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
Imaginary Conversations and Poems: A Selection
Walter Savage Landor · poetry
The story in one page
In Praise of Folly
A personified Folly argues that life is a theater where everyone is wearing the wrong costume for the right reasons.
Desiderius Erasmus · ideas
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Incognita; Or, Love and Duty Reconcil'd
William Congreve · novel
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Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Aleksandr Pushkin
Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin · reference
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Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope · reference
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Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron Baron Byron · reference
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Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius · reference
In the library
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Marguerite, Queen of Navarre
Queen consort of Henry II King of Navarre Marguerite · reference
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Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Rabelais
François Rabelais · reference
In the library
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Robert Burns
Robert Burns · reference
In the library
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Washington Irving
Washington Irving · reference
The story in one page
Ion
A man claims he is a master of poetry. Socrates suggests he is just a magnet.
Plato · dialogue
The story in one page
Jane Eyre: An Autobiography
An orphan girl takes a job, meets a brooding man, and discovers a problem in the attic.
Charlotte Brontë · novel
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Joseph Andrews, Vol. 1
Henry Fielding · novel
The story in one page
Julius Caesar
Senators fret over a crown, commit a public stabbing, and discover that killing a man is easier than killing his ghost.
William Shakespeare · play
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Kalevala : the Epic Poem of Finland — Volume 02
Elias Lönnrot · poetry
The story in one page
Kim
An Irish orphan wanders India as a Buddhist disciple while moonlighting for the British Secret Service during the Great Game.
Rudyard Kipling · novel
The story in one page
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
A boy pulls a sword from a stone, founds an elite fellowship, and watches it crumble through betrayal and magic.
Thomas Sir -1471 Malory · myth
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King Henry IV, Part 1
William Shakespeare · play
In the library
King Henry IV, Part 2
William Shakespeare · play
The story in one page
King Henry V
A young king leaves his wild past behind to invade France, manage a siege, and woo a princess.
William Shakespeare · play
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King Henry VI, Part 1
William Shakespeare · play
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King Henry VI, Part 2
William Shakespeare · play
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King Henry VI, Part 3
William Shakespeare · play
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King Horn, Floriz and Blauncheflur, The Assumption of Our Lady
J. Rawson Lumby · poetry
The story in one page
King Lear
A king divides his land by how much his daughters praise him. It goes badly.
William Shakespeare · play
The story in one page
King Richard II
A King believes he is God's deputy until his cousin brings a real army.
William Shakespeare · play
The story in one page
King Richard III
One ambitious Duke calculates the math of murder to clear his path to the throne.
William Shakespeare · play
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Knickerbocker's History of New York, Complete
Washington Irving · novel
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L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas
John Milton · poetry
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La Chanson de Roland : Translated from the Seventh Edition of Léon Gautier
Léonce Rabillon · poetry
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La Fiammetta
Giovanni Boccaccio · novel
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Laches
Plato · ideas
The story in one page
Laws
Three men walk to a cave and invent an entire government on the way.
Plato · dialogue
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Layamon's Brut
active 1200 Layamon · novel
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Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 1
Thomas Sir -1471 Malory · myth
In the library
Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 2
Thomas Sir -1471 Malory · myth
The story in one page
Le Morte Darthur
One king, a round table, and a collection of knights who mostly just hit each other.
Thomas Sir -1471 Malory · myth
The story in one page
Leaves of Grass
A bearded man identifies with everything in America, from the Brooklyn ferry to the grass growing over the dead.
Walt Whitman · poetry
The story in one page
Les Misérables
Nineteen years for a loaf of bread; a lifetime spent running from the law.
Victor Hugo · novel
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Les Misérables, v. 2/5: Cosette
Victor Hugo · novel
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Les Misérables, v. 3/5: Marius
Victor Hugo · novel
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Les Misérables, v. 4/5: The Idyll and the Epic
Victor Hugo · novel
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Les Misérables, v. 5/5: Jean Valjean
Victor Hugo · novel
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Lesser Hippias
Plato · ideas
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Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 01
Charles Dudley Warner · reference
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Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 02
Charles Dudley Warner · novel
In the library
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 03
Charles Dudley Warner · novel