tell me a book to read?

Question

I love reading, and am starting my literature and culture degree this year.
Any good books that will make me a better person for reading?
Tell me what they are about too! Thanks!

FYI answer 2, a book can, Extra education and understanding of the world makes you a better person.

I have read both Goodnight Mr Tom, and Memiors of a Geisha, and both are excellent, Memoirs of a Geisha was really inspiring and touching a reminder of how lucky i am to have free will.
Goodnight Mr Tom always remind me of my Grandad, love it!

No i wont read the bible.
Kate Mosse is a phenominal read, blows all the other Grail books out of the water.
As for Jane Eyre being rubbish, its a great insight into life back then and would advise everyone to read either one of hers or the Bronte Sisters at least once!

ah Karl Marx i just ordered the communist manifesto

DONT TELL ME TO READ THE BIBLE. AND TRY AND PROMOTE YOUR RELIGION TO ME. RELIGION IS A PERSONAL CHOICE NO MORE BIBLE ANSWERS ITS ALREADY BEEN SAD OR IL GIVE YOU BAD FEEDBACK

Answer 1

Das Capital - Karl Marx
State & Revolution - V.I. Lenin
Revolution in the Revolution - Regis Debray.

These should get you started.

Answer 2

Ok... I'm getting tired of certain kinds of answers, people!!! According to whoever had the "strong morals and a backbone" answer, how do you think some people develop open minded morals and a code of ethics? Maybe by exposing themselves to the world through literature and other perspectives? But I guess if you have a narrow perspective of what morals are then that explains it.

Anyway, to the good question I would have to say, try some high fantasy literature if you never have. I never expected that I would really appreciate it until I read Ursula Le Guin's "A Wizard of Earthsea." It is very character driven and introduces the reader to many different aspects of life, including the personal quest and the struggle between the light side and dark side of the self (the doppelganger- that's a weak summary of it, but it'll do for now). this is something that as a Lit person you will see a lot. Other than that, anything by Virginia Woolf and (if you can sit through it) Henry James. Start with "Turn of the Screw." It's a little easier than the rest and very good! Sorry, too long but I can go on forever, so I'll stop now. Good luck!

Answer 3

Read 'The Life of Pi' by Yann Martel.
It tells the story of a young Indian boy 'marooned' for several months on a lifeboat with a bunch of zoo animals. However, I don't know if it's accurate to say that the story is what the book is about.

You should also read 'Life as a Parable' by Pinhas Sadeh.
This might be the world's greatest book. At times it reads like pure thought with nothing lost in translation. I'm not sure you'll be the better for reading it, but the experience should at least humble you.

'Ake' by Wole Soyinka is a fantastic account of the author's childhood. It's a great read.

Salman Rushdie achieves a near perfect blend of language virtuosity and story-telling ability in 'Moonlight's Children', a book which tells the intertwined histories of a man and a nation.

Read these and you'll be as good a person as I am.

Answer 4

Read anything by Albert Camus. Particularly I'd recommend The Plague (about a plague in France and how the community deals with it) and First Man (about Camus' childhood growing up in Algiers and then in France).

Also, Bernice Rubens, a Welsh, Jewish writer is amazing, go for Brothers as a starting point (about four generations of jewish brothers surviving persecution from various sources).

I can't understand why people keep recommending the bible and can understand your frustration - it's not 1 book - it's 66 of them and some of them are wonderful and some are just plain boring.

From a poetry/ literature point of view the Song of Songs is beautiful, but I'm not going to tell you you have to read it, just that it's short, poetic and beautiful.

Books can shape you and make your heart smile, all the books I've listed will expand your horizons and that's what makes a person "better".

Answer 5

Here's my 2 points worth:

A Star Called Henry - Roddy Doyle
A young boy (and later on a young man) growing up in Ireland at the start of the 20th century.

Cider With Rosie - Laurie Lee
Another childhood story, this time in England.

Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban
Post-apocalyptic primitive-speak!

The Sorrow Of War - Bao Ninh
A Vietnamese soldier's story.

Winnie the Pooh - A.A.Milne
I'm absolutely serious here. I still enjoy it.


And I agree with these already suggested:
The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake
1984 by George Orwell
The Plague by Albert Camus

Answer 6

In school and for a long time after that Thomas Hardy was my favourite author and I liked Tess of the D'Ubervilles very much. I was intrigued about it when I came across a quix question, ' Where did the police finally catch Tess at the end of the novel?' So you see I had to read it. It is one of my favourite Hardy novels. Then we had Far From The Madding Crowd as a text book in school. If you want to know about a character called Bathsheba or Gabriel Oak or Boldwood, then read it. The Return of the Native is a classic. I imagined Eustacia Vye as someone like Catherine Zeta Jones, that was before I found out that she had already acted in the movie version. Then in M.A(Lit), we had Jude the Obscure. It is considered his masterpiece for the issues he dealt with in it. The name itself is suggestive. Read Thomas Hardy, because they usually have it in the syllabus.
Otherwise for entertainment read Dick Francis, it tells you a lot about the racing world and also reveals a lot about yourself as you go along, of how similarly people think. That would do for starters. Happy Reading.

Answer 7

The Gates Of Rome by Conn Iggulden ( i think that's how you spell it!).

It's the first book of a four book series about Julius Caesar and Rome. The other three are just as good!!! It's an awesome read - almost failed my exams because i read them instead of revising!!! couldn't put them down!!!

Just make sure you read them in order!!!

Another cracking book is The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. Another series but it's ongoing not just two books. It's set during Alfred the Great's life time and chart's the viking invasion and the establishment of a united England. Absolutely brilliant series!!!

Happy Reading!!!

Answer 8

The Grapes of Wrath,Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck
The Locket by R.P.Evans
Christy by Catherine Marshall
All the Way Home by Ann Tatlock
One Hundred and One Famous Poems
The Blue Bottle Club by P. Stokes

Answer 9

The Birth of Venus: A Novel by Sarah Dunant

It's about a young woman in the Renassiance who loves to paint but because of the ideals they held she could not become a painter. It goes further into how she was forced into a marriage with a man she did not love, and how she falls in love with a young man who paints her families portrait. It's a beautifully written book, a bit of a romance novel at some points. I picked it up and read it because I love anything in the Renassiance period and I also have a love of art. It is a wonderful read!!!

Answer 10

aaarg! just wrote a really long answer and my computer crashed and I lost it.
but here is the essence:
Jodi Piccoult - very sad, but very good, My Sister's Keeper, about a girl who has been born to help her sister through cancer
(also reading Plain Truth at the moment, but am only on Chapter one so don't know much about it yet)

Douglas Kennedy - a Special Relationship

Sebastian Faulks - Birdsong or Charlotte Grey

Margaret Atwood - the Handmaid's Tail or Oryx and Crake

not a guarantee that they will make you a better person, but they are all very good, in my opinion.

it is difficult to recommend as I don't know your tastes
try readitswapit.co.uk
or whatshouldireadnext.com (it is down for maintenance today, but should be back tomorrow)

Happy Reading!

Answer 11

The Zahir by Paulo Cuello
It's about a man searching for the person he loves, or thinks he does.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
It's the first book classified as Realism, depicting the plot to kill the husband of a cheating wife.
12+1: Book 1: A Guide to Extremes by ANAL
It's about 13 young adults and their encounters with extremes, how they handle it and how they help each other overcome their fears.