Abridged Classics: Brief Summaries of Books You Were Supposed to Read but Probably Didn’t

by John Atkinson

A collection of irreverent summations of more than 100 well-known works of literature, from Anna Karenina to Wuthering Heights, cleverly described in the fewest words possible and accompanied with funny color illustrations.

Abridged Brief Summaries of Books You Were Supposed to Read but Probably Didn’t is packed with dozens of humorous super-condensed summations of some of the most famous works of literature from many of the world’s most revered authors, including William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Emily Brontë, Leo Tolstoy, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, Margaret Atwood, James Joyce, Plato, Ernest Hemingway, Dan Brown, Ayn Rand, and Herman Melville.

From "Old ladies convince a guy to ruin Scotland" (Macbeth) to "Everyone is sad. It snows." (War and Peace), these clever, humorous synopses are sure to make book lovers smile.

Genres: Humor, Books About Books, Nonfiction, Classics, Graphic Novels, Adult, Literature

160 pages, Hardcover

First published June 5, 2018

Reviews

[Federico DN]

Immortal classics summarized in few words of irreverent dark humor.

E.g.


I don’t think you necessarily must have read every single classic beforehand to understand these jokes but I do think you can appreciate them a lot better if you have; or watched an adaptation, or have at least a general idea of what the book is all about.

I only went as far as 28/110 because I still have a long way to complete the book list. Most times I just read blindly, picking a book only by its title. And I fiercely avoid spoilers or hints about a books content, even as mild as this one. Whenever possible.

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PERSONAL NOTE :
[2018] [160p] [Collection] [Humor] [Not Recommendable] [Amusing] [Witty]
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Clásicos inmortales resumidos en pocas palabras de irreverente humor negro.

Ej. Trilogía El Señor de los Anillos:
Epica sobre política de retorno de joyería en la Tierra Media.

No creo que se deba necesariamente haber leído cada uno de los clásicos antes para entender los chistes pero sí creo que se aprecian mucho mejor si lo hiciste; o viste una adaptación, o tenés al menos una idea general de que trata todo el libro.

Sólo llegué hasta 28/110 porque todavía me falta un largo camino antes de completar la lista de libros. La mayoría de las veces leo a ciegas, eligiendo un libro sólo por el título. Y evito ferozmente cualquier spoiler o indicios del contenido de un libro, incluso tan leves como éste. Siempre que sea posible.

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NOTA PERSONAL :
[2018] [160p] [Humor] [Colección] [No Recomendable] [Entretenido] [Ingenioso]
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[Tim Null]

I gave Granddaughter this for Christmas. She was thrilled. Wife immediately read it. (Daughter had read it on Christmas Eve.) They all told me I needed to upgrade the rating to 5.

[lorinbocol]

la battuta di woody allen sul corso di lettura veloce, ma applicata (con pure i disegnini) a tutti i classici della letteratura, da omero in giù e in su.
sarà anche da classificare tra libri-sciocchi-ne-abbiamo? ma ho speso un’ora della mia insonnia a ridere da sola come una scema. merita la ola.

i viaggi di gulliver:
marinaio sfortunato finisce in terre abitate da metafore sociopolitiche.
pinocchio:
un pezzo di legno diventa un bambino. e pure un po’ stronzetto.
re lear:
vecchio re diventa pazzo. muoiono tutti.
delitto e castigo:
assassino si sente male. confessa. va in prigione. sta meglio.
romeo e giulietta:
fidanzatini si suicidano. aspetta, no che non lo fanno. okay, ora sì.

(ancora uno, ancora uno.
ritratto dell’artista da giovane:
giovanotto irlandese indeciso tra chiesa e sesso. diventa scrittore)

[Schizanthus Nerd]

This is one of those super quick (about five minutes) and quirky reads. John Atkinson summarises classic novels in a few words, with each entry accompanied by an illustration or two.

I found I enjoyed the summaries if I’d read the book referenced already or at least knew the basics of the story. For those classics included where I wasn’t already familiar with the plot I found myself thinking some variation of ‘Oh, okay’ or ‘I don’t get it’.

My favourites summaries are:

The Lord of the Rings trilogy - Middle-earth’s epic jewellery return policy.

The Handmaid’s Tale - An oppressive patriarchy controls women’s bodies. This book is also about that.

Charlotte’s Web - Clever web designer saves a pig.

I borrowed this book from my library (I love my library). I can imagine people buying this as a gift book. I’d already read many of the entries online though and while I’m glad I read the book I won’t be buying it.

[Cyndi]

We had so much fun with this book! We read the explanations and then tried to guess the book. “Everyone is sad. It snows.” War and Peace! Haha! That completely sums it up. “War is crazy, unless you are. Orr maybe not.” Catch-22. “Colonialism ruins everything. Also jungle metaphors.” Heart of Darkness. “Two sisters catch husbands. And one catches a cold.” Sense and Sensibility. Tons of fun! 😄

[Alina]

One-or-two-short-sentence summaries of very famous books, all illustrated, some funny, some not so much. Helps if you've read the books, although no so much in the case of the less funny ones :p

[Tanabrus]

Carino, una lettura leggera e veloce, divertente,

Brevi illustrazioni di una o due pagine accompagnate da descrizioni lapidarie dei "classici" in questione.
A volte divertenti, a volte condivisibili, a volte divertenti e condivisibili, a volte meno divertenti o condivisibili... del resto si va nella soggettività e nel nostro rapporto con questi classici.

[Theresa]

Very funny and on some of the summaries of books I haven't read, I now want to read them just to get the joke.

On a second time reading the book I would probably lower my rating to a 3 or 3.5, but they are still funny.

[verbava]

спроба підсумувати класичні тексти одним-двома рядками й одною-двома картинками. місцями не позбавлена гумору («прощавай, зброє»: There are no winners in war. And very few adjectives), але часто доволі пласка («король лір»: Old king goes mad. Everyone dies). а ще іноді видно, що й сам автор, імовірно, не читав («божественна комедія. пекло»: All hell breaks loose). ілюстрації – ну, є; додаткового смислового навантаження здебільшого не несуть.
і хтось таке вже робив, здається.
(зате маленька).

[Meag]

My favorites-

Little Women:
“Four sisters get married.
Except Beth.”

Peter Pan:
“Some kids and a crocodile pester an amputee.”

Wuthering Heights:
“A sort-of brother and sister fall in love.
It’s foggy.”

[Lubinka Dimitrova]

OK, I'm ready now. Ask me anything about the classics. I've got it. #not

[Gloria Thompson]

Well this made me giggle. 😂 One to two sentence humorous summaries of the classics.

[Cass (all too tired)]

A quirky, fast read that funny at times and pointless in others. The concept is five stars, I love it, summarizing classics in one or two short sentences in a funny way is a wonderful idea, but the execution was a bit less than what I expected. I don't know what I expected, but I expected to laugh more than I did. The illustrations were funny and though they look simple, they add a lot of to the summary of the story and are part of the reason I laughed at all. There's not really a point to reading this unless you want to laugh a bit and reminisce about all the times you were forced to read these books in school.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Middle-earth's epic jewelry return policy.

[Erikka]

Classic literature is great, but there's only so much time in your life. This book takes about 100 classic tales and condenses them to one pithy and hilarious sentence, pairs the sentence with a cute cartoon, and voila: a perfect summary. I loved this so much. The sense of humor is right up my alley and the pics were fun.

[Jennifer (JenIsNotaBookSnob)]

Please note, this is VERY abridged. More humorous than informational, usually just a line or two per classic and an illustration. It's definitely more of a humor book than an actual collection of summaries of classics.

It was fun to read though, perhaps a 5 minute read.

[Rachel]

I devoured this in under 10 minutes. My only complaint is that it is too short. I got a copy from the library, but I will have to buy one for myself so I can refer back to it whenever I need a laugh. I adore the artwork and the summaries of classic novels and plays are a hoot.

[Faidz Zainal Abidin]

I enjoyed this tremendously! Would love to own a copy.

[Andrew]

Are you a Biblio-phile? Do you wish you had read some of the classics that many consider to be iconic but never got around to? Do you want to know the stories of those that you are hesitant to look into or worry that it will bore you?
Abridged Classics gives us a one page, one sentence answer to all of these questions. With simplistic illustrations, this humorous book will have you laughing for a long time.
For example:
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck "Farming Sucks! Road Trip! Road trip sucks."
or
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White "Clever Web Designer saves Pig"

Some of these classics I hadn't even heard of. Many of the well-known titles, including multiple Shakespeare plays, provide a fantastic and hilarious look into the shelves of classic literature.
Fun read if you need a laugh.
Great choice for April for National Humor Month!

[Mary Lou]

By the numbers...

5 - the approximate number of minutes this book takes to read.

20 - the number of dollars that you spent on those five minutes, if you paid the cover price.

0 - the amount of enjoyment you'll get from this book, and/or the amount of time and creativity that went into it.

[Emily Degnitz]

This was hilarious! I read the descriptions to my mom and sister and made them guess the book. There were some books that we weren't familiar with, but it made me want to read or re-read some of the books to fully understand the references made in the books that I have read and the other ones that I haven't read yet.

[Lindsay]

This was a fun (and quick) book.

I'll admit, there were some *cough*more than some*cough* books in this that I haven't read. I know of them, I know their basic story (in most cases) but I haven't read them. Either way, it was a fun book to kill some time with.

[Suellen]

Some of these are funny ...
Really, really funny. I would recommend this to any reader of classic literature. If nothing else, they will get a good laugh.

[Shannon Glenn]

Very funny light read. Entertaining and enjoyable.

[Biljana]

Veoma simpatična knjiga skraćenih verzija književnih klasika, uz prigodne ilustracije.
Da biste stekli najbolji utisak, slijedi nekoliko primjera iz knjige.

[Ollie Skyba]

If you're looking for an unputdownable book that guarantees fun and laughter, "Abridged Classics" is the perfect pick! This delightful read can be devoured in just 15 minutes, or you can savor it page by page for a daily dose of humor.
Each classic novel is hilariously condensed, like these gems: "Everyone's sad. It snows." and "Old king goes mad. Everyone dies." Can you guess which books those are?

[Luca Masera]

Se piace il genere di umorismo alla Woody Allen, è una lettura (veloce e) e divertente.

Il mio riassunto preferito è Moby Dick:

Uomo VS balena.
Vince la balena.

O anche Il Conte di Montecristo:

Un tizio evade dalla galera e uccide tutti quelli che ce lo hanno fatto finire.

[Anahita Solot]

خیلی گوگولی بودش.شاید بعضی‌هاش رو ترجمه کنم و توی اینستا با بقیه به اشتراک بذارم.

[ckm]

低分不是書的問題，是源於我本身知道的書不多，只有4成，所以減少了趣味性。
另外有一些經典小說沒有上榜，好可惜。

[Dna]

First of all, I resent this book’s subtitle, because I’ve read most novels that are mentioned. Second, this is a cute book, but not all entries are funny, or accurate, or even made sense. This book might be funnier for amateur (LOL) readers who haven’t read classics and think the Twilight series is literary. No judgment, just saying. 😊

[Jeff]

Neither clever or witty. Unfortunate, since, if you're going to done something that's been before, you should do it better or don't bother.