What are some good books to read?

Question

I'm looking to expand my horizons and read more "classical" and thought provoking books. I've enjoyed Alexander Dumas' "Counte of Monte Cristo" and "Three Musketeers" but I thought "Man in the Iron Mask" was very dry and boring.

Answer 1

If you enjoyed Count of Montecristo you'll defenitely like Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini.When his best friend, a young clergyman, is killed in a mockery of a duel by an arrogant noble, just to quiet his eloquent expressions of democratic ideals, Andre-Louis Moreau vows revenge. From that point, through meteoric careers as a consummate actor and scenario writer, then as a fencing master, and finally a politician, the brilliant Moreau keeps thwarting the aims of the aristocratic Marquis de la Tour d'Azyr. However, the nobleman causes pain to Moreau as well, and the time must come when the two will meet to settle their enmity once and for all. You are not likely to guess how their confrontation finally turns out. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, this swashbuckling novel is exciting throughout, and it presents one of the most dashing heroes in fiction, a man who can fight equally well with his mind, his mouth, his pen, and his sword, a man who stirs up events wherever he goes.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.In Dickens' tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, an old miser is shown his past, his present, and if he does not change, his future.The first ghost reminds him how he once enjoyed life's pleasures. The second ghost shows Scrooge his current deplorable state. The final ghost foretells the likely outcome of his skinflint ways.

Answer 2

sometimes I like to read the classics, but often some of that old stuff from the 19th century like the man in the iron mask gets pretty dry and dull with its endless descriptive passages and not much action. there are also some really great modern authors who will expand your horizons a lot. Personally I think the best living writer in english is Salman Rushdie. Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a great place to start. It's an adventure story about a boy who goes on a journey to rescue his mother and to restore freedom and music to the kingdom where they live. Midnight's Children is also very good, and it will teach you a lot about the history of India and Pakistan. Shame is a story about a westernized muslim man who returns to his village in Pakistan and sees things through different eyes. Fury is about the experience of a muslim man living in New York at the turn of the 21st century.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, from Columbia, is also one of the greatest writers alive today, but you will have to buy his books in translation. Love in the Time of Cholera is a beautiful romance story, 100 years of Solitude follows the history of an imaginary family in an imaginary place through many generations.
If you are feeling really really hardcore and want to get your eyes radically opened then try reading some Kathy Acker, a punk rock experimental plagiarist-novelist who is not necessarily very pleasant, but definitely unlike anyting you have read before. Some of her titles are Empire of the Senseless, Blood and Guts in Highschool, or Hannibal Lecter My Father.
If you decide to stick with some of the older classics, you can't go wrong with John Steinbeck. He tells really beautiful stories. East of Eden will keep you busy for a while.
The best new novel I have read so far this year is Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre. It is pretty black humour if you are up for it, but he really manages to put his finger on exactly what some of the problems of modern society in the USA are.
There are some recommendations, I hope you find something good to read!

Answer 3

Ayn Rand's Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged. Sci-fi? Heinlin is your man. Time Enough for Love. More Classic? plays by Moliere are hillarious (and oddly familiar). Read the real Grimm Fairy Tales. The Life of Dorian Gray. These are just a few.

Oh, almost forgot Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright

Answer 4

Try James Fennimore Cooper: Last of the Mohican's and the Leather-stocking series. Zane Grey if you like stories of the Pioneers and the exploration of the America's.
Sherlock Holmes, these are timeless.
Robinson Crusoe, The lord of the Flies is one of my favorites. Anthem by A. Rand, try Dicken's but start with something you are familiar with such as Oliver Twist.
Read a play! See The Zoo Story by Edward Albie.
Speak with your English or Literature teacher.

Answer 5

Excellent choices! I really enjoyed all three of them.

Try Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pride and Prejudice, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, Othello by Shakespeare.

Hope that helps.

Answer 6

In the same vein, I liked The Hunchback of Notredame. And also interesting are the French naturalists, like Emile Zola, Gustave Flaubert. What about Madame Bovary?
Being Latin American I have to recommend Gabriel Garcia Marquez, especially One Hundred Years of Solitude. Harder to read, buy beautifully poetic, is Jorge Luis Borges. And easier, though very enjoyable, Isabel Allende beginning with The House of the Spirits (not her novels for teens, please).

Answer 7

Try the Russians, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky. Anna Karrinana, Crime and Punishment, Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Also try great American writers of the 20th century, Faulkner, Hemingway, O'Conner, Harper Lee.

Answer 8

Harry Potter

Answer 9

I thought Kite Runner was a good book but is not "classical". It is very thought provoking though.

Answer 10

The Client by John Grisham--great book, great movie!