posted
I'm a Senior in high school. Basically since the 6th grade just about anything I've ever read was written by OSC (that is, that I didn't have to read for school) which is how I've read most of his works in such a short time (6 years is pretty good to have read and own over 30 some novels when you make no income of your own except for what other people feel you deserve on birthdays and Christmases or by sheer luck)
But anyways- that's not the point. I've been trying to read more of the classics here lately- many of which I'm just ashamed to say I've never read.
I started a while back ago- took me like over a month or two to read Catch-22.
I took a break and read "The Perks of being a Wallflower" in a day.
I just finished the Grapes of Wrath tonight (That's my favorite "classic" I've ever read thus far.)
Here's my list of what I'm going to read next: To Kill a Mockingbird THe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Great Gatsby The Sound and the Fury (a good friend recommended it to me- I have never even heard of it before)
Then I think I'm going to take a break and read Watership Down after that.
And then The Scarlet Letter sometimes next semester.
Any other books I should read? I know that the general Hatracker is fairly well read and among the group extremely diverse- I'm hoping to get a wide sample of literature. Lend your ideas Hatrackers.
Posts: 980 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Anything by Victor Hugo, but especially Les Miserables (kind of an "of course" one) but also try The Toilers of the Sea. I liked Hunchback of Notre Dame as well.
The Last of the Mohicans is a great yarn, especially if you are familiar with the terrain around the Hudson River up around Albany NY (plus or minus a few miles).
A Tale of Two Cities.
The Pickwick Papers.
Actually, come to think of it, I have thoroughly enjoyed much from British authors. Tom Jones was good. The Mill on the Floss. Far From the Madding Crowd.
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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My dad is reading "The Brothers Karamazov", by the same person who wrote "Crime and Punishment" (I can't spell his name). It's supposedly a Russian classic, and is one of the most complex books I've ever heard of.
Other than that, try Don Quixote, if you haven't yet.
Charles Dickens is always good.
I also highly recommend Watership Down, as it is one of the best animal fantasies out there. Heck, it's one of the best fantasies out there, period. Then again, you were planning on reading it anyway.
A supposedly 'new' classic is Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It's one of the most heavy fantasies I've ever tried to read--I couldn't get past the fifth chapter. It's written in the style and form of Charles Dickens, but it's a fairly recent release. Try it.
Read the Lord of the Rings. It's as much of a winner as the movies; even more so, actually. And if you really want to get deep, read The Silmarillion.
Read anything by Edgar Allen Poe. He's incredibly creepy, yet hauntingly memorable.
There are tons more, but that should keep you busy for a good while.
Posts: 292 | Registered: Jun 2006
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Actually- I've seen Les Mis (an off-Broadway version in Nashville) but I love the story and have thought about reading it before. Maybe that and the Brothers Karamazov- I've heard that's incredible too.
You know- I love SF&F but try as I might I just cannot get into LotR. I've tried- it just seems so... I dunno. I like the story- the story is incredible to me- I just get slowed down by all of the other information that to me just seems irrelevant- I'll try and reread it later I'm sure- maybe when my mindset about the expectations around it change I'm sure I'll find it quite enjoyable.
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Les Mis is a great play, but, truthfully, the book is a gem to be savored. It is just one of the best things ever written by anyone at any time.
Brothers Karamozov was one I considered adding to the list, but, while it is excellent and moving, it has a flaw shared by much Russian literature -- the use of multiple nicknames. It takes a lot for most "Western" readers to figure out the cast of characters because each one has at least 3 names, sometimes more. I did enjoy the book, but to say that the naming conventions made it tough would be an understatement.
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If you read Don Quixote, force yourself to finish it. Seriously...almost everything you've ever heard or seen regarding Don Quixote is covered in the first 1/3 of the book, but there's lots and lots of funny and compelling stuff in the rest of it.
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As was said before, Dickens is always a good bet. I particularly liked Oliver Twist and Tale of two cities. You should also read A Christmas Carol.
You should also pick up Ben Hur. It is an amazing book.
I also really enjoyed around the world in 80 days, and 20,000 leagues under the sea.
If you want a great adventure story, try Captain's Courageous by Kipling...though it is tough to find an unedited/unabridged version.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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I was also going to suggest "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White, but I see it's been done, and seconded at that. I third the notion. It's one of the best books I've ever read.
Jane Austen is pretty classic. "Pride and Prejudice" is pretty good, and quite amusing in many parts, in a Victorian way.
Also, I would recommend "Peter Pan" (sometimes it's called "Peter and Wendy") by JM Barrie. There are all these wonderfully dark and metaphorical elements to the book that I've never seen portrayed in any of its film or other adaptations. Same goes for "Alice In Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll.
Also, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, and "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding are both what I would consider classics. "Fahrenheit 451" or anything else by Ray Bradbury as well ("Dandelion Wine" is actually my favourite by him, but it's not for everyone's tastes).
Posts: 624 | Registered: Mar 2005
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"Classics" I read and enjoyed in High School: Moby Dick Catcher in the Rye Lord of the Flies Othello Brave New World The Great Gatsby The Inferno
Other recommendations: Candide by Voltaire The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler (this post-Communist revolution Russian novel doesn't suffer from the "three nickname" curse Bob pointed out, and is an incredible novel about political totalitarianism) Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Brothers Karamozov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (reading this was a transformational experience my freshman year at college) The Iliad and/or The Odyssey by Homer C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength) LotR, Hobbit, Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
You should also check out Euripides "Hatrack Recommends" thread and archive. A lot of good recommendations there.
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I have to (respectfully) disagree with the Dickens recommenders, though it's entirely based on personal taste. I'm generally a lover of all sorts of literature, but I really don't like reading Dickens at all.
Jane Austen is marvelous, and I agree with Astaril that Pride and Prejudice is a good one to start with.
Others (some have been mentioned above): 1984 Gulliver's Travels The Inferno The Color Purple The Oedipus Cycle (Sophocles) The Once and Future King Ivanhoe (despite the huge number of idiotic, juvenile cracks you'll get about that one from your peers) "Much Ado about Nothing"
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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quote: "The Brothers Karamazov" is by Fyodor Dostoevsky. He also wrote "Anna Karenina." Both are excellent reads.
Er...Anna Karenina is by Tolstoy, not Dostoevsky, but I'll agree that it's an excellent read. (I haven't read Karamazov yet, but I plan to someday.)
I just finished reading Jonathan Strange recently, and it was quite enjoyable.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is really good. Collins was a close friend of Dickens, and he was one of the founders of the "sensation novel" trend - sort of a precursor to thrillers.
I also liked The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Actually, anything written by Wilde is fabulous, but Dorian was his only novel. I'd highly recommend his plays, especially The Importance of Being Earnest.
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quote:Originally posted by Megan: I have to (respectfully) disagree with the Dickens recommenders, though it's entirely based on personal taste. I'm generally a lover of all sorts of literature, but I really don't like reading Dickens at all.
I generally don't like Dickens, either. Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, David Copperfield, blech. I do like Tale of Two Cities, though. I feel like Dickens didn't let himself, his voice, and his social agenda get in the way of the story, which is my major gripe with his other novels (at least the ones I've read). Of course, if Shawshank liked Grapes of Wrath he probably doesn't mind books with blatant social agendas.
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Of Dicken's I'd say A Tale of Two Cities, I second any Jules Verne, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird.
- The Day of the Triffids - A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovic - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ('cause if you haven't read it, you really should have)
All are quick one or two day reads.
And Bob suggested books by Hugo... I'm not so sure they're a good transitional kind of classic at all. Great books, certainly, but you might want to give youself some time to ease into them. It'll also take you a very long time to read and if you're doing a quick walk through the classics, Hugo's going to slow you down.
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I was pleasantly surprised by how quick and entertaining Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment was. He was one of the rare "classics" authors I actually enjoyed reading in high school. And I second Les Mis, though I skipped over the chapters that were just boring accounts of the battles and such. Posts: 1681 | Registered: Jun 2004
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I want to also suggest Don Quixote. It is the first true novel, and may be easier to read--with an easier structure to understand--than some other early works such as:
Gilgamesh Beowulf
The Icelandic Saga's (Njal's Saga--lots of fighting, violence, almost Klingon in its flavor)
Immorte De Arthur (Everything you thought you knew about King Arthur, but the definitive work)
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There are tons of great literary classics to choose from. In addition to some of the great classics listed above (not sure I'd include the Dark Tower by King as a literary classic) here are four of my faves: Lolita by Nabokov The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. The Scarlet and the Black by Stendhal Madam Bovery by Flaubert
Posts: 407 | Registered: Mar 2006
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I added Dark Tower, not necessarily because it's a literary classic, but because it's a great series, imo.
I second "Lolita." That book is really intense.
I would also add "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. "An American Tragedy" by Theodore Dreiser "The World According to Garp" by John Irving "Native Son" by Richard Wright "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Posts: 511 | Registered: Mar 2006
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My suggestion isn't about books to read. What I would do is read the classics that you really like and don't read those you don't. There are so many good works out there that it is a waste of time to read things you "have to" or "don't want to" read. Problems only arise for those who don't give the books a try on their own terms.
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Just trying to suggest something other than those already listed... LOTR is awesome too, and To Kill a Mokingbird is good!
Posts: 46 | Registered: Nov 2006
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The Lord of The Flies by William Golding, its given me something to think about for over 10 years.
Upton Sinclair's, "The Jungle."
I think every American should read the book, don't dwell on the graphic chapters in the middle. Dwell on why you think the author wrote the entire story.
It turned this hardened conservative into a socialistic leaning conservative.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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God, I thought that Catch-22 was the most one of the most readable "literary" novels. Being hilariously funny helps.
While their not novels, you should try Lawrence Durell's trilogy of two island books (yes, that is right): Bitter Lemons and Prospero's Cell and Reflections of a Marine Venus. Read Bitter Lemons first, because it is the most narrative ( Prospero's Cell is in journal-entry form and I have not yet read Reflections on a Marine Venus, which are two separate short books published in one volume.)
Faulkner and Joyce are bearable for about four sentences each (actually they can be read in whole short stories, but I would avoid their novels. )
Ayn Rand is unreadable in any dose
Almost anything be any of the recent "feminist" authors is unreadable, at least if you have a Y-chromosome.
Posts: 1332 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Pelegius: God, I thought that Catch-22 was the most one of the most readable "literary" novels. Being hilariously funny helps.
I also loved Catch 22, it is not often a book you have to read for school has you laughing.
It was just as good when I reread it just for fun later.
Many times it takes getting used to the voice used by the authors of many "literary classics" Personally, I really enjoy Dickens voice. I don't agree with the philosophy he often preaches in his books...but I find his style entertaining. Often, it is the little things that make me laugh, for example his discussion of the phrase "dead as a doornail" in A Christmas Carol. Maybe my sense of humor just matches his.
Looking over your original post again, I'd put off The Scarlett Letter. I thought it was very dull, and never really got into it.
For the most part I would agree with avoiding Faulkner, but I really enjoyed As I lay Dying.
Posts: 1901 | Registered: May 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Pelegius: Faulkner and Joyce are bearable for about four sentences each (actually they can be read in whole short stories, but I would avoid their novels.)
I've liked everything I've read both by Faulkner (Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, The Wild Palms [If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem]) and by Joyce (Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Dubliners, Ulysses).
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Other books I've thought of that I would add to my list: Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Siddartha by Herman Hesse Night by Elie Wiesel
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
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All Quiet on the Western Front by Erick Remarck. You will find out why "why" is a four letter word.
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Good catch. I blame lack of sleep.
