15 books in English ideal for learning the language
Knowing languages is a basic requirement today. Both at work and in training, as well as personally, we are required to be able to express ourselves in and/or understand languages other than our own, and it is advisable to focus on those languages that present the highest level of expansion throughout the world, one of the main ones being English, which is taught from childhood.
One of the ways in which we can learn and improve our English is through literature, as it allows us to acquire vocabulary and see different grammatical structures while allowing us to imagine and make sense of the material we are learning. That is why in this article we focus on presenting fifteen books in English ideal for learning the language .
English Literature for Language Improvement
Because knowledge of English is now a must, the following are a series of books, stories and novels with which we can improve our language skills.
Most of them are stories that most people already know, but this is useful because it allows us to link what we already know with what we want to learn or improve . In some cases it is even possible to find films and audiobooks, which can complement learning and improve both written and oral comprehension.
1. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
A classic frequently used in schools to help learn English . This novel explains the life of Dorian Gray, who is portrayed by an artist in love with his beauty. Young Dorian is seduced by the idea of pleasure-seeking transmitted to him by a man named Lord Henry.
Realizing that time will wear away his beauty and health Dorian comes to desire with all his soul to remain as in the portrait. In time, he will realize that while he remains young, the portrait will undergo the changes of his age and the kind of life he leads (only dedicated to his own pleasure and committing various atrocities along the way).
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2. The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Another great classic that has later been transformed into a film, and whose reading is recommended to reinforce the learning of English.
Jay Gatsby is a rich and well known man who leads a luxurious life and continuously celebrates multitudinous and extravagant parties that he does not attend. These parties and his flamboyant lifestyle are an attempt by the billionaire to get the attention of an old flame. Nick Carraway, the main character in the story, will end up arranging a meeting between Jay Gatsby and the woman he is in love with, who is already married to a man who is having an affair with another woman.
- You can buy it here.
3. The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
A suitable book for learning the language even though sometimes its vocabulary can be somewhat more complex. It is a short novel that has been used many times as a school reading material.
The story tells us the life of an old fisherman named Santiago who seeks to catch the best fish of his life, along with a boy who tries to help him. In spite of the fact that he has not been able to catch anything for eighty-four days in a row, finally a giant fish takes the bait . The animal has so much strength that it is able to drag the boat across the ocean for days, making the old man struggle continuously to achieve his goal.
- You can buy this book here.
4. Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
One of the great classics of literature, in this novel a sailor named Ishmael tells us about the chase carried out by the Pequod, the whaling ship he signed up for. The captain of this ship intends to hunt Moby Dick, a huge cetacean that has managed to evade and destroy those who have tried to hunt him and that has caused the captain’s obsession and madness after the loss of his previous ship, crew and leg due to a previous encounter.
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5. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
The plot of this well-known novel focuses on the Manor farm, where the different animals decide to rise up against humans and live freely according to their own rules, as one of them explains before dying. Under the leadership of the pigs they create a revolution that initially improves the situation of the farm , but greed and corruption end up appearing in the leaders. Power struggles, hypocrisy and tyranny appear.
This is a short and easy to read novel in which the author, Orwell, makes us see aspects such as corruption, greed, power and manipulation. In addition, clear references can be seen both in the story and in the characters themselves to the historical situation experienced during the Russian revolution and the rise of the Stalinist regime.
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6. Four Past Midnight (Stephen King)
Stephen King is a world-renowned author. His writing is clear and easy to follow, sometimes even allowing you to learn more colloquial expressions from his reader. In this particular novel four short stories are incorporated that are easy to read .
The first of these is The Langoliers, in which we are told the story of a flight passenger who wakes up to find that the crew and some of the passengers have disappeared in mid-flight. Being also a pilot, he lands in an uninhabited place where danger lurks
In Secret Garden Open Window (which would later be made into a film), a writer is visited by a stranger who claims to have plagiarized his story, complicating the plot as the latter attacks the former and his surroundings and the latter tries to prove his innocence.
The third story is The Library Policeman, in which Sam Peebles tries to deal with a traumatic childhood event that a dead woman brings back in the form of a library cop.
In The Sun Dog a young man named Kevin receives a Polaroid as a birthday present, but with the particularity that he only takes pictures of a dog. Although at first it seems a mistake of the camera, the story has paranormal tints, because in these photographs the dog gradually approaches the camera, trying finally to move into the real world.
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7. Thirteen Reasons Why (Jay Asher)
Novel suitable for learning English due to its short sentences and good grammatical structure Its plot is sad: The story focuses on the arrival at Clay Jensen’s house of a package with several cassettes, sent by a high school classmate who committed suicide. These cassettes must be sent and listened to by different people, telling part of the girl’s life and how these people contributed to her ending her life.
- Buy it here.
8. Gulliver’s Travels (Jonathan Swift)
This novel tells us the story of Gulliver, a surgeon and later captain of ships who travels through various lands . Specifically, he travels through Lilliput (whose inhabitants are so tiny that the main character is a giant in comparison), Brobdingnag (in which, unlike the previous case, the larger beings without the locals), Laputa (a kingdom in which research and advances are made without seeking a practical result), Glubbdubdrib (where he meets beings that although they get sick and old are immortal), Japan and the country of the Houyhnms (where animals are thinking and free beings and humans are wild), living different adventures and misfortunes in each of them.
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9. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
Victor Frankenstein is a man obsessed with an idea: to create life from already dead matter, using electrical energy to bring it back to life . One night he manages to carry out his work successfully, creating and giving life to a being that he ends up considering a monster.
However, horrified by his success and by the fact that he has not created an irrational being but the product of his experiment is capable of reasoning and feeling, he decides to abandon the creature. This rejection, along with that of the rest of humanity, will make Frankenstein’s monster turn vengeful towards his creator and destroy everything he loves.
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10. Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens)
This play tells the story of Oliver Twist, a twelve-year-old orphan whose mother died in childbirth and who is being raised in an auspice. Eventually the caretaker of the place takes him for a problem and sends him to work with an undertaker, from whom he escapes to escape to London . There he will be caught by a small gang of thieves, whose leader mistreats them and forces them to steal.
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11. The Outsiders (S. E. Hinton)
This book is recommended due to the simplicity of its vocabulary, the little need for context and the brevity of its sentences. The plot focuses on Ponyboy, a teenager who is part of a band called the Greasers. After bonding with some rival gang members and after several fights, in which one of them ends up dead, the young man gets scared and runs away with one of his classmates. Other events, such as the rescue of children from a burning church, will make for an interesting story focusing on the world of gang wars and survival.
- Buy it here.
12. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
This short novel by Charles Dickens is enjoyable and easy to read, and is very useful for reviewing both vocabulary and syntax. The story centres on Ebenezer Scrooge, a greedy, selfish and even cruel old man who despises Christmas and whose main interest is financial gain. On Christmas Eve he will be visited by the ghost of a former partner with similar characteristics who has been condemned after death to wander eternally, who will indicate to him the arrival of three spirits so that he can be saved from himself.
The spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Future will show the old man both what he has experienced and what he has missed, what is happening in the world and to his loved ones, and what could happen in the future to prolong his way of acting.
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13. Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare)
One of the best known works by one of the most renowned playwrights, Romeo and Juliet has versions in the form of a novel that may be useful for learning English. The story tells of the passionate love born between two young people from two traditionally opposing families , the Capulets and the Montagues, with a tragic ending for both young people.
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14. Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe)
Considered by some to be the first English novel, this work tells us the life of the sailor Robinson Crusoe. During a colonial expedition through Africa, Robinson is captured and enslaved by pirates, from which he manages to escape after a while. Some time later he returns to the ship, but his ship ends up being shipwrecked. The protagonist arrives on the beach of a deserted island, being the only survivor . There, Robinson will have to learn to survive in complete solitude, until he ends up realising that he is not alone on the island.
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15. The Black Cat and Other Stories (Edgar Allan Poe)
The black cat, the telltale heart, the red death mask or the well and pendulum are some of the most commonly known horror stories written by Edgar Allan Poe. Short stories that are easy to understand and quick to read that play with mystery and horror at the same time, are very useful to start acquiring vocabulary and reading skills.
- Buy it here.
Other interesting books
Apart from these there are many other books equally valid for starting or improving in the English language . And not only single books, but sagas like Harry Potter have also been widely used both in their written and film versions for this purpose, both by parents and even at school level, in order to increase the interest of the learners in learning while increasing their vocabulary and grammar.
- Related article: “The 30 Best Psychology Books You Can’t Miss”