What are the most important books for one to read to be well-rounded?

Question

All genres that make sense, and inquire.Serious answers, humour welcome, as long as nobody recommends Danielle Steele or Ann Coulter.

Don't recommend the Bible,
and Al-Qu'ran, please...

Answer 1

The problem with posing this question on yahoo answers is that you’re bound to get responses about people’s favorite books or books their high school teachers told them were important…

If you really want to have a good grasp of the western canon, I would suggest that you read the books in the Great Books of the Western World Series. Wikipedia lists them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World. These books were chosen specifically because of their cultural significance. There are 60 big fat books in the collection, so they’ll keep you busy.

You may also want to check out World Literature Today’s “Top 40 Most Important Works in the World” (http://www.ou.edu/worldlit/whatsnew/top40.html). The Times Online ran a similar article about books that changed the world. The booklist is available here without registration: http://www.telecomtally.com/blog/2006/03/books_that_chan.html.

Happy Reading.

Answer 2

The classics are a great starting point, but then it is a good idea to read widely and through different genres. There are numerous sites on the web that have the 100 or 1000 top books as nominated/voted on by readers , like the Australian Broadcasting Commission did. THe ABC did a survey and came up with list of favourite books and then also broke that list into various genres. There were classics as well as new releases on the list.

You need to remember that a lot of those kinds of lists are influenced by what has just been published. In ten years, I doubt "The Da Vinci Code"will rate as highly as it did in this survey, but there will be other controversial books up there instead.

A good thing to do is to subscribe to online newsletters from various bookclubs. They usually have overviews of new books so you can see what interests you and what doesn't. Instead of buying them all, head down to the local library. Also, check out displays at your library. I have set authors that I just love to read, but I try to read from a variety of genres and often pick books from the displays just to try something new.

Answer 3

Well I have learn relatively plenty, despite the fact that I must hit the classics extra. Books learn, Harry Potter sequence, Judy Blume books, Flowers for Algernon, Grapes of Wrath, Madeline L'Engle books, Color Purple, 1984, Stephen King books, I'm definite alot extra, simply are not able to believe proper now, as I am anguish a bloodless! Just believe, to ensure that those books to had been banned, it approach at one time the individual(men and women) banning the books needed to have purchased the publication in an effort to have learn it! Reminds me of a remark I made approximately the Harry Potter sequence, a organization of individuals have been honestly burning the books. Saying that evil used to be within the books> good i want it used to be that handy to uncover evil<

Answer 4

I always consider the classics to be important, so I'd recommend Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Gone with the Wind. Also, To Kill a Mockingbird...

Contemporary, I like books where I learn something new like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time... by Mark Haddon about a boy with Asperger's syndrome.

Answer 5

Catcher In The Rye
Mrs. Dalloway
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
The Bell Jar
Rene Descartes Meditations
Tuesdays With Morries
Lord of the Flies
and that one with the pigs (about politics)

Answer 6

Don't get bogged down on particular books, read books in particular genres: history, philosophy, literature, pay attention to the news, and read fiction (you have to have fun to be well rounded).

If you really want to be interested and get value out of your reading pick a topic that interests you and read up on it across all of those generes. ex) Post 9/11 I became more interested in the Middle East, along with about a billion other people, so I read histories on the region, religious books about islam, 1001 arabian nights, magazine and newspaper articles, etc. Listen to related music too.

Once you get a handle on your interest find another one that grabs you. Sooner or later you wake up and are well rounded.

Answer 7

being well rounded isn't about choosing one or two genres that you like. read from several genres, histories, cultures etc. this may include danielle steele, lol. being well-rounded is about being knowledgable in many areas, and not lop-sided from only reading fantasy, or something like that. choose books that are maybe a bit difficult to relate to, because as you grow to love the main characters, you will be able to relate to them better and understand different situations.

Answer 8

The door to december-Dean Koontz(richard paige)
The count of Montecristo-Alexander Dumas
Short stories by O.Henry or Anton Chekov
Christmas carol-Charles Dickens
Reilly's Luck,Fair blows the wind-Louis L'Amour

Answer 9

Reading the Bible will help you understand around 1900 years of western culture and why rules and people act they way they do.

Complete works of WIlliam Shakespeare. So much theater and entertainment of all types is based on his works.

encylopedia Brittanica. It will cover all the rest.

Answer 10

Being well rounded also means reading books written by people who are not or do not write about white/males. (This isn't to say that books written by/about white/males are bad at all!) I recommend:

The Color Purple
Quicksand
Native Son
Beloved
The God of Small Things
The House on Mango Street