Do you feel like you have nothing in common with Anna Karenina’s train station or the glitz and glam of The Great Gatsby? Many classics have stood the test of time, and there’s a reason behind that: they tackle subjects inherent to the human experience. Vanity, scientific ethics, or toxic relationships were not born with social media. They exist in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Frankenstein, and Wuthering Heights.
For me, it’s A Little Princess. Losing a parent is still pretty much the same experience in the 90s as it was in 1905.
Continue reading to hear from our experts.
Table of Contents
Classics Open Teens’ Tough Conversations
Books like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye stick around for a reason. The teens I worked with would connect with Scout’s confusion or Holden’s anger. Suddenly we weren’t just talking about a character anymore; we were talking about their school, their family. The shift wasn’t instant, but these stories got those hard conversations started.
Aja Chavez, Executive Director, Mission Prep Healthcare
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Translations Reveal Values, Bridge Cultures
My work at the German Cultural Association showed me why old books like Goethe’s Faust and Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina still matter. When students compare translations, they argue over what a word really means, which reveals their own values. It’s not about literary theory, it’s about seeing ourselves in these stories. They get people talking across cultures.
Yoan Amselem, Managing Director, German Cultural Association of Hong Kong
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Timeless Stories Reflect Users’ Lives
You know, there’s a reason books like To Kill a Mockingbird stick around. It’s not about the plot. When I talk to our users, they talk about seeing themselves in the characters. The confusion, the messy relationships, that feeling of trying to do the right thing. These old stories make their own lives feel less crazy because they see the same struggles in someone else.
Lisa Templeton, Director of Community, Heartthrob
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The Alchemist Fuels Vision and Courage
The Alchemist works so well for today’s leaders because it’s about following a personal vision. I’ve seen it help global teams value each other’s different perspectives and give them the courage to chase their own goals when a company enters new markets or needs to pivot. The story is simple but it hits home, letting anyone find something useful in it.
David Cornado, Partner, French Teachers Association of Hong Kong
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Classics Connect Lessons to Today’s Issues
Teachers still use books like 1984 and Pride and Prejudice for a reason. When I worked in education tech, I saw these books were a great entry point for conversations about today’s issues, from surveillance to social class. When students spot their own world in a classic story, the ideas stop being just something in a book.
Sandro Kratz, Founder, Tutorbase
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Frankenstein Illuminates Today’s AI Dilemmas
Rereading Frankenstein feels like reading a manual for our AI moment. It’s about creating something you can’t control and then facing the consequences. At Superpencil, we use these old stories to figure out how to build things people actually connect with. It’s not about the code, it’s about the human story behind what we create.
Bell Chen, Founder and CEO, Superpencil (Enlighten Animation Labs)
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World Literature Unites Students on Identity
In my language classes, books like One Hundred Years of Solitude and Things Fall Apart always get students invested. When we talk about cultural identity, these stories make migration and colonial history feel personal, not just like textbook chapters. They are great for starting conversations, getting students from completely different backgrounds on the same page in a way course materials rarely do.
Carmen Jordan Fernandez, Academic Director, The Spanish Council of Singapore
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Borrow Gatsby to Elevate Authentic Ads
I tell creators to drop the typical ads and borrow from classics like The Great Gatsby instead. Themes of ambition and redemption are timeless. When someone ties their own struggles to these familiar stories, the response is so much better. It works because people see themselves in the narrative. You’re just using a framework they’re already emotionally connected to.
Brandon Brown, CEO, Search Party
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Classics Spark Dialogue and Engagement
Educators at UrbanPro often reach for ‘The Great Gatsby’ or ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. We chose these classics for our reading groups after some discussion because they get people talking about real issues like society and justice. It just works. Students get more engaged with the literature and, more importantly, they start paying more attention to the world around them.
Rakesh Kalra, Founder and CEO, UrbanPro Tutor Jobs
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Raskolnikov Guides Clients toward Redemption
In my work, Crime and Punishment remains a great entry point because it gets into guilt and redemption, themes that always come up. When a client is stuck in regret, Raskolnikov’s story gives them a reference point for talking about change and hope. It helps even those who aren’t great at sharing their feelings open up about moving forward.
Amy Mosset, CEO, Interactive Counselling
About ‘What Experts Read’
In our unique series, ‘What Experts Read,’ discover the literary inspirations and must-reads of thought leaders and industry experts. Each article highlights the books that have impacted the viewpoints, tactics, and success of successful entrepreneurs and seasoned leaders in their respective areas.
Discover a wide range of sectors, including technology, finance, healthcare, and more, as professionals share their best book suggestions and talk about the significant influence these reads have had on their careers. Discover priceless information, expand your horizons, and gain insightful knowledge from experts at the forefront of their fields.
‘What Experts Read’ is an insightful look at the relationship between knowledge, experience, and the written word, and it may be of interest to anybody looking for motivation, strategic advice, or just to learn more about the reading preferences of prominent industry figures. Join us for this insightful tour of the most important leaders’ bookshelves of today.
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