What classic book should I read first?

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, at 60 pages, is the shortest and most approachable classic on this list, and a perfect first classic.

Which classic books are easiest to read?

The easiest are the short ones: The Metamorphosis, The Yellow Wallpaper, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Each is under about 110 pages and written plainly enough to finish in a sitting or two.

Are these classics free?

Yes. All twelve are public domain and free to read online with no sign-up, each with a reading tracker, a short quiz and a tap-to-translate vocabulary tool.

readClassicly.

Where to start with the classics

Best classic books for beginners

Classic literature can feel intimidating, so here are twelve classics ranked from easiest to hardest by reading level and length, so you always know what to read first. Every one is short enough to actually finish, free to read online, and comes with a reading level, a quiz and a vocabulary helper. No sign-up.

1. The MetamorphosisFranz Kafka (1915)Kafka's short, devastating novella about a young man who wakes up transformed. Three chapters, readable in one evening.Start here · B1-B2 · 60pRead →2. The Yellow WallpaperCharlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)A short, gripping story of a woman confined for her own good. One of the most studied short stories in English literature.B2 · 40p · ~1hRead →3. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeRobert Louis Stevenson (1886)A gothic novella that gave the language a metaphor for the divided self. Tightly plotted and short.B2 · 90p · ~2hRead →4. A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens (1843)Dickens's famous tale of Scrooge, ghosts, and second chances. Warm, accessible, and short enough to read in a week.B2 · 110p · ~2hRead →5. The AwakeningKate Chopin (1899)Chopin's novel about a woman waking up to her own life in 1890s Louisiana. Scandalous at the time, essential now. Short chapters make it fast.B2 · 200p · ~3hRead →6. The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)A short, lyrical novel about wealth, longing, and the impossibility of repeating the past. Set on Long Island in the summer of 1922.B2-C1 · 180p · ~3hRead →7. FrankensteinMary Shelley (1818)The original modern horror novel. Mary Shelley wrote it at nineteen. A story about creation, responsibility, and what we make.B2 · 280p · ~5hRead →8. Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad (1899)Conrad's dense, troubling novella about a journey up the Congo. Short in pages, demanding in prose. The hardest stylistically in the plan.C1 · 100p · ~3hRead →9. The Picture of Dorian GrayOscar Wilde (1890)Wilde's only novel. Beautiful sentences, beautiful corruption. A book about what beauty costs.B2-C1 · 250p · ~5hRead →10. Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen (1813)Austen's most loved novel. Sharp, funny, and surprisingly modern. The longest of the easier books in the plan.B2 · 430p · ~8hRead →11. Madame BovaryGustave Flaubert (1856)Flaubert's masterpiece of provincial unhappiness. Translated by Eleanor Marx (Karl Marx's daughter). The first great novel of disillusionment.B2-C1 · 350p · ~8hRead →12. Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoevsky (1866)Dostoevsky's great novel of a murder and what follows it. The longest book in the plan, saved for last because by then you will have the habit. Constance Garnett's classic translation.C1 · 550p · ~13hRead →

The ranking blends reading level with length: the shortest, most plainly written books come first, and the long or denser ones (Pride and Prejudice, Crime and Punishment) come last, for when you have a few classics under your belt.

Learning English?

See the classics by CEFR level

The same twelve, grouped B1–B2–C1 so you climb at your own pace.

Classic books by level →

Total beginner?

Start with short A1 stories

30 tiny fables and fairy tales with audio, before you tackle a novel.

Short English stories →

Finally finish them

Read the classics on a calm 12-month plan

One book at a time, a gentle daily page goal, a tracker, and a short quiz at the end of each. Free, and it saves your progress and vocabulary across devices.

Browse all twelve books →