TL;DR: I am looking for books that are the following:
- In the neighborhood of under ~500 pages
- Are *not* written in, what I would call, "Old-fashioned English"
- **Genre defining for fantasy or sci-fi**
- Not something that is overly depressing, but I don't mind something that is thought-provoking or would "sit with me". I did enjoy the political aspect of Animal Farm.
- Sub-genre/vibe is not hugely important, but I know I am not a fan of hack-and-slash "sad" horror, but I do like "weird and spooky" horror.
If more detail is needed on some of these topics, I clarified it a bit below, but the bulleted list should be mostly self explanatory, if you have any more specific questions that could help narrow down a list or a specific book, please ask!!!
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I am someone you might call "uncultured", I have not read many books, watched many movies or listened to much albums that are considered "classics". I unfortunately was not brought up in a household that appreciates such things so I never consumed a lot of content as a child. I would like to change that and read a lot of the original works that has influenced media that comes out now, see it for myself, y'know?
That is why I am here, to ask for recommendations of some "must-reads". I do however has some particular restrictions.
English is not my first language. While I consider myself to be well versed in it, works that were written probably somewhere before the 1940's; I struggle to grasp the language of that time. I attempted to read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and while I finished the book, I felt like I did not enjoy it as much due to feeling like I had to strain to really just understand some of the sentences. If it weren't for the fact that Jekyll and Hyde is such an iconic trope, I would've most likely not understood the work. Obviously I understand metaphors and longer words but once we get into the realm of very old, flowery English is when we have a problem.
I am a very slow reader, and I struggle to form habits (ADHD), so I have always avoid behemoth stories like Dune or LOTR, because of their sheer length, despite them must-reads. I am afraid stories of that length would discourage me from reading any further because I might miss a day or two, feel bad for not making a dent in the book, or quickly forget what is happening.