Hotdeals360.com
Advertisement

Classic Must-Reads: 5 Timeless Books Every Young Adult Should Read

Find one of the best books for beginners, with the best classic books for young adults, with a literary book review.
By: Anubha Mittal Updated: Feb 18, 2026 20:45 IST

Classic literature is not about exaggeration, tough language, and old books, it is about timeless questions that cannot leave human minds ever. The best part about this collection of books to read for young adults is that you can explore identity, morality, loneliness, ambition, free will, destiny, love, war, and the eternal conflict between good and evil with the help of this collection, all at once. Find the famous classical literature picks with a psychological realm of depth, of good and evil of human minds. The curation has the top 5 handpicked must-read classic books that can suit beginners, too. Find the best classic books of all time. To get the top-rated timeless classic novels, find more deals on Flipkart

Guide Classical Literature: Common Vocabulary Picks

  • Hamartia: A tragic, fatal flaw that becomes the eventual reason for the fall. Example: Victor Frankenstein's obsession with knowledge becomes his hamartia.
  • Catharsis: Emotional purging out of emotions felt by the readers after a tragedy in the book.
  • Hubris: Excessive pride or arrogance, often challenging the gods or fate.
  • Tragic Hero: A noble person who falls in life due to hamartia.
  • Allegory: Hidden moral or political meaning or understanding.
  • Byronic Hero: A flawed, complex, and rebellious heroic figure who can be mysterious, dark, and internally conflicted.

The Greatest Works of John Milton

Latest and Breaking News on NDTV
The Greatest Works of John Milton (Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained) (Fingerprint Classics) Amazon Deal

The Greatest Works of John Milton (Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained) (Fingerprint Classics)

₹ 299
₹ 549 (46% off)
Buy on The Greatest Works of John Milton (Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained) (Fingerprint Classics) Amazon Rs. 299.00

Add to your books-to-read list this classic author named John Milton, who wrote the books Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained after he went blind in the year 1952. The best part about this classic book read is its insightful life-coded aftertaste. Classic books for young adults especially must consist of life's harsh truths, the concept of heaven and hell, and the shaping of moral imagination, political thought, and literary brilliance for the best human character development. Adding this must read classic book, a mock epic of John Milton, you can experience how hell is just a state of mind, it's never the physical torture when you leave your body on earth.

Add to your Reader's Digest book list this classic literature in which you can have a philosophical inquiry into whether it's free will or destiny that plays the most important role in life. Paradise Lost explores the depth of the human psyche. Exploring the blend and intermixing of good and evil in classical literature like this book adds to your everyday life an ultimate understanding and questioning of life itself as a concept. As I have mentioned earlier, this classic literature book was written just after the years of Milton's blindness, the life's questions and afterlife answers seem to be the divine vision of his entire life journey. 

Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri

Latest and Breaking News on NDTV
Dante's Inferno Amazon Deal

Dante's Inferno

₹ 269
₹ 449 (40% off)
Buy on Dante's Inferno Amazon Rs. 269.00

A reader who loves deep symbolic thoughts and literature that keeps your mind both amused and engaged at the same time? Adding this must read classic book, Dante's Inferno by Paul Buchheit, to your Reader's Digest book list, you can explore how society works with a unique lens of the cost of justice, human flaws and morality, redemption and hope, and many more. The physical journey of nine circles of Hell in this classic book becomes the ultimate dramatic, imaginative, and unforgettable journey of the human subconscious mind.

For all those main-character-coded adults in this book, it can add a touch of extra cinematic reading to your everyday. The best this reader's favourite book can provide you is critical thoughts and analytic reasoning. Say to your curated book list that another famous classic literature decoding challenge is accepted. The best part about this book is Dante's symbolism, as every sinner Dante meets represents a real historical figure or a political enemy. Explore the depth of human sins with hell's nine circles of limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery in this best classic book for all time. 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Latest and Breaking News on NDTV
Frankenstein (Deluxe Hardbound Edition) Amazon Deal

Frankenstein (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)

₹ 375
₹ 499 (25% off)
Buy on Frankenstein (Deluxe Hardbound Edition) Amazon Rs. 375.00

Reading a classical literature book with a deluxe hardbound cover and imaginative book pictures can be a dream come true. Adding this book, Mary Shelley, to your must-read classics, you can enjoy a journey of sci-fi, gothic, and horror books, aesthetics, and beauty standards, understanding all at the same time. The best this classic book can teach you is that ruthless hunger for anything, be it even knowledge, can be your hamartia (a fatal flaw) and reason for falling in life.

This book can surely be a classic for young adults, as in this age, people feel anxiety about beauty standards, morality, thirst for money or knowledge, etc. You can unlearn the stereotypes learned from an early age with the help of famous classic literature books like this. A fun fact about Mary Shelley is that she wrote this book at the age of 18 when Lord Byron gave instructions for children to write a ghost story, which today is an insight into aestheticism. romanticism, and human life itself. Other than that, the beauty of this book also lies in the layered narrativization that will make you forget where you began and how long it will last.

White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Latest and Breaking News on NDTV
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: A Timeless Story of Love, Longing & Solitude | Classic Fiction, Russian Literature, Romantic Novella | Penguin Little Black Classics Amazon Deal

White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: A Timeless Story of Love, Longing & Solitude | Classic Fiction, Russian Literature, Romantic Novella | Penguin Little Black Classics

₹ 111
₹ 125 (11% off)
Buy on White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: A Timeless Story of Love, Longing & Solitude | Classic Fiction, Russian Literature, Romantic Novella | Penguin Little Black Classics Amazon Rs. 111.00

Dostoevsky's earliest work, which was published in 1848, is a deep psychological insight into loneliness, romantic idealism, fantasy vs. reality, and unrequited love. One of the best picks of classic books for young adults due to the thematic life similarities of this book with them. The best part about this classic literature pick is that it can help you with the reality of 99 per cent of young adults, which is urban loneliness and romantic idealism.

The dramatic encounter with the reality of this classic book is its best part, for instance: “My God! A whole minute of happiness! Is that too little for the whole of a man's life?” Explaining how happiness for a minute is such a great achievement for young adults these days. Written in first person with an emotional and confessional tone, adding a touch of lyric to the urban jungle life of youngsters these days. Other than taking up the philosophical reference of classic literature, this book also consists of escapism, social anxiety, and fear of engagement with real life as the commonplace for childhood to adulthood's transformative journey.

HOMER: The Iliad and The Odyssey

Latest and Breaking News on NDTV
HOMER: The Iliad and The Odyssey (Deluxe Hardbound Edition) Amazon Deal

HOMER: The Iliad and The Odyssey (Deluxe Hardbound Edition)

₹ 621
₹ 999 (38% off)
Buy on HOMER: The Iliad and The Odyssey (Deluxe Hardbound Edition) Amazon Rs. 621.00

For those young people who carve the tattoos of Greeks and Romans on their necks to be cool. Add this journey into the depths of ancient Greece with Homer's timeless epics to your list of famous classic literature must-read books. In The Iliad, you can get into the depths of the Trojan War, wherein the gods and mortals clash in a tale of honour, heroism, and the consequences of unchecked pride. Get into the wars and fiction-coded reality of classic Greek literature.

This might not be the best classic literature for you, but to get yourself into the world of Marvel-like wars and action, you can explore the depth of classic Greek books. The Odyssey, part of this famous classic book collection, tells you about how a hero might not always have a big, muscular body and a tough build, but an intellectual mind can keep you firm and strong. Get the books like this to learn and explore the epic tales of ancient heroes and legendary battles with a touch of unforgettable characters shaped by gods and destiny.

Book Wise Guide 

  • The Greatest Works of John Milton: An insightful journey about the afterlife and a cosmic conflict.
  • Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri: A travel journey to hell's nine circles, transforming into a psychological exploration.
  • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: A wholesome experience to understand aestheticism, a sci-fi, dramatic experience.
  • White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: A psychological portrait of loneliness, romantic idealism, and fleeting happiness.
  • HOMER: The Iliad and The Odyssey: An action movie-like epic of war, pride, fate, and the enduring journey.

Read More: Top Books on Financial Literacy

Conclusion:

Find one of the best collections of classic books that every young adult must have in their Reader's Digest. Be it a question of free will and fate by Milton, Dante's journey to hell, or immortal honour, pride, resilience, and wars in Homer, you can find them all. Add to your transformative reading experience a collection of age-old tales that are timeless and relevant still today due to the immortality of intellect and thoughts.

Classic Must-Reads: 5 Timeless Books Every Young Adult Should Read

Product Price in India
The Greatest Works of John Milton (Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained) (Fingerprint Classics) ₹ 299
Dante's Inferno ₹ 269
Frankenstein (Deluxe Hardbound Edition) ₹ 375
White Nights by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: A Timeless Story of Love, Longing & Solitude | Classic Fiction, Russian Literature, Romantic Novella | Penguin Little Black Classics ₹ 111
HOMER: The Iliad and The Odyssey (Deluxe Hardbound Edition) ₹ 621
For the latest deals, offers and news, follow HotDeals360 on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google News and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
The HotDeals360 team writes about stuff we think you'll like. HotDeals360 has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.
loading