{"id":2545,"date":"2025-07-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jeanleon.com\/2019\/08\/05\/5-classics-to-read-this-summer\/"},"modified":"2019-08-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-05T00:00:00","slug":"5-classics-to-read-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeanleon.com\/en\/5-classics-to-read-this-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"5 classics to read this summer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We’d like to start this post with\na confession: we love summer. Why? Because it’s the best time to enjoy caf\u00e9\nterraces, to go on trips, plus the days are longer, which means we have more\nfree time to do the things we love.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And because books are among the\nthings we love, we need a list of good summer reads. This is the season to get\ncarried away and read more books than at any other time of the year. All of our\npicks have two things in common: they’re all-terrain books\u2014meaning you can read\nthem on the beach, on the train, or just before taking a nap\u2014and they’re\nclassics, the kind of books you should know and read at least once in your\nlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Catcher in the Rye<\/em> by J.D. Salinger<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The book became an almost instant\nbestseller and still holds the record as one of the most widely sold\u2014over 60\nmillion copies\u2014and controversial books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the story of Holden\nCaulfield, a teenage boy from a wealthy family who gets expelled from school. Instead\nof going home, he decides to spend a few days alone in New York, where he gets\ninto trouble at bars, with women, and with an old teacher.  At heart, Holden’s story is about a very\nintelligent and clever boy who has trouble relating to others and feels like\nhe’s been born into the wrong time and place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Picture of Dorian Gray<\/em> by Oscar Wilde<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Oscar Wilde\u2019s novel explores a\nrecurring theme in fiction: the search for eternal youth. It all starts with a\npainter who is captivated by the extraordinary beauty of Dorian, his young\nmodel, and a pact with the devil to stay forever young and beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes this book so great, and\nthe reason we’re recommending it as a summer read, is that despite all the time\nthat has gone by, its thematic content remains surprisingly fresh and\nrelevant.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em> by Harper Lee<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Among the many reasons to read\nthis book, one stands out from the rest: To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em> is a\nPulitzer Prize-winning book, no small feat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story is set during the Great\nDepression and told by Scout Finch, a six-year-old girl who lives with her\nbrother and her widowed father.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her father, Atticus, is a lawyer\nwho decides to defend an African American man accused of raping a white\nwoman.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A literary exploration of\nprejudice, racism, parallel trials, and vengeance in traditional American\nsociety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strangers on a Train<\/em> by Patricia Highsmith<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The title might sound familiar,\nperhaps because Hitchcock made a movie out of the book. But even if you’ve seen\nthe film, we highly recommend you read the novel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its pages will make you feel as\nthough evil lurks in every corner… In a bedroom, on the road, or in the heart\nof the stranger sitting next to you on the train. At least that\u2019s the idea you\nmight get from Bruno and Guy’s story, which begins when Bruno suggests they\nmake a pact to kill the other\u2019s \u201cenemy\u201d. Bruno agrees to kill Guy’s wife\u2014who\nbetrayed him and might now hinder his promising future\u2014if Guy kills Bruno’s\nfather, whom Bruno hates. Guy turns down the proposal, but Bruno goes ahead and\ndoes his part anyway. Then he confronts a horrified Guy and demands that he do\nthe same…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma<\/em> by Jane Austen<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Choosing a single Jane Austen\nnovel is challenging, and even though Pride and Prejudice<\/em> could very\nwell be on this list, we finally opted for Emma<\/em>, because of its comedic\ntone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story begins with Emma, the\nyoung unmarried daughter of the rich and distinguished Mr. Woodhouse, losing\nher former governess to marriage and taking a humble girl called Harriet Smith\nunder her wing. Now Emma can pursue her favorite pastime: playing matchmaker among\nher friends. All her efforts at romantic meddling, however, create a mess of\nentanglements, misunderstandings, and confusion that puts the entire high\nsociety of early 19th-century, provincial England to the test. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This concludes our selection of\nsummer reads, but the list could keep going… After all, few things are more\nenjoyable than reading outdoors, especially when you add a light breeze and a\ngood glass of wine to the mix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’d like to start this post with a confession: we love summer. Why? Because it’s the best time to enjoy caf\u00e9 terraces, to go on trips, plus the days are longer, which means we have more free time to do the things we love.  And because books are among the things we love, we need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discovering-jean-leon"],"yoast_head":"\n5 classics to read this summer - Jean Leon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jeanleon.com\/en\/5-classics-to-read-this-summer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 classics to read this summer - Jean Leon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We’d like to start this post with a confession: we love summer. 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