Some of the Absolute Best Literature for Busy People

   Scythrop Glowry on Sep 26 08:40:57

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Some lists give you a bunch of short, boring classics. Conversely, I present classics, semi-classics, and forgotten literature that you can read in a few days at most even if you're busy, and feel like your time was well spent. Enjoy yourself, learn some new words, and/or put some references in your belt with these old books and a few later classics like Animal Farm and The Chronicles of Narnia .

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1600)

by William Shakespeare

This concreted classic is worth reading for its humor as well as the references there have been made to it...it's not a wonder but it is pleasant. So long as you understand the words (I did) this should be a very quick read.

A Meditation on a Broomstick (1710)

by Jonathan Swift

This micro-sized classic is funny and less than one page. To get the full benefit of it, look it up on Wikipedia before reading it and read how it came about...trust me, it won't spoil it, it will just help you understand the joke.

Love and Freindship (179?)

by the young Jane Austen

This is worth every minute you spend reading it. You may wish it was longer. I think this is the most entertaining thing Jane Austen ever wrote. It is a parody of the popular novels of the time...a very important thing to know, unless you wish to miss the joke entirely.

The History of England (179?)

by the young Jane Austen

The full title is: The History of England from the reign of Henry the 4th to the death of Charles the 1st By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian . In this hilarious juvenile piece Jane Austen parodies the prejudices of contemporary historians by being prejudiced in favor of those they are against. (She claims to write it in order to vindicate Bloody Mary and tare Elizabeth all to pieces.) It is available in the same volume as Love and Freindship .

Headlong Hall (1816)

by Thomas Love Peacock

One of Thomas Love Peacock's boundless burlesques, this short, vocabulary-filled novel follows the events at Headlong Hall one Christmas when Squire Headlong wishes to gather every sort of philosopher about him.

Nightmare Abbey (1818)

by Thomas Love Peacock

It is in this novel you will find Scythrop Glowry and Ferdinando Flosky. You will also find several other memorable characters, all gathered about the hearth of Nightmare Abbey, a gloomy home where old Mr. Glowery attracts his favorite sort of people - those of gloomy disposition. Brimful of fun, this novella is only sixty-some pages.

Maid Marian (1822 (mostly written 1818))

by Thomas Love Peacock

Maid Marian has a bit more plot and action than one of Peacock's pure burlesques, but I'm not sure it's any less funny. It follows the adventures of Robin Hood's bonny - and sharp-shooting - Maud in a style only Peacock could. It also makes a lovely substitute for reading Ivanhoe .

The Misfortunes of Elphin (1829)

by Thomas Love Peacock

An unusual Arthurian romance, this one takes it from the Welsh perspective. Thomas Love Peacock is as funny as ever as we follow poor King Elphin's misfortunes, Taliesin's adventures, and a little side quest having to do with Queen Guinevere.

Crotchet Castle (1831)

by Thomas Love Peacock

Crotchet Castle is a bit of a redo of Headlong Hall, but they are plenty different. Mr. Crotchet, being Scottish, just can't resist the urge to argue with somebody, so he calls up a bunch of wild characters from all branches of philosophy and science. The results are hilarious.

The Boarding School Girl (1848)

by Mrs. L.C. Tuthill

This short, faulty book by an American authoress is not grand, but humorous, interesting, and, well, petit. If you are curious about pre-1850s America but haven't patience for Washington Irving or time for James Fennimore Cooper, enjoy this little cookie from the feminine side of life.

What Katy Did (1876)

by Susan Coolidge

I think I read this light but wise little book all in one day...it might take you a few. There is also a very different but almost equally good and wholesome movie of it with Megan Follows. If you like Anne of Green Gables and Little Women I think you will really enjoy this. It is interesting and nostalgic to see how different and how similar the plays of Victorian children were to our childhood plays.

Flatland (1884)

by Edwin A. Abbot

This is a very funny satire as well as one of the first books to contain the concept of a 4th dimension. Mr. A. Square describes his own two-dimensional country and his adventures in Pointland, Lineland, and Spaceland. Pointland, Lineland, and Flatland all have hilarious faults while the sphere from Spaceland bestows wisdom unheard of in Flatland.

Free Flatland pdf at Google Books

The Republic of the Future (1887)

Or Socailism a Reality by Anna Bowman Dodd is an almost-novel almost-short story about a dystopian America in the 2000s. It is humorous and interesting and less than 100 pages.

Really good free HTML at Prodject Guttenberg (Using the white and red up arrow in the upper right-hand corner, add to homescreen.)

Her Majesty the King: a Romance of the Harem (1899)

by James Jeffery Roche

This funny little book makes fun of Western civilization although it is set among pashas and sultans. It has a plot that is subservient to its humor, but a plot still. "The great Pasha Muley Mustapha" is far more like an American man, his wife is the archatype of a domineering American woman, and Soothsayer Shacabac spouts the exstreme of selfish self-help advice...but Roche does not stop there. He can't resist adding an actual American outlaw.

Books Reminiscent of L.M. Montgomery

Several books on this list are quick reads (follow the link for more information):

• How They Made a Man of Him (1876)
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1902)
• The Little Princess (1904)
• Sylvia's Experiment (1914)
• All the Ealanor H. Porter books (1907 - 1916)
• Understood Betsy (1917)

Animal Farm (1945)

by George Orwell

This is worth reading both for the lessons it gives - don't feel bad if you can't remember exact names and events years later, it still had an impression on you - and for the simple joy of reading it. I found it extremely entertaining and easy to read as a child and basically shut myself up in my room and read until I was done. It may be a serious book in some ways and certainly a tradgedy, but it has a kind of charm and I liked it though I am a fan of happy endings.

The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-1956)

by C.S. Lewis

I was surprised a few years ago when I reread a few of the beginning books and found that I could get through one in a few hours. If you don't have time to read them all, don't let that stop you. In that case read your favorites, the ones you remember least, or, if you haven't read them before, the most classic ones like The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe . I will warn you, though, that they get better as he goes along, and the first book is no longer my favorite.