Recommend a Literature Newbie Some Classics

[MorpheusSandman]

Hi everyone, perhaps I should introduce myself: I'm 22, professional poker player, an avid fan of music, film, and audio, and until recently only a casual fan of the other arts. Slowly but surely I've been stepping into other areas and mediums and am really enjoying the journey. I've always loved reading, but in recent years it's been difficult finding time, so I've done good to read a single chapter a day of anything. It was actually two comics that invigorated my interest in literature; one was Alan Moore's Watchmen, and the other Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.

Anyway, I was looking for recommendations of the most highly acclaimed novels of all time. I'm not picky, I'm just looking for some suggestions of works that are considered masterpieces. And, preferably, a reader's guide as to what to read first - hopefully starting out with some of the "easier" ones and graduating to the more difficult books later. Like I've heard Ulysses is often considered one of the best books ever, but it's supposedly a difficult read, so I'd prefer to wait on it for a while.

[AuntShecky]

Read Melville, Mark Twain, Hawthorne, Thomas Wolfe,
John Updike, Saul Bellow, if you think you might want to start with American literature.

[NickAdams]

There are few if any universal masterpieces, so here are a few of my favorites, which are held in high regard or whose author received the Nobel Prize, in order of difficulty:

In Our Time (short story collection)- Ernest Hemingway
Light in August (novel)- William Faulkner
The Garden of Forking Paths (short story collection)- Jorge Luis Borges (All of his short fiction is worth a read)
Molloy (novel)- Samuel Beckett

I reccomend a full exploration of Beckett's work, for both humor and depth.

[Aiculík]

What kind of films you like?
Perhaps I'd start with that - e.g. if you like action and can't finish historical romance, then I'd say you won't like 400 pages of historical love story as a novel, either.
Were some of your favourite movies based on some famous book? Then start with that. My experience is, that most people are amazed by things that were left out in the movie, their reaction is usually "wow now I got it, it makes so much more sense now". I discovered few of my favourite authors that way, too.

[superunknown]

I'd start with Catch 22. One of the funniest books ever written but also of very high literary value.

[mtpspur]

Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman--not a bad way to start off. Strongly urge V for Vendetta by Moore--not so in love with his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I liked Sandman for the first year or so but drifted away--favorite story was the friend of his that he visits every 100 years to see how he likes immortaility.

As to classics: Great Expectations by Dickens; Three Musketeers by Dumas for starters.

[Tournesol]

hi...
I'd suggest 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee.
It's easy to read, yet very enjoyable, and it'll stay with you for days after you read it!

[MorpheusSandman]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'm already creating my list.


What kind of films do you like?

Anything that's done well. I know that's pretty vague, but here's some of my favorite directors and films:

Akira Kurosawa - Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Ran, Rashomon, Kagemusha

Ingmar Bergman (film's greatest writer IMO) - Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona, Cries and Whispers, Fanny & Alexander

Stanley Kubrick - 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove,

John Ford - My Darling Clementine, Grapes of Wrath, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Luis Bunuel - L'Age D'or, Viridiana, The Exterminating Angel, Belle de Jour

Jean Luc Godard - Breathless, Contempt, Pierrot le Fou, Masculin/Feminin

Sergei Eisenstein - Battleship Potemkin, Ivan the Terrible pt. 1 & 2

F.W. Murnau - Sunrise, The Last Laugh, Faust

Yasujiro Ozu - Tokyo Story, Early Summer, Late Spring

David Lynch - Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, Inland Empire

Hou Hsiao-hsien - A City of Sadness, The Puppetmaster, Millennium Mambo, The Time to Live and the Time to Die


That's a rather abbreviated list, but it should give a good idea of my tastes.


Were some of your favourite movies based on some famous book? Then start with that. My experience is, that most people are amazed by things that were left out in the movie, their reaction is usually "wow now I got it, it makes so much more sense now". I discovered few of my favourite authors that way, too.I actually can't think of many famous books that were adapted extremely well to the screen. The Grapes of Wrath and The Godfather might be two exceptions. I've always noted the difficulty of adapting a work from one form to another, because each medium tends to work best on their own terms. A film must be literary in the visual sense, rather than in the classic literary sense. The best films tend to be those that wouldn't work well as books because the visuals drive the story. I think of 2001 where the film is transcendent, but the book is merely decent, and that's because the film's visuals are so incredibly strong.


Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman--not a bad way to start off. Strongly urge V for Vendetta by Moore--not so in love with his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I liked Sandman for the first year or so but drifted away--favorite story was the friend of his that he visits every 100 years to see how he likes immortaility.
I've read V for Vendetta and it was great - only a slight step down from Watchmen. Much better than the film for sure.

That story was "Men of Good Fortune" and was definitely the best from The Doll's House. It would be insanely difficult for me to pick a favorite, but I will say an underappreciated story in the series is "A Dream of A Thousand Cats". That's Gaiman at his most elegant IMO.

[Morten]

I'd start with Catch 22. One of the funniest books ever written but also of very high literary value.

Hardly a classic. It barely transcends its zeitgeist.

I'd recommend Dostoevski, Flaubert, Ibsen, Joyce, Kafka, Woolf, Nabokov, Faulkner, Bellow.

[teejay17]

I recommend Shakespeare: Hamlet for a tragedy, and A Midsummer Night's Dream for comedy. If you like these, then go King Lear for tragedy and As You Like It for comedy.

[MorpheusSandman]

Yes, I probably do need to read some Shakespeare.

Interestingly enough, there's a well known story that won the World Fantasy Award from The Sandman called A Midsummer Night's Dream where Gaiman tells the story of why Shakespeare wrote it (it was commissioned by The Sandman in return for him giving Shakespeare the ability to be remembered for his work). It was beautifully drawn and written and well deserving of the praise it gets.

[NickAdams]

I love your taste in movies. I suggest you read Beckett; he is to literature what Kubrick, perhaps Bergman, is to film. I think Beckett is at his best in his novels, but he is critically acclaimed for his poetry, plays, and shorts.

[Oomoo]

I love Bergman, Kubrick and Beckett but I don't see what they have to do with each other in terms other than quality.

[V.Jayalakshmi]

Dear Mr.Sandman,
Nobody had recommended light reading to you.However looking at your movie list I think you tastes are good.Please note I am not being condesending or critical.For easy reading start with any of Agatha Chrisie's detective stories.You will like them. Why not try Erle Stanly Gardner too for his Perry Mason stories.
Regarding classics I suggest you also add to the list already suggested some of Thomas Hardy's novels( Start with "the Mayor Of casterbridge".Read also George Elliot.Try 'Mill on the floss'.Choosing English authors who else other than Charles Dickens for early classics.Anything from David copperfield,to Nicholas Nickleby.

[APEist]

Wow, that's incredible. The original poster is basically me.

Jesus that's scary.

[NickAdams]

I love Bergman, Kubrick and Beckett but I don't see what they have to do with each other in terms other than quality.

I've only seen two of Bergman's films, that's why he was mentioned with perhaps, but Kubrick and Beckett still stand.

They explore the medium's purest form and shows both the truths and deceits; Kubrick visually and Beckett textually.

The opening of Bergman's Persona reminds me of Beckett's work.

You should've voted for Watt.;)

[Oomoo]

They explore the medium's purest form and shows both the truths and deceits; Kubrick visually and Beckett textually.

I don't understand this statement. Can you elaborate? The most obvious elements in Beckett's work are minimalism and the inability to act. Kubrick explores different themes and he is not a minimalist.

I have not read Watt (I just can't find it anywhere ...); I would have voted for it, actually, but it stood no chance, and I really love Dubliners

[Cellomaster2238]

I noticed that you mentioned A Clockwork Orange on your list of favorite movies. You might give that book a try.

[ClickForth]

okokok

[Rogers_68]

White Noise and Mao II by Don DeLillo. If you like those then read Underworld.

If you like having to think a lot read V. by Thomas Pynchon.

I don't know if it's been mentioned but everyone should read The Catcher In The Rye.

[Scheherazade]

If you visit our Book Reviews section, you might come across something you might find interesting:

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

Welcome to the Forum! :)

[aeroport]

Ingmar Bergman (film's greatest writer IMO) - Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona, Cries and Whispers, Fanny & Alexander

TRUTH

I would recommend The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. It's one of those books that seems to have just about everything in it. It's enormous, but it's a relatively easy read - at least, the Pevear & Volokhonsky translation is. It's also the sort of thing one can enjoy on a few different levels; you don't really have to look too deeply into it to get satisfaction from it, if you do not want to. Crime and Punishment is also pretty good, but I can't help but think the Epilogue takes something away from it (namely, the truth).
Joyce's Dubliners stories are really good - particularly "The Dead" - as is his (somewhat more difficult) Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I wouldn't even touch Ulysses until you've read enough of his stuff to care about it.
Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear
I think Portnoy's Complaint is considered a "classic" now, so I would definitely recommend that. Funny, substantial, not very long - quite rewarding.
I also think just about everyone should read Moby-Dick.

[Etienne]

I believe a movie lover like you should like Döblin's Berlin Alexanderplatz. There is huge movie about that book too, 15 hours and a half long by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. The book is absolutely fantastic and the movie (I have only seen some extracts) seems very good as well.

[Jane's Nemesis]

Maybe you could try some Gothic literature. Frankenstein and Dracula are obvious ones to start with, but you could also try any of the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe.

You might also like "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote.

[Il Penseroso]

Hmm, I haven't seen much poetry mentioned, and I don't know how you stand on it, but having noted your Jung signature, I think you might like Wallace Stevens. His "Of Mere Being" in particular came to mind.

[NickAdams]

but having noted your Jung signature, I think you might like Wallace Stevens. His "Of Mere Being" in particular came to mind.

Thanks. I'll look into this one.


I don't understand this statement. Can you elaborate? The most obvious elements in Beckett's work are minimalism and the inability to act. Kubrick explores different themes and he is not a minimalist.

I have not read Watt (I just can't find it anywhere ...); I would have voted for it, actually, but it stood no chance, and I really love Dubliners

They exploit the boundry of their medium and all of its humor. Think Strangelove and Murphy.

I already started Dubliners and I'm happy with the results of the poll.

[superunknown]

Also The Master and Margarita is a masterpiece of surrealism and an amazing book in general.

[jasons123451]

You should try a clockwork orange. Also some Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle or Slaughter House 5 are 2 of his best. Maybe One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. By Kessey. Also anything by Dostoevsky maybe start with Notes from the Underground it's shorter and a good preview of his other work's. Hemmingway is also a good place to start.

[aabbcc]

It depends on what is your scope with literature. Is it just broadening your horizons and sphere of interest with some literary pieces you could find interesting, or seriously getting the perspective of literature with its historical 'development'?

Personally, I find the reading list of my former school to be one of the best intro-to-lit lists I have come across - from Homer to contemporary European and national literature, step by step throughout 4 years of high school education (accompanied of course by textbooks who broadened all that, gave critic, periodisation and other references, as well as brought up other authors and fragments from their opus - but even without that the list is good). However, such lists are good only when taken in their cultural context - if you are from, say, US, they will not be of that much use to you because they will not correspond to your cultural background. Still, if the latter option is what you desire - to get more than just few pieces of good literature and to wrap it with context and historical development - you could see if there are any similar lists for better schools in your country (they are often found online) and start and build up from there, though there will probably be numerous works you have read so far.

If that's not your intention but you just wish to read other people's personal favourites, then I am to add...
Dante - La Divina Commedia;
Goethe - Faust;
Dostoevsky - Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, actually pretty much any book you get by him can be classified as masterpiece;
Mann - Death in Venice;
Wilde - The Picture of Dorian Gray;
plays by Goldoni, Moliere and Shakespeare;
Milton - Paradise Lost;
Pushkin - Eugene Onegin;
Lermontov - A Hero of Our Time. :)

[applepie]

You may wish to try some Edgar Allen Poe. I suggest a book of his short stories, or maybe one of Nathanial Hawthorne. They're not terribly long, and I think shorter stories are an easier way to enter into literature.

[Dori]

You may wish to try some Edgar Allen Poe. I suggest a book of his short stories, or maybe one of Nathanial Hawthorne. They're not terribly long, and I think shorter stories are an easier way to enter into literature.

"The Cask of Amontillado," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Sphinx," "Young Goodman Brown," and "The Minister's Black Veil" all come to mind (among those that I have read, at least).

[MorpheusSandman]

Thanks for the great suggestions guys. Again, this is all going on a list I'm assembling of literature to check out. By the way, my current favorite book is Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday. Rather odd story how I came across it, but I love everything about it; the writing style, the ease at which the narrative flows, the fact that it's incredibly fun but thematically deep at the same time. I've read it 4 times and gotten more out of it each time (though it's been a while since I read it last).


It depends on what is your scope with literature. Is it just broadening your horizons and sphere of interest with some literary pieces you could find interesting, or seriously getting the perspective of literature with its historical 'development'?
For now it's the former with aspirations to the latter when I do start getting deeper into it. Right now I'm just looking for a starting place, and I will try to find the type of list you suggested (any links to some online?). It's rather like when I first got into classical music; it's such an enourmous "genre" with geniuses and masterpieces spread over centuries, eras, countries, and styles that it can be daunting and intimidating to get started. But I managed with it, I managed with film, I'm just hoping that I will be able to do the same with literature.


Dear Mr.Sandman,
Nobody had recommended light reading to you.However looking at your movie list I think you tastes are good.Please note I am not being condesending or critical.To clarify what I meant, I'm not talking about "light reading", but just not works that are so incredibly dense as to be extremely difficult reads. Rather I'm looking for works in between Harry Potter-lite and impossibly dense and difficult. I'm not even sure what my tolerance level is now, but I am a very patient person when it comes to difficult art.

[ReynardtheFox]

Here are some recommendations to take you further down the path you seem to already be travelling.

Arthur Machen - 'The Great God Pan'
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/389

Alan Moore is a big fan, and devoted half of his Disease of Language to discussing Machen.

You could take it very classical and sink your teeth into Ovid's Metamorphosis.

Tolstoy 'The Death of Ivan Ilych' - It's short, concise, beautiful, human. A man contemplating his approaching death.

And for a juicy, irreverent read I would recommend Tom Robbins - The Jitterbug Perfume. Big it up in the book store and read the first page. If you love that you'll love everything else the man has written. Not entirely sure I could objectively claim it is a 'classic' to anyone but myself.

Enjoy, and let us know how you get along.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I saw someone mention Faulkner. If you are just starting with literature, I would hold out on him. But if you do tackle Faulkner, read it slowly, as I was taught. It is the only way to read Faulkner.