Library guide: autumn spirit books to read right now
There is something about autumn that brings to light the best side of writers. The transition from summer to winter, the yellow skies, falling leaves, beautiful foliage, and the night becomes longer than the day. They all serve as inspirations to writers.
Fall becomes the time for gorgeous prose which can be found in the greatest classics of all time. Below, there's a list of classics for autumn that you can find in the Leopold Classic Library.
1. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen.
The novel describes more than a year in the life of a group of young people living in the countryside near London at the turn of the century (from the eighteenth to the nineteenth), during the reign of George III.
The wealthy Mr. Charles Bingley, an owner of an irresistible fortune, has settled on the Netherfield estate with his two sisters and his brother-in-law. He is accompanied by his friend, the handsome, arrogant, vain, and selfish Fitzwilliam Darcy. At least that is what Elizabeth Bennet thinks when, at the Meryton village public ball, she overhears his comment to his companions that he prefers not to ask her to dance because he does not consider her beautiful enough.
Darcy's comment about Elizabeth's physique hurts her pride and opens a rift between them that will take time to heal. The novel shows a witty Elizabeth who displays a fine irony every time she engages him in conversation. At the same time, Darcy grows to admire Elizabeth as he gets to know her better.
Pride and Prejudice is a social critique of the world in which Jane Austen lived. The remarked (and even exaggerated) class difference of Victorian England, the lack of female independence, the exaggerated dependence of women on men, the brutal pressure of marriage, and the economic and social difficulties are some of the topics this novel deals with.
2. Wuthering heights, by Emily Jane Brontë
They say that from love to hate is only one step, and the characters in this novel have a cruel and splendid way of demonstrating it. Catherine and Heathcliff are the protagonists of the story that Mrs. Dean tells to the new tenant of Wuthering Heights, Mr. Lockwood.
Their relationship begins as a passionate romance that ends when Catherine decides not to marry him because she considers him to be of a lower class than her own. As a result of this, Heathcliff marries another woman for revenge, and from then on, the different actions of the characters are supported by reasons or desires to ham others.
Wuthering Heights is one of the most important books of English literature thanks to its narrative structure and the crude way of telling the reality of English society where revenge and passions move the world. This novel, the only one Emily Brontë ever wrote, is a good read for anyone who sets their eyes on it.
3. The woman in white, by Wilkie Collins
The Lady in White is a unique book of its kind, with very elegant prose that manages to create impressive characters as well as a story that will make the reader unable to stop until all the pieces of the puzzle are found.
Collins' work introduces us to Walter Hartright, a young drawing teacher who moves to Limmeridge to teach Laura, a wealthy young heiress, and niece of Baron Frederick Fairlie. He gradually falls in love with her, but Laura is engaged to Sir Percival Glyde, who seeks only to take her inheritance from her. He doesn't love her.
Hartright decides to leave so as not to hinder Laura's future and, shortly before leaving, he meets a mysterious lady in white telling him about Limmeridge and its deceased owner, Mrs. Fairlie.
Secrets, inheritance, dark intentions, nameless graves, delusions of grandeur, and a mysterious lady, always dressed in white and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Laura, wanders around the estate like a ghost.
4. Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe. 10 Volumes, Vol. IV: Tales
Autumn is also popular for those who love Halloween, so this book is a perfect read if you want to add some horror into your fall's reading list.
With his incredible shrewdness, Allan Poe can take us from falling in love with his unequaled description and unequaled beauty to a dark bottomless pit; so tormented and incredulous, dead of terror, breathless and really surprised by what is told; incredible but true, that is the way in which Allan Poe changes the plot in which it is worth mentioning his incredible endings that we never imagined.
With Allan Poe, it is extremely difficult to imagine what is to come, and even more so, how it will end. He will always have something to surprise us and leave us perplexed by his genius when it comes to writing.
Certainly, we can call Poe an unstable and willful writer and an individual of great ideals of beauty, which turned out to be his undoing. The special and subtle feeling of beauty is what you can appreciate reading this book.
5. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving
More than a horror story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow criticizes a society that portrays an image of puritanism and Christian charity because it is more given to superciliousness, envy, and selfishness. All this is shown through the description of life in the valley of Sleepy Hollow, an area inhabited by Dutch descendants.
This place has an atmosphere that invites one to believe in all kinds of fantastic stories - and to claim to have lived through some of them in person, even if it is not true. Ichabod Crane, a teacher from another area, has arrived there.
Because of his meager salary, he lives in his pupils' house and has to give singing lessons as well, while he abandons himself to superstitious beliefs and dreams of the enormous inheritance of the beautiful, capricious, and undignified Katrina.
It is no wonder that fall is the favourite season of those who adore reading. The picture of autumn in literature offers a broad spectrum to choose from, with its variety of themes, story lines, and voices. With the season's brilliant colors the sense of imaginative aspiration is stimulated.
These books will capture your heart within their own worlds.
