Do you have any special Valentines Day plans? I wish I could say yes but I am gonna try to be truthful and just accept the truth that I will most likely end up spending the day reading some books.
Does that sound like you? Then you won’t be disappointed with this listicle.
What do you think of these classic romances? How many have you read before? Does your reading habits change based on the season? Let us talk. Share on XClassic romances to read around the Valentines Day
I am bringing you five of the world’s favorite classic romances for you to curl up to.
Even if you have fabulous plans, this list of classic romances will sure make you stocked up for weeks to come. Yes, most of them are huge.
5) The Great Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald
Set in the 1920s when the American stock market shot up the roofs and the wealthy became wealthier, the Great Gatsby is a tale about hope, love and despair.
Nick Carraway, a bond salesman, befriends his neighbour Jay Gatsby, who is obscenely rich and is always throwing the wildest parties. But Gatsby is secretly pining away in darkness for his one true love Daisy, who is married to the ‘old money’ Tom Buchanan.
What better way to spend the Arguably one of the best novels of Fitzgerald’s the Great Gatsby is filled with quotable quotes and you won’t regret reading it even on your down day.
4) Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
That couldn’t have come as a surprise. One of the most famous romances by Shakespeare now stands the standard to compare any modern love to.
The young lovers Romeo and Juliet find themselves on the opposite sides of the familial feud between the Montagues and Capulets. In order to save their love they try to cheat death that seemed inevitable and fail infamously.
Even if not for the romance part, you should read it for the funny conversation between Romeo and his friend Mercutio. The play is definitely funny and will provide you a comic relief, despite its flowery, archaic language.
3) Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
The colorful world of the unhappily married Anna and her lover Vronsky is seldon overlooked while talking of classic romances. Who would not fall in love with the magnificent Anna who struggled to fit in a society she didn’t feel a part of, while she pined for Vronsky?
I know the size of the book is terrorizing yet once you start reading you will have no choice but to finish it.
Tolstoy’s masterpiece should be on your must read list if you want to choose a classic romance novel for this V-day.
2) Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
Are you a firm believer of ‘true love conquers all’? Then you should read Love in the Time of Cholera for this Valentines Day. Love finds Fermina and Florentino when they are quite young.
When Fermina marries an older doctor Urbino, Florentino pines for her (though has about 622 affairs) for about 50 years until Urbino dies. He once again proposes his love for Fermina after all these years, seeking a second chance.
Yes this is a love story, but just not a love story. It talks about pain, jealousy, obsession and sex (a lot of perverse, sick sex). Above all, the language and prose of the Nobel laureate Márquez is to die for.
1) Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
Gone With the Wind could easily be my favorite romance of all times. We can’t help but love Scarlett O’Hara (who is one of the most badass female character written ever) though she can be bitch-y, annoying and too head strong at times.
To make matters worse (or better) for her (and us) we have the ultimate bad boy, the arrogant, handsome devil who has a liking for her.
This American Civil War saga will feed your Valentines Day craving as long as you don’t look for your own Rhett Butler. If you have not read Gone With the Wind yet, you should definitely pick it up during this Valentines Day.
No time to read these books? I am sure all these classic novels have a film or two made on them. You can catch them up as well.
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Let’s talk
What do you think of the classic romances? How many have you read before? Does your reading habits change based on the season? Let us talk more.
Anna Karenina and Gone With the Wind are both on my TBR! GWTW is my moms favorite movie but I really want to read the book first lol
GWTW is one of my favorite books to reread too.
Am I the only one still captivated by ‘Little Women’? I know it’s not an epic romance but the love the characters have for one another is written so beautifully..
Oh it is one of my favorites ever too. In fact I am rereading it currently!
That’s so great! I reread it every couple of years. 😆
<3
Out of this list Romeo Juliet I read. Basically I am fond of Desi love story of India, I mean the one I read in my childhood by eminent Bengali authors.
Love this list my favourites among these are Anna Karenina and The Great Gatsby
I am glad you liked it!
I am glad you had them!
I couldn’t get through Anna Karenina but I enjoyed Gone With the Wind!
I hope you will give it a try sometime in the future.
My favourite classic romance still has to be Elizabeth and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.
Great list, I’ve only read Romeo and Juliet from it during my younger Shakespeare phase!
YES, Darcy and Lizzie are on the top list as well.
I think you’re the first blogger I see who only picks classics, I love that (classics, not that you’re the first !). And for once, I’ve read them all but one, the Gabriel Garcia Marquez, that I’d love to read one day. Very good choice 🙂
I am glad you read all my recs already!
Ooh, I’m going to add a few to my TBR for sure!
Glad to be of help!