I love a beach read just as much as the next person, but sometimes we need to delve a little deeper and look to the books that have shaped the world of literature. Without these books, we would likely not have the magical realism books that we all so adore, never mind non-fiction. Waterstones has listed some of the classic novels that you’ve probably “always meant to read”, but just haven’t got round to, and here we have selected six to get you started. 

An incredible book that has influenced the world, Orwell’s 1984 is a dystopian tale that follows one man’s nightmare odyssey as he pursues a forbidden love affair through a world that is ruled by warring states and has a brutal power structure. The popular reality television show Big Brother was directly inspired by Orwell’s classic tale.

The gothic novel, Wuthering Heights follows the destructive love story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling taken in by her family. After Catherine’s brother abuses Heathcliff and Catherine chooses to marry the wealthy Edgar Linton, a heartbroken Heathcliff leaves, only to return years later as a wealthy man to seek revenge on both the Earnshaw and Linton families. 

Crime and Punishment is a psychological novel about Raskolnikov, an impoverished former student who murders an old pawnbroker to test his theory that extraordinary men are above the law. Both the murder and the subsequent accidental killing of the pawnbroker’s sister plunge Raskolnikov into a state of guilt, paranoia, and alienation, and the story follows his internal torment and eventual confession. 

The Great Gatsby is set in the Jazz Age of Long Island in 1920s America. It follows the lives of Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, and Daisy Buchanan, a wealthy young woman whom Gatsby pursued and loved in his youth. The book was written in 1925, but it still remains a much-loved classic.

William Golding’s book follows British schoolboys stranded on a deserted island who descend from civilized order to primal savagery, exploring human nature’s dark side through their attempts to form a society that collapses into tribal conflict, hunting, and ritualistic violence.

This novel from Salinger follows the experiences of 16-year-old Holden Caulfield after he’s been expelled from school. It deals with feelings of alienation, the adult world and trying to find a sense of belonging. Holden travels to New York while dealing with these feelings of disconnection. At its core, The Catcher in the Rye is a coming-of-age story.