Life Lessons from Literature: Wisdom from 100 Classic Works

What can we learn from reading books? This book poses this broad question by examining the works of some of the greatest writers in history and from around the world and the life lessons we can all learn from them

’I read a book one day and my whole life was changed’ ... So confesses the narrator of Orhan Pamuk’s novel The New Life. But what can we learn from reading books? Life Lessons from Literature poses this broad question by examining the works of some of the greatest writers in history.

In it, we can draw wisdom from Charles Dickens’ views on poverty and wealth; draw comfort from ideas about love from Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. Yet books are about much more than just romance and money. Through careful examination of over one hundred classic works of world literature, life lessons are also drawn from themes such as conflict and oppression, identity and psychology, showing how literature enriches and informs our understanding of ourselves and the wider world around us.

From Brazil to Japan, the Americas to Africa; from Victor Hugo to Mark Twain and Chinua Achebe to Haruki Murakami, you will find literature from around the world in this gem of a book, in which the plots may differ but the themes and the lessons they have to teach us are entirely universal.

Life Lessons from Literature is a must for all bibliophiles, providing a concise and highly accessible bucket list of must-read books that teaches us so many fundamental truths and broadens our minds.

Joseph Piercy is a freelance writer. He holds a Master of Philosophy degree in English Studies and is a regular contributor to various magazines and journals. He is the author of 1000 Words You Should Know and The 25 Rules of Grammar, also published by Michael O’Mara Books Limited. He lives in Brighton with his wife and daughter.