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Starting Your Journey

New to classical literature? These accessible, compelling works make perfect entry points into the world of great books.

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For English Literature

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy clash over pride, class, and first impressions before discovering they were wrong about nearly everything. Austen's wit is so precise it cuts without drawing blood.

Witty, romantic, and endlessly readable. The perfect introduction to Austen.

Great Expectations

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens

An orphan boy receives a mysterious fortune and goes to London to become a gentleman, only to learn that wealth cannot buy worth. Dickens weaves a gothic mystery around a devastating lesson in humility and love.

A gripping coming-of-age story with unforgettable characters.

For Russian Literature

Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A destitute student commits murder, convinced his intellect places him above moral law. What follows is a suffocating psychological unravelling as guilt and paranoia consume him. Dostoyevsky's masterwork on conscience, redemption, and the cost of ideology.

A psychological thriller that reads like a page-turner despite its depth.

The Master and Margarita

The Master and Margarita

Mikhail Bulgakov

The Devil arrives in Soviet Moscow and wreaks havoc on its literary establishment, while a parallel narrative retells the story of Pontius Pilate. Bulgakov's wildly inventive satire is at once a love story, a farce, and a defiant act of artistic freedom.

Wild, satirical, and utterly unique. The Devil visits Soviet Moscow.

For Philosophy

The Stranger

The Stranger

Albert Camus

A detached Algerian man kills an Arab on a sun-drenched beach and shows no conventional remorse. His subsequent trial becomes less about the crime than his refusal to perform the emotions society expects.

Short, punchy, and thought-provoking. Existentialism made accessible.

Not sure where to start? Come into the shop and tell us what you enjoy reading. We'll help you find the perfect book to begin your journey into classical literature.

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