I'm trying to read the classics amongst books so can you people help me out. I wanna know what books are must-reads for someone who wants to know the classics. I'm an aspiring writer so I gotta know my stuff. Thanks! :D oh by the way I'm 16 so nothing too epic haha! :)
2007-02-17 23:34:27 · 14 answers · asked by GabeOjeda 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Avoid harry Potter at all cost
2007-02-18 04:01:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well, since I don't know every book, I can only tell a list of ten books I enjoyed very much. I'll only include one book by an author. Albert Camus: The Stranger F. S. Fitzgerald: Tender Is the Night Theodor Fontane: L'Adultera William Golding: Free Fall E. T. A. Hoffmann: Devil's Elixir James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Franz Kafka: The Trial Jack London: Martin Eden R. M. Rilke: The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge Jean-Paul Sartre: Words There could be also a list given with some of the most influential books, which would obviously include the holy books of the major religions and those which started a new era in literature.
2016-05-24 01:30:35 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try War and Peace - it should keep you going until you're 95 or so. LOL
Seriously:
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
Deus Lo Volt!: Chronicles of the Crusades - Evan S. Connell
Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer (hard going if untranslated)
Le Morte D'Arthur - Sir Thomas Mallory
A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
Dracula - Abraham (Bram) Stoker
Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson
The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allan Poe
Le Comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) - Alexandre Dumas
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
The Time Machine - Herbert G. (H.G.) Wells
The Island of Doctor Moreau - H.G. Wells
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Jules Verne
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Mark Twain
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Richard III - William Shakespeare
The Diaries of Samuel Pepys (pronounced Peeps)
The Diary of Anne Frank
The Forest - Edward Rutherford
That should keep you going for a while.
Notes:
1. The 2 "Diaries" are not fiction, but still well worth reading - Samuel Pepys describes life in 17th century London, while Anne Frank describes life under German occupation during WWII.
2. Canterbury Tales may or may not be translated from Old English
3. Le Morte D'Arthur is fiction, presented as fact and may or may not be translated from Old English
Happy reading
2007-02-18 00:38:59 · answer #3 · answered by Paul The Rock Ape 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Kite Runner (should be a classic)
The Good Earth
Dancer
The Inferno
Canterbury Tales
Beowulf
The Tibetan Book of the Dead
Gurter's Faust
Anything by Proust
In Search of Lost Time
Anna Karinina Tolstoy
Lots of Shakespeare
Jane Austin "Emma"
Bleak House by Dickens
This will give you a couple of months fun.
2007-02-17 23:44:44 · answer #4 · answered by Yogini 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The Kite Runner (absolutely!)
Anything by: Tolstoy
Dostoyevsky
John Steinbeck
The Witch's Boy
The Life of Pi
Pride and Prejudics
Sense and Sensibility
Les Miserables
Silas Marner
2007-02-18 00:15:47 · answer #5 · answered by tiger 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Reading the question with a mention of "before I die" suggested to me in the first instance that you were concerned about what after death so that you could prepare yourself before death. I was wrong. If you are one of those who observe meticulously what goes around in the human race, it is more productive than reading books. Unfortunately few of us do observe and see how meanings to life are elusive or lost. You can be a very good writer if you can translate your perception and deduction into words and be called a creative and inspiring writer. No writer is born by reading the books of others or copying their styles. Originality is the key.
2007-02-18 00:00:39 · answer #6 · answered by Saeeda KM 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the adventures of hucklebery finn-mark twain
uncle toms cabin-harriet beecher stowe
treasure island-r. l. stevenson
invisible man-ralph ellison
hamlet-shakespeare
a tale of two cities-charles dickens
lord of the flies-william golding
heart of darkness-joseph conrad
frankenstein-mary shelley
iliad/odyssey-homer
all the pretty horses-corman mcarthy
grapes of wrath-jonn steinbeck
to kill a mockingbird-harper lee
animal farm-george orwell
the great gatsby-f scott fitzgerald
poetry of maya angelou
their eyes were watching god-zora neale hurston
a seperate peace-john knowles
there are a ton more, but those r a good start. plus, most of these arent too taxing or epic. books like anna karenina would be a bit much to start off with. my personal faves are lord of the flies and heart of darkness... anyhoo, happy reading!
2007-02-18 05:43:27 · answer #7 · answered by Jess 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Minds Eye
2007-02-18 00:05:54 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein.
2007-02-17 23:43:09 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
King Fortis the Brave!
2007-02-18 03:35:19 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋