What to recommend to a friend who has never read a novel before?

[Evaril]

He's not from the Anglosphere (but he reads English well), and lit education in his country is terribly overshadowed by other subjects like the sciences. I'd like to introduce him to novels. Can you think of one that is short and that is likely to leave a lasting impression on him? It's hard to tell what his taste is like!

Oh and he's 20.

[wat??]

Kurt Vonnegut or J.D Salinger would be my recommended author, as for the novel itself.

Galapagos - Kurt Vonnegut
Burmese Days - George Orwell
Franny and Zooey - J.D Salinger
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D Salinger
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksander Solzhenitsyn

[Evaril]

Thanks. I'm also thinking of The Picture of Dorian Gray, since that's the book that introduced me to great literature. Though it is a bit too long for a beginner like him.

[kiki1982]

Is Graham Greene not a good bet? I read him with little experience, in a strange language because English as not my mother tongue, as a teenager and found it fantastic. And it is not that much to read.

The Picture of Dorian Grayis also a good bet, because in the same year as Graham Greene I found that fantastic as well...

Or start in his on language? What is his mother tongue? Maybe there are some great authors in his sphere of the world?

[optimisticnad]

If length is a problem why not go with short stories? There are seom fantastic short stories out there. Or a novella? - The city of glass by Paul Auster. What I'd do is narrow it down to what kind of genre he is interested in, it doesn't have to be something grand and complex - sci fi? detective fiction? And then choose something from that genre,

if you're trying to encourage someone to read you need to give them something you know they will like - to win their trust and faith and show that you have taste! And when you've ensnared them - only then you go for the kill and give them something like Dickens! By then he will become a pavlovian drooler - for anything you hand him.

[Niamh]

What about something like the snakes pass or Lair of the white worm by Bram Stoker. The yare both shortish and easy to read.
Or maybe some short stories by O'Henry?

[wat??]

Is Graham Greene not a good bet? I read him with little experience, in a strange language because English as not my mother tongue, as a teenager and found it fantastic. And it is not that much to read.

The Picture of Dorian Grayis also a good bet, because in the same year as Graham Greene I found that fantastic as well...

Or start in his on language? What is his mother tongue? Maybe there are some great authors in his sphere of the world?

I was going to recommend The Quiet American as well actually.

[papayahed]

Is he into the sciences? if so I would go with someone like Michael Chrichton. A lot of his books are tinged with science and they pull you in with the story. After I read Jurrasic Park I remember thinking I needed to find more books like it.

[Tsuyoiko]

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Aleksander Solzhenitsyn

I'd second that suggestion. It's short, easy to read, and impossible to put down.

I wouldn't recommend The Picture of Dorian Gray to a beginner. I found it a bit rambling in places.

I would also recommend Isaac Asimov's robot stories, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury or perhaps some quality childrens' literature. Holes by Louis Sachar springs to mind.

[ihavebrownhaira]

Evaril I believe that is very nobel of you. I would recommend Hemingway's Old Man and The Sea and I would recommend Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain and once he grows a little more advanced he must read The Mysterious by Mark Twain. Every human being should be required to read that novel to simply exist.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Personally I would throw them into a bookshop and let them choose a book themselves, honest this is the best way. :)

[bazarov]

Don Quijote. Smart, interesting, funny and easy to read.

[blp]

Wat??'s suggestions seem perfect to me. I was going to recommend The Catcher in the Rye too. It's such an immediately likable book. Not sure about Ivan Denysovich though - it's a bit dry for a first read.

Also Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, short clear and beautifully written.

Or, if he might enjoy something funny, how about some Evelyn Waugh:
Vile Bodies
A Handful of Dust
Decline and Fall
The Loved One
Scoop

Waugh's Brideshead Revisited, though not funny, might work too.

[wat??]

Speaking of Hemingway, how about 'The Old Man and the Sea'.

[Jeremiah Jazzz]

Franz Kafka and O. Henry are both great choices and both masters of ze short stories.

[Tallon]

I would not recommend Kafka at all if it's a first novel. He is too unusual, something more story based i think. Greene is a great suggestion, Our Man In Havana would be a good starter.

[blp]

How could I forget - Huckleberry Finn, one of the greatest books of all time.

[kelby_lake]

He's not from the Anglosphere (but he reads English well), and lit education in his country is terribly overshadowed by other subjects like the sciences. I'd like to introduce him to novels. Can you think of one that is short and that is likely to leave a lasting impression on him? It's hard to tell what his taste is like!

Oh and he's 20.

Farenheit 451? It's easy and it's about books!

[Mariamosis]

1984 by Orwell, Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury, or Brave New World by Huxley for novels regarding dystopian societies. (the latter of which can be argued as a dystopian and/or utopian society)

Grapes of Wrath or In Dubious Battle by Steinbeck for early 20th century North American struggles. (chiefly concerning migrant workers in California)

Thomas Hardy is always a recommendation. An author who tends to mix Victorian romanticism with gloomy reality, and every page is laced with plot twists.

Anything by Jules Verne and/or Mark Twain for the more adventurous reader...

... and the list goes on

[optimisticnad]

I would not recommend Kafka at all if it's a first novel. He is too unusual, something more story based i think. Greene is a great suggestion, Our Man In Havana would be a good starter.

I agree, Kafka is out of the question. You would scare him off!


1984 by Orwell, Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury, or Brave New World by Huxley for novels regarding dystopian societies. (the latter of which can be argued as a dystopian and/or utopian society)

Grapes of Wrath or In Dubious Battle by Steinbeck for early 20th century North American struggles. (chiefly concerning migrant workers in California)

Thomas Hardy is always a recommendation. An author who tends to mix Victorian romanticism with gloomy reality, and every page is laced with plot twists.

Anything by Jules Verne and/or Mark Twain for the more adventurous reader...

... and the list goes on

The above are all great suggestions - except Thomas Hardy! I wouldn't want someone to give him to me if I was just 'starting' out.

[Mariamosis]

I agree, Kafka is out of the question. You would scare him off!



The above are all great suggestions - except Thomas Hardy! I wouldn't want someone to give him to me if I was just 'starting' out.

Probably a very good point about Hardy, but a great author!

[Emil Miller]

I would recommend anything by H G Wells except The New Machiavelli.

[jhonerliz]

I also recommend the Old Man and The Sea by Hemmingway

[sixsmith]

"The Old Man and the Sea" is an easy read but not a very good book IMO and certainly one of Hemingway's lesser works. Mishima's "The Sailor who fell from grace with the sea" is a short, simple and rather powerful tale. "Catcher in the Rye" was one of the first books i read - Holden's voice is really compelling and wholly likeable. Is "The Great Gatsby" too much for the first novel? Fitzgerald would make a great start to a relationship with the English language.

[wat??]

The Old Man and the Sea is a good story.

[adwara1]

Catcher in the Rye.
I was not much of a reader but I got interested in books after reading 'Crime and punishment' and 'Catcher in the Rye'. For starters the number of pages in the book matters, Catcher in the rye is concise and a great book. I do not recommend book of short stories for a beginner.

[Amylian]

I don't know why, but 'Pride and Prejudice' works quite well.

[JBI]

The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway.

[Jeremiah Jazzz]

I would not recommend Kafka at all if it's a first novel. He is too unusual, something more story based i think.


I agree, Kafka is out of the question. You would scare him off!

I don't know, you'd be surprised! My recommendation was based on my own experience with a buddy of mine who was interested in picking up a few pieces of literature as well (this friend, I might add, has had no prior interest in reading besides his 11th grade English class). I recommended Kafka, for the sole reason of his being out of the box, surreal, and it worked! My friend loves it.

Another suggestion: Lord of the Flies by William Golding