius Arbiter · novel
In the library
The Satyricon — Volume 03: Encolpius and His Companions
Petronius Arbiter · novel
In the library
The Satyricon — Volume 04 : Escape by Sea
Petronius Arbiter · novel
In the library
The Satyricon — Volume 05: Crotona Affairs
Petronius Arbiter · novel
In the library
The Satyricon — Volume 06: Editor's Notes
Petronius Arbiter · novel
In the library
The Satyricon — Volume 07: Marchena Notes
Petronius Arbiter · novel
In the library
The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter
Petronius Arbiter · novel
The story in one page
The Scarlet Letter
A woman wears a letter for her sins, while the father keeps his own secret.
Nathaniel Hawthorne · novel
In the library
The Sceptical Chymist
Robert Boyle · science
The story in one page
The Secret Garden
A sour orphan finds a locked garden; she decides she and her invalid cousin are not staying sick.
Frances Hodgson Burnett · novel
The story in one page
The Seven Plays in English Verse
A king discovers his parentage, a sister breaks the law, and gods never stop watching.
Sophocles · collection
In the library
The Shakespeare-Expositor: An Aid to the Perfect Understanding of Shakespeare's Plays
Thomas Keightley · play
In the library
The Ship of Fools, Volume 1
Sebastian Brant · poetry
In the library
The Shopkeeper Turned Gentleman
Molière · play
The story in one page
The snow-image, and other twice-told tales
A mountain holds a face, a man builds a house of marble, and time never stops turning.
Nathaniel Hawthorne · collection
In the library
The Song of Hiawatha: An Epic Poem
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · poetry
The story in one page
The Song of Roland
A king spends seven years conquering Spain, but his rear guard loses everything in an afternoon.
C. K. Scott-Moncrieff · myth