Breaking someone into great literature

[Darcy88]

There's this person I just met who reads in much of her spare time, really loves reading, but, having only a few months ago turned 19, she still reads young adult fiction, continuing with the new books of the series she's been reading for years. I want to suggest a few books to her, lend her them if I have them, that are great literature, "classics." What books would you all suggest as ones it would be good for such a person to start off with? I am thinking mostly about novels, since I already know what poetry to bring up.

I thought of Pride and Prejudice and 100 Years of Solitude, mostly for their readability but also for their status. There are a couple more recent Canadian authors - Michael Ondaatje and Alice Munroe - I'm thinking of too. And for some reason I want to recommend to her Ovid, because The Metamorphoses was one of the first great books I read and I found it highly entertaining and story-driven. Lawrence and Conrad and Dostoevsky are three of my favourite novelists but they don't seem right for her at this stage. I did not appreciate them when I was that young.

They don't have to be "easy" books, but as plot-centered as the books she now reads are I want books that are of the kind that you can enjoy them as a romp, as mere entertainment, not necessarily as philosophical and profound. I also don't want them to be daunting vocabulary-wise, nothing too verbose.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm actually having a lot of difficulty thinking of great books that wouldn't be too great a shock to someone used to books about cliched young lovers and vampires.

[Charles Darnay]

I think P&P is a good place to start, it is plot-driven and it has quite a few thematic developments that later slipped into YA novels.

Depending on the type of person she is, Picture of Dorian Gray might be a good choice. It is short, not difficult in regards to vocab, and plot driven.

[Dark Muse]

I think that Austin would be a good choice, also I would recommend the Bronte's, particularly Jane Eyre would be a good one to start with. I am currently reading Dangerous Liaisons which I think might be a good fit. It is easy reading, entertaining, and lots of romantic entanglements, maybe Vanity Faire.

[Jair]

Les Mis? Count of Monte Cristo?

[ChicagoReader]

You might consider starting her off with some more recent literary fiction, I think it would lead nicely from YA books. I immediately thought of The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which is a good book with a young, fresh vibe to it that I think would work well. As for classics, The Great Gatsby seems to work with young people, I liked it when I first read it at 16.

[Calidore]

Les Mis? Count of Monte Cristo?

I was going to suggest Monte Cristo myself. Everyone likes it, and it was written as entertainment, originally appearing as a newspaper serial (as did lots (most?) of Dumas' work).

If you don't mind my asking, who is she to you that you feel the need to upgrade her reading? That might help people make suggestions.

[Darcy88]

All the suggestions thus far have been fabulous. Thanks everyone. Austen, Dumas, Wilde, Fitzgerald and the others mentioned all sound fitting.


I was going to suggest Monte Cristo myself. Everyone likes it, and it was written as entertainment, originally appearing as a newspaper serial (as did lots (most?) of Dumas' work).

If you don't mind my asking, who is she to you that you feel the need to upgrade her reading? That might help people make suggestions.

Calidore.... I didn't think of Dumas but now realize I ought to have thought of him first. I read some of 3 Musketeers a few years back and it was very entertaining. She's this girl I asked out a few days ago, our first "date" we talked endlessly for like 8 hours in a cafe and out walking and have spent all the time we're both not working since then together. She is really into reading, she loves hearing me talk about books, and it seems anyone I become acquainted with who shows a spark of interest for literature I always lend them some paperback copies of my favourite books. But considering that she's not used to reading classic literature I want to exercise a little deliberation in what titles I recommend. She has read a fair bit of Shakespeare, but as for the greats that's about it.

[Pierre Menard]

Dumas is a good intro, especially with a young adult fiction background.


Twain and Camus were two others that got me started on the path of classic lit. A little more modern, easy enough style, and plenty of substance - Twain more so with humour, Camus with the serious stuff.

Alice In Wonderland is another goodun'. Great use of language and style, excellent wit and humour and endearing characters.

A slightly left of field one is Voltaire (trans. Donald Frame). Probably more than all the others got me interested in more serious lit. There's a number of good collections of his short stories/parables that are a joy to read.

A couple others:

Lolita
Sorrows of Young Werther
A Clockwork Orange

[Darcy88]

Dumas is a good intro, especially with a young adult fiction background.


Twain and Camus were two others that got me started on the path of classic lit. A little more modern, easy enough style, and plenty of substance - Twain more so with humour, Camus with the serious stuff.

Alice In Wonderland is another goodun'. Great use of language and style, excellent wit and humour and endearing characters.

A slightly left of field one is Voltaire (trans. Donald Frame). Probably more than all the others got me interested in more serious lit. There's a number of good collections of his short stories/parables that are a joy to read.

A couple others:

Lolita
Sorrows of Young Werther
A Clockwork Orange

You really think Camus would be good eh? Its funny because just this morning she read the back of my copy of L'estranger. Voltaire and Twain! Totally. Why didn't I think of them? Candide would be perfect.

[Pierre Menard]

You really think Camus would be good eh? Its funny because just this morning she read the back of my copy of L'estranger. Voltaire and Twain! Totally. Why didn't I think of them? Candide would be perfect.

Maybe not his non-fiction, and probably not The Fall. But The Stranger and The Plague I think could be worthwhile.

But yes, I heartily agree with Candide! It's short as well, so it shouldn't take her too long to read.

Despite having not read much Oscar Wilde, I might throw my support behind the other posters' recommendation. I've read a few of his short stories and it's apparent that he's got that really good balance between wit and pathos, and a style that flows beautifully. She'd be unlikely to get bogged down and such.

[Haunted]

someone used to books about cliched young lovers and vampires.

Wuthering Heights

Tess of D'berville

Jane Eyre

[Harold251]

I think that Austin would be a good choicehttp://www.infoocean.info/avatar2.jpg

[AlysonofBathe]

If you're looking into Canadian authors, I'd also suggest some Margaret Atwood or Mordecai Richler.

Cheers,
Alyson

[loe]

How about "Gulliver's Travels" or "Don Quixote"?

And when someone is interested in vampires then "Dracula" would be worthy to read (if she doesn't already know it).

I absolutely agree with the recommendation of "The Picture of Dorian Grey" and I would like to add "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" and "Frankenstein".

I wouldn't recommend 100 Years of Solitude. I remember it as a rather long-winded experience.

Here in german-speaking countries Herman Hesse and Max Frisch are very popular among young people. I am not sure how famous they are outside Europe?

[Calidore]

She's this girl I asked out a few days ago, our first "date" we talked endlessly for like 8 hours in a cafe and out walking and have spent all the time we're both not working since then together. She is really into reading, she loves hearing me talk about books, and it seems anyone I become acquainted with who shows a spark of interest for literature I always lend them some paperback copies of my favourite books. But considering that she's not used to reading classic literature I want to exercise a little deliberation in what titles I recommend. She has read a fair bit of Shakespeare, but as for the greats that's about it.

Well, congratulations.

Couple more thoughts and suggestions, if you'll forgive the liberty:

1) Make sure she feels free to drop something she ends up hating, rather than forcing herself to finish it just to please you.

2) Allow her to make recommendations to you also. I've been supplying a friend's kid with books for years, and found some YA stuff that I liked a lot as well. Give and take is important.

I would also submit, since this is a dating situation, that Pierre's suggestion of Lolita could be seen as unsubtle.

[mal4mac]

I thought of Pride and Prejudice and 100 Years of Solitude, mostly for their readability but also for their status.


I've given up on 100 Years of Solitude twice, so you might want to give her "heath warnings" about that one!

Do you honestly thinks it's readable? I can see, perhaps, a modernist praising it for its experimentation and "breadth", but readability?

"Room with a View" surely can't fail. You might have to promise to take her to Florence, though...

"Great Expectations" by Dickens

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" is a great suggestion - she might be more forgiving the first time she sees you drunk :)

Twain has to be good - go for Huck Finn?

Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck

Why not Lawrence? Not the Rainbow (or Lady C!) - maybe "Sons and Lovers" or "Women in Love"?

Kafka - Metamorphosis - maybe the best one to start with for the modernists? (maybe the best one anyway...) If she likes that:

Dostoevsky - Notes from the Underground

Walter Scott - Ivanhoe (not just a superb adventure, but great female characters...)

[kiki1982]

Jane Eyre and P&P are good ones. Indeed, plot-driven and not too bad vocab wise although I found P&P a bit weird in terms of mindset when I first read it (that may be only me though)

Dorian Gray is also a good suggestion.

For Dumas, I would definitely start off with The Three Musketeers. You can't not love it. You just get thrown into the action and the characters will never ever leave you :).
I personally started with Monte Cristo, but I had been enthralled by it on TV in my teenage years and I knew, although it was slow to get going, that it was going to be one hell of a story once it did. So that got me through the first 600 pages of it. Maybe the sheer size of it (unabridged) is a put-off, although if she reads regularly and fast she may not mind.

Les Misérables I would personally leave until a later date, or she has to read it in abridged version. It's too long and patchy. I read it when I was about 17-18 abridged in Dutch (horrendously abridged, I think it was about 300 pages...) and then I read it again in its full French version about 7 years later.

Maybe Far from the Madding Crowd?

Agree about Dickens, Dr Jekyll and Scott, although at times I found Ivanhoe a little bit funny with the vocab. Maybe not for a real first-timer, but after a few, you could throw it in. Why not. :)

[RicMisc]

I just started reading great literature and I must say I enjoyed reading 'The Great Gatsby' a lot. I have also read three books by Jane Austen (P&P, S&S and Persuasion) and I intend to read some more by her. In school there were a lot of people that read Animal Farm of 1984 for lit so I guess these are fit for beginners as well. And of course the best of luck with the girl ;)..

[Jason Cardona]

I second "Jane Eyre." Such a great novel and deeper than Austen (though Austen is great too).

[Haunted]

East of Eden

[Svidrigailov]

Does she really need to be "broken in" like an untamed warrigal? If she's already reading and finishing books, it sounds like she just needs some gentle guidance, like when you cast your child into the water on their first visit to a public pool.

When giving recommendations, the best way to shoot yourself in the foot is by pushing some abstruse brick of a book that'll just discredit you. So short stories are ideal to begin with -almost anything by Flannery O'Connor ("The Life You Save May Be Your Own", "The Geranium", "Wildcat", "Everything That Rises Must Converge") will ease a fledgling reader into the great stuff. Hubert Selby Jr, Angela Carter, and Salinger are other good lead-ins to an immeasurable body of works.

If you're looking for a more direct bridge between YA subject matter and literature, I'd also champion Wilde(whilst acknowledging that some passages in the extended edition are skippable), and The Turn of the Screw is another popular one. Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow might be a softer step up, but three-hundred pages of quasi-verse isn't to everyone's taste.

[FranzS]

Without knowing anything about this person you want to train in literature, it's impossible to make suggestions.

The first writers who really got me excited about literature were Camus, Sartre and Gide (I studied French at university so my scope was biassed).

But for some people all that theoretical s*** is a complete turn-off. From my observation, it tends to appeal more to the male than the female psyche.

I don't think I'd have enjoyed "Pride and Prejuduce" when I was 19. However, I imagine a romantic 19-year-old woman would appreciate it more than the pretentious swot that I was at that age. (I finally read it in my late 20s and thought it was great.)

"100 Years of Solitude" is definitely one of those love-or-hate books and I'd be surprised if it would appeal to someone who's read nothing but teen-lit. I loved it, personally, but I nevertheless found it hard work (owing to the dense, poetic prose and the characters who all have the same names).

[Alexander III]

This may sound stupid, but I think War and Peace would be a great start. Tolstoy just has the genius to him, which is universally understood.

[Darcy88]

How about "Gulliver's Travels" or "Don Quixote"?

And when someone is interested in vampires then "Dracula" would be worthy to read (if she doesn't already know it).

I absolutely agree with the recommendation of "The Picture of Dorian Grey" and I would like to add "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" and "Frankenstein".

I wouldn't recommend 100 Years of Solitude. I remember it as a rather long-winded experience.

Here in german-speaking countries Herman Hesse and Max Frisch are very popular among young people. I am not sure how famous they are outside Europe?

Hesse would be great. He was one of the first great novelists I got into. Demian, Stepphenwolf and Siddhartha would probably all be good. Peter Camenzid as well, a beautifully nostalgic and plain book.


Well, congratulations.

Couple more thoughts and suggestions, if you'll forgive the liberty:

1) Make sure she feels free to drop something she ends up hating, rather than forcing herself to finish it just to please you.

2) Allow her to make recommendations to you also. I've been supplying a friend's kid with books for years, and found some YA stuff that I liked a lot as well. Give and take is important.

I would also submit, since this is a dating situation, that Pierre's suggestion of Lolita could be seen as unsubtle.

I know, when I saw Pierre mention Lolita I laughed because she just turned 19 and I am 23 and its the biggest age gap I've ever experienced relationship-wise. And I'm going to give her a few books and just suggest that she check them out. I won't tell her she must read a book because its my favourite and I'll no longer respect her if she doesn't like it lol. I leant the Iliad to a friend a few years back. They hated it and I never regarded them the same henceforth.


I've given up on 100 Years of Solitude twice, so you might want to give her "heath warnings" about that one!

Do you honestly thinks it's readable? I can see, perhaps, a modernist praising it for its experimentation and "breadth", but readability?

"Room with a View" surely can't fail. You might have to promise to take her to Florence, though...

"Great Expectations" by Dickens

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" is a great suggestion - she might be more forgiving the first time she sees you drunk :)

Twain has to be good - go for Huck Finn?

Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck

Why not Lawrence? Not the Rainbow (or Lady C!) - maybe "Sons and Lovers" or "Women in Love"?

Kafka - Metamorphosis - maybe the best one to start with for the modernists? (maybe the best one anyway...) If she likes that:

Dostoevsky - Notes from the Underground

Walter Scott - Ivanhoe (not just a superb adventure, but great female characters...)

I do not understand many person's dislike for 100 years of Solitude. I've read it 5 times, the first two times I simply could not put it down except to go to work or prepare meals. It carried me along like a river after a glacial melt, exhilaratingly fast.


Jane Eyre and P&P are good ones. Indeed, plot-driven and not too bad vocab wise although I found P&P a bit weird in terms of mindset when I first read it (that may be only me though)

Dorian Gray is also a good suggestion.

For Dumas, I would definitely start off with The Three Musketeers. You can't not love it. You just get thrown into the action and the characters will never ever leave you :).
I personally started with Monte Cristo, but I had been enthralled by it on TV in my teenage years and I knew, although it was slow to get going, that it was going to be one hell of a story once it did. So that got me through the first 600 pages of it. Maybe the sheer size of it (unabridged) is a put-off, although if she reads regularly and fast she may not mind.

Les Misérables I would personally leave until a later date, or she has to read it in abridged version. It's too long and patchy. I read it when I was about 17-18 abridged in Dutch (horrendously abridged, I think it was about 300 pages...) and then I read it again in its full French version about 7 years later.

Maybe Far from the Madding Crowd?

Agree about Dickens, Dr Jekyll and Scott, although at times I found Ivanhoe a little bit funny with the vocab. Maybe not for a real first-timer, but after a few, you could throw it in. Why not. :)

I think 3 Muskateers might be one of the first I recommend. It has romance too if I recall correctly. I think Dumas is light but respectable, a great intro to the classics.


East of Eden

Yeah, Steinbeck might be a good choice. I've only read Grapes of Wrath but it was a brisk fun read.


Does she really need to be "broken in" like an untamed warrigal? If she's already reading and finishing books, it sounds like she just needs some gentle guidance, like when you cast your child into the water on their first visit to a public pool.

When giving recommendations, the best way to shoot yourself in the foot is by pushing some abstruse brick of a book that'll just discredit you. So short stories are ideal to begin with -almost anything by Flannery O'Connor ("The Life You Save May Be Your Own", "The Geranium", "Wildcat", "Everything That Rises Must Converge") will ease a fledgling reader into the great stuff. Hubert Selby Jr, Angela Carter, and Salinger are other good lead-ins to an immeasurable body of works.

If you're looking for a more direct bridge between YA subject matter and literature, I'd also champion Wilde(whilst acknowledging that some passages in the extended edition are skippable), and The Turn of the Screw is another popular one. Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow might be a softer step up, but three-hundred pages of quasi-verse isn't to everyone's taste.

That's why I started this thread. I don't want to give her Crime and Punishment or a similarly deep book right off the bat. I want to beat her a clear easy path before she enters into the deep forest of books.


Without knowing anything about this person you want to train in literature, it's impossible to make suggestions.

The first writers who really got me excited about literature were Camus, Sartre and Gide (I studied French at university so my scope was biassed).

But for some people all that theoretical s*** is a complete turn-off. From my observation, it tends to appeal more to the male than the female psyche.

I don't think I'd have enjoyed "Pride and Prejuduce" when I was 19. However, I imagine a romantic 19-year-old woman would appreciate it more than the pretentious swot that I was at that age. (I finally read it in my late 20s and thought it was great.)

"100 Years of Solitude" is definitely one of those love-or-hate books and I'd be surprised if it would appeal to someone who's read nothing but teen-lit. I loved it, personally, but I nevertheless found it hard work (owing to the dense, poetic prose and the characters who all have the same names).

Gide is a wonderful suggestion. Thanks. I've only read The Immoralist but his style is one that would be good in this context. Its not that I want to train her, its just that she is at that age where its good to start transitioning to great literature but not everyone has in their life someone who can tell them the right books to read. It took me a lot of misses before I made the few nice hits that really set me off on my journey and love affair with literature.


This may sound stupid, but I think War and Peace would be a great start. Tolstoy just has the genius to him, which is universally understood.

No, I understand why you'd mention Tolstoy. The sheer size may put her off, but his writing itself is clear and flowing, his stories pregnant with actions and ideas.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I can see going about this two ways. One would be to first find out what genres she likes (I think you know that already) and introduce her slowly, maybe first giving her some contemporary works of a higher literary value and then working back. Or, just jump right in and give her something crazy like War and Peace or Moby Dick and see what happens. You may scare her off or she could discover a love for the classics.

Plus, remember that introducing someone to great literature means making them read super-hard novels written over a hundred years ago. There's nothing wrong with something like Franzen, Delilo, Roth, Vonnegut, McCarthy, Pynchon, etc. I haven't read all of them, but you get the idea.

I think Jane Eyre would be a good start if you decide to go that route. Women seem to love that novel.

[Darcy88]

Or, just jump right in and give her something crazy like War and Peace or Moby Dick and see what happens. You may scare her off or she could discover a love for the classics.


This made me laugh really hard for some reason Mutatis. I think I'll not suggest Moby Dick or War and Peace or Brothers Karamazov or Don Quixote until after she gets at least a few solid classics under her belt. You mentioned McCarthy.... I've only read Blood Meridian and I think that after reading mostly only light-hearted popular teen fiction that book might pack a wallop of shock. I hear All the Pretty Horses is a little tamer, and I plan on reading it soon, so maybe that one might work.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Yes, I would not recommend Blood Meridian, lol. I was just rattling off contemporary authors as they came to me (and, yes, I know Vonnegut is dead, whoever was going to point that out). I've heard the same about All the Pretty Horses; probably why I've not read it.

[Pierre Menard]

Murakami might be another option.
Haven't read his stuff but from all reports he's got a good literary sense and knows how to weave an interesting story.

[PoeticPassions]

Someone already mentioned this, but I would also suggest Frankenstein... I actually bought this book for my my ex-boyfriend, who had not read much literature up to then and especially not the classics, and he really loved it... (not to mention that this novel has a lot of great themes that run through so many classics and through the romantics... it has elements of Paradise Lost, of the Bible, Byron, etc) Same thing with Steppenwolf.. generally I would recommend Hesse.

Also, for more modern stuff, Kazuo Ishiguro is great, and VERY readable ... Never Let Me Go was an enjoyable read.

[Buh4Bee]

All these suggestions are terrific. My other suggestion is to take her to the library and let her pick from some of these titles. The Great Gatsby is a great book- everyone likes it. W and P is big, but for me- that's what got me reading. The Stranger could be another recommendation. I'm almost done with The Plague. Camus is very easy to read. Good luck!

[loe]

Maybe Balzac is of interest, too?
Especially "La Peau de chagrin" (The Magic Skin).

[JuniperWoolf]

A Canadian girl who likes YA, eh? Give her Atwood.

[Desolation]

I'd consider these to be "Young Adult" novels with literary merit:

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

[Darcy88]

I'd consider these to be "Young Adult" novels with literary merit:

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Huxley young adult? He's easier than a lot of authors but I would not really classify him as young adult. Good suggestion though. Thanks.

I have War of the Worlds, The Odyssey and Frankenstein to give her. Should be a good start. Then maybe Dumas and a few others suggested on this thread. I appreciate all the responses.

[stlukesguild]

When giving recommendations, the best way to shoot yourself in the foot is by pushing some abstruse brick of a book that'll just discredit you. So short stories are ideal to begin with...

I quite agree. You never know what sort of great novel another reader may love... or be repulsed by. I would suggest some classic shorter fiction. This will allow you to get feedback as to what she likes and dislikes and gear further suggestions based upon that.

Look at the various tales from the following authors:

Edgar Allen Poe
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ambrose Bierce
Guy de Maupassant
Theophile Gautier
Robert Louis Stevenson
H.G. Wells
Rudyard Kipling
Charles Dickens
William Wilkie Collins
Franz Kafka
H.P. Lovecraft
Nicolai Gogol
Anton Checkov
Ernest Hemingway
Flannery O'Connor
J.L. Borges
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Arthur Conan Doyle
Herman Melville
Mark Twain
Donald Barthleme
Italo Calvino
Alice Munro
Julio Cortazar
etc...

You also might make suggestions taken from larger collections such as:

The Decameron
Aesop
Herodotus
The Arabian Nights
The Shanameh
Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics

Then think about novellas and relatively shorter length narratives:

Goethe- Sorrows of Young Werther
Mann- Death in Venice
Steinbeck- Of Mice and Men
Capote- Breakfast at Tiffany's
Melville- Billy Budd
Stevenson- Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde
Conrad- Heart of Darkness
Henry James- Beast in the Jungle, The Turn of the Screw
Tolstoy- Death of Ivan Ilych, Hadji Murat
Nathaniel West- Miss Lonelyhearts
Saul Bellow- Sieze the Day

From here you might be able to move toward suggestions of larger novels.

[Darcy88]

When giving recommendations, the best way to shoot yourself in the foot is by pushing some abstruse brick of a book that'll just discredit you. So short stories are ideal to begin with...

I quite agree. You never know what sort of great novel another reader may love... or be repulsed by. I would suggest some classic shorter fiction. This will allow you to get feedback as to what she likes and dislikes and gear further suggestions based upon that.

Look at the various tales from the following authors:

Edgar Allen Poe
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Ambrose Bierce
Guy de Maupassant
Theophile Gautier
Robert Louis Stevenson
H.G. Wells
Rudyard Kipling
Charles Dickens
William Wilkie Collins
Franz Kafka
H.P. Lovecraft
Nicolai Gogol
Anton Checkov
Ernest Hemingway
Flannery O'Connor
J.L. Borges
E.T.A. Hoffmann
Arthur Conan Doyle
Herman Melville
Mark Twain
Donald Barthleme
Italo Calvino
Alice Munro
Julio Cortazar
etc...

You also might make suggestions taken from larger collections such as:

The Decameron
Aesop
Herodotus
The Arabian Nights
The Shanameh
Italo Calvino's Cosmicomics

Then think about novellas and relatively shorter length narratives:

Goethe- Sorrows of Young Werther
Mann- Death in Venice
Steinbeck- Of Mice and Men
Capote- Breakfast at Tiffany's
Melville- Billy Budd
Stevenson- Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde
Conrad- Heart of Darkness
Henry James- Beast in the Jungle, The Turn of the Screw
Tolstoy- Death of Ivan Ilych, Hadji Murat
Nathaniel West- Miss Lonelyhearts
Saul Bellow- Sieze the Day

From here you might be able to move toward suggestions of larger novels.

Kipling, The Decameron, Poe, Hemingway might all be good. Thanks SLG.

It really helped when I told her that at her age I was struggling hard to get through great books and was opening the dictionary 5 times per page on average. She is really really really interested in books. Her eyes widen everytime I mention a great book. I discoursed for like half an hour on the fact that in the stack of books on my desk there were such marked contrasts between pairs of books like Augustine and Nietzsche, The Iliad and The New Testament, Leaves of Grass and Paradise Lost. She hung on every word. I almost gave her Wuthering Heights but when I read that book at 18 I found it mighty difficult.

[Calidore]

Huxley young adult? He's easier than a lot of authors but I would not really classify him as young adult. Good suggestion though. Thanks.

I have War of the Worlds, The Odyssey and Frankenstein to give her. Should be a good start. Then maybe Dumas and a few others suggested on this thread. I appreciate all the responses.

H.G. Wells, heck, yeah. I also like stlukesguild's suggestion of Arabian/1001 Nights (just maybe a more readable translation than the Burton one).

If she likes the spooky stuff, I can heartily recommend the classic ghost stories of J.S. LeFanu and M.R. James.

[Rores28]

I think ur really best sticking to short stuff. I mean whatever you give her she is gonna feel obligated to finish.

St lukes suggestions I think are good. Here are some that got me into literature.

Animal Farm
Great Gatsby (though I've found that guys like this book more than girls)
1984
Slaughterhouse Five
Siddhartha
Of Mice and Men

I can't quite explain why but I think you should give her Siddhartha.

Also I don't think you should give her P&P or Lolita. P&P, I just think its too easy for the language of the book to be really offputting. Lolita for reasons already stated.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Huxley young adult? He's easier than a lot of authors but I would not really classify him as young adult. Good suggestion though. Thanks.

I don't think Slaughterhouse-Five or On the Road are, either. I've yet to read The Bell Jar. Not that they're not good choices.

[Darcy88]

Never mind. There's a reason I haven't dated girls under 20 since I turned 20. Hahaha. This thread is a Sears-tower like testament to my utter foolishness. Pope said "fools rush in where angels fear to tread." Wise words.

This thread will come in handy when my young cousins come of age, or if I ever decide to again play hopscotch on a ledge.

Augustine was genius too. Now I see. lol.

[stlukesguild]

Crash and burn?! Just pour yourself a good beer (or two). Preferably something British or Belgian and crank up some appropriate music. Perhaps some Foggy Mountain Boys in honor of earl Scruggs who passed yesterday.

:cheers2:

[Desolation]

I don't think Slaughterhouse-Five or On the Road are, either. I've yet to read The Bell Jar. Not that they're not good choices.

I was going a bit liberal with the term "Young Adult"...Those are novels that I think young adults/teenagers are more prone to enjoy, not necessarily novels written for young adults/teenagers.

By the way, from experience, I'm going to recommend not giving her Tolstoy...I tried to give my girlfriend Anna Karenina...Now she won't take recommendations from me.

[OrphanPip]

I think Anna Karenina is better than War and Peace :p. It's a tighter novel and appeals more to my aesthetic preferences, although I can admire the ambition of W&P.

[Rores28]

You gave her Lolita didn't you.

Sorry to hear it Darcy. But I think the irrational rush / rushing is the most fun part of any relationship (and the sex of course). You got to have some fun, with relatively little bruising.

At least you didn't work your way into a long-term something where you gradually and painfully become disenchanted, vacillating endlessly between holding on and ending it, only to culminate in an ugly breakup which leaves you embittered by all the time you've "lost" and "wasted" and seriously questioning not just your ability to make decisions about relationships but really about any sort of decision no matter how trivial.

Also.. really stlukes a British Beer? My rec would be to reach for an American

[stlukesguild]

Also.. really stlukes a British Beer? My rec would be to reach for an American

Oh please. Swill... with the exceptions of the better microbreweries.

I'll take this:

http://www.theperfectlyhappyman.com/uploads/youngs-double-chocolate-stout.jpg

or this:

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/8473/beeryoungsdirtydicks25yr.jpg

or this:

http://www.badapplegraphics.com/octbeerbuild/pictures/bass%20ale.jpg

or any of these:

http://i04.c.aliimg.com/img/ibank/2010/771/895/231598177_38445058.jpg

over most American beers any day.

[Jason Cardona]

Pope said "fools rush in where angels fear to tread." Wise words.
lol. Alexander Pope one of my favorites.

[Rores28]

Young dbl chocolate is pretty good and I really like sammy smith oatmeal stout, but really they can't go toe to toe with the likes of this

http://www.2beerguys.com/images/forblog/advent11/founders-breakfast-stout-pour.jpg

or this

http://www.theperfectlyhappyman.com/uploads/dogfish-head-90-minute-ipa.jpg

or this

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhcrpvPWpW1qbapym.jpg

[stlukesguild]

I've had Arrogant Bastard... It didn't blow me away... but then I lean toward Belgian Ales, Dark Beers and stouts, hefeweizen, and a few others. This was one of the finest American beers I've had:

http://onebeeratatime.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/img_0055.jpeg

You can't drink more than one, however... it's literally a desert beer... if not a desert in and of itself.

In German beers, Celebrator's great:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/404146740_74cef8be6e.jpg

I also like Aventinus:

http://www.annarbor.com/assets_c/2012/02/Schneider%20Aventinus-thumb-450x567-102916.jpg

And back to the Brits I quite enjoyed this:

http://www.theperfectlyhappyman.com/uploads/wells-banana-bread-beer.jpg

Of course I regularly hit the high-end beer dealer here in town as well as a local microbrewery/pub/restaurant that presents a selection of interesting beers from around the nation (and the globe) on a rotating basis, so I'm always looking for something new or really impressive.

[KCurtis]

. As for classics, The Great Gatsby seems to work with young people, I liked it when I first read it at 16.

I don't know about that-I am impressed you liked it at 16, I hope you are right, it is my favorite book. High School students who are made to read it in school don't seem to appreciate it, but I would like to be wrong on this one.

[bw220]

I'm just now making my way into authors like Dickens, Dostoyevsky, and Austen so I don't have too many suggestions as far as classical authors go. Personally I really got into reading when my mom gave me One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Slaughterhouse Five for my 14th birthday. They were the first real "adult" books that I ever read and they completely changed the way I viewed reading. I would try to start with books like those that are easier to read and discuss than some other authors. One of the best parts about reading is being able to discuss what's going on, and if she is reading too far above her comfort zone she won't be able to do that with you.

[Desolation]

I don't know about that-I am impressed you liked it at 16, I hope you are right, it is my favorite book. High School students who are made to read it in school don't seem to appreciate it, but I would like to be wrong on this one.

I hated it when I read it at 19...After revisiting it a mere 2 years later, it's a favorite.

[Darcy88]

Yeah, anyway..........

I read a couple of short stories from Joyce's Doubliner's last night. Even though he is the last author besides maybe Kant I would think to give her, Doubliner's reads on the surface so lively and so clean, I am thinking of lending it to her.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I found Dubliners completely boring. You know her tastes better than anyone else, though.

[Rores28]

Yeah, anyway..........

I read a couple of short stories from Joyce's Doubliner's last night. Even though he is the last author besides maybe Kant I would think to give her, Doubliner's reads on the surface so lively and so clean, I am thinking of lending it to her.

Wait... so its still on with her?

[Rores28]

I've had Arrogant Bastard... It didn't blow me away... but then I lean toward Belgian Ales, Dark Beers and stouts, hefeweizen, and a few others. This was one of the finest American beers I've had:


Of course I regularly hit the high-end beer dealer here in town as well as a local microbrewery/pub/restaurant that presents a selection of interesting beers from around the nation (and the globe) on a rotating basis, so I'm always looking for something new or really impressive.

I haven't tried many of those. The creme brule looks pretty interesting. I do like Aventinus, but if you've never had it, you need to try founders breakfast stout, which I've pictured above. It is insane. I've unfortunately not been able to drink for the past three years so I have one thats been aging that long in my pantry. I'm pretty exciting about busting it open, but I won't be able to drink until probably may or june. The only other beer I've had aged was Foothills Sexual Chocolate (3 years old) and it was pretty intense.

[Darcy88]

Yeah its still on. I miss the good old days when you took chaperoned walks for a while, snuck a few furtive kisses, and then soon after said your vows. I am far too eccentric, my ways far too atavistic, for me to comfortably and competently navigate the crazily unpredictable waters of modern relationships.

[stlukesguild]

It's still on... OK... no Lolita... and definitely no Georges Bataille.:devil:

[Voivod30]

I haven't read this entire thread so I'll start by offer my appologies for any redundant suggestion that I may make. Getting that out of the way I would first suggest perhaps giving her some great novelas to read. She'll get a basically complete and thorough story yet won't be intimidated by the length. Of course short novels would also do the trick. Off the top of my head I'm thinking perhaps Washington Irving (who doesn't love Sleepy Hollow, not to mention there is a great Tim Burton directed film she could see as well although it's really violent), Sarah Orne Jewett (I'm only familiar with The Country Of The Pointed Firs but it's a novella and about Maine so it's partial to me), and the many short works of Verne and Wells. I'm sure they've already been mentioned but Lord of The Flies is often given to high school students as a sort of primer of great literature, the same can also be said about Animal Farm along with many other novels. Depending on how she feels about science fiction and or adventure stories perhaps Ray Bradbury might tickle her fancy. I love Dickens and think Great Expectations and Hard Times would be fairly easy reads for a nineteen year old. I also love dystopian novels so along with Bradbury mentioned above you might also consider 1984 and A Brave New World, both of which are fast paced (A Brave New World from my recollection starts a bit slow but once you get into it the story picks up quickly) and of course Kurt Vonnegut has many great novels and short stories. A few more suggestions that I nearly forgot to mention (though in my opinion might be my best suggestions) are Carson McCullers The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter and perhaps some E.B. White. Of course Mark Twain is always a great choice for any level of reader, along with Hemingway (The Old Man And The Sea is short, concise and excellent), and though I wouldn't suggest Moby Dick (it's great but quite diffcult I suppose) perhaps Billy Budd might be a good choice. Sorry for the length and rambling nature of this post, I hope I haven't spouted off too much.

[kelby_lake]

Assuming that she's shown an interest in reading classic literature and isn't simply being attentive to please you:

- If she likes typical romantic YA, I'd suggest Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice and Tess of The D'Urbervilles. Alternatively, you could suggest a specific author that may appeal to her taste and then she can pick her own book from that.
- Fitzgerald is quite light, so The Great Gatsby might be a good bet.
- Dystopian novels might appeal: Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World. Maybe The Handmaid's Tale as well.

[Dark Star]

I hated it when I read it at 19...After revisiting it a mere 2 years later, it's a favorite.

I didn't mind it when I read it in high school, but I didn't find it particularly interesting either. It didn't help matters that the teacher misinterpreted large parts of the book because of her own puritanical viewpoint. (Among other things she claimed that Daisy's rejection of Gatsby was because he was a bootlegger and this was immoral, rather than because of discovering that he was new money. She also interpreted Tom's white supremacist views as reflecting those of Fitzgerald.) That said, I re-read it in my early 20s and have loved it since then. I'd suggest it as the perfect book to introduce jazz fans to great literature. The writing has a similar rhythm, feel..texture to it, and that's one of the things I love about it.

[Hunger Artist]

The one novel that compelled me to look more deeply into Literature was Richard Wright's "Native Son". It is suspenseful, vivid imagery can be derived from the text, it would constantly keep her enthralled. Wright's depicitions are very intense, which is what makes them so extremely entertaining.