Literary Enlightenment

[litwit88]

Hey there. I'm new to this forum world and look forward to it immensely.
It the past few weeks, I have been compiling a list of numerous "top 100 novels of all time" into one large list, which I hope to read all of in the next 3 years or so (there are hundreds of them). Before I embark on this journey I would like to know what you think I should be sure to read in this great task. Please include:

Title
Author
Why it's a must-read.

Thanks all!

[Etienne]

I wouldn't use that method if I were you, start reading books and go with the flow, you will constantly learn about new books, especially if you participate in these forums.

Those "greatest lists" are really worth what such a list can be worth, it's the books that are usually considered the greatest classics, and no doubt most of them deserve being on such list, but there is much more to literature than those, and they do not necessarily pale in comparison.

[JBI]

I disagree, I think literature needs to be read in a linear mode in order to understand it. Therefore it is essential to start with classical writers, and the Bible, then move down. It is important to know how influence affects literature, otherwise poetry would be unreadable.

[JBI]

Just read Blooms list if you want a list. Since that basically has all the essentials up until 1900, then has most of the 20th century essentials up until around 1985

[JBI]

http://home.comcast.net/~dwtaylor1/theocraticcanon.html

[Il Penseroso]

I'm with Etienne. Literature is best experienced not from a list but from active interest in what one is planning to read. You can find complimentary essays to fill in gaps and to explain allusions and influence but you really can't get around not having a personal investment in the reading material.

[aeroport]

If you're going to try to read that much literature, you really would do well to read Homer and at least part of the Bible. Beyond those, I'm with Etienne as well. Let the footnotes guide you...

[Etienne]

Let the footnotes guide you...

:lol: That was so well put!

[aeroport]

*assumes Giminy Cricket tone and sings*
...and always let the footnotes be your guide.

[litwit88]

I also agree with all of you whom think I need to just let it flow. The list is merely a beginning place or somewhere to go when I'm having trouble finding something to read. I will probably end up reading one book off the list, loving it, finding something similar or by the same author, and eventually end up back at the list. It's merely a starting point and things I want to read eventually, I was just hoping for suggestions on other books you thought need to be read eventually.

[Kafka's Crow]

So much depends on your knowledge of the Bible and the Greek classics. Read someone sufficiently 'Grecian' with a dictionary of mythology or something like that. In my teens I read John Keats that way. It gave me a usable knowledge of the Grecian foundations of the Western civilisation. A thorough knowledge of Chaucer also comes handy. I read the Odyssey in order to understand the 'mythical method' in Ulysses while working on TS Eliot's Tradition and Individual Talent. In short, jump in and let one thing lead to another and the accumulated knowledge will help your understanding and wasten your horizons. Don't ask for recommendations, one short poem like Ode to a Nightingale will teach you more than any 'recommended' text. Any good text can teach a lot if read with enthusiasm, imagination and a willingness to learn.

[Jedidiah]

In the spirit of booklists as guidelines for eventual readings, I heartily recommend The Brothers Karamazov.
Author: Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Why: It creates a great and passionate portrait of a country as soulful and interesting as Russia.
It will show you humanity in some of its basest, most pathetic elements, while at the same time revealing its potential and what is so endearing, lovable, and good about it.
Dostoevsky seems to ask through his characters why they act the way they do and then answers his question by showing you his character's philosophies and the lifestyles they produce.
Like many great works it can be interpreted many ways and has spawned many interesting and opposing conversations.
Also, you will enjoy it even more if you learn to love Dostoevsky's portrayal of village life and all the little funny idiosyncrasies he brings out.

P.S.- As far as translations go, Pevear and Volokhonsky's (husband and wife duo) version is the most modern and readable, but I think it lacks the stylistic qualities of Constance Garnett's translation.

[crazyed]

I've grown up around a ton of Russian Lit because both my parents majored in it, so that tends to color the lens through which I read anything new. It's also important to know classical foundations of literature, but for me the greatest joy is making connections to other books and authors. That's why I recommend reading what you like and taking all serious reading suggestions to heart. Some of the best novels I've ever read have been offhand recommendations from buddies of mine, or from my parents, or from a literature teacher who I approached after class. Go with the flow man!

[bazarov]

Nullus liber est tam mallus ut non aliquam parte prosit.

[mortalterror]

I like to make lists too, and then read from titles here and there on them. But I have to agree that structure is not the enemy of enthusiasm. I recommend that to get the most out of whatever you read, you include supplementals in order to understand what you've read, and then write and talk about them afterwards. If I had to say what were the essential readings for an educated person, I would not begin with novels. Start with The Bible, The Complete Shakespeare, Dante's Inferno, and the Greek classics. That's a pretty solid foundation.

[Sir Bartholomew]

hi litwit88 I'd prefer you follow your own instincts, you'd learn more if you set and follow your own rules. Don't let these push you around. Stick to that compilation of yours.

[rachel_bookworm]

I think I agree, I think you should just read the 'classics' you think you would enjoy.

Some of my must read classics are:

- Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights

- Charles Dickens - Great Expectations

- Alice Walker - The Color Purple

- Tolkien - Lord of the Rings trilogy

- William Shakespeare - Romeo & Juliet


Not sure what sort of stories you would be interested in, I find my interests seem to be in African-American literature, or just generally a good romance! (Of which i highly recommend Wuthering Heights - the best love story of all time!)

Not sure how in depth you are in finding the rare classics, but these are certainly some of my favourites! Timeless

[aabbcc]

I will agree with JBI on this one:

(...) I think literature needs to be read in a linear mode in order to understand it. Therefore it is essential to start with classical writers, and the Bible, then move down. It is important to know how influence affects literature (...)

However, even though I absolutely agree with the quoted fellow member, I do believe you should retain certain flexibility in your choices and the 'order' in which you read works. Est modus in rebus, I suppose, when you start out and as you progress you will find that middle ground for yourself. :)

[Drkshadow03]

The Bible, Homer's The Iliad and the Odyssey, and Complete Shakespeare. All other Western literature is a footnote to those works. This is not to say there aren't tons of great works that come after, but that's your meat-and-potatos of literature and will cover a great deal of the allusions and intertextuality you'll find in later works. I know I'm pretty much copying everything the guy above me said.

You might want to add on Greek Myths I and II by Robert Graves. You might want to read the Ancient Greek Playwrights who some say are Shakespeare's equal.

If you're looking to be less Western Centric: The Qu'ran. Baghavad Gita, The Tale of Genji, check out the Chinese Book Club Thread in the Book Club Forum where someone lists the four most important classics of Chinese Literature, Egyptian Mythology, Celtic Mythology (well I suppose that's Western), Norse Mythology (that's Western too), Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novels, Borges' short stories, etc.

You might consider reading philosophy.

If you don't have anything important to do and you're looking to be comprehensive, I'd advise going linear and using Harold Bloom's list, or if you're interested in religious/folk wisdom/philosophical works on top of literature along with historical/cultural context you might use Will and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization as a guide and read the works as they are mentioned and footnoted in that 11 volume set. I expect, though, that might take a dedicated person who is following the footnotes about a year with each volume/historical period. However, you'll be crazy smart when you finish it in eleven years, and it'll give you some guidelines.

It really depends how rigorous you plan to be.

[Etienne]

Well I was to read all I want to read on a linear mode, I probably wouldn't be out of antiquity yet...

[Drkshadow03]

Heh. That's true, Etienne. Like I said it all depends on how rigorous he wants to be.

The linear approach I think is good if you have a little common sense and a stopping point and a lot of free time to read. Read all the major works of a period (skipping minor stuff), then move on with your life (fully knowing you can go back later to fill in small gaps, but that you have the important stuff down), that's how I'd approach it.

I mean all of those reading plans I listed above I haven't actually tried out myself, though I know people who have done the Durant one I suggested.

This year I'm supposed to be reading The Bible(s), as many major Philosophers as I can fit in, and Greek Mythology (with a few other mythologies from other cultures for good measure).

But that ain't happening so far. I got halfway through the Tanakh and Grad school got in the way! Personally I'd rather be following my plan of attack instead of reading all this vapid literary/political/poststructuralist theory.