The Books of 2024: Classics

Happy New Year! As per tradition, I am back to share all of the books that I read in 2024. Today I’ll be sharing the classics that I adored this year. I discovered a deep love for Russian literature and found my two favorite books – The Brothers Karamazov and Anna Karenina. But first, the stats of the year.

Books Read: 134

Re-reads: 10

Pages Read: 37,980

Favorite Book: The Brothers Karamazov.

Most Read Genre: Memoirs

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Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ by Lew Wallace – 3.5 Stars

“It is more beautiful to trust in God. The beautiful in this world is all from his hand, declaring the perfection of taste; he is the author of all form; he clothes the lily, he colors the rose, he distils the dewdrop, he makes the music of nature; in a word, he organized us for this life, and imposed its conditions; and they are such guaranty to me that, trustful as a little child, I leave to him the organization of my soul, and every arrangement for the life after death. I know he loves me.”

This is the third time I’ve read Ben-Hur, and I like it less each time. I wrote a very long review going into what I think which I will post later. I love the characters, the history, and the incredible suspense.

Wallace drew very heavily from tradition vs what was likely true (Mary had fair skin, Jesus had auburn hair, the wise men, etc.). Those things aren’t terribly bothersome to me because it was clear that Wallace had put an immense amount of time and energy into researching what life was like in for the Jews and Romans at that time.

I love how Wallace portrayed the crucifixion, but he failed to tell what happened afterward. The story ends abruptly, and we do not hear about the resurrection or that Jesus was truly God. There is a brief mention that Judah and his family became Christians, but overall, we are left with a sense of hopelessness and loss.

The whole end was a letdown. It felt like Wallace was dedicated for the first ¾ of the story and then got tired and rushed the final chapters.

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky – 5 Stars

“The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there and the battlefield is the heart of man.”

Where do I even begin to say all the things that I loved about this book? Alyosha was, of course, the main thing. If I could marry a character, it would be him. I’m mad at Dostoevsky for dying before he finished the trilogy. But maybe that’s a good thing. I looked up his notes for the rest of it and was very distressed by what he thought of turning Alyosha into. Better to keep him as my perfect, uncorrupted baby.

“Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to the animals, for they are without sin, while you, with all your greatness, you defile the earth wherever you appear and leave an ignoble trail behind you – and that is true, alas, for almost every one of us!”

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky – 4 Stars

“I am a fool with a heart but no brains, and you are a fool with brains but no heart; and we’re both unhappy, and we both suffer.”

The back cover described this book as “a truly saintly man corrupted by a morally bankrupt society.” I was terribly confused and annoyed for most of the book, because I thought that it was a story of a good man becoming a bad one. Only when I finished reading, did I realize that those are not the main themes of this novel.

The Idiot asks two questions.

One: what would the world do when faced with perfect innocence and the purest of love?

Two: Can a human love everyone perfectly and by that love save humanity – from the prostitute to the murderer to the purest of maidens?

Once I understood those questions, the whole story made so much sense, and it absolutely broke my heart. Myshkin went from an annoyingly perfect, odd little man to someone so human, and yet embodying everything that I, as a Christian, long to be.

“Do you know I don’t know how one can walk by a tree and not be happy at the sight of it? How can one talk to a man and not be happy in loving him! Oh, it’s only that I’m not able to express it…And what beautiful things there are at every step, that even the most hopeless man must feel to be beautiful! Look at a child! Look at God’s sunrise! Look at the grass, how it grows! Look at the eyes that gaze at you and love you!”

Anna Karenina – 5 Stars

“He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.”

As this is another one of my favorite books of all times, I have nothing to say about it. My praise will fall short.

“He soon felt that the fulfillment of his desires gave him only one grain of the mountain of happiness he had expected. This fulfillment showed him the eternal error men make in imagining that their happiness depends on the realization of their desires.”

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev – 4 Stars

“We sit in the mud, my friend, and reach for the stars.”

I’m trying to make up my mind on this book. It was a fascinating, interesting story about a nihilist (a different definition than what we think of now). He is very firm in his philosophy…until he begins to encounter all of the things he didn’t believe in before – love, death, passion, honor, and respect.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn– 4 Stars

“You should rejoice that you’re in prison. Here you have time to think about your soul.”

I was surprised by how intriguing this book was. There isn’t really a plot. You just follow one man, Ivan, as he goes about his life in the Gulag. I was surprised to find it interesting, and I was struck by the theme that even in the worst situations, man can find joy.

“Work, he reckoned, was the best medicine of all. Work is what horses die of. Everybody should know that.”

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – 4 Stars

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”

I’ve written another review for this one, so I won’t rehash. I loved Jane very much. It’s rare to see a woman in full possession of her senses when she is in love. I enjoyed her wit, her brains, and her compassion.

“The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter – often an unconscious but still a faithful interpreter – in the eye.”

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte – 2 stars

“If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.”

I’ve written a full review detailing my dislike for this book that I’ll post later with my review of Jane Eyre. Nearly all the characters were villains. I felt sympathy for and liked only Mrs. Dean (the housekeeper) and Edgar (and only later, when he was a man and not a spoiled little brat). The story repeated over and over again, just with new characters. I was hoping for some redemption at the end, but there was none. Only darkness. This whole book was dark where Jane Eyre was light.

Healthcliff, a main character, is one of the worst that I’ve come across in literature. He makes Erik from Phantom of the Opera look like an angel.

This is a story of passion, anger, violence, and jealousy; a commentary on the depravity of human nature when it is expressed without restraint.

“I gave him my heart, and he took and pinched it to death; and flung it back to me. People feel with their hearts, Ellen, and since he has destroyed mine, I have not power to feel for him.”

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier – 4 Stars

“We were dreamers, both of us, unpractical, reserved, full of great theories never put to test, and like all dreamers, asleep to the waking world. Disliking our fellow men, we craved affection; but shyness kept impulse dormant until the heart was touched. When that happened the heavens opened, and we felt, the pair of us, that we have the whole wealth of the universe to give. We would have both survived, had we been other men.”

Philip Ashley, orphaned when he was young, was raised by his cousin, Ambrose. They adored each other and lived in happy harmony. But when Ambrose took a trip to Florence, fell in love, married, and mysteriously died, Philip is stricken with grief. When his cousin’s widow comes to visit, he is faced with a choice – treat her with cold civility, or with hatred. For he fears that his cousin Rachel is not altogether innocent in the death of Ambrose.

This is one of those books that leaves you confused, thrilled, and wishing it hadn’t ended so soon. I feel like it’s a book of paradoxes, and I love it for that reason.

“Truth was something intangible, unseen, which sometimes we stumbled upon and did not recognize, but was found, and held, and understood only by old people near their death, or sometimes by the very pure, the very young.”

Zadig or The Book of Fate by Voltaire – 3.5 stars

“I confided my troubles to an old Arab who said to me: My son, do not despair; there was once a grain of sand that lamented being an atom ignored in the deserts; after a few years it became a diamond, and is now the most beautiful ornament on the crown of the King of the Indies.”

Zadig, a young and wise man in ancient Babylon, has nothing but misfortune. He will rise for a time, and then he will be hunted. He thinks he attains happiness, only to find that it is empty and those who give it are not who they say they are. Is there any divine control, or is life simply destiny and fate?

This was the first I’d read of Voltaire, and I’m not sure what to make of it. It’s a brilliant story, but one with a hopeless, tragic lilt.

Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott – 4.5 stars

“I’m happy as I am, and love my liberty too well to be in a hurry to give it up for any mortal man.” (Famous last words from the lovely, boyish Jo)

I always forget how excellent a writer Alcott is. I re-read this when I was ill, and looking for something fun and nostalgic. I didn’t realize just how much it would tug at my heart strings. I love watching the young March girls grow into women, find love, and make homes for themselves.

“You men tell us we are angels, and say we can make you what we will, but the instant we honestly try to do you good, you laugh at us and won’t listen, which proves how much your flattery is worth.”

Non-fiction

The Bible – 5 Stars (x2)

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” — Psalm 119:105

Hey, you can’t go wrong with the Bible! It is the top book of my list. In the past, I would have said that out of some sort of obligation. I’m a Christian, so of course I have to say that the Bible is my favorite book, even if I think it’s boring. But last year I truly discovered God’s Word for the first time. As I sought God, His Word opened, and I found myself on the edge of my seat. I’d read these words a thousand times, but they hadn’t made sense before. It was amazing.

Letters to an American Lady by C.S. Lewis – 4 stars

“I have a notion that, apart from actual pain, men and women are quite diversely afflicted by illness. To a woman one of the great evils about it is that she can’t do things. To a man (or anyway a man like me) the great consolation is the reflection “Well, anyway, no one can now demand that I should do anything”.”

It was fun to get to see a more informal side of Lewis. His humor was still brilliant, his knowledge just as wise, and his dislike of letter writing so clear. I loved these letters!

“He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it, hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart.”

A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier by Joseph Plumb Martin – 4 Stars

We have lost the art of humor. Martin’s memoir of the Revolutionary War was so funny. He turned his trails and struggles, the suffering, the pain and the boredom into humor. I loved learning about the Revolutionary War from the perspective of a random solider.

The Confession of St. Patrick by Patrick of Ireland – 4 Stars

“For after chastisement from God, and recognizing him, our way to repay him is to exalt him and confess his wonders before every nation under heaven. I am imperfect in many things, nevertheless I want my brethren and kinsfolk to know my nature so that they may be able to perceive my soul’s desire.”

We read this every year on St. Patrick’s Day, and it encourages me more and more every time. It reminds me of St. Augustine’s confessions. The devotion to God of these men of old is so powerful.

Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not by Florence Nightingale – 3.5 stars

“The very first requirement in a hospital is that it should do the sick no harm.”

What struck me the most when reading this was just how much of the information Nightingale shared here is now common sense. Sanitation, good food, fresh air. It’s so interesting to see how far healthcare has come.

~Hattush

What classics did you read this year? Have you read any of these? What is your favorite nationality of book?