Starting out..

[Michael5741]

Good day all,


Ive got just a simple question, or better yet a cry for help.

Im just a simple reader who loves good books and would like to start understanding literature better. I know there is a lot of theory going
around and a lot of good books which are to be read but I haven´t got the slightest idea as to where I should begin or with what.

Could someone please advice me as to which books are the "must-read" list to have a good literary basis, both of novels and of theory. Perhaps with what I could begin, etc?

I feel I have to read up and study in order to catch up to today´s conversation.

I can read in any one of the following three languages: Spanish, English and German.

Thank you all for your help

A great day!

[bazarov]

Nullus liber est tam malus ut non aliquam parte prosit.

Welcome!

[aeroport]

Could someone please advice me as to which books are the "must-read" list to have a good literary basis, both of novels and of theory. Perhaps with what I could begin, etc?
I haven´t got the slightest idea as to where I should begin or with what.

Depending on the number of people who reply to this thread, you are rather likely to encounter as many different opinions on the matter. I would only say that you should start with what interests you and go from there; otherwise the likelihood of your enjoyment of literature is decidedly slim, even when you do encounter something that you would otherwise have cared about initially. Therefore, please do provide some marginal scrap of information about what you are interested in, or what you are curious about (with some sort of workable specificity). Also, what literary forms interest you at the moment? Political or social issues (i.e. slavery, colonialism, women's rights, etc.)? Art for Art's sake? Satire?
Literary history goes back quite a way, so it's really impractical to begin with anything but what matters to you, I would say. You are, however, for the same reasons, very likely to find, somewhere in that vast collection of written words, something that appeals to you.
A year or so ago, I probably would have been much more opinionated and prescriptive about this. However, eight college English courses later...

Incidentally, welcome to the Forum, Michael! :)

[B-Mental]

no offense, but there are surely dozens of threads on this topic....I'll link a couple in a minute

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24421

[Michael5741]

I would first like to apologize myself for not performing a more throughly search on the forum before posting my cry for help. The problem was one of extreme simplicity - I hadn´t seen the search form! :(

I indeed thank you for your help, kindness and patience! Also, of course, for your warm and understanding welcome :-)

The question I am left with is only a doubt. I thought I had to read in a certain order (the classics at least) because if I didnt I wouldnt be able to understand the numerous references that other books make. For example, how to understand references to the odyssey if I havent read the odyssey? etc. So I thought there was an implied order to be followed through which one could gain understanding. The same goes for literary theory.

Is this true?

Thanks once again!

[xaqxit]

I think you are right, but none of us really have enough time for everything. If you're sticking to western literature mostly, why don't you just grap a copy of Bullfinch's Mythology and maybe a King James Version Bible (with a Concordance) and use them as reference texts. Once you're familiar with them (or at least know how to look up allusions) you should have a very firm grasp on Mythological (this also includes the brief plots used for Homer's epics and the notable greek tragedies, such as the more famous ones by Sophocoles) and Biblical allusions. I think an unabridged copy of Bullfinch's Mythology will even give you a bit more (maybe Middle Ages mythology).

As far as literary theory, I don't know much about this. If you're not a student, maybe take a one-term class at a local college which teaches literary theory or just get a professor to help you. As far as I know there are multiple schools of thought on this, so it's harder to find consensus.

These links might help if you actually want to go read a bunch of books in order, or at least figure out which ones you want to read and come back to the others later, as you feel the need. Though I think this will suggest authors more than works, but it's usually not to hard to look up (just click on the links in Wikipedia) what is usually considered an author's mangnup opus (most novelists and playwrights are most well-known for about one to five of their works).

English Literature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_literature)
German Literature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_literature)
Spanish Literature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_literature)

There should be more specific articles like these on specific countries.
American Literature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_literature)
American Poetry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry_of_the_United_States)
American Theater (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theater_in_the_United_States)