With so much time at hand it can be a little overwhelming to decide what to do with this excess time at our hands while we quarantine. The hope to stay productive and positive in the midst of this havoc and confusion, can be an exhausting task.
With so many options we often select the most obvious one; sleeping. But if we were to stack up a few classics on our bed side tables and start reading in our waking moments, our minds will get enough exercise and doing other basic tasks shouldn’t be feat.
Here is our selection of literature classics one should read in a lifetime;
One hundred years of solitude
The late Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez published his most-famous work, One Hundred Years of Solitude, in 1967. The novel tells the story of seven generations of the Buendía family and In fantastical form, the novel explores the genre of magic realism in literature.
Ulysses
One of James Joyce’s best work and one of the most difficult novels written to date. But if you love a challenge this is the book you should pick.
Don’t worry if you read it and don’t understand a word of it the first time—if someone tells you they understand everything in this book, they are lying to you. That means when you pick up “Ulysses,” you’re joining a worldwide club of people who have chosen to do something difficult but ultimately rewarding.
To kill a mocking bird
Harper Lee highlighted the subtle truths of the society which Scout Finch is discovering .”To Kill a Mockingbird” is referenced (subtly and obviously) in so much of our modern culture that you’re missing out if you’re not familiar with the book. Once you read it, you’ll start seeing it everywhere.
Mrs Dolloway
Virginia Woolf placed the writing style on the character study rather than the plot in this novel. The thoughts of the characters include constant regrets and thoughts of the past, their struggles with mental illness and post-traumatic stress from World War I, and the effect of social pressures. The novel’s unique style, subject, and time setting make it one of the most respected and regarded works of all time.
Jane Eyre By Emily Bronte
At a time when the author felt compelled to hide her true identity, Jane Eyre provided a story of individualism for women. The novel’s eponymous character rises from being orphaned and poor into a successful and independent woman. The work combines themes from both Gothic and Victorian literature, revolutionising the art of the novel by focusing on the growth in Jane’s sensibility with internalised action and writing.
