My Top 5 Favourite Western Classic Books

Wuthering Heights, Crime And Punishment, The Stranger, The Count of Monte Cristo and War And Peace

Wuthering Heights, Crime and Punishment and The Count of Monte Cristo

Hello!!!

This is Joyie and welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet where I talk all things books!

This week I made it halfway through Banana Yoshimoto’s Kitchen, and I’ve also been reading a collection of classic Japanese ghost stories called The Snow Ghost And Other Tales. Have you been reading anything this week?

Recently, I was watching some book videos on YouTube and I came across a video of a girl talking about her favourite classic literature books and I realised, I’ve never done that. Like I’ve never made a list of my favourite books, even though it’s such a fun idea! So, that’s what I’m going to do today. I’ll list my top five western classic literature books.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

This book is centered around the obsessive, almost destructive relationship of Catherine and Heathcliff, which ends up wrecking havoc on the lives of the people around them.

I’ve been reading all my life, and I’ve never been as emotionally affected by a book as I’ve been with Wuthering Heights. When I read it the first time, what stood out to me the most was the way it vehemently refused to conform to any standard expectation I had from a book of its kind. Combine that with Emily’s absolutely gorgeous use of words, and just the whole structure of the story where you kind of have to put pieces together like a puzzle, absolutely absolutely love it.

Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

This book follows Rodion Raskolnikov, a bright but poor student, who commits double murder–one pre-planned and one in panic, to save himself–and then struggles to deal with the psychological consequences of his crime.

Right from the opening scene, this story set the stage for the upcoming crime, which drew me in right away. I found Raskolnikov very intriguing as a character. Watching him grapple with the guilt from his crime, while simultaneously showing a smug sense of superiority for having successfully committed the crime; his seeking of some sort of human acceptance and forgiveness from Sonya (the heroine), while he simultaneously also berates her for having sacrificed herself for the sake of her family—was very fascinating.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

This book follows Meursault, who commits a senseless murders and is sentenced to death. He then struggles to make peace with his impending execution and by extension, ponders upon the absurd nature of human existence, which is bound to end in certain death.

I give this story credit for convincing me I was, in fact, not crazy for thinking about my impending inevitable death. The way Meursault struggles to accept his mortality felt very relatable to that phase I had been through in my early twenties. That desperation because there was nothing I could do to avoid death, and a feeling of isolation because apparently no-one else got what I was talking about. So reading this book was quite cathartic for me.

The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

This story is about Edmond Dantès, a naïve young sailor who is wrongfully accused and imprisoned for life. Then escaping after many years, he reinvents himself as the Count of Monte Cristo, seeking revenge against those who destroyed his life.

It’s quite a bulky book but it’s so entertaining and full of drama, I never really felt its length. It’s carried almost entirely by Edmond, who is one of the most charming main characters I’ve ever encountered in a story. Seeing him go after his enemies one by one, with elaborate plots to get back to them while they suspect nothing, was something I absolutely loved. Also, there was a very lesbian-coded couple that I couldn’t get enough of.

War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy

War And Peace is a story following the lives of a few aristocratic Russian families during the Napoleonic Wars, particularly the French invasion of Russia in 1812.

Going into this book, I was quite intimidated, I expected it to be a very difficult read, full of all sorts of historical details. But once I started reading, the story pulled me in right away. It spans over a time of fifteen years during which we follow the characters very closely through a significant part of their life’s journey, against the backdrop of war, loss and societal change. I developed such a deep bond with them, that after finishing the book, for a few days I was lamenting that it wasn’t long enough.

What about you? What are your favourite classic literature books? I'd love to hear about it!!!

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That’s it for today, I'll be back in your inbox next week.

Until then,

Joyie 🌻