Literary Hub » classics

How Close Did We Come to Losing <em>Beowulf</em> Forever?

How Close Did We Come to Losing Beowulf Forever?

Robert Bartlett on a Vital Work of the Western Canon That Barely Survived Multiple Disasters

By Robert Bartlett | October 10, 2025

Small Book, Big Ideas: <em>Harold and the Purple Crayon</em> and the Art of Imagination

Small Book, Big Ideas: Harold and the Purple Crayon and the Art of Imagination

Philip Nel on the Enduring Cultural Legacy of a Children’s Classic

By Philip Nel | July 28, 2025

On the Opaque Origins and Tumultuous Ancient History of Homer’s <em>Odyssey</em>

On the Opaque Origins and Tumultuous Ancient History of Homer’s Odyssey

Daniel Mendelsohn Considers the Legacy of a Civilization-Making Epic

By Daniel Mendelsohn | April 9, 2025

The Best (Old) Books We Read in 2024

The Best (Old) Books We Read in 2024

Because If You Only Read What Everyone Else is Reading...

By Emily Temple | December 24, 2024

Which One of You Sent Me <em>Lonesome Dove</em> in the Mail? Or: Tackling the Great American Western

Which One of You Sent Me Lonesome Dove in the Mail? Or: Tackling the Great American Western

In Which Maris Kreizman Reads Larry McMurtry’s Classic

By Maris Kreizman | October 10, 2024

Boccaccio’s Modern Life: What <em>The Decameron</em> Reveals About Contemporary Anxiety

Boccaccio’s Modern Life: What The Decameron Reveals About Contemporary Anxiety

Ed Simon Considers the Act of Storytelling as a Means of Preserving Our Humor and Humanity in Tumultuous Times

By Ed Simon | August 5, 2024

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Books of the Week

What Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood Reveals About Its Author's Intentions

By Rachael Hanel | July 8, 2024

75 Years of 1984: Why George Orwell’s Classic Remains More Relevant Than Ever

By Elif Shafak | June 24, 2024

I Want to Put a Dozen Blurbs on My Book: Am I the Literary Asshole?

By Kristen Arnett | May 16, 2024

Enduring Epics: Emily Wilson and Madeline Miller on Breathing New Life Into Ancient Classics

Enduring Epics: Emily Wilson and Madeline Miller on Breathing New Life Into Ancient Classics

The Author of Circe Talks to the Translator of The Iliad

By Emily Wilson | September 26, 2023

Wherever You Go, There You Are: On Setting and Society in <em>Pride and Prejuduce</em>

Wherever You Go, There You Are: On Setting and Society in Pride and Prejuduce

C.K. Chau Considers the Impact of Place in Jane Austen’s Classic

By C.K. Chau | July 11, 2023

The Making of a Bad Woman (2,000 Years Ago)

The Making of a Bad Woman (2,000 Years Ago)

Honor Cargill-Martin on the Historical Construction of the Scandalous Roman Empress Messalina

By Honor Cargill-Martin | June 29, 2023

50 of the Greatest Summer Novels of All Time

50 of the Greatest Summer Novels of All Time

This Year and Every Year

By Literary Hub | June 21, 2023

In Honor of International Women’s Day: 8 Ways to Love <em>Little Women</em>

In Honor of International Women’s Day: 8 Ways to Love Little Women

Jess deCourcy Hinds on a Lifetime of Reading the Girlhood Classic

By Jess deCourcy Hinds | March 10, 2023

Reading the Power Dynamics of Gender in Ovid’s <em>Metamorphoses</em>

Reading the Power Dynamics of Gender in Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Stephanie McCarter on Finding New Meaning in a Classic

By Stephanie McCarter | November 8, 2022

10 literary classics that didn't sell.

10 literary classics that didn't sell.

By Emily Temple | October 4, 2022

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