I have recently taken an interest in this subject, where to begin, which book to start with?
2007-07-09 04:33:10 · 9 answers · asked by alfini 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Henry David Thoreau,Mark Twain,Wordsworth,Edgar Allen Poe,O.Henry,Crane,Ralph Ellison,Jack London,Ray Bradbury,John Steinbeck,Harriet Beecher Stowe,Louisa May Alcott,Nathaniel Hawthorne,veritable scores of others..since I am an Australian,I do not possess a complete milieu of order nor gravity in your national identity ..I only know I have read them all and appreciate them all equally as I do my own nation's literature which also encompasses many Irish figures.I respect Twain,London and Bradbury especially as they were an escape from a 'lost land' finding its' feet.They even surpassed my passionate feel for Greek,Roman and Norse mythology between football/cricket/athlete practice. What a blast!PS. Just gave myself an uppercut..How could I forget my beloved Kurt? Such is life.
2007-07-09 05:13:15 · answer #1 · answered by kit walker 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Read the greatest of classics. Don't read the lesser known works of famous authors. They are the boring failures. Read short books instead of long ones. Try "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck, "Billy Budd" by Herman Melville, or "Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain. Read some short stories by Edgar Allen Poe. "Captains Courageous" by Rudyard Kipling is good also. Kipling was usually a British author, but when he wrote this, he was living in and writing about America, so I think we can fudge a little. If you can't stand the book you are reading, give up and go find another American classic. Reading is supposed to be fun, not unpleasant.
2007-07-10 05:45:48 · answer #2 · answered by David B 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, Beloved by Toni Morrison, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2007-07-09 04:37:54 · answer #3 · answered by philip f 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
like classic literature?
well, i'd start with "The Great Gatsby"
maybe skip over to some "To kill a Mocking bird'
check out all of the books by kurt vonegut...Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain are awesome....
2007-07-09 04:42:48 · answer #4 · answered by audiofreedom 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
John Steinbeck "the Grapes of Wrath", "Of Mice and Men"
Harper Lee "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Mark Twain: Anything by him
should be a good start
Peace
2007-07-09 04:40:43 · answer #5 · answered by lilycat1173fwin 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Which book to start with: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
2007-07-09 06:45:54 · answer #6 · answered by Lee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Excellent!! I found someone who asked the same question I wanted to.. and a long list of suggestions to follow.
But I am astonished nobody mentioned William Faulkner- he writes likes an angel and his rich, strong- perfumed, slighly intoxicating prose is just addictive- even to a non-native speaker like me!
2007-07-09 23:53:59 · answer #7 · answered by simonetta 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have two words for you: Moby Dick.
The other responders have good suggestions also.
I will also add Pearl Buck and Sinclair Lewis. I love Eugene O'Neill, people think I am weird because I read plays.
2007-07-09 05:43:01 · answer #8 · answered by Adoptive Father 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The other answers are very good.
But I'm surprised nobody mentioned Hemingway.
2007-07-09 05:13:06 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋