Basic story line of classic novels?

Question

Can somone please tell me the basic story lines of theese classics? I want to know if they would be something I would like.
The Catcher in the Rye (and why the controversy?)
The Grapes of Wrath
My dad is a college prof, and is always pestering me to readthe "classics", so are there other classics that everyone should read?

I DO consider myself lucky to have educated parents...but I had no contact w/my dad until I was 22. And I read a lot, he just likes to give me a hard time about the ones he loves that I have not read yet....

Answer 1

You should consider actually reading both of these classics as they are really good stories. This could be an area where your dad really knows what he is talking about.

The Catcher in the Rye is about a young man [teen] who hates all the phoniness he sees in the adult world. He fights against that not only for himself but to try and help people younger than him. The controversy came about because this book was far ahead of its time in portryaing teens as they really are [not sqeeky clean like the Potter books for example] and because it used language that for its day was really lude. The scene where Holden [the protaginist] leaves school in particular shocked a lot of people. By today's standards the lanugage is pretty tame.

The Grapes of Wrath is a much harder read. It is a grim story about a family of farmers displaced by the dust bowl storms of the depression and thier struggle to make a new life in California.

The other classic that I think is a good read is Huckelberry Finn. This story about a young man comming of age during the slavery era is still relevant because of its message about love and acceptance across lines of class and race. A lot of people today are really offended by the use of the "n" word in this book, but taken within the context of the times the book was written and what Twain reveals about Jim as a human being it has a great message about how wrong that word is to refer to another human being. Strangely enough the controversy when the book came out was because people thought that Twain made Jim "too human."

And another more recent classic that I love and return to year after year is One Flew Over The Coocoo's nest by Ken Keasy. It is similar in theme to Catcher in the Rye but deeper and more nuanced than that book. And the story isn't about teens but about adults and how little control they have over their lives.

Classics are classics because they still talk to us of personal growth even though they may be stories of a time that we never experience.

Answer 2

There are tons of classic novels out there. Try to find some that you think you'd have an interest in. In most cases, you can't go wrong. They're classics for a reason: because they're enjoyable and you can take something away from in when you're done.

If you've never read a classic novel before, I recommend something like Little Women, David Copperfield, Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, or even The Lord of the Rings.

The Grapes of Wrath is about the struggles of one family trying to survive and stay together during the depression. It's a great book but it can be a little slow at times.

I've never read The Catcher in the Rye, so I can't help you there.

Answer 3

I wish you would learn to consider yourself privileged and lucky to have a dad that is both a professor and a dad that pushes you to read. I am quite envious of you... I had to come to these conclusions all on my own after years of suffering being deliberately stupid and ignorant of the classics... My father Had a 6th grade education and was an illiterate buffoon who placed value on not much beyond the almighty dollar... not even his own family!

The catcher in the rye was a great book to explain the angst and what appeared to be insanity, pressure of expectation and social expectation of the young in society. It was a life dissociated and troubled.

The grapes of Wrath is a fantastic book and the movie was even better... It explains hardship and the struggle of the roots of America... The working class and how they were often abused and used by the rich. More importantly, it shows how not only the blacks were enslaved... White families were slaves right along side them in this country and what needed to be done to make the wheel turn was done by the good people, the strong people and the poor people.

Men live in jerks, women live like water. One of the best lines in the movie which is a vital part of the closing speech by momma...

Answer 4

Haha, when I read this, I immediately I thought of book-a-minute:

http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/

Humorous even if you've never read the book, and only know a little about it. Pretty accurate, too--once you strip out most of the symbolism and all that from the originals. If your dad loves classics, he'd probably love reading it, too!

As for what you should read--well, really, there are classics in all sorts of genres. There's sure to be something that interests you, but since I have no clue what books you like, I'd have no clue what'd interest you.

Answer 5

The reason he wants you to read them is not just the plot line but the hear the voice of the stories and to immerse yourself in the experience of it. If you are not going to read them, you can always watch the movies, but it won' t be the same experience. Another easy way out is good old wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapes_of_wrath

Other classics that everyone should read are Huck Finn, 1984, Great Expectations, Robinson Crusoe, ...oh the list goes on and on.

Answer 6

Maniac Magee, Bud no longer chum, The Outsiders, The Catcher contained in the Rye*, Frankenstein*, Of Mice And adult men, The Pearl, Lord of the Flies, Like Water For Chocolate Starred books* are the greater complicated books, yet i might propose all of those books for particular. i'm sixteen and not too prepared on reading the two, yet those books have been exciting adequate to inspire me to envision.

Answer 7

Try the first two links for the basic plots of both books you mentoned.

Try the third, fourth and fifth links for some lists of "The Classics."