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Must Read Books

Nowhere ManNowhere Man Posts: 345
edited April 2010 in All Encompassing Trip
I have been on a kick lately of reading some "classic" books. I recently read "To Kill A Mocking Bird" and "Old Man And the Sea", to name a few I really enjoyed both books, especially Hemingway's really enjoyed his style. Anyone have any suggestions of some favorites they could recommend.
Post edited by Unknown User on

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  • saveyou22saveyou22 Posts: 154
    east of eden. steinbeck.
  • InsideManInsideMan Posts: 261
    catcher in the rye. salinger.
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  • __ Posts: 6,651
    therk17 wrote:
    catcher in the rye. salinger.

    This is what I was just going to say. Since (s)he beat me to it, how about:

    Candide (Voltaire)
    The Stranger (Camus)
    The Prophet (Gibran)
    Anything by Plato, particularly The Apology, Crito, Phaedo, The Symposium, and The Republic
    The Theban plays by Sophocles
    The Aeneid (Virgil)
    Inferno (Dante)
    The Communist Manifesto (Marx & Engels)
    One Hundred Years of Solitude (Garcia Marquez)
    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain)
  • One Song GloryOne Song Glory Posts: 710
    I'm a student of the 20th century so my opinion of a 'classic' might not be yours, but here's what I have to offer...

    In no particular order:

    Ulysses -- James Joyce (keep in mind how largely unreadable it is...but you get out of it what you put in)
    Great Expectations -- Charles Dickens
    Portrait of a Lady -- Henry James
    The Good Soldier -- Ford Madox Ford
    Lolita -- Vladimir Nabokov
    Slaughterhouse-Five -- Kurt Vonnegut
    The Satanic Verses -- Salman Rushdie
    Generation X -- Douglas Coupland
    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -- Ken Kesey
    On the Road -- Jack Kerouac

    Mind-blowing Must-reads (they haven't been around long enough to warrant the 'classic' label):

    House of Leaves -- Mark Z. Danielewski
    Only Revolutions -- Danielewski
    Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Jonathan Safran Foer
    Ripley Bogle -- Robert McLiam Wilson
    Life of Pi -- Yann Martel
    Hey Nostradamus! -- Coupland
    Generation A -- Coupland
    Lamb -- Christopher Moore
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  • craigbcraigb Posts: 806
    Nineteen Eighty-Four

    Orwell
    "Speak clearly if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall"

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  • Hitch-HikerHitch-Hiker Posts: 2,873
    Dracula -Bram Stoker
    I'll Ride The Wave Where It Takes Me
  • The JugglerThe Juggler Posts: 49,402
    i agreee. people must read books.
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  • chimechime Posts: 7,839
    Not old school 'classic' but I would recommend

    Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie (probably my favourite book)
    A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
    One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
    Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
    Animal Farm - George Orwell
    A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving

    ... and I quite enjoyed War and Peace :oops:
    So are we strangers now? Like rock and roll and the radio?
  • __ Posts: 6,651
    The Jeagler wrote:
    i agreee. people must read books.

    :lol: That's what I thought when I saw the thread title too.
  • FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    edited April 2010
    One Song Glory wrote:
    I'm a student of the 20th century so my opinion of a 'classic' might not be yours, but here's what I have to offer...

    In no particular order:

    Ulysses -- James Joyce (keep in mind how largely unreadable it is...but you get out of it what you put in)


    These help:

    http://www.columbia.edu/~fms5/ulys.htm
    http://www.robotwisdom.com/jaj/ulysses/index.html
    http://www.joyceimages.com/chapter/8/
    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ulysses-Annotat ... 0520253973

    Edit: http://fracman.home.mchsi.com/ There are some synopses there as well.
    Post edited by FinsburyParkCarrots on
  • dcfaithfuldcfaithful Posts: 13,076
    It's not just the Pearl jam fan in me....but I think that "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn is a must read for anyone.

    That book really did change me.
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  • HeavyHandsHeavyHands Posts: 2,130
    Haroun and the Sea of Stories - Salmon Rushdie

    It's been a few years, but I recall this being quite a beautiful story.
    "A lot more people are capable of being big out there that just don't give themselves a chance." -Stone Gossard
  • unlost dogsunlost dogs Greater Boston Posts: 12,553
    "The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" by Junot Diaz. Just finished it and loved it.
    15 years of sharks 06/30/08 (MA), 05/17/10 (Boston), 09/03/11 (Alpine Valley), 09/04/11 (Alpine Valley), 09/30/12 (Missoula), 07/19/13 (Wrigley), 10/15/13 (Worcester), 10/16/13 (Worcester), 10/25/13 (Hartford), 12/4/13 (Vancouver), 12/6/13 (Seattle), 6/26/14 (Berlin), 6/28/14 (Stockholm), 10/16/14 (Detroit)
  • dcfaithfuldcfaithful Posts: 13,076
    Might I add The Godfather by Mario Puzo -- classic literature. better than the films too.

    Less Than Zero -- Brett Easton Ellis. I've never been disturbed by a book until I read this...the characters apathetic nature was chilling.

    The Jungle -- Upton Sinclair...probably my favorite book. It's a part of America's history.
    7/2/06 - Denver, CO
    6/12/08 - Tampa, FL
    8/23/09 - Chicago, IL
    9/28/09 - Salt Lake City, UT (11 years too long!!!)
    9/03/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 1
    9/04/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 2
  • rcsrcs Posts: 711
    Far too many to mention. Just some of my favorites:

    A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
    House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewiski
    Cormac McCarthy - Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West
    George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four
    The Last Temptation of Christ - Nikos Kazantzakis
    American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
    Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safan Foer

    and pretty much anything by Ernest Hemingway or Jack Kerouac.
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  • righteousbaberighteousbabe Posts: 662
    Catch-22 by Joseph Heller and Fear and loathing in Las vegas by Hunter S. Thompson are two good ones that have not been mentioned yet.
  • HorosHoros Posts: 4,518
    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
    #FHP
  • PorchsitterPorchsitter Loganville, GA Posts: 1,078
    Johnny Got His Gun-by Dalton Trumbo.
    We are the facilitators of our own creative evolution.--Bill Hicks
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