Classics for Beginners discussion

Can anyone make any suggestions as to a book I could read that would be as edifying as reading The Origin of Species without reading the book? I started it this morning and am finding the science far too dense, not to mention the sentence structure. I really do want to grasp what he was saying but think my time would be better served reading a book ABOUT The Origin of Species as opposed to the book itself.

Any recommendations and is this the right place to be posting? This is my first GoodReads post/group.

Hmmm. First off, welcome to the group!

I'm more of a novel-reader myself (and I suspect you'll find most of this group is as well) but I do have an interest in natural history so will see what I can find.

Disclaimer: I have not read either On the Origin of Species, or any books specifically about it so this is all the result of a quick googling and a goodreads search.

That said... Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography was published a few years ago, which looks to be more what you're looking for?

There also seems to be a goodreads group (private so you'd have to be approved to join) specifically about reading On the Origin of Species
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
Last active in May apparently and I can't see what books they recommend because I'm not a member, but it could be if you can join there they might be better suited to answer your questions.

There was also a BBC documentary a little while ago about Darwin's writing of the book 'The Evolution of the Origin of Species', I think it was called. It's no longer on the BBCs website but you might be able to find it elsewhere if that's of any interest. And there are probably other documentaries around about the subject too.


Sorry I can't be a bit more helpful. This is one book I know I should read but have never got round to.