Recommend books for 20-29 ages

[yewon]

Which books do you strongly recommend to read in your 20s?

As a nineteen-year-old girl, I want you to inspire me to read bunch of books-
It's too difficult for me to choose the interesting, touching, and meaningful books.

I need your help!!

Any kind of books are okay :)

[Nico87]

Well, depends on what books you've already read in the past, but here goes my list;

The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth (I can't help but to think that girls wouldn't like this book though)

1984 by George Orwell

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz

If you like funny books, get anything from Wodehouse

You can read more about the books above on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki and/or www.amazon.com

[Scheherazade]

Welcome to the Forum, Yewon.

If you read some of the reviews in our Book Reviews section, you might come across some books that might interest you:

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=6877

[mtpspur]

Try Pearl Buck, Agatha Christie, John Mortimer and Margaret Mitchell for starters.

[Dark Muse]

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte I think is quite a good and entertianing story

Sidhartha, by Herman Hesse, this story really inspiered and spoke to me, and I think it is a very well done and magcificent, and touching story.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genuis, by Dave Eggers, this was just a fabbulous story I thought

The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant, this is one of the most memorable books I have ever read and is truly gripping

also I would recoment, a couple from my favorite author.

Still Life With Woodpecker and/or Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins

[thelastmelon]

As a nineteen-year-old girl, I want you to inspire me to read bunch of books-
It's too difficult for me to choose the interesting, touching, and meaningful books.


Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer is a must! :D

[Dori]

Fyodor Dostoevsky ~ Poor Folk (Try anything by Dostoevsky.)
Leo Tolstoy ~ The Kreutzer Sonata (I've heard that War & Peace and Anna Karenina are both good as well. The Death of Ivan Ilych is also good.)
Ivan Turgenev ~ Fathers and Sons
Steinbeck ~ Of Mice and Men
Nathaniel Hawthorne ~ "Young Goodman Brown", The Scarlet Letter
Victor Hugo ~ Les Miserables, The Hunchback of Notre Dame

[Fowles27]

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (James Joyce)
To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
The House of the Spirits (Isabel Allende)
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) Not sure about a girl, but any male friend of mine in his 20s loved this book.

[Janine]

Sons and Lovers, and Women in Love ~ D.H.Lawrence - I read him in my late 20s and felt his writing really reached out to me.
Ivan Turgenev, and First Love ~ Fathers and Sons
Frankenstein ~ Mary Shelly
She, and King Solomon's Mines ~ H. Rider Haggard
Sidhartha, and Damien (sp?) by Herman Hesse
Picture of Dorian Gray ~ Oscar Wilde

[Hira]

I heard someone praising Ivan Turgenev some time back. Sorry if I am detracting from this thread but could someone tell me if I had to choose between Ivan Turgenev's 'Fathers and Sons' and Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road', which one should I select? Actually I have to ask my uncle to bring some books from abroad since I don't easily find many books over here so well, what do you think which one should I prefer?

[Dori]

I heard someone praising Ivan Turgenev some time back. Sorry if I am detracting from this thread but could someone tell me if I had to choose between Ivan Turgenev's 'Fathers and Sons' and Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road', which one should I select? Actually I have to ask my uncle to bring some books from abroad since I don't easily find many books over here so well, what do you think which one should I prefer?

I would choose Fathers and Sons, although I'm no expert on Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I've heard more praise of Fathers and Sons than On the Road. Also, Turgenev's Fathers and Sons functions as a great introduction to Russian literature.

[Hira]

Thank you for the suggestion. Among the Russian writers I have read Tolstoy's Anna Karenina plus Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' and 'Prince Myshkin'. I loved them all. So, I suppose I should get 'Fathers and Sons'

[Dori]

Thank you for the suggestion. Among the Russian writers I have read Tolstoy's Anna Karenina plus Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' and 'Prince Myshkin'. I loved them all. So, I suppose I should get 'Fathers and Sons'

If you liked Tolstoy, I recommend reading some of his shorter works, namely "The Kreutzer Sonata" and "Hadji Murad", both of which can be on this site if they are otherwise unavailable to you:

Hadji Murad by Leo Tolstoy (http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/hadji-murad/)
The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy (http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/kreutzer-sonata/)

I enjoyed both of these; in fact, they are two of my favorite shorter books.

[Hira]

Thank you for recommending those! I would love to read them when I can fit them in. I bought War and Peace a while ago but it is a bit daunting. Haven't had the strength to start it, lol. Short stories are entirely, entirely welcome!:)

[Dori]

Thank you for recommending those! I would love to read them when I can fit them in. I bought War and Peace a while ago but it is a bit daunting. Haven't had the strength to start it, lol. Short stories are entirely, entirely welcome!:)

I know what you mean; I also own War and Peace and I still haven't read it. I haven't even read Anna Karenina, which I also own! :lol: I figure that once I read all the shorter stuff (I am almost reading exclusively Russian literature at the moment), I will then move onto the longer stuff (ie. War & Peace, Anna Karenina, The Brothers Karamazov, etc.). :D

[Hira]

:) Nice way though, to organize it like that, Russian, then short, then the longer ones, I go about in such a heavily disorganized way. By the way, though I suppose I am stretching this thread, did you ever hear of Dostoevsky's 'Demons'? I found it quite forsaken in this old bookshop I frequent, I never heard someone say anything about it, the names I hear are always, 'Crime and Punishment', 'The Brothers Karamazov', and sometimes 'Prince Myshkin'. But maybe its one of the less appreciated novels.

[bazarov]

Demons are great book, but maybe not very popular and well known on West.
And my favorite advice: Nullus liber est tam mallus ut non aliquam parte prosit.

[Dori]

:) Nice way though, to organize it like that, Russian, then short, then the longer ones, I go about in such a heavily disorganized way. By the way, though I suppose I am stretching this thread, did you ever hear of Dostoevsky's 'Demons'? I found it quite forsaken in this old bookshop I frequent, I never heard someone say anything about it, the names I hear are always, 'Crime and Punishment', 'The Brothers Karamazov', and sometimes 'Prince Myshkin'. But maybe its one of the less appreciated novels.

What you call Prince Myshkin is also referred to as The Idiot. Actually, I think it's more commonly referred to as that. I've heard of Demons (it is the last book I need to complete my collection). I think it also goes by the name, The Possessed. There's a website dedicated to Fyodor Dostoevsky and his work, of which I am a member. It has a forum, essays, a biography (a short one), pictures quotes, links, and even a store. It can be found here:

Fyodor Dostoevsky Website. (http://www.fyodordostoevsky.com/)

(I hope I'm not transgressing any rules in advertising other forums; I don't mean to advertise, I simply want to point people in the right direction. :) )


And my favorite advice: Nullus liber est tam mallus ut non aliquam parte prosit.

:brickwall There you go with your Latin again. :p

[bazarov]

:brickwall There you go with your Latin again. :p

Instead of :brickwall , how about :idea: ? :lol:

[Dori]

Instead of :brickwall , how about :idea: ? :lol:

I might have, if I knew what it meant...

[Hira]

What you call Prince Myshkin is also referred to as The Idiot. Actually, I think it's more commonly referred to as that. I've heard of Demons (it is the last book I need to complete my collection). I think it also goes by the name, The Possessed. There's a website dedicated to Fyodor Dostoevsky and his work, of which I am a member. It has a forum, essays, a biography (a short one), pictures quotes, links, and even a store. It can be found here:

Fyodor Dostoevsky Website. (http://www.fyodordostoevsky.com/)

(I hope I'm not transgressing any rules in advertising other forums; I don't mean to advertise, I simply want to point people in the right direction. :) )



:brickwall There you go with your Latin again. :p

Lol, funny thing, why have I been calling it 'Prince Myshkin'. The copy I have is 'The Idiot' too. I don't think it has been published as 'Prince Myshkin' anywhere, lol.

[Hira]

Demons are great book, but maybe not very popular and well known on West.
And my favorite advice: Nullus liber est tam mallus ut non aliquam parte prosit.

What does the advice mean though?

[aeroport]

Which books do you strongly recommend to read in your 20s?

Well, as far as I'm concerned, Moby-Dick should probably be read by everyone (along with Dosto's Brothers Karamazov, which has been mentioned I think), and the sooner the better. I just read it for class (I'm your age), and deeply regret having discovered it so late. On the other hand, though, one is probably better-suited at this age to get the really important things out of it than at a younger. Anyway, that's my major recommendation.
Other than that, any of Hawthorne's stories (you can't go wrong with his children's stories, but I'm thinking primarily of the darker stuff - "Young Goodman Brown", "The Minister's Black Veil", "Rappacini's Daughter", "The Birthmark", etc.), and, if you haven't already, Hamlet.

[Dori]

Other than that, any of Hawthorne's stories (you can't go wrong with his children's stories, but I'm thinking primarily of the darker stuff - "Young Goodman Brown", "The Minister's Black Veil", "Rappacini's Daughter", "The Birthmark", etc.)

I second that.

[brimstone]

Definitely some PG Wodehouse.

[Lbo]

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is a good book to read young.it really gave me a sense of well-being and "finding yourself" perspective that most can identify with even if its a far reach from the typical "western philosophy" rooted novels we usually read.you might just have an epiphany or two.
and most definitely to kill a mockingbird by harper lee(if you havent read it that is). to kill a mockingbird just really put my conscience under scrutiny, and i think im a better person after reading it.

[lavendar1]

You might enjoy some of the earlier short stories of Alice Munro. And even more contemporary is Zadie Smith, a young British author. Her novel White Teeth was well received.

[downing]

Dori, here I come again with explanations :lol: :lol: :lol:

Baz said: Nullus liber est tam mallus ut non aliquam parte prosit.

It means:
No book is so bad that you can't learn something from it.

[bazarov]

Of course, Downing gets it right....again! :lol: :lol:

[Dori]

Dori, here I come again with explanations :lol: :lol: :lol:

Baz said: Nullus liber est tam mallus ut non aliquam parte prosit.

It means:
No book is so bad that you can't learn something from it.


Of course, Downing gets it right....again! :lol: :lol:

:lol: Thanks, downing. Oh, and thanks Baz for the advice. :D