What are some good books to read?

Question

I'm looking for some of the "Classics" that you think I need to read.

Answer 1

Most of the so-called classics are tragedies.They always make me depressed at the end.However I'll name the few classics i loved.

Count of Montecristo by Alexander Dumas.The hero is Edmond Dantés, a young French sailor who, falsely accused of treason, is arrested on his wedding day and imprisoned in the island fortress of Château d'If. After staging a dramatic escape he sets out to discover the fabulous treasure of Monte Cristo and catch up with his enemies. A novel of enormous tension and excitement, Monte Cristo is also a tale of obsession and revenge, with Dantés, believing himself to be an `Angel of Providence', pursuing his vengeance to the bitter end before realizing that he himself is a victim of fate.The author did a great job describing the emotions of the prisoner.Disbelief,denial,self pity,madness,apathy and finally hope.For God's sake don't see any of the movies based on the book.They don't do justice to the book.

The three musketeers by Alexander Dumas.The three musketeers have become symbols for the spirit of youth, daring, and comradeship. The action takes place in the 1620s at the court of Louis XIII, where the musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, with their companion, the headstrong d'Artagnan, are engaged in a battle against Richelieu, the King's minister, and the beautiful, unscrupulous spy, Milady. Behind the flashing blades and bravura, in this first adventure of the Musketeers, Dumas explores the eternal conflict between good and evil.Be warned.This book does not have a happy ending.The heroine dies at the end.

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

The Caine Mutiny
Gone With the Wind
Middlesex
Invisible Man
Huckleberry Finn
Tom Sawyer
To Kill a Mockingbird
Catch 22
Kite Runner
Catcher and the Rye
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The Jungle
Of Mice and Men
East of Eden
Little Women
The Hobbit
Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
Frankenstein
War of the Worlds
Where the Red Fern Grows
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
In Cold Blood

Answer 3

Watership Down (Richard Adams) A colony of Rabbits search for a new home. Despite being about animals, it is not really a children's book because of the very real portrayal of life and death struggles.


Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck) George looks after his metally challenged friend, Lenny, as the two of them try to survive as drifters during the Depression. Lenny's inability to understand the consequences of his action forces George to make some very tough choices.


World According to Garp (John Irving) Garp wants to be a world famous writter, but like everyone else, he can't get what he wants. No matter what success he finds, the success hew wants always aludes him.


Cyrano de Bergerac (Edmond Rostand) This one is actually a play, but it reads very well as a story. Three military men fight over the heart of one woman, each displaying a weakness of courage in doing so.


1984 (George Orwell) A common man begins questioning the totallitarin government he works for.


--and now for something completely different--


Maus: A Survivor's Tale (Art Speigalman) This isn't a classic, per se (it did win a Pulitzer, though), but it is a very moving memior of the Holocaust. The writer/artist (it is illustrated like a comic book) changes all the charaters into animals making the horrors of the camps both easier for the readers to distance themselves from and make them more personal.

Answer 4

Try some charles Dickens, A Christmas Craol is a nice festive read. Anything by Angela Carter, which are very modern enjoyable classics.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Answer 5

For a real classic, "The Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius. He wrote it before he was executed by King Theodoric. One of the finest works to come out of a human mind.

If you want sheer fun and can deal with sci-fi parody, try "Venus On a Half-Shell" by Kilgore Trout (Phillip Jose Farmer via a weird agreement with Kurt Vonnegut.

After that, I'll just sit quiet, because I got very tired of Victorian writers, and prefer stuff that happened with D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, Vonnegut, Phillip K. ****, Larry Niven---none of which many people would consider "Classics."

There's a real big world of literature out there. Happy reading!

P.S. When I ask this question of my most well read friends, the first answer always is "Moby ****" by Melville, which, as we know, was rejected by every major publisher at the time, all of whom kicked themselves later--so you know it meets the criterion of a long-lasting classic.

Answer 6

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut
Night Train by Martin Amis
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut
How I Became Stupid by Martin Page
Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters by J.D. Salinger
London Fields by Martin Amis
The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot

Answer 7

Wuthering Heights
Jane Eyre

Answer 8

Anything by Jane Austen (I recommend starting with Pride & Prejudice)
Anything by Charles Dickens (David Copperfield is excellent)
Ivanhoe
Jane Eyre
Little Women

Answer 9

King Fortis the Brave would be an excellent choice

Answer 10

Grapes of Wrath. Makes one appreciate what they have.