What are some of the best classic literature books?

Question

I'm trying to expand my literary scope? I plan to study Eng/Lit this Fall, and I would like to have some knowledge about what to expect!

Answer 1

As a leading critic of literature, I can only warn you that much of so-called worthy literature is better artistically than it is in its central character and general subject manner. I will recommend six books, not necessarily to begin your reading with, that I hope will not disappoint someone reading words for meaning and an exemplary hero.
1. "The Iliad" I read it in one day and a night in 1959, the Richmond Lattimore translation.
2. "David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens. Touching, interesting, a newspaper man's account of a troubled but honest life.
3. "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. Despite flaws in the handling of Marcus Brutus's motivations, it remains a very quotable play, filled with fine memorable lines, scenes and characters.
4. "The Fountainhead" Ayn Rand's masterful earlier work has one flaw, the failure to account adequately for her central character's early life and development ; otherwise it is extremely powerful and most memorable.
5. "Hypatia" by Charles Kingsley. I did not discover this historical masterwork until I was 50. I read it accompanied by an orange neighbor cat resting on a chaise inn my backyard and have never forgotten its intelligence.
6. "The Brothers Karamazov" by Feodor Dostoevsky. This epic novel is so much better than "War and Peace" it's hard to
say enough about its vivid characterizations; "Crime and Punishment" is beautifully written but depressing, and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is supremely evil and boring, whereas this is neither.

Answer 2

Siddhartha
Brave New World (aldous huxley)
1984 by George Orwell
The Catcher in the Rye..

Answer 3

Woah! What a question!

What you want to do is borrow a Norton Anthology from the library. It has in it those short stories and poems which are considered worthy. See the link below.

Another great link is
http://www.bartleby.com/
where you can find diverse kinds of literature.

Hope this helped.

Answer 4

"The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Emmuska Orczy is one of the best classic literature book. "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand is good too. So is "Robinson Cruso" by Daniel Defoe and "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexander Dumas.
Hope this helps!!

Answer 5

For me, anything by Twain. You have to remember that even though he used words that we consider offensive today, he was the first to really show black people as they were, as people. He did so while using common vernacular.

Answer 6

The oldest and best is the Bible. It is the best seller of all time
and has so many sales that no book will ever match it.