i've read most classics that are required for school and such.
please list the classics that you've honestly read PERSONALLY and tell me why they're really good
thx in advance
2007-10-04 14:40:06 · 14 answers · asked by ? 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Every school's required reading seems to be different, so I'm not sure what else you've read.
I'll tell you that my favorite book is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The wording may seem a little difficult on first reading it, but if you keep reading it gets easier (and it's worth it). The book is very witty and fun to read. I really like all of Jane Austen's novels (Persuasion; Sense and Sensibility; Emma; Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park).
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is a great book. It has romance and drama and some mystery. I really like that.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is very good, too. It's almost Gothic and rather eerie in parts, but it has a unique love story and great imagery.
I love anything Charles Dickens...A Tale of Two Cities; David Copperfield; Great Expectations; Our Mutual Friend; Nicholas Nickleby; A Christmas Carol; Oliver Twist and The Pickwick Papers are among my favorites. Dickens used a lot of description but I really enjoy it, because he had a way of making you feel what he is describing & he often gave life to inanimate objects. His stories are always peopled with quirky characters with fun and descriptive names, too.
Another book I really loved was Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray. What a story!
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, though very long, is a work of art. You really get a picture of what it was like in the South before, during and after the Civil War. Amazing.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier is another good one. It's got quite an atmosphere and a nice mystery. Mrs. Danvers is one character you won't soon forget.
I remember reading The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson years ago. I loved it. It was fast-paced and interesting.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving is a very good (shorter) story; very enjoyable to read.
I always enjoy reading Oscar Wilde's interesting and witty stories. The Picture of Dorian Gray is very unique and thought-provoking and quite creepy.
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery has always been one of my favorites (the entire series). I love Anne and her wonderful imagination. The story is really very touching, too.
If you enjoy funny stories, you can't go wrong with P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster series.
If you haven't read The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, I recommend it highly. I enjoyed that so much that I've read it several times. The Lord of the Rings series (and The Hobbit) by J.R.R. Tolkien is good, too.
J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan is a fun and quick read; so is Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel.
There are so many more, but those are some of the classics I enjoy. Happy reading!
2007-10-04 15:06:52 · answer #1 · answered by ck1 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Where the Red Fern grows - Although I grew up in the city, I had great appreciation for the great out doors, and the story of a boy and his dogs was very well written, and I could relate to some of it.
Cujo- Just a really scary book, and fun to read. Poor dog.
Not sure it's considered a classic but... Lord of the Rings- I think the popularity of the movies kind of explain what I would have liked about it. GREAT STORY!
2007-10-04 14:57:43 · answer #2 · answered by Buckeye4Life 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Robinson Crusoe By Daniel Defoe... Classic for all ages, of course Tolkien's Works.. my favorite being The Hobbit. Shelley's Frankenstein, Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, Dante' Inferno
New Classics: Orson Scott Card's: Ender's Game may be my favorite of ALL time: Children places in positions either to succeed or fail, but a story told with compassion and detail that leaves you wanting more. His latter books didn't do the story justice until the "Shadow" series... I think Rowlings books will hold up well with time... timeless good v. Evil with mystery and suspense...
Finally, Weis & Hickman's Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends are worth trying to find in print...
2007-10-04 15:22:40 · answer #3 · answered by hornecv 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gulliver's Travels is pretty good for a book written in the 1600's, plus easy to read and has a good social point to it. If you need to read some plays and are tired of Shakespheare, try Moliere's Tartuffe and the Would Be Gentlemen or The Bourgeois Gentleman. For a more modern classic, try Slaughterhouse-Five or Fahrenheit 451
2007-10-04 14:57:25 · answer #4 · answered by greghyder2000 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tale of two Cities about London and Paris on the eve of French revolution
Les Miserables the story of the new Jean val Jean and his downfall by someone hellbent on ruining his new status. He was a former prsioner who turned his life around and was seen as a good man now.
Heidi the story of a girl in the Alps raised by ehr grandfather then sent to live as a companion to a crippled girl,Clara, and her return to the Alps she loves.
The Scarlet Letter the sin of Hester Prynne and the revenge her husband takes on the man who caused her downfall and illegitimate child.
Jane Eyre a lowly woman who is sent away to a wretched baording school by her wicked aunt. She then becomes a governess and falls in love with her employer only to find out at hte wedding he is already married. The ending is priceless and this is the archetype for the modern romance novel.
Pride and Prejudice the story of the Bennett family and the scheming mother trying to marry off 5 "useless" daughters.
2007-10-04 16:20:30 · answer #5 · answered by chellyk 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Johnny Got His Gun
A World War I-era American soldier in a hospital realizes that he was hit by an artillery shell and lost his arms, legs, ears, eyes and most of his face. The remaining torso and head is being kept alive by machines. He lies and thinks about his life for several years before realizing that he can use his head to tap out morse code, but the banging is ignored by his regular nurses and doctors until one Christmas, when a different nurse realizes what he is trying to do. He is finally able to communicate and he asks someone to help him leave the hospital or die. While its theme is strongly anti-war, Trumbo notes in the foreword to his book that he removed it from publication on the eve of World War II because he personally did not want its strong message to obscure the issues around the European war.
Its really good and actually really messed up.
2007-10-04 15:03:32 · answer #6 · answered by nαrcíssα [misses being a TC] 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here are some to try:
*The Yearling - a touching story of a boy's attachment to a fawn, vivid picture of Florida in pre-Civil war days.
*The Secret Garden - a spoiled girl learns a different view of life when befriended by a boy in a wheelchair and by the gardener's son.
2007-10-04 15:11:22 · answer #7 · answered by Ginger/Virginia 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Les Miserables isn't usually included in school lists, but it's an amazing novel with beautiful, poetic language. I've read it several times and it just keeps getting better every time I go back to it.
2007-10-04 16:00:31 · answer #8 · answered by Caitlin 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Great Gatsby (my favorite book of all times...timeless tale of love, tragedy, and realizing how good what you have truly is. riches won't buy you happiness)
Wuthering Heights (another tale of love. who do you really love? who will honor you after your death? how will those you love live after your death?
The Jungle (tragic tale of immigrant life in Chicago. not for the faint-hearted. I still won't eat hot dogs).
A Tale of Two Cities (beautiful story of sacrifice)
To Kill a Mockingbird (it's a classic. no more need be said)
Brave New World (great story. future from the eyes of Huxley--author--in the 40s-ish...really amazing rigid caste system)
Hope you find something interesting!
2007-10-04 14:47:01 · answer #9 · answered by hiccup_snickup 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I didn't like it. The storyline was boring. If you want to see a good movie with her in it, watch Riding in Cars With Boys.
2016-04-07 04:38:32 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋