A list of Classics

[Adolescent09]

Hello, all. I've compiled a list of classics I have read between the end of 2005 to the beginning of 2007 and was just wondering if anyone could give me some personal suggestions on which books I should be reading. Here is the list of books I've read from the end of the 8th grade to the beginning of 10th.

The Old Man and the Sea
A Christmas Carol (I think I read it in the 7th grade though)
The Crucible
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Great Expectations
A Tale of Two Cities
Moby Dick
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Inferno
Brave New World
The Catcher in the Rye
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The Grapes of Wrath
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Brother's Karamazov
The Red Pony
The Old Man and the Sea
Heart of Darkness
Crime and Punishment
Wuthering Heights
Jane Eyre
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Of Mice and Men
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Catch-22
East of Eden
Gone with the Wind
A Clockwork Orange
The Idiot
The Odyssey
The Iliad
The Peloponnesian War
Emma
The Federalist (all of the documents by John Jay and Alexander Hamilton but not all by James Madison)
Anna Karenina
War and Peace
Lord of the Flies
Les Miserables
Demons
The Adolescent
James Joyce: Portrait of the Artist of a Young Man
Various works from Voltaire

Any suggestions for continued classical reading please?

(excluding Plato's Republic which I'll soon be starting)

[Virgil]

Adol, here's a list for college bound students I found on the internet. Some seem a little difficult for a high school student, but it seems like a really good list.


College Bound Reading List
Compiled by Arrowhead Library System

American Literature

Agee, James
A Death in the Family
Story of loss and heartbreak felt when a young father dies.

Anderson, Sherwood
Winesburg, Ohio
A collection of short stories lays bare the life of a small town in the Midwest.

Baldwin, James
Go Tell It On the Mountain
Semi-autobiographical novel about a 14-year-old black youth's religious conversion.

Bellamy, Edward
Looking Backward: 2000-1887
Written in 1887 about a young man who travels in time to a utopian year 2000, where economic security and a healthy moral environment have reduced crime.

Bellow, Saul
Seize the Day
A son grapples with his love and hate for an unworthy father.

Bradbury, Ray
Fahrenheit 451
Reading is a crime and firemen burn books in this futuristic society.

Cather, Willa
My Antonia
Immigrant pioneers strive to adapt to the Nebraska prairies.

Chopin, Kate
The Awakening
The story of a New Orleans woman who abandons her husband and children to search for love and self-understanding.

Clark, Walter Van Tilburg
The Ox-Bow Incident
When a group of citizens discovers one of their members has been murdered by cattle rustlers, they form an illegal posse, pursue the murderers, and lynch them.

Cormier, Robert
The Chocolate War
Jerry Renault challenges the power structure of his school when he refuses to sell chocolates for the annual fundraiser.

Crane, Stephen
The Red Badge of Courage
During the Civil War, Henry Fleming joins the army full of romantic visions of battle which are shattered by combat.

Dorris, Michael
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
Three generations of Native American women recount their searches for identity and love.

Ellison, Ralph
Invisible Man
A black man's search for himself as an individual and as a member of his race and his society.

Faulkner, William
As I Lay Dying
The Bundren family takes the ripening corpse of Addie, wife and mother, on a gruesomely comic journey.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott
The Great Gatsby
A young man corrupts himself and the American Dream to regain a lost love.

Gaines, Ernest
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
In her 100 years, Miss Jane Pittman experiences it all, from slavery to the civil rights movement.

Hawthorne, Nathaniel
The Scarlet Letter
An adulterous Puritan woman keeps secret the identity of the father of her illegitimate child.

Heller, Joseph
Catch-22
A broad comedy about a WWII bombardier based in Italy and his efforts to avoid bombing missions.

Hemingway, Ernest
A Farewell to Arms
During World War I, an American lieutenant runs away with the woman who nurses him back to health.

Hurston, Zora Neale
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Janie repudiates many roles in her quest for self-fulfillment.

Kesey, Ken
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
A novel about a power struggle between the head nurse and one of the male patients in a mental institution.

Lee, Harper
To Kill a Mockingbird
At great peril to himself and his children, lawyer Atticus Finch defends an African-American man accused of raping a white woman in a small Alabama town.

Lewis, Sinclair
Main Street
A young doctor's wife tries to change the ugliness, dullness and ignorance which prevail in Gopher Prairie, Minn.

London, Jack
Call of the Wild
Buck is a loyal pet dog until cruel men make him a pawn in their search for Klondike gold.

McCullers, Carson
The Member of the Wedding
A young southern girl is determined to be the third party on a honeymoon, despite all the advice against it from friends and family.

Melville, Herman
Moby-Dick
A complex novel about a mad sea captain's pursuit of the White Whale.

Morrison, Toni
Sula
The lifelong friendship of two women becomes strained when one causes the other's husband to abandon her.

O'Connor, Flannery
A Good Man is Hard to Find
Social awareness, the grotesque, and the need for faith characterize these stories of the contemporary South.

Parks, Gordon
The Learning Tree
A fictional study of a black family in a small Kansas town in the 1920s.

Plath, Sylvia
The Bell Jar
The heartbreaking story of a talented young woman's descent into madness.

Poe, Edgar Allan
Great Tales and Poems
Poe is considered the father of detective stories and a master of supernatural tales.

Potok, Chaim
The Chosen
Friendship between two Jewish boys, one Hasidic and the other Orthodox, begins at a baseball game and flourishes despite their different backgrounds and beliefs.

Salinger, J.D.
The Catcher in the Rye
A prep school dropout rejects the "phoniness" he sees all about him.

Sinclair, Upton
The Jungle
The deplorable conditions of the Chicago stockyards are exposed in this turn-of-the-century novel.

Steinbeck, John
The Grapes of Wrath
The desperate flight of tenant farmers from Oklahoma during the Depression.

Stowe, Harriet Beecher
Uncle Tom's Cabin
The classic tale that awakened a nation about the slave system.

Twain, Mark
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Huck and Jim, a runaway slave, travel down the Mississippi in search of freedom.

Vonnegut, Kurt
Slaughterhouse-Five
Billy Pilgrim, an optometrist from Ilium, New York, shuttles between World War II Dresden and a luxurious zoo on the planet Tralfamadore.

Walker, Alice
The Color Purple
A young woman sees herself as property until another woman teaches her to value herself.

Wells, H.G.
The Time Machine
A scientist invents a machine that transports him into the future.

Welty, Eudora
Thirteen Stories
A collection of short stories about people and life in the deep South.

Wolfe, Thomas
Look Homeward, Angel
A novel depicting the coming of age of Eugene Gant and his passion to experience life.

Wright, Richard
Native Son
Bigger Thomas, a young man from the Chicago slums, lashes out against a hostile society by committing two murders.
http://als.lib.wi.us/Collegebound.html

These are just the American lit books. They have world lit list as well.

[Adolescent09]

Thanks a lot, Virgil. I'll definately look into it.

[Schokokeks]

Once you're through with all of them :D and you're looking for another field, let me know and I'll send you three reading lists with the must-reads of German, French and Latin & Greek literature :nod:.
Happy reading :).

[SleepyWitch]

wow you read all those books in 2 years? congrats! you must be really disciplined and hard-working

here are some suggestions:

Vanity Fair
Frankenstein
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
some Shakespeare plays
short stories by Hemmingway

Letters from an American Farmer (Hector St. John de Crevecoeur). it's sometimes said to be the first America novel/novel-length book. if you like History, you'll like this.

The Scarlet Letter
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fin
....

[Nightshade]

Wow....now the important question how many of those did you like?

[manolia]

Adol your list is overwhelming!
I've recently read 'The Bleak house' by Dickens and it has become one of my favourite books.
'The Hobbit' by Tolkien, if you haven't already read it. It's more of a childrens' book but it is really nice and although your reading list is very mature i am sure that you will enjoy it (i did :D).
I am now reading 'Oliver Twist' by Dickens and i like it very much. If by chance you haven't read it (which i doubt judging from your list) it is a good choice.
'Dracula' by Bram Stowker (SP?). I love this book.
You could also try some of the ancient greek tragedies (Aeschylos, Sophokles and Euripedes). If you are interested i'll send you a list. Also Aristophane's comedies is a very good choice. I've read most of them and liked them. I can also send a list of those.
I also read recently 'Madame Bovary' by Gustave Flaubert. It is considered a classic so you could try this one too.
:)

[grace86]

Definitely try The Hobbit and Dracula.

something by Jules Verne (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or Journey to the Center of the Earth)
King Soloman's Mines
Don Quixote
The Divine Comedy
Paradise Lost (I've had a hard time with this one, but it is beautiful)
Wuthering Heights
The Three Musketeers
Robinson Crusoe

....they are just some of the classics I've enjoyed and some I haven't read yet but I think are important.

[kilted exile]

Some books that appear to be missing at first glance:

Frankenstein
Dracula
1984
Hard Times
Moll Flanders
Narziss & Goldmund
Less than zero

[mtpspur]

You might like James Fenimore Cooper's novels. Of the five novels known as the Leatherstocking stories, Last of the Mohicans is the best known (and filmed) but I prefer The Deerslayer (more insights into Natty Bumpo's personality and origins)--last written first in chronology. If you have insommia by all means read The Pioneers first two to three chapters for an endless description of a house.

[kiz_paws]

Your list of books is incredible, Adol, good job!

I think that the others have given good suggestions, but may I add two more books, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse, and Steppenwolf, also by Hermann Hesse.

[dramasnot6]

I commend you for compiling a great list adolescent! I agree with the suggestions of the members above me, but think some Vonnegut and Dostoevsky are neccesary as well. Particulary "Cat's Cradle" and "Crime and Punishment" :D

[manolia]

I thought these too:

'The phantom of the Opera' by Leroux. I read this one last summer and i was amazed.
'David Copperfield' another one by Dickens. Since you like big books (i like them too :D ) you will like the character descriptions.

[scotpgot]

I second The Three Musketeers.

Also, I enjoyed Utopia by More.

[Adolescent09]

Ah--crap. I forgot all about this post, sorry... But my! Look at all the great suggestions! Let me put all the books suggested together and see which ones I've read, which ones I haven't read and which ones I'll definately read: Thank you all for replying! :) (please note that the books I listed were only the ones I read from 2005 - present):

The Phantom of the Opera--- I remember reading and admiring this book a few years ago...

David Copperfield---This is a book I have to get around to (since I am an admirer of Dickens' A tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol), thanks for mentioning it!

Steppenwolf and Siddhartha---I've never even heard of these books! Are they classics? Thanks for suggesting them, I will search them on Amazon.

Last of the Mohicans---This was a terrific read msurpur

Crime and Punishment--- I read this in the 8th grade and it just so happens that Raskolinikov is my third favorite character in great literature after Dmitri and Ivan from The Brother's Karamazov. Thanks for suggesting it though, Drama.. It was a great read ;)

Cat's Cradle---I've never heard of it. I look it up as well.

Deerslayer---Never heard.. I'll look it up as well, thanks mtp.

Frankenstein
Dracula
1984
Hard Times
Moll Flanders
Narziss & Goldmund
Less than zero---I've read Frankenstein, Dracula (I love Bram Stoker's writing style) and 1984. I started on Dickens' Hard Times a few years back but never got around to finishing it since I had more important classics to read first. I'll get around to completing that and I'll look up the other books you suggested, thanks kilted.

Jules Verne (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or Journey to the Center of the Earth)
King Soloman's Mines
Don Quixote
The Divine Comedy
Paradise Lost (I've had a hard time with this one, but it is beautiful)
Wuthering Heights
The Three Musketeers
Robinson Crusoe I've read The Hobbit, Dracula, both books by Jules Verne, only Inferno from The Divine Comedy, Wuthering Heights and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. The rest of your suggestions are excellent books, and I agree, I have to find time to read them. I'll add those on my "what-i-should-read-in-the-future" future list. John Milton's Paradise Lost is said to be pretty immaculate in its poetic style. I have to get around to it ;) Thanks.

The Bleak House, Oliver Twist, Madame Bovary I'm sorry to say it manolia, but I loathed Madame Bovary (although somehow I was able to force my way through half the tome, it grew too mundane to complete). Dickens is great as I have said. I'll get around to him, thanks :).

Vanity Fair, The Scarlet Letter and Hemmingway, Letters from an American Farmer. Thanks for posting this, Sleepy, I'm adding The Scarlet Letter and Vanity Fair to my to-read list :)

__________________________________________________ _______________


Wow....now the important question how many of those did you like?
I could tell you, and write detailed descriptions on every little instance in the books I have read when my attention was provoked, but I think I would be replying for ages and I don't have the time, lol. Thanks for posting, night.


Once you're through with all of them and you're looking for another field, let me know and I'll send you three reading lists with the must-reads of German, French and Latin & Greek literature .
Happy reading .
That's very nice of you, Shokokeks(sp?), thank-you. I'll try and p.m. you once I consummate the mound of books on my to-do list.
----------------
Again.... I thank you all for replying :)

[GothMan]

Talking about classics you just can't miss Goethe's great masterpieces like "The Sorrows of Young Werther", "Faust", "Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship". Oh, and Shakespeare of course... ;)

[manolia]

The Bleak House, Oliver Twist, Madame Bovary I'm sorry to say it manolia, but I loathed Madame Bovary

Don't worry. I didn't like it either ;)
But many people do.

[whatsername]

oh wow, this thread is just what I was looking for!

Also try:

Black Beauty
Little Women
Little Men

[srpbritlit]

Have you read anything by James Joyce? I recommend Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Dubliners (a collection of short stories), which are probably his most famous works. He is, in addition to Virginia Woolf (I just read To The Lighthouse), Marcel Proust, and others, one of the great modernist authors. These books are probably okay for your level and honestly, I found them challenging, but I love the philosophical background and insight on characters' psyches that these authors give.
P.S. Sorry, I just noticed you already read Portrait...! How did you like it? Have fun and enjoy!

[kiz_paws]

Ah--crap. I forgot all about this post, sorry... But my! Look at all the great suggestions! Let me put all the books suggested together and see which ones I've read, which ones I haven't read and which ones I'll definately read: Thank you all for replying! :) (please note that the books I listed were only the ones I read from 2005 - present):

Steppenwolf and Siddhartha---I've never even heard of these books! Are they classics? Thanks for suggesting them, I will search them on Amazon.

Again.... I thank you all for replying :)


Yes, Adol, I would consider these books 'classics', though Hesse is more of a modern writer, (1877-1962). You can read a bit more of Hesse in this link:

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

Your desire to read Narcissus and Goldmund (as I saw in your list) is also a book written by Hermann Hesse. If I may add, I believe that you will really enjoy his work, Adol. Happy reading to you. :)

[scotpgot]

This may be a little off-topic and not what you're looking for BUT . . .

Two books that I really enjoyed (though not literature) and affected my life tremendously are . . .

How to Win Friends and Influence People (Carnegie)

and The Road Less Traveled (Peck)

I know these aren't literature. But as someone growing into adulthood and maturity as you are, I truly believe they're worth taking a glance at.

Just MHO.

[kilted exile]

I started on Dickens' Hard Times a few years back but never got around to finishing it since I had more important classics to read first. I'll get around to completing that and I'll look up the other books you suggested, thanks kilted.


I spent last year reading everything by Dicken's. A lot of people are of the opinion that A tale of 2 cities is his greatest work, but I really believe it is Hard Times.

With regards to Moll Flanders, if you like Dickens I think you will like this as well.

Hesse is also a great writer, Kiz has mentioned Steppenwolf & Siddartha my favourite is Narziss & Goldmund however, it is a great coming of age novel.

Less than zero I included because it is different to just about everything else on your list, again the author (Brett Easton Ellis) is better known for another novel (American Psycho) but Less than zero is my preference