9 short classic novels you can read in a sitting

“I want to read more classics” usually stalls at the sight of a 900-page Russian novel. Good news: some of the greatest classics are short. Here are nine you can finish in a sitting or two.

1. The Great Gatsby — F. Scott Fitzgerald

Shimmering, sad, and barely 180 pages. The Great American Novel, distilled.

2. Of Mice and Men — John Steinbeck

A perfect, heartbreaking little book you can read in an afternoon.

3. The Old Man and the Sea — Ernest Hemingway

Spare and elemental — Hemingway at his most concentrated.

4. The Stranger — Albert Camus

Cool, unsettling, and endlessly discussable. A philosophy course in 120 pages.

5. Animal Farm — George Orwell

A fable that still bites. Finish it in a sitting; think about it for weeks.

6. The Metamorphosis — Franz Kafka

A man wakes up as an insect. Strange, sad, and unforgettable — and very short.

7. Ethan Frome — Edith Wharton

A wintry New England tragedy in miniature. Quietly devastating.

8. The Awakening — Kate Chopin

A landmark of early feminist fiction, slim and startlingly modern.

9. A Christmas Carol — Charles Dickens

Dickens without the doorstopper — short, rich, and perennially worth it.

Start small, read more

Short classics are the perfect, low-commitment way to build the habit — and used bookstores are full of them. Browse our shelves, ask the Matchmaker for a pick, and trade them forward. More short reads in our weekend reads guide.