Hello, Reader. It's Merry here, the American-raised, Paris-based writer with another message about finding confidence and comfort in your own company so you can stop waiting on other people to enjoy your life. Last time, I shared how to find more quiet in daily life. Today, we're talking about classic literature to help give you some perspective when life feels unmanageable. For immediate practice doing things alone without feeling lonely, sign up for my 7-Day Do Things Alone Challenge.

14 (Easy) Classic Books for When You Need a Little Perspective

Classic literature reminds me that my life is manageable: Others have cried before me, loved before me, grown, and died before me. Whatever I am facing now, I, too, will come out the other side.

After years of decline, I am starting to have hope that reading is experiencing a Renaissance. It’s about time. Although 40% of U.S. adult citizens didn’t read a single book in 2025, I’m squinting for the light at the end of the tunnel. And I think it’s starting to break through.

More people, particularly the younger generation, are turning away from the screen and searching for more ways to live an analog life. Book clubs are on the rise. I myself joined one in Paris, where I’ve discovered new-to-me delights like Waiting for Bojangles and Gigi.

As tech titans insist that automation and digitization are hallmarks of progress we must pursue at all costs, I’m, instead, looking backwards at the voices that came before us. What can they illuminate about the human condition that plagues each of us still today? What guidance can they offer about making it through when heartache, malaise, and other existential crises stifle our psyches? What beauty can they remind us to appreciate?

Even if you haven't picked up any classic literature since your school days, I promise it will still welcome you with open arms. From my bookshelf to yours, here are 14 easy classic novels (plus a few plays) to give you a little perspective:

The shortlist: classic literature to make life feel more manageable

1. ​The Crucible by Arthur Miller — for historical drama fans ready for themes of hysteria
2. ​The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry — for anyone who wants deep, timeless truths in childlike simplicity
3. ​1984 by George Orwell — for dystopian fans who want to explore surveillance, control, and resistance
4. ​A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams — for theater lovers looking for a gritty Southern drama
5. ​The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald — for Roaring 20s fans and hopeless romantics
6. ​The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger — for anyone who’s ever felt alienated and craves a cynical, honest narrator
7. ​Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller — for serious readers ready for a tragedy about identity, dreams, and family
8. ​A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare — for anyone in the mood for wordplay, magic, and romantic chaos
9. ​Animal Farm by George Orwell — for readers who want a short, sharp political critique
10. ​The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde — for anyone curious about what happens when you value appearance over soul
11. ​Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen — for fans of romance and clever dialogue
12. ​A Room with a View by E.M. Forster — for anyone dreaming of romance and self-discovery on a European vacation
13. ​A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens — for history buffs who want lots of drama
14. ​Les Misérables (Abridged) by Victor Hugo — for history buffs who want lots of drama in France

Finding comfort in the written word

I love returning to books from decades or even hundreds of years before us because it reminds me that my life is manageable: Others have cried before me, loved before me, grown, and died before me. Whatever I am facing now, I, too, will come out the other side.

Sometimes, it takes only reading a few lines to feel the comfort that someone before us has experienced what we’re living today. Read these quotes about feeling alone for a chance to rub shoulders with unmet kindred spirits. Poetry, too, can be a welcome balm for the soul, especially these poems about new beginnings for when you need to start again. Or dive into someone else’s story for an entirely new perspective with memoirs that remind you what’s possible in life.