World Book Day: check out 12 works that prove the power of literature

O World Book Day is celebrated this Tuesday (23) as a way of encouragement to reading and also for honor great authors . Check out 12 classic works below that leave marks on the history of humanity and prove the transcendental power of literature.

Names such as Sappho, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Caio Fernando Abreu, among many others, are remembered today.

“The great authors of world literature and their works are extremely important in the development of society, when, through fiction, they awaken reflections and a critical sense about reality”, he tells CNN literature professor Claudia Fernandes.

“Reading famous authors expands our vocabulary repertoire, puts us in contact with different linguistic resources and their meaning effects, shows us possibilities for syntactic constructions, among other learnings that can improve our writing. They teach us to read and write better”, he adds.

For the teacher, the classics have in common the ability to take the reader out of comfort zones, stirring their emotions and making them reflect on human existence from different perspectives.

The date of World Book Day — which is also the day on which famous authors died William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) — was chosen by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).

Check out 12 classics of world literature

“One Hundred Years of Solitude”, by Gabriel Garcia Marques

The book tells the sad story of the Buendía family. The reader follows several generations of the family, as well as the rise and fall of the fictional village Macondo.

The work is full of technical literary devices and influences, having become Gabo's (the author's nickname) greatest classic.

“Dom Casmurro”, by Machado de Assis

This is probably Machado de Assis's most famous and praised work.

It tells the story of Bentinho's youth, from when he falls in love with Capitu and starts trying to escape his destiny of becoming a priest to his suspicions in the relationship after they get married.

The narrator, Bentinho himself in old age, when he is already nicknamed Dom Casmurro, tells the story through memories and daydreams. The reader ends the book with a big question about the story.

“The Hour of the Star”, by Clarice Lispector

This novel by Clarice Lispector tells the sad story of Macabéa, a young typist from Alagoas who finds a boyfriend in São Paulo and dreams of happiness.

Being so poor (financially and in terms of customs), Macabéa does not know love and does not know how to behave appropriately in different situations, to the point of making others feel sorry for her. In a moment of faith, she finds the very end of her story.

The work presents reflections on her and on the narrator-character himself, the writer Rodrigo SM

“Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen

The book tells the story of five sisters from the Bennet family, who lived in rural England in the 18th century.

Among the realities of each of them, the love between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet stands out.

“Pride and Prejudice” also addresses the issue of family succession when only male heirs were privileged and marriage was all that was left for women.

“Hamlet”, by William Shakespeare

Hamlet is a Danish prince who encounters his father's ghost and hears from him that he was murdered by his own brother, Claudius. After his death, Claudius marries the widow, Gertrude, and assumes the role of king of Denmark.

Hamlet's saga of revenge then begins, based on a plan that seeks to prove who the real killer was.

The narrative is dense and presents reflections on family conflicts, love, madness, sanity, philosophy, power, morality, putting the human condition itself to the test.

“Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley

Student Victor Frankenstein creates a monster in his laboratory in Geneva when he tries to bring a person back to life using parts from other people.

The creature, which causes horror in anyone who sees it, starts to chase the student.

The book proposes a reflection on how far humanity must make science and technology evolve and on how these evolutions may not be exactly what was initially desired.

“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury

This dystopia tells the story of Guy Montag, a firefighter who, like his professional colleagues, must burn books.

The world portrayed in the story is made up of apathetic and uncritical people who live according to television programming.

Literature is threatened with extinction, books are prohibited objects, and their bearers are considered criminals.

However, the girl Clarisse McClellan, who asks too many questions, makes Montag curious about books, embarking on a long journey to escape the penalty of carrying a book, death.

“The Shining”, by Stephen King

Evil forces try to take over the body of a boy with supernatural powers, Danny Torrance.

However, as possessing the boy turns out to be more difficult than expected, evil spirits take advantage of the weaknesses of his father, Jack Torrance.

The book chronicles Jack's path to madness, exploring the depths of the human mind.

“Crime and Punishment”, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The poor and desperate young student Raskolnikov commits a crime on the streets of Saint Petersburg and tries to justify himself.

He kills and robs Alyona Ivanovna, an old moneylender, and her sister, Lisavieta, but believes that great names in humanity, such as Napoleon or Caesar, also committed crimes and were absolved by history.

He feels no remorse or regret for the murder and tells himself that he did not kill a person, but a principle.

“The Farewell Ceremony”, by Simone de Beauvoir

Beauvoir recounts the last years of her husband Jean-Paul Sartre's life, based on her personal diary and testimonies she collected.

The author presents philosophical reflections on old age and death, as well as other delicate themes that permeate the trajectory of her life and work.

“Essay on blindness”, by José Saramago

This is a story of a great pandemic, that of “white darkness”, by which people are suddenly blinded and which spreads uncontrollably among people.

Health and safety authorities place blind people in forced “quarantine” in a mental hospital, trying to avoid infecting other people.

The book reports on the social consequences of a long-lasting situation in which human beings refuse to see the problems of others and think only of themselves.

“Don Quixote de la Mancha”, by Miguel de Cervantes

An elderly man who lives in the countryside's favorite pastime is reading about chivalry, but he ends up believing in the adventures he reads and decides to become a knight-errant.

The journeys he begins mix hallucination and reality, as in his objective of proving his love for Dulcineia de Toboso, an imaginary woman.