Hatrack River Forum: Required to read a book for school. Help me choose which one!

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Posted by Lanfear (Member # 7776) on :

ok so i have to read one of these books, tell me which one i should to read and why. Thanks
1. Billy Bud - Herman Melville
2. The Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore Cooper
3. Walden - Henry David Thoreau
4. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin - (lol u should know)
5. Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass - (one again)

Benjamin Franklins auto sounds the most interesting to me. discuss

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

Number 4 will be the most "fun" read, I recommend it as an excellent tale as well as important work of literature.

Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :

I'll second number 4. And the first two are pretty painful in my opinion- I'd advise against picking them.

Posted by Humean316 (Member # 8175) on :

If you are the existentialist like me, then 3 is great. It is one of my favorites and I love to quote it.

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :

I liked both 4 and 5 a LOT. [Smile]

Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :

Billy Bud.

A kick of a story that you can get a lot of mileage out of philosophically. Plus -- it's Melville. His prose style blows the others out of the water (including Thoreau). But really, other than Cooper, you can't go wrong with any of the choices.

Posted by theCrowsWife (Member # 8302) on :

Well, I couldn't get through either 3 or 4, although it has been a few years since I tried. I've not read any of the others.

--Mel

Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :

I would say NOT Billy Bud or Frederick Douglas.

Go with 3 or 4.

Posted by pfresh85 (Member # 8085) on :

I say 3 myself. Definitely not Billy Bud. That's one of the worst books I was required to read. I actually enjoyed Walden for the most part.

Posted by Rico (Member # 7533) on :

Anything but No. 5

Seriously.

Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :

I would definitely choose Billy Budd.

Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :

Tatiana has impeccable taste. You should listen to her.

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :

Well, at least you have a consensus. [Wink]

Pick the shortest one (Walden, I think), read it first, then go back and read as many of the rest as you can. I don't see why it is necessary to chose only one of the five.

Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :

I pick 5, followed by 4, followed by 2, followed by amputating your least-used limb to get out of reading the other 2.

Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :

All five are decent, although Last of the Mohicans is the worst of them.

I'd recommend Billy Budd, but Walden has some interesting philosophical ideas that it's possible to fit onto a sweatshirt. And Ben Franklin tells a pretty good story, even if it's about himself. [Smile]

Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :

Oh my stars, Billy Budd was awful. Avoid it like the plague.

I actually liked Last of the Mohicans. [Dont Know]

Posted by Tresopax (Member # 1063) on :

I don't think you will get a good recommendation for you unless you mention what you enjoy in a book. Some people will like Walden, for instance, and some will be totally bored by it.

Although, why not make the decision easy and read them all? [Wink]

Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :

I chose to read Billy Budd outside of school, and I enjoyed it. It was reallllly short, and it was an interesting enough story. Of course, not being required to dissect it, I'm sure I enjoyed it a lot more.

The only other I can speak to is the Autobio of Ben Franklin. While I have not read it, I did do a few projects on Ben Franklin during school and found his life to be fascinating. Whether it will translate when told from his own POV, I don't know. I know nothing of his style.

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :

I second the call for 3 or 4. Depends on what you are looking for, a fun and interesting read, or a real thought provoker? Franklin could provoke thought too, but not deep, life pondering, existentialist questions like Thoreau's transcendentalism (is that right?) would pose.