(listicle)

The reading of classic books is often a tough thing. But if you a noob reader, that doesn’t mean that you can’t read some ritzy classic stuff. Here are top five of old but gold books that wouldn’t make you suffer during hilarious Christmas holidays.

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee

A novel before its time, Harper Lee’s Pulitzer-prize winner book addresses issues of race, inequality, and segregation with both levity and compassion. Told through the eyes of little girl Scout and her brother Jem, it also created one of literature’s most principled characters – Atticus Finch, a lawyer who wants to right the racial wrongs of the Dixie States. “It`s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it does not hurt you!”

‘The Master and Margarita’ by Mikhail Bulgakov

It’s extremely an deep story, which as easy to read like pulp fiction. ‘The Master and Margarita’ combines supernatural elements and thoughts about Christianity with a satirical dark comedy about the Soviet Union. The satiric part is so caustic, so it could not be published during its author’s lifetime and appeared only in a censored edition in the 1960s. A lot of phrases from the book became immortal aphorisms. One of the most famous is the following, “You should never ask anyone for anything.”

‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger

This novel’s main character, Holden, is dealing with a tragic loss, as all of us do in our lives. As he wanders aimlessly around the city, he struggles to plan his next life move but finds happiness in small joys, such as his strong bond with his sister. One of the best tips for his lovely sister, “Make sure you marry someone who laughs at the same things you do…”

‘Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxsley

This book is important because it shows how dangerous could be the pursuit of happiness. It portrays the future, in the growth of AI, Machine Learning & Robotics, leading to a spiritless and mindless consuming society. This book is stuffed with life paradoxes, as the author affirms, “I am I, and I wish I were not.” This is one of the greatest and probably most accurate dystopian novels ever written.

‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ by George Orwell

Another great dystopia, probably the most famous. It’s a story about a low ranking member of ‘the Party’, who is frustrated by the omnipresent eyes of the party, and its ominous ruler Big Brother. Orwell’s vision of a high surveillance society is gripping from the first page to the last. The author knew the value of the fake way-out history, “Who controls the past, controls the future…”

So, the Christmas holidays are so cheerful and, at the same time, so long. Why not mix them with classic book reading! Merry Christmas!