What I Read In 2023: Classics

The classics are one of my favorite things to read. Jehosheba discovered them when she was twelve (and read Les Miserables) and introduced me to them. At first, I thought they were boring and long, but as I continued to read them, I fell in love. I read so many amazing classics in 2023. Which ones have you read? Do you enjoy classics?

Read: 17 books

Average Rating: 3.8 Stars

Average Page Count Per Book: 317 pages

Best: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Worst: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Re-reads are in italics and audiobooks have an asterisk beside them.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding – 3 Stars

“He knelt among the shadows and felt his isolation bitterly. They were savages it was true; but they were human.”

When a plane full of boys’ crashes on an island and all the adults are killed, the boys must figure out how to survive on their own.

Oh boy, I’m not sure what to think of this book. I was hesitant to start it because I do not enjoy survival stories – especially set on islands or at sea. This book isn’t a man against the elements story. It’s man against man. The boys divide into two tribes, desperate for each other’s blood. Is it very realistic? Maybe not. But it shows the depths of evil that is in the human heart, just waiting to be provoked.

It was such a dark story. It was gory and gross, lots of blood and guts, but the darkness was deeper. It made me look into my own heart, and I hated the evil that I found there. All in all, a good book, but one that will have you shuddering and doing some serious heart analysis.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain – 4 Stars

“He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it — namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain.”

Ah, this is such a classic. Tom reminds me so much of my own brothers, especially when they were his age. I couldn’t stop laughing.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin by Mark Twain* – 4 Stars

“Tom told me what his plan was, and I see in a minute that it was worth fifteen of mine for style, and would make Jim just as free a man as mine would, and maybe get us all killed besides.”

I love the contrast between whimsical Tom, practical Huck, and loyal Jim. The book runs a little long, especially towards the end when they’re stuck with the con artists, but overall it is so funny and entertaining.

Tom Sawyer Abroad by Mark Twain* – 3 Stars

“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.”

Tom Sawyer Detective by Mark Twain* – 3 Stars

“Because in my nature I have always run to pie, whilst in his nature he has always run to mystery.”

1984 by George Orwell – 4 Stars

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”  

“Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.”

“There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.” 

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley – 4 Stars

“I ate civilization. It poisoned me; I was defiled. And then,” he added in a lower tone, “I ate my own wickedness.”

I wrote a full review of this book here. Originally, I gave this book five stars because it was so well written and strangely prophetic of what’s happening today. I lowered it to four because of all the sexual content. But otherwise, it is a crazy, scary, amazing novel.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury– 2 Stars

“Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot of things we were afraid we might forget. There is nothing magical in them, at all. The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.”

I wanted to like this one, but it doesn’t hold a candle to 1984 and Brave New World. I never really connected with any of the characters, the ending was awful. The world building in general was confusing and outdated. You can read my full review here.

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin* – 4 Stars

“The only means of ridding man of crime is ridding him of freedom.”

This was very similar to 1984 (it was Orwell’s inspiration). It had more characters and a little more action, but over all the stories were the same.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne* – 4 Stars

“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.”

Hester Prynne, caught pregnant by adultery, was forced to bear the Red Letter (A) on her bosom forever as a remembrance of her sin. The story takes us through the next seven years, as her daughter, Pear, grows. Hester is forced to face the effects of her sin not only on her, but also on her child, her husband, and the father of Pearl.

I love how this book shows that there is no such thing as hidden sin. No one knew who the father of Pearl was. He was respected and honored. But he was in utter torment over his guilt, and he couldn’t stand it. He was more tormented over his sin than Hester because at least hers was out in the open and not festering inside.

I absolutely loved the ending, but I can’t say much without spoilers. It redeemed the whole book for me, though. If it had ended differently, I would have given it 2 stars instead of 4.

I didn’t like how Hawthorne portrayed Hester’s husband. He trusted Hester and came back from a voyage to find her false and all of his hopes for a happy life dashed. He had every right to be angry and jealous. He is shown as an absolute monster. He is called a demon several times and is only seen negatively, as a dark, lurking shadow. Yes, his anger and desire for revenge got the better of him and turned him from a kind man into something hideous. But I didn’t appreciate that Hester was almost a saint because of her sin, and her husband a beast.

Of Mice and Man by John Steinbeck – 3 Stars

“A guy needs somebody―to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain’t got nobody. Don’t make no difference who the guy is, long’s he’s with you.”

Who knew that a short, hundred page book could be so filled with tragedy? What a tear-jerker.

Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky – 5 Stars

“It is in stupid things clever people are most easily caught. The more cunning a man is, the less he suspects that he will be caught in a simple thing. The more cunning a man is, the simpler the trap he must be caught in.”

A penniless student, Raskolnikov, commits a senseless murder in a frenzy. Even though the evidence is clear, no one has a clue that he was the one who did it.

Crime and Punishment was one of the most fascinating books I read in 2023. Dostoevsky had a gift of letting you see inside the characters’ heads and even think their thoughts before they do. It’s creepy and not at all pleasant to be in the head of a murderer for 700pages. But wow. I have no words. Just go and read this story.

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis* – 5 Stars

“He wants them to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there He is pleased even with their stumbles. Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger, than when a human, no longer desiring, but intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.”

Letters from Screwtape, a senior demon, to his nephew Wormwood. The letters are so serious and so comical at the same time. But goodness, every time I read them, I gain new truths and new “ah-ha” moments.

Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis – 5 Stars

‘“Daughter, daughter. You are transported beyond all reason and nature. Do you know what it is? There’s one part love in your heart, and five parts anger, and seven parts pride.’”

This is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. Instead of focusing on Psyche, C.S. Lewis writes about her older sister, the ugly Orual. It is a story of love so deep, so strong, so unyielding, that it leads to death and destruction. Ah goodness, I just love this story so much. It’s one of my all-time favorites. Orual is one of the best female characters that I’ve read, and I love how she is contrasted with her delicate, soft sister.

‘“You are indeed teaching me about kinds of love I did not know. It is like looking into a deep pit. I am not sure whether I like your kind better than hatred. Oh, Orual—to take my love for you, because you know it goes down to my very roots and cannot be diminished by any other newer love, and then to make of it a tool, a weapon, a thing of policy and mastery, an instrument of torture—I begin to think I never knew you.”’

The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis* – 5 Stars

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.”

This is an allegory about heaven and hell. A man starts off in “hell” and sees the despair and hopelessness of the people there, and then he travels to “heaven” to see the joy of those found there. While it’s not what the Bible shows Heaven and Hell as, this book has a lot of good thoughts on God’s justice, our sin, good, and evil.

The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss* – 2 Stars

“It was my wish that our sons should cultivate a habit of bold independence, for I well knew that it might easily be the will of God to deprive them of their parents; when, without an enterprising spirit of self reliance, their position would be truly miserable.”

Ah, another survival story that I was hesitant to read. Turns out the Robinson family didn’t have too much trouble surviving, as they were wrecked with a ship full of supplies (a little boat, cows, pigs, chickens, seeds, tools, and even silverware) and whatever they didn’t get from the wreckage, they found on the island a page and a half after they needed it. *sighs* The most interesting part was when one of the boys was struck by lightning.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – 5 Stars

“Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you.”

Dante’s life was perfect. He was about to marry his sweetheart, he was promoted to captain of a ship, and he was respected and honored in his town. He was all set to live a happy, peaceful life. His friends become jealous of him and accuse him of treason. He is taken to the Château d’If and forgotten for fourteen years. When he miraculously escapes, he has a devious plan for revenge.

Ahhh! I love this book so much! I read it for the third time in 2023. It gets better and better with each reading. I love the complexity of the story. There are so many different character arcs going at once. I have no idea how Dumas kept track of them all – or how he even started writing the novel in the first place. I wrote a very long review that I’ll share later. 😊

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That’s it, folks! Have a great Monday! Let’s chat in the comments.

~Hattush